Having gone without sleep the previous night, Vivi made sure to catch up the next. The mysteries of void magic shimmered enticingly on the edges of her thoughts, but pushing through such demanding research on a sleep-deprived mind would only sabotage her progress. So she reluctantly retired early.
In fairness, her comfy bed tempted her into its clutches too.
Ironically, when Saffra trudged down to the dining hall, Vivi could tell in one glance that the catgirl had followed in her master’s footsteps—if one day delayed. Her shoulders were slumped, her feet dragged, and dark bags hung underneath her eyes.
The White Glove accompanying her looked concerned, either for the girl’s state or for how Vivi would react. Not that Vivi would react to something so minor, but even slight disapproval from the Lady of the House might as well have been an oncoming Cataclysm.
The exhaustion so plain in Saffra’s posture cleared the moment her eyes met Vivi’s. A chin lifted with self-satisfaction and a drooping tail swished upright to join it.
“It took me all night, but I did it,” she announced, a hint of smugness in her tone.
Vivi’s eyebrows rose a fraction. “The void spell I gave you, you mean?” She knew by now that normal mages learned spells at a relative crawl, and tier-three was easier material than usual for Saffra, but even so, the specific design she'd been handed was both conceptually unusual and entirely novel, with nothing to serve as a reference point.
Vivi wouldn’t have expected the girl—or any other gold-rank mage—to succeed in a single night. Maybe the hint of smugness was deserved. Come to think of it, didn’t I take the same tone when I created the spell? The two situations mirrored each other in more than just the lack of sleep, she realized with amusement.
“Yep,” Saffra said, sliding into the chair next to her. “About an hour ago, I reached invocation. Sloppy like always, but I reached it.”
“You were taking proper precautions, right? You kept dispel scrolls on hand?”
“Staying up late doesn’t make me suicidal,” the girl huffed. “I’m not a child. Or an idiot.”
“Good.” Vivi paused as she realized something. “And, I should’ve said this first: well done. Reaching invocation in a single day is a serious accomplishment.”
For once, Saffra took the praise at face value. She still tried to stifle the smile that sprang to her lips, but she didn’t downplay the achievement. “Thank you. I wanted to start using it in the tournament and our training sessions as soon as I could. The earlier I begin, the faster I’ll earn a specialization. If it’s even possible to get one in void magic.” She squirmed in her seat, suddenly excited. “Speaking of that, there’s more good news. I leveled up.”
“Oh?” Leveling overwhelmingly came from direct conflict. Out-of-combat progress was far rarer. But there was a second reason the advancement mattered. “So the Grand System approves of the effort,” she pointed out. “That’s a promising indicator.”
Assuming it wasn’t random chance, a nitpicky part of her cautioned. It was dangerous to ascribe meaning to everything and anything, especially in matters so poorly understood as the System.
“Did you get a skill?” Vivi asked.
“No. But even a level seems like a good sign.”
“It is. Again, well done.”
Vivi was struck by an urge to pat the girl on the head, but despite the fact that they’d grown closer, she didn’t know whether that would be too familiar. Like usual, she overthought the impulse and ended up brushing it aside.
“That said, don’t push yourself too hard,” Vivi told her. Saffra didn’t have the same excuse as her when it came to skipping out on rest—she was more than a few levels short of a Title. “Mastery is a marathon, not a sprint, and you’re still growing. You need your sleep.”
Maybe she had spent too much time around Rafael and Jasper, because as soon as those words were out of her mouth, she waited for a quirked eyebrow if not an outright retort asking if she was speaking from experience—whether she’d missed too many restful nights when she was ‘still growing.’
But Saffra made no such joke. “I know, I know. I just couldn’t wait.” She added offhandedly, “Chalice also filled up a decent amount.”
Before Saffra could pull the artifact out to show Vivi, the sound of the doors to the dining hall opening had red cat ears swiveling. Uniformed servants led by Winston streamed inside with silver dishes perched atop gloved hands. Vivi didn’t like people catering to her as a general rule, but she also knew the staff did enjoy doing so. Really, with how the Vexaria manor served as the White Glove Academy, the ceremony doubled as a training opportunity.
The mention of the Chalice had brought a slight frown to Vivi’s face. Especially now that Saffra was pursuing a specialty and wanted to see what skills advancement would bring, Vivi grew increasingly sour on the idea of slowing her apprentice down.
But maybe it was a good thing. Leveling slower meant Saffra had more time to learn about void magic, which in turn meant a higher chance of being assigned the right specialty by the Grand System early in her career. It might honestly be better for her in the long term.
