Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 287: Chapter 287: Monday’s Emergency Mission

Chapter 287 – Monday’s Emergency Mission

Time passed, and finally Monday came.

The atmosphere around the Academy was tense, and anyone could sense that things were about to get a lot more dangerous from here on out.

This was nothing new for the second year and above. They’d already lived through this before, and already had some idea of what to expect.

Still, knowing that didn’t diminish the fear some of them felt, or the excitement others were experiencing.

Every student in the Academy knew this was their chance to either climb the ranks and become one of the Named, or lose everything they’d built up until now.

No one was spared. The rules applied to everyone equally.

And so it began.

Students started challenging one another, wagering everything they had.

But those who challenged on the very first day were mostly lower-ranked students.

The Top 10 of each year hadn’t challenged anyone yet, and no one had challenged them either, for the time being.

The first year was smart enough to observe first before challenging anyone.

On top of that, the first year had their Opening Ceremony the next day, making most of them reluctant to waste any energy beforehand.

So, without discussing it, most of them decided to wait until after Tuesday to challenge, giving them time to better understand how the system worked.

None of that, however, concerned Cassius. That Monday was no different from any other, meaning his master was waiting for him for their daily training.

Cassius entered the Realm of Mountains and Sea, anticipating his training. Now that he’d finished the physical portion, he could finally focus on training his power.

But that wasn’t what happened.

"Sit down." Mallory said the moment he appeared in the Realm.

He found her seated in midair, as though there were a chair there he simply couldn’t see.

"Sit?" He said, questioning, "Why? Aren’t we training today?"

"We will, but first I wanted to answer a question you asked once. It’s time."

"I’ve asked a lot of questions. Which one?"

"The Realm of Master." Mallory replied with a smile, "You wanted to become Adam Kai’s disciple because he’s a Master, right?"

Cassius sat down now, fully focused, "Yes."

"What do you know about Masters?"

"Nothing beyond what everyone already knows." He said, frowning slightly, "There’s suspiciously little information out there about them. I know Masters are recognized by the Kingdom itself, and you reach that level after gaining deep understanding in a field. Is that it?"

"Part of it." Mallory nodded, crossing her legs, looking at her disciple, "There’s a reason Masters are so valued and respected. And that reason is simply that only they can use {Commands}."

"Huh?" Cassius tilted his head, hearing the term for the first time, "What’s that?"

Mallory smiled, "{Commands} is an ability that lets you impose your will onto Reality itself. You literally command Reality to accept your version of it for a set amount of time. A {Command} is only one sentence, nothing more. For example..."

She paused for dramatic effect, then opened her mouth and spoke:

{I am never alone.}

Cassius’s heart skipped a beat at his master’s voice, his eyes flying wide.

An unknown pressure suddenly blanketed their surroundings, pressing down on his chest so hard he could no longer breathe.

His back slumped, and an audible crack echoed, as though something inside him were being broken piece by piece.

’Queen’s breath!’ Cassius cursed in dismay, unable to believe he’d been rendered this helpless by a single sentence.

He gritted his teeth and forced his head back up, the effort making his bones crack even louder, blood trickling from his nose and his right eye.

But he pushed through, and finally managed to raise his head enough to look at his master.

"What the..." he muttered immediately, his face falling as he took in the scene around him.

Mallory hadn’t moved from her spot. But surrounding her — and him — on every side stood dozens upon dozens of beings.

They were clad in silver clothes, draconic horns jutting from their heads. Some had only two horns; others had as many as six, forming something like a crown.

Even the sky wasn’t spared, filled with the same creatures, their silver draconic eyes staring down at him, flat but murderous.

"You see now?" Mallory spoke, and it felt as though every single one of them spoke with her.

Cassius’s left eye throbbed heavily, then forced into its draconic form, crimson and white fire bursting out from him.

However...

"Easy, Cassius." Mallory whispered, and the fire died down instantly, suppressed by her voice.

At the same time, she released her {Command}, and the atmosphere, along with Cassius’s left eye, returned to normal.

He coughed, then wiped the blood from his nose and right eye with the back of his hand, still trembling from the pressure.

"What...what was that?" He asked, looking at his master, staggering back into a seated position.

"That was a glimpse of what a {Command} can do." She replied, "I gave Reality a command — ’I am never alone’ — imposing my will onto it. So my command became Truth, and that Truth manifested by pulling the deceased members of my family into being at my side, plucking their most recent selves from the History of the World, before their deaths."

Cassius was flabbergasted, but above all, confused, "...you can do that?"

"You can do many things with {Commands}, Cassius." Mallory said, smiling, "I once knew someone whose {Command} was ’I cannot die.’" she chuckled, "He was the worst nightmare of his enemies, because every time he was about to be killed, his {Command} kept him alive just long enough to either win, or escape and heal."

"Did he end up dying eventually, then?"

"{Commands} are powerful, but not absolute." Mallory said, her tone warning, "It requires your Will to function, and if someone possesses a stronger Will than yours, they can bypass it and kill you."

"I see." Cassius muttered, inwardly astonished by such power. "Remind me how we gain it again?"

"By mastering a domain deeply enough."

