Krion stepped lightly across the cobblestones as he made his way with Hatsune dowreet away from the now that Esseudies was done for the day. Most of the students in the css had lingered, discussing the session with friends, hing over shared jokes. As soon as Professor Stormcloak had left, however, Krion collected Hatsune a for the tral Archives.

  While Professor Stormcloak had not beely what he was expeg, the css itself had beehing he had hoped it would be. The opportunity to start delving into the mysteries of the Multiverse, to pursue power in the form of Essences and magic would give him a major step up for the future that faced Earth. More, he had hope he would be able to achieve a lot himself without having to rely too mu professors or instructors, as Professor Stormcloak had said that Essence could only be cultivated through knowledge, experience, and willpower. Css and the tral Archive would help with the first, but he could gain the sed and third through his own efforts. The first step t on all three would be to get his hands on some Knowledge s, which was why he was rushing towards the tral Archives now.

  “Lord Krion,” Hatsune spoke up, her voice curious, “why are we heading to the tral Archives? Aren’t you ied iurning to Banor to rex for the rest of the day? From what I overheard, that is what many of the other ss in your css will be doing.”

  Krion shook his head, tinuing to head in the dire of the tral Archive. “Rex? There is no time for me to rex, Hatsune. I’m already behind. Every hour spent doing anything but my studies is a wasted hour for the other ss to pull ahead.”

  Her ears twitched, her steps faltering for a moment. “Behind? You’ve barely had time to settle in. Why are you rushing to start assigs?”

  “Because of the differeween me and them, Hatsune,” he said, gng at her as they walked. “My best guess is that most first-year ss have spent their lives preparing for this moment. They’ve been doing all they to prepare for studying Essences and magic, practig bat, and buildiworks sihey were children. I didn’t have that luxury. If I don’t take advantage of every hour I , I’ll never catch up let alone surpass them.”

  The t ns and intricate stonework of the tral Archives soon came into view. Rather than the front, the street they had followed along brought Krion and Hatsuo the side of the massive building. He led her through a side entrance. Much like the mairawo statues stood oher side of the side door — some kind of lion with a sail, the other an owl with four wings clutg a scroll — stood watbsp;

  Sweeping inside, he was greeted by the smell of part, leather, and the faint st of ink. Beyond the entryway, rows upon rows of shelves, each brimming with tomes, scrolls, and books, loomed around them. As much as he wao take some time to idly peruse them, he was currently more ed about trag down someone who could point him to a way he could earn some Knowledge s.

  Speak of the devil.

  A low-ranking librarian, an elderly man with thinning grey hair and round spectacles, stepped out from the shelves as they approached. His gaze lingered on Hatsune, or more specifically, her sword, before he turned his attention to Krion. The librarian’s eyes drifted to the mark of Krion’s House on his uniform’s shoulder. As soon as the old man saw the Bcksword crest on his shoulder, he straighteo face Krion.

  “How may I assist you, young s?” he asked.

  “I was looking for a pce where I might find if the tral Archives has any open Academy Assigs,” Krion replied. “Preferably ohat would help me earn some Knowledge s.”

  The old librarian bli the mention of Knowledge s. “Ah, of course. You’ll want to visit one of the public Academy Assig boards in the building then. The one would be…” the old man trailed off as he visibly tried to get his bearings by looking at the pcards denoting the various ses of shelving, before he finally tinued, “…just that way, he study rooms. You ’t miss them.”

  “Thank you for the help,” Krion said, theured for Hatsuo follow him. They made their way down the lines of shelves until they came to an opened part of the floor in which rows of desks were filled with older ss w on their studies. Along the wall just beyond them stood a series of private rooms where groups of sight study together. Normally, Krion would be ied iing a closer look at where he might well be spending a good k of his time iure, but something else seized his attention.

  A rge, ornate board stood in pce of a shelf immediately before the opehat held the desks. Covered in ns of softly glowing words, as he stepped closer Krion could see that each listing was a different Academy Assig avaible for students to uake. Krion’s eyes swept over the options, his brow furrowing as he read the titles. A good number seemed to be a bit outside of his abilities, given the rewards ted into the thousands of Knowledge s and dozens of Seals of various sorts, but he bottom seemed to be some that fit what he was looking for.

  Belong an Academy Assighat alluded to a dragon hunt, a long list of Academy Assigs involving missing books caught his eye. The list stretched down that side of the board like a tapestry, eatry with a brief description of the book and the location it was st seen. One caught his attention, and when he focused on it, an Academy Assig appeared on a s in front of him.

  Academy Assig - Missing Manual Fragment: Whispers of Bck Steel (Rare)

  A Librarian at the tral Archives has issued a special task to recover a rare fragment of a lost beastkin sword-fighting manual, “Whispers of Bck Steel,” which was not returo the proper shelf. The fragment tains insight into the missing fighting style, making it invaluable to schors and warriors alike. Your task is to locate the fragment of the manual and to return it to a librarian so that it might be properly shelved.

  ditions for Success: Locate the fragment of “Whispers of Bck Steel” aurn it to a librarian to be reshelved.

