Moonlight Demon

Keiko could never have seen this coming. 

The young Zayama had spent most of her life as an utter failure. Her inability to unlock her Spirit Eye had brought enough shame to her family to justify her grandmother's disgust for her. It would also justify the inevitable day where Keiko would be labeled a Zayo, becoming a servant, solidifying her disgrace. 

And yet, this happened. Something that, if Haruna or any other Zayama had told her about beforehand, she would have laughed them out of the room. It occurred as she was sitting in her usual training room, her legs crossed and her back straight as she attempted to do what she'd failed to do for several years now. 

She heard the door slide open behind her and she half-turned in that direction. Standing up, she waited for them to speak so that she could see if she recognized the voice. However, the man who spoke was not someone she'd heard before. It seemed to belong to an old man.

"Ah... The crystal does point to her. She is the one." 

"What?" This voice, however, she did know. It was that of her grandmother. "Impossible, this girl... she's nothing but a failure." 

"The gods do not make mistakes, Elder. We will be needing her assistance in the battles to come. Are you refusing to give it?" The man asked. 

Keiko heard her grandmother hesitate before she muttered, "fine", and then she heard her walking away. 

"What's going on?" Keiko asked. 

"Your time has come to serve your realm. You have been chosen as a Savior." 

And that was how her new life began. 

---

She was given the rundown later, at the Church of Magia. Being led everywhere by one of the deacons, she was given a cube and a set of armor that felt slightly too heavy for her. 

"Hold the cube to your chest," someone instructed and Keiko did as they directed. "This will bring up some option that will allow you to bond the item to your soul. We do this so that if this should fall into the wrong hands, others will not be able to use it." 

Nodding, words appeared in her mind. 

Discovered Passive Trait:

Chosen: 

Selected as a representative of Alkoth. Gain multiple traits.

New unidentified traits!

?

Okay... Keiko thought.  So, what now? 

Beginning fusion

Note: The fused cube will become a unique named item, with its name being your defining characteristic as determined by the System.

Begin?

Yes    No

With her thoughts, she picked the "Yes" option, and Keiko felt a surge of magic flowing into her body. Another word soon appeared in her mind. 

Perseverance. 

With that process out of the way, Keiko was dressed in this unfamiliar feeling outfit, holding that cube at her waist. Now, she was being led to a part of the city called the Valley of Lanterns, which gave a path to the west, where apparently, she would be training. 

Currently, she was in a cart, confused. 

"Wait... So, I will be assigned under a mage?" Keiko asked. 

"Yes," the priest who'd introduced her to this sudden new journey, a man called Varcon, responded. 

"But... I am no mage," Keiko replied. 

She was well aware of the fact that magic was generally looked down upon in her clan. She didn't want to disgrace herself further. 

"You will need to be," Varcon replied. "Even if you choose not to specialize in such a thing, the realm will need you to be capable of multiple different things. If you truly have such negative feelings towards magic, feel free not to use what you learn. But you should learn it." 

Sighing, Keiko tilted her head down. 

This is too much.  She thought.  Everything is changing so suddenly. 

The rest of the trip was spent in silence, with Keiko contemplating her new circumstances. 

---

Eventually, they arrived at what Varcon described as a farm. 

"This place used to belong to another Savior before the new one took ownership of it," he explained. "You will train here until she determines that you're done. Once you are, you will be assigned to another Savior." 

"... Understood," Keiko nodded and a deacon took her hand, guiding her out of the cart. Her feet fell on dirt, a bit of grass reaching her exposed ankles.  It will take some time to get used to this place, memorizing its layout. I will start as soon as I can. 

She was led to the farm's front door and the deacon next to her knocked twice. 

Almost instantly, the door was opened. 

"Good morning, Savior. We have brought you the apprentice we spoke of in the letter. Get to work as soon as you are able to." 

Just like that, she heard the priests leave. She was going to say hello as well, but she was beaten to the punch. 

"HI!" 

The voice that greeted her was so energetic, Keiko recoiled. 

"U-Uhm... Hello?" Keiko raised a brow as the voice continued. 