Vivi couldn’t tell if the line of reasoning had merit or if she was trying to assuage her guilt.
“So what’s on the docket today?” Saffra asked once they’d gotten started on their breakfast.
“I have a meeting with Sarielle. Something to do with upgrades to the guildhall. Administrative stuff, shouldn’t last that long. Maybe you could sneak a nap in the meantime.” She fixed her apprentice with a look that impressed the suggestion upon her. “Then we’ll go work through the next tier of qualifications. More training. The usual. We’ll play it by ear.”
“All right. But sleeping now’ll just leave me more dead.” She waved a hand—and fork—dismissively at the idea. “It’s not the first time I’ve stayed up all night. I’ll knock out extra early, it’s easier.” Saffra paused with a scoop of food halfway raised to her mouth. “Unless that wasn’t a suggestion?”
Vivi pursed her lips. She too had pulled a number of all-nighters, and for less respectable reasons than studying. Unless setting world firsts on raid clear times could be considered respectable… and it was to certain demographics, but also not to many others.
She wavered. The bags under the girl’s eyes were pretty pronounced. A short mental debate ensued before she shook her head. “It’s your call. Like you said, you’re not a child.” Even if you are, she thought. “Just don’t make a habit of running yourself into the ground.”
Saffra nodded in agreement.
After breakfast, Vivi dropped Saffra off at the Institute library, then [Blinked] to the guildhall. Sarielle, perched on a stool at the bar, straightened at the pop of air and turned to look at her. They were alone in the common area.
Sarielle stood and gracefully smoothed out her skirt. “Lady Vivisari. Good morning.”
“Good morning. I’m early, I think. Is that a problem?”
“Not at all. Your schedule is the one that takes priority, of course.”
Vivi’s nose almost wrinkled. Everyone’s time deserves respect. But not only was that probably not most people’s viewpoint in this hierarchical world, it would be awkward to moralize on the subject out of nowhere.
“The note Rafael left me was brief,” Vivi said. “Just that he wanted my input on some matters related to the guild’s expansion, and that you would be helping.”
“That’s the summary. The primary matters will be the direction for interior design, the layout, and general architectural styling. We have a meeting at the Builder’s Guild.”
That sounded more involved than she’d expected. “Design? Won’t it just be this, but bigger?” She gestured around the room.
She could intuit by Sarielle’s pause that she’d underestimated how many decisions came with massively expanding a guildhall. Though underestimated implied she’d given it much thought to begin with.
“That is certainly a direction we could take,” Sarielle responded smoothly, “and Lord Rafael assumed it would be your first preference. But there are details to decide on, and we’ve arranged other showcases in case you find yourself interested in a more drastic change. For completeness’ sake, that’s all.”
“I see. Why isn’t he the one joining me?” Vivi realized a second late that Sarielle might find the question rude, as though her presence were a downgrade. “I’m happy to have your company as well, of course, I’m just used to going through him. Anything he finds important enough to bother me about, he typically wants to be there for too.” She paused. “Not that this is a bother. I appreciate the work everyone is putting in for the guild.”
Okay, so maybe she would rather be with Rafael right now, but not out of dislike for Sarielle—instead for reasons she was illustrating in real time. She could fumble her words around Rafael or be generally thoughtless and he wouldn’t take offense.
Sarielle, thankfully, took the lack of grace in stride. “I believe it’s a test, Lady Vivisari.”
“For me?”
The demon blinked. “Ah, no, my apologies. I meant for myself. As his assistant, I ought to be comfortable conducting business with the Guildmaster on my own.” Catching her hands fidgeting, she pulled them behind her back. She saw that Vivi noticed the action, then stopped and laughed softly. “It’s only natural to be flustered around a figure of legend,” she said wryly, “but he has no use for someone who can’t stay collected while dealing with a superior.”
“That makes sense,” Vivi said slowly.
“As for why this task in particular? It’s something that is important enough to be worthy of your time, but not so crucial that a poor performance on my part affects much of significance.” A beat of silence. “He’s also stretched very thin, at the moment. It’s not just a test, but a way to free up some of his own schedule. He’s a man who prefers to accomplish multiple goals, whenever possible.”
Vivi found herself nodding along, the discrepancies of the situation having smoothed out in her mind. She appreciated the blunt answer, too. With how easily nuance could fly over her head, she would always prefer having circumstances explained in plain terms.
Aaand that’s probably not a coincidence. Rafael coached her on how to handle me. Let’s not think about how that conversation went. Blissful ignorance.
“We have an appointment with the Builder’s Guild?” she asked.
