Luca was gd that the floor was padded; ying his sore body on it was much more comfortable this way. He id there waiting for the captain to tell him to stand up once again, but the message he received was one much more desired.
“Okay, I think that’s good for today; how are you feeling?” Her voice had a hint of worry.
“Ooww, ugh…” He couldn’t speak, but luckily that would be enough for her to understand his pain.
“Y-Yeah, my bad.” She sighed and grabbed his sword off the floor, stacking both it and her’s in the rack, as Luca slowly stood up, regaining bance. “Sooo, about your performance.” Right, she was reviewing how he did, Luca’s memories began coming back to him after the ass whooping of a lifetime.
“Oh yeah.” He stood up fully and stretched; when something cracked in his arm, he stopped and rubbed it. “How’d I do?” He asked hopeful, a hope that died when she inhaled from her teeth and looked at him trying to think how to cushion the blow.
“You um…” She really struggled to find a positive way to say the review, which, though worrying, Luca found sweet in a way. “You are... very persistent; you kept getting back up!” She ended it with an unsure smile, which made Luca crack and ugh a bit, despite how much he was hurting. "Sorry Luca, I guess I’ve gone a bit too strong on you.”
“All good captain, I ju-”
“Master.” She corrected. She was very adamant about it, it seemed.
“Y-Yeah Master, it’s all good.” He finally stood straight without pain. “I just wish I had a bit more time for the tournament.”
“So do I, but the truth is, if you’ve never picked up a weapon, it’ll probably be even more difficult to find the right one.” She sighed again and put her hands on her hips. “Full honesty, Luca. I’m sorry, but I don’t think you really got a chance on this thing.”
“I know, I know.” Luca finally dropped his arms; he was still sore, but at least he wasn’t in pain. “I’ll try my best with whatever I can... Probably not a sword though, eh?” The pity look on the face of the captain disappeared, turning into a chuckle.
“No, no, probably not a sword, haha. Let’s leave that one for the undefeated, yes?”
“Heh, deal.” Luca gnced at the silk-covered windows, which now let inside less light than the ntern. “What time is it?”
“Oh!” She reached into her non-armored pants pocket and pulled out a pocket watch. “Just around 6 in the afternoon, so you are done for the day! You did it!” She congratuted him with the same cheery attitude she had before training; Luca still thought she was pretty, even after having been beaten with a stick by her for more than half an hour.
“Almost. Got a meeting with the director now, then I go to send a letter, and I’m done.” He sighed tired. “Hey, you can send mail at night, right?”
“Y-Yes, but a meeting now?” She looked worried—seriously worried in fact. “What does the director want?”
“Dunno, but I said I’d go see her when the day was done.” Luca yawned and proceeded to go out of the room.
“W-Wait Luca.” She suddenly reached out and grabbed Luca’s arm, catching him by surprise. They looked at each other for a few seconds. Captain Florene’s face was short of mortified; her pupils trembled as she looked at Luca. “Y- um…” She let go of his arm and stood straight. “A-Allow me to accompany you, please.”
“Uuh, that’s okay ca- Master.” The edges of her mouth twitched upwards when he called her that correctly, but Luca couldn’t discern where her worry arose from. Did she think the director was dangerous? “I-I’ve already had a meeting with her; I think she just wants some sort of report on how I’m doing.”
“Well… I’d just feel more comfortable if you didn’t go there alone.” Luca couldn’t get comfortable with whatever demeanor the captain had; it seemed to change constantly, but somehow he had a hunch that she was going to be persistent about this one.
“I mean, I’m fine with it master, but aren’t you busy?” A look of recognition passed the captain’s face; she must have forgotten till now that she was indeed busy.
“It… It’ll be fine; come on now; she’s not a woman you want to make wait.” She took the initiative and, faking a comforting smile, took a step forward and opened the door, exposing the hallway of the fortress. Luca stepped out of the room as the captain closed the door behind him. He didn’t know how to make her understand there was nothing to worry about, but the sound of chatter and the sight of a party of Zenith members stopped his thought process for a minute.