"Any domain?"

"It can be anything." Mallory nodded, "Dancing, singing, killing...even loneliness, or death itself. If you master something — anything — deeply enough to reach what MasterofPaths called the Unblinded Eye, you’ll unlock your {Commands}. The sentence isn’t something you choose consciously; it’s born naturally from your understanding of that domain."

"Which means people who master the same domain could end up with different {Commands}?"

"Exactly."

"So does that mean it’s possible to have more than one?"

Mallory laughed, "It’s possible, indeed. But how easy do you think reaching the Unblinded Eye is? It’s harder than anything you can imagine. Most people never achieve that level in their entire lifetime."

"I’m not most people, master." Cassius replied, "As long as it’s possible, there’s no harm in trying."

Mallory shrugged, saying nothing more. Either way, he’d learn firsthand just how difficult it was. Still, she knew her disciple would have an easier time than most, thanks to his Innate.

So master and disciple continued discussing {Commands} until the training session ended.

Cassius returned to his room, mulling over which domain he might want to master.

And that was when he realized something about himself.

The problem with Cassius was that he didn’t have much passion...if any at all.

Nearly everything he did served as a tool toward his goals. He couldn’t help it. One couldn’t force passion into existence.

But he knew that without it, even he would struggle to persevere long enough to truly master anything, especially with all the other problems still weighing on him.

That realization dampened his mood slightly.

He tried not to dwell on it and prepared for class instead. At the same time, he wanted to see who was challenging whom, and whether any of it was worth watching.

One thing was certain: no "Top 10" battles would happen on the first day. If one did occur, regardless of year, the Academy would notify the entire student body.

That was how significant such a battle was.

So anyone foolish enough to challenge a Top 10 student without being certain of victory would only humiliate themselves further.

"Still, I hope someone challenges me. Someone who meets all my requirements. Anyone but Emrys, that is." He said, examining himself in the mirror.

He’d taken longer than usual getting ready, and was now a full hour late for a class that was supposed to start at 9am.

"Who cares." Cassius said lazily, smiling at his own handsome reflection.

He grabbed his phone, tucked it into his pocket, and stepped out of the room, his pace unhurried.

However, Cassius froze the instant he stepped out, his door closing behind him.

He turned to his right and saw a woman stepping out of her room. Then he turned to his left and saw a man doing the same.

His two neighbors flanking his own room, the ones he’d been curious about all this time, and finally, Cassius was seeing them.

The woman wore a hood, partially obscuring her face, though Cassius could still make out her yellow eyes, more exhausted-looking than anything he’d ever seen.

He glanced at her uniform, and saw the color marking her as a third-year.

’Oh my.’

The other was a man, tall, with short pink hair. His left eye appeared blinded, a deep scar running from eyebrow to chin, the eye itself gone white. His right eye was black, shining with power. He was quite handsome, earrings glinting on both ears.

He wore his uniform with sleeves folded past the elbow, revealing a tattoo on his right forearm — a woman who, even inked, bore an eerie resemblance to him.

Cassius noted the second-year color on him.

While Cassius examined them, the two of them examined him just as closely.

The woman said nothing, but the man spoke.

"White hair, and red eyes." The man said, his voice heavy yet somehow soft, tilting his head as if for a better look, "A Desdemona. And you’re wearing first-year colors. So I’m guessing you’re the famous—"

"—Cassius Desdemona. Lucian’s brother. Isolde’s husband." The woman finished for him. The man shot her a glare, but she didn’t seem to care.

Cassius looked between them, then smiled after a brief pause, "It’s indeed me, Cassius. I’m honored my seniors already know of me. But you’ll have to forgive me, I’m still new here, and I don’t actually know who you are."

He looked between them, "Might I know your names?"

"Cass—!" The woman’s voice cut off abruptly as she lifted her head skyward.

Not just her, Cassius and the other man did the same.

There, they saw a tiny eyeball blinking rapidly, nervous.

The woman and the man recognized it instantly, "The Watcher’s Emergency Eye?"

They said in unison, both frowning.

"A Tier 5 Fractured Land in Tier 3 Bosi City has had an outbreak. Monsters are spilling out, and the city lacks the strength to contain it." The Eye said hastily, "The Dean told me to call Angel to handle it as a training exercise, accompanied by two of my choosing. Well, divine timing, you three have been chosen."

"Divine timing my fucking ass! I have a challenge to watch!" The man complained instantly, "I don’t have time for this!"

"I refuse." The woman added, annoyed.

Cassius stayed quiet, lips twitching.

"This wasn’t a request. It’s an order from the Dean herself." The Eye said, turning its gaze coldly on each of them, "Copycat, Drunken Window, and Angel..."

Cassius’s eyes widened at the names, "I beg your pardon?"

"...the three of you are being sent on an Emergency Mission. Duration was initially one full day, but with the three of you together, it’s cut to 3 hours. I should note that any damage done to the city, resulting from carelessness or a failure to control your own power, will be deducted from your EP as compensation. And finally, you’re ordered to depart..."

The three Palatines exchanged glances, their expressions deeply annoyed.

"Immediately."

—End of Chapter 287—