“Scheduled for half an hour from now, though I'm sure our contact won't mind if we show up early.” Sarielle laughed. “His client is the Sorceress. He’ll be on standby all day, I suspect.”
Vivi suppressed a sigh at yet another mention of how eager people were to bend over backwards for her. Sarielle seemed less nervous than during their first meeting, but her uncertainty shone through as well. Assuming Rafael had briefed his assistant on how to deal with the Sorceress—and he must have—then he’d probably told Sarielle to ‘act normal’ since it was what he knew Vivi preferred. Yet even still, she could read the woman’s tension.
It’s nice that she’s not a perfect actor like Rafael, I suppose. Unless she’s pretending not to be. Her head started to hurt as she considered the potential chain of deception.
“Shall we leave now?” Sarielle asked. “I’m sure you have other business to attend to. I don’t want to occupy your time needlessly.”
“There’s no rush. But also no point in waiting.”
Sarielle smiled and headed for the front door to hold it open. Vivi nearly blinked as she realized the woman intended for them to walk.
Then she mentally blushed at her reaction.
Yep. Definitely been teleporting around too much. Walking places is normal, Vivi, don’t be shocked and appalled at the suggestion.
As a matter of principle, she for once set aside [Blink], striding out onto the streets alongside Sarielle. She hid her tattoos and changed the design of her robes and horns. The disguise wouldn’t fool anyone who knew her face well, but that wasn’t the point. She was only avoiding all the open staring that would come from strolling through the city as herself.
I wonder if Aeris takes the same precautions when he ventures out. She thought about that for a second, then shook her head. More likely, he’s used to the gawking, or simply doesn’t care.
“How’s the guild been treating you?” Vivi asked.
“Oh.” Sarielle clearly hadn’t expected the question. “Wonderfully, of course.”
“We did steal you and your brother away on short notice. I’m sure you weren’t expecting to stay in Meridian for long when your father sent you out.”
“I’m not sure if I would use the word ‘steal’ when it comes to the opportunity of a lifetime,” Sarielle said slowly. Vivi got the impression she was forcing herself to contradict the Sorceress. “But yes, everyone has treated me splendidly.” A short pause. “It’s a friendlier environment than I had back home, I can say that much.”
Vivi glanced at the woman.
“Combat isn’t where my skills lie,” Sarielle elaborated. “The human kingdoms are… more respectful to failures of that variety.”
“Ah.” Vivi wasn’t sure how to respond, but she didn’t enjoy how Sarielle had chosen the word ‘failure.’ “I’m glad you feel welcome.”
“I do.”
“Rafael isn’t overworking you?”
Sarielle blinked, then emphatically responded, “I’m busy, as we all are with everything that’s happening, but I wish he would give me more opportunity to prove myself, certainly not less.”
Even Vivi picked up on the—not inappropriate, but surprisingly intense—undercurrent in Sarielle's tone.
“And he’s treating you well himself?” she asked cautiously, now suspicious.
Sarielle seemed to realize her mistake. She cleared her throat. “N-naturally.”
Vivi watched with amazement as the woman’s cheeks began coloring. The realization struck her hard enough her eyebrows almost shot up.
Is there… is there something between those two?
After a moment, she decided the ‘admiration’ was far more likely to be one-sided.
“You respect him,” Vivi said.
“That goes without saying. Even if he is no great warrior, all of demonkind respects the Steward of Vanguard. The world does.”
“You especially respect him.”
Sarielle’s cheeks darkened further. She didn’t meet Vivi’s eyes, but she also lifted her chin and spoke without embarrassment. “His reputation alone made my life easier. A hundred years ago, demonic society was far less friendly toward those with no martial or magical talent than it is today—let alone toward those of us interested in civil matters, logistics, and politics. Then there’s the fact that I admire him and his accomplishments on their own merit. The same way most mages look up to the Sorceress, I wish to follow in his footsteps. So yes. I especially respect him, Lady Vivisari.”
They walked together in quiet for a few moments. Vivi wondered if she’d been rude. Would Sarielle have answered had it not been her superior asking? Was this too prying of a conversation?
Also, now I need to know what Rafael thinks. If I noticed her ‘admiration,’ then there’s no way he hasn’t.
“I see,” Vivi finally replied. “I didn’t consider how demonic society might see him. Or how he’s changed it. But we can agree that he’s someone worth looking up to. There’s no one I rely on more.”
Sarielle seemed startled at the high praise. Her surprise gave way to a smile. “Perhaps one day, I’ll fulfill the same role for someone I respect.”
“I’m sure you will, Sarielle.”