Luca was, technically, a guild member, but of course he didn’t feel like one; seeing the group of individuals made him freeze slightly. There were only 7 of them, some armored, most tall, all weirdly ripped (except for the couple of ones that were in robes, difficult to tell). They were all chatting; most of them had some tears on their bodies or clothes; those were probably coming back from the dungeon, and the others joined just to chat and catch up.
“Ah, has it been a month already?” The captain’s worries seemed to be interrupted by the sight of these people. She waved at them, and one of them actually waved back, going out of their way to walk up to them and talk to her.
“Cap’n! How you doing?” The individual was covered in heavy armor of a rose-gold color, with a Zenith symbol on their pauldrons. Through the helmet came the deep voice of a man; he seemed to pay no attention to Luca.
"Oh, it’s going. How was the delving? Aren’t you back early?”
“Haha!” The armored individual ughed vehemently while bumping his chest. “Course we are! Wot, did ya think it’d take us longer to get to the jungle and back? C’mon cap’n! Bit o’ faith on the peak of the peak, eh? HAHAHA!” The man’s ugh echoed through the hallway and perhaps even the whole fortress.
“Jungle?” Luca meant to think it and not to say it, but it came out as a question under his breath.
“The fourth level of the dungeon.” The captain crified. When Luca understood, he looked back at the delver, who was now looking at him; he felt like the armored man didn’t see him until now.
“Well, an’ who’s this cap’n?” The man poked Luca’s shoulder with his big hand. “You givin’ private tours to citizens now? Is that how desperate we are for money? AHAHAHA!”
“No Rodney, this is, in fact, one of the new rookies. A future dungeon delver.” She put a hand on Luca’s shoulder and smiled at him reassuringly.
“HAH, this shrimp? C’mon cap’n, he couldn't kill a slime even if it had its ass to ‘im.” The man continued his ugh, and Luca ughed along awkwardly, trying to ignore the insult. While the man ughed, however, another adventurer walked behind him. Suddenly the man’s ugh was cut short as the figure behind him hit the back of his helmet with the handle of a long axe. “Ouhf! Oi, what was that for Embah!?!?”
Behind stood a tall woman, muscur; a beast-woman with round ears and fuzzy, bright orange hair; hair that had a couple of bck stripes along; Luca also noticed she had the same bck stripes along her skin too. In contrast to her rose-gold partner, the woman wore little armor; her breasts were covered by bandages, as were her forearms; the little armor she did wear was in the form of leather shoulder and elbow pads; finally, her pants were baggy and of an orange-with-bck-stripes pattern, matching her hair. Luca saw this woman, and looking into her green eyes and her body, Luca’s heart skipped a beat—not only because of her beauty, but because the way she looked matched exactly what he imagined a member of Zenith should look like.
“THAT, dumbass, was for bragging about the mission after you fucked up SO MANY TIMES!” She poked his helmet with one finger as she spoke, which he tried to swat away when she finished.
“W-Well yeh, but-”
“Nice to see you again captain; did Sir Dumbington here tell you he lost his sword, almost fell to the lower level at one point, and to top it off?!”
"Oh, c’mon Embah don-”
“HE ATE MY RATIONS ON THE WAY BACK.” Excimed the muscur woman looking directly at the man, who was now much more shy suddenly, avoiding eye contact.
“You said you weren’ hungry, I jus-”
“YET! I SAID I WASN’T HUNGRY YET!!” The supposed ‘Embah’ was now towering over the man who cowered ashamed, and while the captain chuckled at the situation, Luca somehow couldn’t tear his gaze off the woman.
“Cap’n…” The man begged Luca’s new master for help, so she cleared her throat to stop the ughs from coming out and stood properly with her hands behind her back once more.
“Ember,” said the captain. “Would Rodney here be able to make it up to you if he paid for your next meal?” The woman’s eye twitched, then her face softened a little as she sniffed.
“Will ya?” Asked the woman as she straightened her posture more.
“Y-Yeh! Yeah! By me mum’s golden locks, I will Embah! W-Will you forgife me then?”
“Of course!” The sudden demeanor change seemed to startle the armored man as much as it did Luca; suddenly she was cheery and smiling. “I knew I could trust you Goldie; now come on, I’ll let you find the pce we all will eat at.”