  Rewards for pletion: A copy of the fragment of “Whispers of Bck Steel”; 15 Knowledge s

  Accept: Yes/No

  While the title meant nothing to him, Krion did find it iing that it was a manual for a beastkin style of sword-fighting. He accepted the Academy Assig.

  “I think I’ve found ohat we plete,” Krion said, then shared the information with Hatsune.

  Hatsune, who had been standing slightly behind him, leaned in to read over the information that was dispyed on the board. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw the title of the fragment they would o find, a sharp gasp esg from her lips. ”A fragment of Whispers of Bck Steel…?” Her voice was filled with awe. “Lord Krion, that’s… that’s not just any sword style. I reize it from my people’s stories, but it has been lost for hundreds of years. Just how does the Imperial Academy have even this fragment?”

  Krion was somewhat taken aback by Hatsune’s fervent tone, “I thought it sounded iing, but is it really that important?”

  “Lord,” Hatsune responded in aohis is a fragment of one of the Lost Sword Arts of my people. If I could get my hands on that fragment… if I could read it—”

  “Well, it’s a good thing I accepted the Academy Assighen,” Krion interrupted her, as he could tell she was starting to work herself up. “The sooner we find it, the sooner you read over our copy from the reward. Now, lets find someone who direct us to where the fragment should have been. Perhaps it will be hat location.”

  Though Hatsune seemed shocked at the possibility that she might be able to read something so precious to her people, she did remember herself enough to follow behind Krion as he sought out another librarian for help.

  It took them a few minutes, but eventually, Krion found a younger elven librarian who was busy repg some hefty tomes on a shelf. When Krion asked him where they should start looking, the librarian’s response didn’t give him much hope.

  “The fragment you seek will not be an easy oo find. To make it into a formal Academy Assig means that at least three assistant librarians were uo find it. This one in particur has been missing for some time, and the st known location was… well, let’s just say it’s somewhere deep in a restricted se.”

  Krion looked to Hatsune, who nodded. “Restricted se, huh? Well, we shouldn’t have a problem searg there first.”

  “You misuand,” the librarian shook his head, “I said that was the st known location. It is also where the librarians who created the Academy Assig would have searched first. I would reend you instead start with where it should have been shelved. Perhaps there will be a clue there.”

  After giving them a precise description of where to go, the librariauro his shelving. It took Krion and Hatsune about ten minutes of walking to get there. The tral Archive really was massive. Apparently the se oic fighting styles they arrived at did not receive muterest from the general s popution. A thin yer of dust set on the shelves, and the majority of the books and scrolls looked like they hadn’t been moved in some time. Even the lights overhead were dimmer. Direg Hatsuo one side, they both took their time to look over the various titles, hoping that maybe the fragment had simply been misshelved in the same se. Eventually, Krion’s firaced the edges of the books o shelf on his side, his eyes sing for any sign that Whispers of Bck Steel was there. But no luck.

  “Do you think it’s deeper in?” Krion asked as he g Hatsune who was just finishing on her own side.

  The Leporine shrugged, ears twitg in what Krion was starting to learn was frustration. “I have no idea. But knowing it is in here, somewhere, I don’t want to stop searg until I find it.”

  Krion nodded but didn’t move for a moment, thinking over their options. Before he could make much headway, he found his attention being pulled further down the rows. It almost felt like he was being watched.

  “Lord Krion?”

  Before he could respond, a sudden noise broke through the stillness — a faint sound, like the snap of a twig underfoot, though that couldn’t possibly be what it was.

  Both of them froze, their instincts immediately on high alert. Hatsune’s ears were fixed in the dire of the sound, her sharp eyes darting along the bookshelves. Krion’s hand instinctively reached for the hilt of his greatsword, only to remember he had left it back at Banor since he had been told ss were not allowed to carry ons to csses. He cursed under his breath.

  From the darkness ahead, a group of figures emerged. It was a small group — six individuals, half dressed in the uniforms of ss, the others clearly their bodyguards. Krion’s heart began to race as he reized at least two of them: the spoiled and unsufferable Chadwick alongside his friend from the Hall of Bonds.

  “Lovely,” Krion muttered under his breath, anger already starting to build in him. “Just when I thought I’d be able to have a day free from this shit.”

  Chadwick smirked as he stepped forward in front of the others, his expression full of spite. “Well, well, if it isn’t Krion the s of House Bcksword. My, how my luck seems to favor me today.”

  Krion straightened, doing his best to remain in trol of his anger. He would like nothing more than to beat Chadwick’s fa for what he had said about Hatsuhe other day, but he o keep a handle on his anger. At least until Chadwick made the first move, that was.