"Hahaha, hey!" The woman reiterated. 

Because she couldn't see the people she spoke with, Keiko would try to judge people based on their voices. She didn't pretend like it was an accurate means of gauging people, but it was the best she had. And, to put it simply, this voice was... Surprising. 

"Come in, come in! Oh, sorry, I should probably..." A soft hand lightly took Keiko's left and she was led in. Suddenly, the smell of the outdoors and the grass was replaced by the smell of oatmeal. "I just started cooking something, are you hungry?" 

"No, thank you." 

"Suit yourself, alright," the woman briefly let go of Keiko and clapped.  "Welcome to my humble abode! I have a room you can stay in and you can train out in the fields. Anything you need right now though?" 

It took Keiko a second to internalize everything that had just been said. 

"I just need to know the layout of the building," Keiko explained. "Once I have it memorized I can get around on my own." 

"Sounds good! Oh, sorry, I should probably have introduced myself a little earlier," she said. "Name's Kaori, I'm a Fire mage, I'll be your teacher for a little while. Hope you'll enjoy your stay!" 

---

Her first impression of the woman she was going to be training under was that she was, firstly, absurdly young for her position, and secondly, exhausting to be around. 

"You're... a Savior?" Keiko asked as she kept her hand on a wall as she walked through the hallway, back and forth, trying to remember every door and how long it was. Beside her, as she could feel by the sheer warmth that this lady exuded, was Kaori. 

"Yep!" 

"But... You..."  Actually, is this rude?  She wondered, stopping herself before she finished the question. 

"Oh, don't be like that, you can ask me whatever you want to. Go ahead, spit it out!" Kaori said. 

"You're... You seem fairly young..." Keiko replied. I mean, she seems my age. 

"Oh, haha, well yeah," Kaori giggled a little. "I'm 20. I've only been a Savior for about two years now." 

"Hm?" Keiko tilted her head.  She's only two years older than me. Is that really enough to be a qualified teacher? 

"Don't worry, don't worry, I know what I'm doing, besides I'm not gonna show you ALL of the ropes, just a bit of what we do, how to get stronger, the good stuff like that," Kaori told her and Keiko nodded, not knowing if the woman saw the gesture or not. 

As she kept taking in her surroundings, Keiko noticed something. There were four rooms, but so far, she'd only seen Kaori here. One bedroom, one bathroom, I'm guessing... So what are those other two rooms for? 

A question came to her and she figured she could ask. 

"Excuse me," Keiko started. 

"Yeah?" 

"Um... Do you live alone?" Keiko asked. 

"Oh... Uh... Yeah..." 

Suddenly, that previous excitement in Kaori's voice died for just a moment. It returned just as quickly as it had left through. 

"Be right back, I'm going to go serve myself that oatmeal!" 

And so, she walked away. 

Well... That was strange.  Keiko thought, but she quickly went back to what she was doing. After a while, she felt like she had, at least, a slightly decent grasp of where she was. This farm was smaller than she'd expected, with just those four rooms in the back hallway, a living room, and a kitchen. 

This was to be her new home, at least until Kaori, this surprisingly young and bubbly Savior, decided she was ready to move on. Even then, she wouldn't be returning to the Zayama Compound, she'd instead go on to be taught by someone else. This felt so surreal to Keiko. 

I guess she finally got what she wanted,  Keiko thought as she sat on a couch in the living room, picturing her grandmother laughing in her office. I won't be coming back to the Compound in a long while. 

Then, Keiko heard Kaori start humming a song to herself, and she tilted her head. From humming, to outright singing, Kaori's voice grew slightly louder. 

"Flower so bright in a vast sea of darkness,

make us turn to light in our fated moments.

May Magia lead us,

Flower so bright in a world of reluctance,

make us face the dawn with Lumina's fortune,

And grant us the morning..."

Keiko sighed. 

I'm already tired.  She thought.  But... Don't think about it. You're here because you have a job to do. You're here... because you're a failure.  Keiko told herself. At least make sure you don't mess this up too.