“Wot?! I’m paying for everyone?! B-But Emba-”
“You’d rather I choose the pce?” Her angry voice was back, intimidating the man. “We could go to the rich district and get something fancy.”
“Ah!” The man stood straight and saluted. “I-I’ll be back in a jiffy! Don’t worry!” And with that, the man ran away, with an agility that Luca didn’t expect from a guy wearing such armor. Ember ughed as her partner turned the corner, and finally she faced the both of them once more.
“Thanks cap; I knew you’d have a good idea.”
“Do you really care that much for a ration Ember?” Asked the captain, still giddy from the interaction of the two.
“Course not, but hey, free food. And he really did fuck up many times, so I’m not about to let him get the same glory as me; I crushed it!” Every word spoken sounded distant to Luca. How was this woman real? She looked like she came out of a legend. “Anyway, tell me something, cap, aren’t you a bit old to be chasing young tail like this one?” Luca then felt a light poke in his chest; he saw a striped orange and bck tail that came up from behind Ember, retreating behind her once more after poking him.
“Oh shush.” Responded the captain. “He’s just one of the new novices that needs, um..." Was it really that awkward to talk about? Luca wasn’t really embarrassed that he wasn’t good at fighting; should he be? “A little pick me up; let's call it, you know?”
“Sure, fair, but by you?” She then looked at him and scanned him up and down. “Hey hotshot, you don’t look rich; what’s the deal?” Luca’s breath hitched on his throat, but before the captain could speak for him again, Luca decided to be brave.
“L-Luca.” He extended his hand to her. “I’m not really that important, no; I was just invited by the previous director, a-and the captain here is helping me ‘cause I don’t know how to fight.” After the expnation, the woman scanned him once again and finally took his hand in hers, shaking it firmly.
“Pleasure. So you are Kreaspell’s rookie, huh?” The woman side-eyed the captain. “Now it’s starting to make sense.”
“Yeah, yeah, well, this ‘rookie’ here needs to go meet the current director right now, so if you don’t mind Ember, I’m accompanying him there.”
“Whoa, whoa!” Ember put a hand on the captain’s shoulder as she began walking down the hall, stopping her. “Don’t spoil the guy cap; you can’t do everything with him.” Her face was serious, but her tone had a hint of... teasing?
“B-but-”
“Oh, hang on!” She then walked forward and grabbed Luca’s wrist; her skin was soft and her grip strong; his arm immediately got chicken skin. “Tell you what, I’ll accompany him there so he doesn’t get lost, and that way you can do whatever it is I’m sure you need to do at this hour, perfect, right?”
“U-Uh wel-” The captain thought of a reason, but when she realized she didn’t have any to be against the idea, she let her head hang and complied. “Fine, but directly to Director Caushmar’s office, not dilly dallying, and for the gods Ember.” She took a deep breath. “Be careful.”
"Yeah, yeah, I hope we can make the journey down the hall safely.” She turned and grabbed Luca’s arm, pulling him as she walked. “C’mon rookie.”
The next couple of minutes they walked in silence, Luca stealing gnces every time he could. He focused on her ears, which looked like those on a bear but a bit taller; her face, striped and confident, was as strong as the rest of her body; looking at her biceps, it was clear she was able to swing her ax-
“Are you looking at my tits?” She asked suddenly, Luca’s mind filled with panic.
“What?! No! No, no! I wa-”
“Right here in the open, man? Sheesh.” She was clearly teasing him, but Luca panicked anyway. “How could Kreaspell invite such a pervert?" Luca sighed defeated while she ughed at his reaction. “But seriously, what's with you? You keep looking at me.” From her perspective, it was probably odd. Luca searched in his own mind for an answer and nded on one that at least didn’t make him look like a pervert.
“I uh… From where I come from, everyone’s human, so..." Better to look misinformed or even ignorant than to look like a perv.
“Yeah? I’m part human though.” She smiled mischievously. “Even then, I look very human for a beast-man, so the excuse doesn’t work, buster.”
"Yeah, but… why?”
“Huh? Why what?”
