"A Remembrance is a fragment of a creature's essence, gained by chance upon killing a being with a soul. The rarest — and potentially most beneficial — thing a Chosen can obtain after putting down a monster for good. These fragments can be used in three ways,"
Champion Frederick scanned the faces of the young recruits before continuing.
"The first is the safest — Purification. By purifying the soul you've acquired, you're granted Purity points, as you've personally delivered the final blow. However, keep in mind—while it may be the safest method, it's also the most wasteful."
He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.
"The second way is — Absorption, you will attempt to absorb part of the being's essence. If successful, you will be granted a skill or item related to the creature. There is a chance of failure, of course, which may cause damage, corruption, or instability within your soul."
The man scoffed. "Still, those side effects can usually be corrected over time — with effort and the right help."
Then his expression hardened.
"And finally, the most dangerous, but potentially most rewarding, way — the Submission Ritual. A deadly rite that transports your spirit into a soul-realm, where you'll face the original creature at its peak strength. No terrain advantage. No outside help. No items. If you win, you'll be able to summon the monster at will, bending its power to your command. No one here can deny how powerful that is — an abomination, always ready to be summoned to do your bidding…"
Frederick let the silence linger, then drilled the next words into their minds.
"However, failure results in death. Your body will be overtaken by the monster's essence, transforming you into the very creature you sought to control. It doesn't take a genius to guess that it will begin attacking any nearby living being. As such, when a Chosen chooses to perform a Submission Ritual, they must be watched by at least a dozen others, ready to put them down should they fail and unleash a monster upon the world."
'It's very dangerous indeed,' Azrael nodded, it wasn't hard to imagine how difficult such a fight would be, since most Chosen relied on items, terrain advantage and their team to subject monsters; it was a truly risky gamble.
He sighed, 'Still, this is the price for power, one can't just expect to be given everything for free. Even my Divine Inborn Trait has a cost, should I wish to keep my sanity I will better start killing Chosen…'
Rest of the lecture passed relatively fast, since Champion Frederick had proven to be a capable instructor, the Chosen listened to his words with great interest.
With the theory session concluded, the mandatory lectures had come to an end. Technically, the Chosen staying at Moon Breakers had the rest of the day to themselves.
Their free time could be well spent, since the military school was more like a whole city in itself, there were all kinds of ways to unwind. Theaters, libraries, cafés, even taverns for the older ones, though most of them would have cleared a Rift by now, advancing from the Marked Level to the Proven Level.
If one wanted to fight, there were dueling arenas and more, not to mention that Azrael had even heard that some kind of VR game had been rising in popularity that was supposed to enable you to fight with your skills and items mirroring reality with no danger of death.
While some of these options did interest him, they weren't enough to justify wasting his precious time. Not when there were still lessons he'd signed up for, ones he fully intended to attend.
'First up, scythe training,' he thought, heading in that direction.
While he didn't really think he needed to bother with such things since he was pretty good with the weapon, he also knew there was much more to learn.
When he entered the classroom, he wasn't surprised to find it empty. Not a single living soul in sight, even the lights had been turned off, plunging the whole place into darkness.
"These fools…" he clicked his tongue, it seemed he was the only one who truly appreciated how handy scythes were.
Before he could utter another word, a familiar stern feminine voice made him freeze.
"Well, that's new. I can't remember the last time I was assigned to scythe basics…"
Azrael's eyes narrowed, 'This is no doubt Iris. To think I'd see her again so soon…'
He wasn't sure whether he should curse his luck or not.
The answer became clear a second later, as he felt cold steel against his throat.
'She is behind me?' Azrael grimaced, he had left his guard down. No, even if he hadn't, he was pretty sure he wouldn't have stood a chance against her.
"You need to work on your spatial awareness," she spoke, retracting her scythe from his throat only to push him forcefully enough to fall.
With a groan, Azrael stood up, "To be honest I think it's obvious why you don't have any students."
Iris shot him a murderous glare, "Did you say something?"
Azrael shook his head. "No. Must've been your imagination."
With a scoff, she pointed to the weapons mounted on the wall.
"You're in luck. I watched the elimination ceremony—hell, I was in charge of it. I know exactly where your strengths and weaknesses lie."
Seeing how things were going, he picked the nicest-looking scythe and dropped into a battle stance.
A chill ran down his spine the moment he did.
Iris had unleashed her full aura, forcing him to grit his teeth under the sudden pressure.
He felt his muscles on the verge of snapping apart, yet to be fully recovered from the last battle.
"Uh, you haven't forgotten that I was forced to battle against monsters just about three hours ago, right? My body still aches from that experience."
A small smile appeared on her face, her tired eyes turning menacing.
"Oh, is that so? Poor you. I guess when you enter a Rift, you can just ask the monsters not to attack you and let you rest. After all, you just had a little fight, right?"
Azrael shook his head. While Iris's tone seemed mocking, she had effortlessly pointed out the flaw in his thinking.
'She's right. I have to get used to fighting under constant stress, with no breaks,' he noted grimly.
"Thank you for showing me the error in my ways," he said, tightening his grip on the scythe.
"At least the brat has some brains," Iris muttered, disappearing from view.
In the blink of an eye, Azrael once again found a weapon pressed just inches from his throat.
A bead of sweat formed on his forehead.
'This is going to be one tough lesson.'
*****
By the end, he couldn't move a muscle. The strain from the relentless training had pushed him beyond his limits.
"Terrible footwork. I'm not even going to mention your hurendoss form. It's clear you haven't had a proper teacher until now."
'Well, I guess relying on feelings can only take you so far,' he thought bitterly.
"Still, I like your spirit. It won't take you long to learn the basics." A faint smile tugged at Iris's lips as she extended her hand.
With a raised brow, he took it.
[Item has been transferred.]
"What?" He was surprised. Why had the woman given him an item?
"Don't look at me like I'm some sort of liberator," she scoffed, promptly shoving him out of the room.
"It's Seyra's gift, not mine."
Azrael's eyes shone. Taking note of Seyra's ability to deliver the promised gift in just about half a day.
Then without hesitation, he opened his system interface to inspect the gift.