Astrum Irae

As I walk into the commander's office, I am welcomed by a face of stone.

"Hello, Rigel."

Unusually serious today. In fact, it's getting on my nerves and throwing me off my game.

"Go- Good morning, sir."

"Did you know that I am not a noble, despite being elevated to such a prominent position in the military?"

The sudden confession surprises me.

"No, sir. That is news to me."

This stiff talk is painful.

"I was born in a normal village and received no education. Everything I've learned has been from experience. I'm abhorred in terms of leadership. The sole reason I'm a commander is because of my combat abilities."

I understand that, but what's he getting at?

"However, by no means am I excellent. Don't feel good about yourself simply because you out-endured me. All geniuses are direct subordinates of the oligarchy, so there are bigger fish in the sea. But, what I'm getting at is when you feel that I made a decision that is lackluster, feel free to work on your own accord."

So, this merely a pep talk?

"I understand, sir."

"Good. You are my special operative, a lone wolf- for now, that is. I've decided to make an entire squad who work under me. Since you are our founding member, what say you name it?"

What? I don't know. Is this a test? I don't know what to say here.

"Wouldn't naming it yourself suffice, sir?"

"Me, you say?"

"Yes, no need for flashy titles. Simply a possessive phrase should do the trick, no?"

"I suppose so. So, how would you phrase it?"

Fuck, I've talked myself into a corner. I don't know his name. I don't believe I can talk my way out of this. Let's phrase it gently.

"I've not yet had the honor to have been enlightened to the commander's last name, sir."

His face lights up in humor.

"So, you actually admitted it. I'll admit, I wasn't sure if this was the path you would choose. It seems I was right on the mark, though. Not bad for a peasant, I suppose. You should see those nobles- they can predetermine exactly how you will respond to them it seems like."

He finishes off the sentence by chuckling heartily.

So… I played right into his hands, eh? Not too bad a fate, in fact. At least he's jolly about it. We can let the man think he's in control, no?

I take a deep breath and relax for a moment.

I think I've been overthinking things. I mean, Jesus, all he wanted to do was to see if I knew his name. Perhaps I've been abusing this newfound thought process of mine too much.

Not worrying about things too much sounds nice, but I still feel that I'm in over my head. Like the issue I've been struggling with this whole time. I want to be audacious and show off my prowess, and yet, I feel hesitant.

I'm spacing out, let's get back to the conversation.

"Haha, you've played me like a fiddle, sir. So? Shall I be enlightened of your name?"

"It's more fun if it's a mystery. If you must know, ask Syfeid. We're old war buddies. Now that that's out of the way, I'll ask of your opinion once more. What do you want to name the corps?"

I've always been shit at naming. So much so, I usually go out of my way to avoid doing so. The benefit here is that short, concise names are arguably better than overly eloquent ones. How about something that drives fear deep into the hearts of our opposition? Like Daemon, Demon, or Leviathan. On the flip side, we have Aether, a name that doesn't directly imply a separation from the church, but could subtly imply such things since this is the commander's personal squad, not one working for the Oligarchy.

Oh, I've got a great idea. 'Cola Corps' sounds badass. No, not that. I couldn't take it seriously for the life of me. Aether is pretty cool. Let's go with that.

"I've decided that Aether should at least be the base name. Would the term 'corps' be required at the end of the name?"

The commander ponders for a moment, then looks back to my face.

"Just 'Aether' should suffice. I'd say it's good naming sense. You seem to be implying that you are the heavenly blade that strikes down enemies of God, no? A fitting name for our grand country indeed."

I was going the other way with that, but I suppose treason would obviously be out of the question to the seemingly loyal subjects of the Oligarchy. I have my suspicions of the true loyalties of Syfeid and this man here, though. Syfeid earlier subtly implied he disliked the extremist views of the church, and if that's true then he couldn't like the church's grip on the country.

Since the 2 are war comrades, they must've seen and experienced similar things. Having similar opinions on said things, however, is a different story.

Ugh, this is hard. I'm too used to a society where everyone is just frank with one another and secrets aren't devious and subtly hinted towards. A society where you won't suffer the worst of fates for merely having second thoughts about the state of the country. It's always possible that I'm overthinking things, too.

"Sounds good to me. I am Aether, your loyal sword. Do you have any missions in mind for me, sir?"

"Why, yes, I do, in fact. First, though, how's progress with your magic tutorial?"

Good question.