“Why do you look human if you are a beast-woman.” The answer was fake, but the question was real. Luca didn’t quite get it, but in every history book, Beast-men and women were described as very animalistic, and yet everyone that he had met—Ezza, Tomoko, and now Ember—looked very human, Tomoko more than the other two, so Luca wondered how that worked.
“Ooooooh.” Said Ember as she understood the question. “Right, that's because of the cleansing, my man.”
“The what?” Luca felt relief seeing she bought it.
“Well, every once in a while, every beast-man and beast-woman, needs to do a thing called a ‘Cleansing of the instinct’. Basically they get this crystal that resonates with beast magic very well, and they basically suck the curse right outta ya.” She expined, with a happy demeanor born from the fact that she had someone to expin it to.
“Curse?” Luca found himself less troubled for a second and more curious.
“Oh. Basically, Beast-men were created when this powerful guy put a curse on a big city and turned them into, like… well, animal people. With time, the animal people reproduced, and we became a full-fledged race.” She said with pride.
“Huh.” The rookie then realized he really didn’t know much about other races; he knew about them from mentions in books and not much else. The teachers in Dryleave understandably didn’t teach about the biology of anything but humans. “But, why do you have to do the cleansing thing?”
“Weeeell… When you don’t, the curse starts affecting you. A pretty way people say it is ‘the animal gets stronger.’”
“Aha… and that means?”
“Hm. Take me for example; I’m a tiger woman!” Luca narrowed his eyes for a second. “You know what a tiger is, right?”
“Uhh, it’s a... feline, right? Big cat?” She nodded, then snapped her fingers and pointed at him.
“Bingo, biggest cat actually.” She winked. “Anyway, when I don’t do the cleansing thing, I start feeling more and thinking less. And I also start, to answer your question fully, looking more like a tiger!”
“Oh, okay.” Luca felt like this was one of the few straight answers he had gotten since he got there, or at least that day, that loooooong day.
“Yeah, as you can imagine, having a tiger around the city isn’t very helpful, nor is having uuh… I don’t know a cow indoors or a crocodile in your bar.” She chuckled at the thoughts; clearly, the idea didn’t bother her too much. “Although it’s worse than having an animal, imagine having a person that acts that way, you know? And like a sensitive person too, like anything ticks them off. So a guy that turns into a goat will start kicking and ramming shit if you scare him, and he’ll get scared with anything. So the cleansing is so that we can live normal lives with everyone else. Heh, I mean, people wouldn’t want to fight a tiger normally; imagine trying to fight me!” She flexed her arm, showing off her impressive muscles. “So, that’s why beast-men usually look more like men than beasts, to make them not be a threat to society. You got all that? Did I expin it right?”
“Yeah… I think I get it. Why did the guy put the curse on those people, by the way?” And what kind of power would one need to put a curse that sts generations?!
“They insulted him, and he was petty.” That's it!? “Anyway, I answered your question, so now it’s time for mine, kid.” She said as they turned the corner Luca saw the minister come out from before. “Tell me, the fuck did you do to make Kreaspell invite you?”The hallway they found themselves in was different from the rest; in it, a huge mural decorated the wall to the left. The massive painting represented a man coming out of a cave, then to the right of that a small settlement being built, and as the building progressed, the settlement became more and more complex, until it ended in a white silhouette in front of a bck rhombus, Zenith in front of the dungeon. The painting was masterfully made, the most realistic one Luca had ever seen, and it reinforced his idea that Zenith was clearly very proud of its history. To the right were very few doors, but a set of very decorated dark wood ones was in the middle of said wall. Luca shook his head to focus on the conversation again.
“Oh, nothing that important, honestly.” He said as he continued looking at the details of the mural. “I’m starting to think he just wanted to invite someone before... his time came.” The sound of a raspberry being blown regained Luca’s attention.
“Bullshit, one of my friends got to talk to ol’ Kreaspell before he died, and apparently he said you ‘saved him and some other fellows’, so spill.”
“I… A bull was attacking them, so I drove it away.”