  Beside Krion, Hatsune’s hand instinctively went to her waist, grasping the hilt of her sword, but she hesitated, clearly unsure of what to do. This was the tral Archive, not a street outside.

  Since Krion had no desire to be suspended from this amazing pce if he could help it, he reached out to gently prevent Hatsune from drawing her on.

  “What do you want, Chadwick?”

  “I’m afraid, Bcksword, that you already know the ao that question,” Chadwieered. “You stole what was mine, and now I’m going to make sure yret it.”

  Krion’s eyes narrowed, and he quickly gnced over the six men fag him. Besides Chadwick, both of the other ss were unarmed, but their human bodyguards each possessed short swords and long khat would not be too hampered by the close fines of the shelves. If Chadwick truly meant to resort to a fight, this could get bloody fast.

  “If yoing to threaten me, you should at least have the decy to fight your own battles, Chadwick.”

  “Oh, I don’t o fight my own battles,” Chadwick replied smoothly. “Not when I have capable people to do it for me.”

  As if ohe bodyguards behind him stepped forward. The first, a tall man with thick arms and a cold, calg expression, approached Hatsuh a predatleam in his eye.

  Hatsune didn’t back down, though her hand tightened on the hilt of her sword. But as she prepared to draw it, the other bodyguard struck first.

  The bodyguard lunged forward in a blur of motion, his hands grabbing her wrists with surprising speed and force. Hatsune gasped, stumbling backward as she tried to break free, but his grip was too tight. She twisted and kicked, but the man was already overp her, and before she could pull herself free, he had her restrained.

  “No!” Krion shouted, his voice filled with fury. He moved to intervene, hands reag for the bodyguard who held Hatsune, but Chadwick stepped forward, cutting him off as his mog ughter rang out.

  “Did you really think you could keep her from me, Krion?” Chadwick taunted. “The bunnykin was only ever meant to serve me. You really should just relinquish her into my care.”

  “Never!” Krion’s fists ched as his rage boiled over, but before he could hurl himself at Chadwick, the remaining two bodyguards stepped in front of him, their expressions hard and fident. Chadwick smirked from behind his protectors, tent to let them fight for him.

  Krion took a long moment to sider his approach, thinking over his approach. His sparring with Rolfun ing to his mind, which filled him with a steely fideneither of these two had anything on the half-ogre Berserker. He raised his fists and waited for the bodyguards to make the first move.

  The first, a short brute with a mace-like fist, lu Krion, while the other — a wiry man with a wispy beard — moved to fnk him. Krion’s fury ignited, and his senses sharpe what he had to do. Hatsune was at risk. He was at risk. No merbsp;

  As the brute swung, Krion sidestepped faster than the bodyguard expected, and his own fist drove like a piston into the man’s ribs. The impact sent a resounding crack through the shelves, and the man staggered back, clutg his chest, gasping in pain. The sed bodyguard, already moving to take advantage, aimed low at Krion’s side before hesitating at the sound of the blow the Bcksword s delivered. Before he could recover, Krion spun with terrifying speed, catg his wrist in mid-strike. His grip was iron, and with a snarl, he twisted, f the bodyguard to the side. The wiry man shed out with his free hand, but Krion moved faster to drive his ko his stomach, lifting him half a foot off the ground, only to hit the flasping.

  The brute, rec, roared and charged again, but Krion was already turning baeet him head-on. This time, Krion unleashed a flurry of brutal strikes that Rolfun had shown him in one of their sessions: a jab to the throat, a crushing blow to the knee, and a finishing uppercut that left the stocky man colpsing like a felled tree. When he came to a rest on the ground near a shelf, he did not rise again.

  Krion turned once more back to his other attacker, who had begun rising shakily to his feet, holding his side with one hand. The bodyguard hesitated again, gng at his fallen rade, before drawing his dagger and lunging at Krion with a desperate strike. Krion caught his swing and wrehe bde from his hand, flipping it in his grasp and pressing it against his throat in one fluid motion. He froze, eyes wide with fear.

  Krio him go with a shove, and the bodyguard stumbled backward, colpsing beside his unscious ally. Krion’s chest heaved as he turned his gre on Chadwick.

  The other s’s smirk faltered, repced by wide-eyed terror. He took an involuntary step back to stand with the other two nervous ss, his fidence evaporating. “Stay — stay away from me!” he stammered, voice shaking.

  “You’ll regret this,” Krion growled, but he did not pursue Chadwick further. “I was willing to let things go, Chadwick. But attag us like this, in the tral Archive no less, I now know that that won’t be an option.”

  “Oh, I know it’s not over,” Chadwick replied, his voice dark with renewed menace upon seeing Krion halt his advahis is only the beginning. Do you think you will get away with stealing that bunnykin? Think again, Bcksword. You’ve made an enemy of House Copperhand, and I will make you pay.”

  Just as Krion reparing to rush forward, hang the sequehe faint sound of footsteps came from behind him. A voice called out, soft but clear.

  “What’s going on here?”

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