"I don't exactly know. Compared to Gilgamesh, not good. But for only one day, I'd say excellent. Gilgamesh never told me if I was doing good or bad, so you have to ask him."

"Haha, well, how about this? What spells can you use?"

"[Fireball] and [Flamethrower]. Not to the extent of Gilgamesh, though, like I said."

His face straightens up and his tone deepens with seriousness.

"Are you telling the truth?"

Did I learn it too easily? This body sure is convenient.

"Yes, sir. I'm guessing it's because of my safety net: the strange [Shell] I use."

"Amazing. It usually takes weeks to learn even just those 2 spells. Even then, most aspiring magicians die in horrible accidents due to miscalculations, or an overflow of emotion.

"We'll get to work straight away, then. Your first task is basic recon with Syfeid. Get a feel for the military. I've already let him know that you may come to him today, so go see him now. He should be prepared."

A good starting mission.

"Yes, sir. Straight away, sir."

I leave the office with confidence in myself. I walk down the hallway a few doors until I see a door with a wooden plate sporting 'Syfeid' carved into it hanging from a nail on it. It appears that Syfeid made it himself, as none of the other doors have one. I partially suspect that he ordered it, due to the intricate detail and design.

I am about to knock on the door when I suddenly hear a voice call out from behind me- from the direction of the commander's office.

"Good morning, Rigel!"

Gilgamesh approaches me from behind and grasps me by my shoulders in a friendly way.

"So, did you have any issues overnight?"

"No, no. I slept just fine, felt no pain, et cetera."

"No strange aches or sores?"

"No, no. No pain whatsoever."

Sigh, this feels a bit like a doctor's checkup to me. I'm fine, damn it.

"Okay, that's good at least. So, how do you feel emotionally? You were somewhat on edge yesterday? Are you feeling better about the powers of magic?"

"That's a good question. After thinking it over for a night, I think I am. Magic is just a tool- much like a sword- meant to do whatever. It can bring both prosperity and ruin to pretty much anything, so all I can do is use it for good."

Gilgamesh merely chuckled and anxiously- or perhaps awkwardly- rubbed his hands together for a moment, and then responded.

"Yes, I quite agree. Magic is for the amelioration of humankind by and large."

We awkwardly talk in circles for a few more moments before Gilgamesh turns away and bids me farewell, heading down the hallway back towards the commander's office.

Very curious. I wonder what was up with that? Anyhow, I have an appointment to make.

I open up Syfeid's door, resulting in a harsh creaking sound that harasses the ears. I see Syfeid sitting in the middle of the room, with green light protruding from his hands.

I thought he wasn't too knowledgeable about magic?

"Hey, Rigel. Did the commander explain what's up to you?"

He dispels the light from his hands and speaks to me nonchalantly.

"Yes, but I've got a question to ask you. I thought you said you didn't use magic."

He grins slyly and responds accordingly.

"Ah, but that's where I gotcha. I said recreationally, so technically I didn't lie. I'll admit, I withheld some information from you due to my lack of faith in you. Well, I still don't know if you've been lying to all of us, but since we're going out patrolling together, we need to trust each other unconditionally."

Hmm, I've been played again. I'm not sure what I'm feeling right now, but it's certainly not joy. I really do dislike people outsmarting me. I should be on top of them all. I'm perfectly aware of my shortcomings, but still don't like being tricked, even if it's only wordplay.

"So, I presume you use magic professionally?"

I retort to keep the conversation a conversation.

"Yes, just that. I'm adept at using air and water magic, with earth being my forte. I can't get the hang of fire magic, though. Anyways, myself being a ranger, I have a bit of history with plants. Using a combination of all my knowledge, recently I've been attempting to develop something I've dubbed 'Nature Magic'."

That's why the light was green. According to my personal experiences with fantasy, he's on the right track.

"What are you attempting to achieve with this magic?"

"Honestly, anything. Currently, I'd like to influence the growth rate of plants. By using mana to create an influx of energy, maybe the plants could grow faster."

Does he not envision being able to control plants in real time? I don't want to influence this world too much, so I'll refrain from adding anything unnecessary. I'll help him out when he's stumped. After all, I have been enlightened by years of creative minds spreading their ideas through capitalism.

"That's cool, but shouldn't we be heading out now? You can elaborate on the way out."

"Oh, you're right," he replies. Syfeid gets up and leads me out of the room, down the hall and out down the main path from the fort.