"Hm, fine, I’ll believe it.” She said as they reached the door and opened the door for him. Luca saw the familiar sight of the staircase he was in yesterday, though now he wouldn’t have to climb stairs and resist a boner, so at least that was easier. “Hey hey! Stay here; no stairs needed, bud.” She said as she walked to the center of the room, then she crouched and put a hand in the center of it. After a second, Luca felt a small rumble and saw how the very floor started elevating himself.
“The floor is also a ptform?” They were now standing in a smaller circle that was able to avoid the stairs as it went up.
“Of course! What, did you walk there yesterday?” Asked Ember with a smirk.
“I was just... following the director.” Answered Luca, slightly nervous by the fact that this one wasn’t as smooth as the other lifting ptforms.
“Really? Huh, weird… any idea what she wants now?”
“Not really.”
“Heh, well, don’t sound too excited now.” She teased. “How has the first day been, kid?”
“I’m twenty-two.” Kid didn’t seem like a thing he’d like to be called, and Luca was too tired to put up with it at this point.
“I beat you by ten years then, so I get to call you anything, bub.”
“Fine, sorry grandma.” He teased back.
“Hey, you wanna help me check the sharpness of this?” Said Ember as she grabbed the big war-axe with one hand to inspect it. Luca chuckled.
“Sorry, sorry.” Then he looked up and sighed as he saw the top floor slowly approaching; it seemed like that floor had elevated itself to the ceiling in order to let the ptform fit there.
“So as I said, first day okay?” Luca felt his muscles rex as they took this moment of peace in order to reach the director’s office without too much effort, and suddenly he felt all the tiredness hit him at once.
“... can I be honest?” He was also tired of keeping it together. “Bad, like awful... well, maybe not awful, but definitely not good.”
“Heh, how so?”
“Well, I know I can do it, you know, being in Zenith and all, and I know eventually I can adapt to it all, but..." He shrugged. “How long till I’m able to withstand everyday being this long, or everyday being so full of new things..." He closed his eyes and let his head hang, feeling his heartbeat on his ears as a small headache finally caught up to him. “It’s only the first day, and I’ve already considered giving up so many times.” Luca felt relief letting it out, not keeping the feelings to himself only. Ember, however, didn’t sound like she took him too seriously.
“Aight, Luca was it?” He opened his eyes and faced her, then nodded silently. “Listen, what I’m about to tell you, I tell you with full respect; it’s okay you feel that way; you are valid, but I can’t help but think that you need to hear this.” Luca straightened his pose and focused fully on Ember’s words. “It’s the first fucking day! Of course it’s hard, dummy!” Luca got pushed back by the words, but she continued. “What you are feeling isn’t ‘difficulty to adapt’, or ‘exhaustion’ or any of that shit.” She lowered her pose to face him closer. “You are overwhelmed. And sure, it’s hard; this pce is fucking huge! When I first got here I couldn’t sleep for three days, and I couldn’t shit for a week." She yelled, a little too loud, probably. “But it passes, my dude! You don’t have to get used to learning new things or meeting new people every day, because you are doing that now! I know it feels long and tedious at times, but you are learning everything for the first time. Tomorrow will be your third day, and it’ll feel shorter, and after that it’ll be your fourth day, and so on and so forth.” She took a step towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. “And eventually, Luca, you’ll stop counting the days; they will just be days. So rex; you need time to adapt, but today was the only time you’d have to learn all those new things; tomorrow will be simpler.”
A minute of silence passed in between them. Luca reflected on everything that looong day; the doctor’s visit seemed like something that happened months ago, and it was the first thing he did that day. But what the tiger-woman said made sense; he hadn’t felt overwhelmed in a long time, especially since he hadn’t known or done anything new in a long time, so this situation—of course it was too much.
“So tomorrow will be easier, huh?” He asked, with the slightest hint of hope in his voice.
“Duh!” Ember incorporated and stood straight again, sliding her hand off Luca’s shoulder and punching him in a friendly manner. “You are learning all the new stuff in one day; once none of it is new, you’ll see how it’s easier.”
Luca faced upwards once again, seeing the council’s offices up there. And for the first time that day, that day that seemed to never end, where everything seemed to be too much to deal with; for the first time, he felt eager for the next day to arrive, now knowing it’d feel shorter.
Time: Around 18:00
