The night before, Fox had warned him about the schedule, and Tom woke up in a panic that morning.
Since his wristwatch only had a working hour hand, all he knew was that he was within the time frame — at least for now. Which meant he could be anything from almost an hour early to just one minute away from the daily physical training.
His concern only worsened when he passed through the kitchen and Snow told him he was cutting it close.
Running down the stairs and skipping the last few steps, there she was — standing tall, black hair flowing in the wind, dark brown eyes, a lilac tunic shirt with a short neckline, arms crossed. The captain of the Moonlight mercenary squad, Laylla Stoth.
"You're late!" And of course, she was in a bad mood. Great. "Down on the ground. Now."
The day had started far too early, far too hectic for Tom's noisy mind. There were so many other things he wished he could focus on instead.
And so the morning passed, with the captain barking out exercises and giving either very short breaks — or none — to the newly arrived mercenary.
Apparently, Laylla was bothered by something beyond just his tardiness and decided to take it out on Tom, who had no choice but to follow her commands. Whether in the army before or as a mercenary now, arguing with a superior over something trivial was a terrible idea.
After a few days of training, he was already used to the sheer number of repetitions. Even if the physical results weren't very visible yet, he could feel himself becoming more resilient.
"Enough," she ordered.
Ending the plank position he was holding, Tom stood up, the lower line of his abs still burning.
"Captain, is this because of yesterday? You seem more rushed than usual," he asked, almost innocently.
Laylla, who was sitting on the low wall between the corridor and the open space of the headquarters, shot him a lethal glare.
"I was about to dismiss you, but it seems like you want to keep going until late afternoon. Is that what you want?"
He swallowed hard, immediately questioning why he had asked that in the first place.
Without reacting further, he kept watching her.
"From what Malivor told me, you have at least some basic notion of fighting — but I'll train you better soon," she said, slipping her hands into her pants pockets. "And yeah… Malivor is definitely going to want to fight you to test your ascendant powers. Because of that, I sent him on a mission early so you'd have time to prepare, Tom. Go to Fox's office and tell her I approved your advance."
With that, Laylla sighed and left the open area of the headquarters, heading down the corridor.
Tom didn't think much after that. He grabbed his clothes, took a quick shower, changed, and headed straight to Fox's office.
Yes, he was eager to test his ascendant powers — but also a little nervous. Given Malivor's temperament, it was very possible he'd get carried away and take the fight a bit too seriously.
It almost felt unfair to put a beginner ascendant against someone who already knew how to use his powers well. Still, there wasn't much to do — just make the most of the time the captain had given him.
Knock, knock. He knocked before entering.
"Is that you, Tom?" Fox's gentle voice came from inside. "You can come in."
As soon as he entered, she — seated at her desk as the squad's secretary — interlaced her fingers beneath her chin and rested her elbows on the table.
"What do you need?"
"Captain told me to let you know she approved my advance," Tom said. With no extra chairs in the room, he remained standing in front of her desk.
After he spoke, Fox stood and walked over to one of the shelves, reaching for the lowest one. She crouched slightly and picked up a medium-sized box.
Bringing it back to her desk, she then opened one of the rear drawers and took out a handful of faded brown coins.
"Here. Fifteen kranns, and the sword you asked for," she said, placing the coins beside the box.
I should've guessed the advance would be money, huh?
"Thanks, Fox. And… just a question. How much are fifteen kranns worth? You told me before that the book I borrowed cost three zenns per day."
"One krann is equivalent to ten zenns. So, you're holding one hundred and fifty zenns," she explained.
One hundred and fifty?! Wait— is that a lot or a little? Tom tried to hide his surprise.
"I want to pay the nine zenns I owe you."
Of course, his first objective now that he had money was to settle the debt he'd incurred by borrowing the book he'd used to learn about the geography of this world.
"I understand, but technically you don't owe me," Fox replied. "I borrowed that book from the kingdom's library, so there's a fee."
"Oh… I see." Tom scratched the back of his head.
"At the moment, I have another task the captain gave me, so I could only return the book tomorrow. That would make the total twelve zenns. Or, you can return the book yourself," she said, smiling gently as she sat back down.
"Go myself…"
"Sure. Just find a carriage and tell the driver to take you to the 'd'Kallivyeski Library'. He'll drop you off there."
What a strange name.
To Tom, it felt like Fox was just making an excuse not to walk through the city to return the book herself — but since he couldn't really argue, he simply nodded, grabbed the box and coins, and left the room.
In his room, he opened the box, revealing a medium-sized sword with a relatively simple design but with a letter "T" engraved at the base of the blade near the guard.
"T for Tom… yeah, you could say it's personalized. And I actually like it for my first sword." His expression relaxed.
Inside the box was also a brown scabbard, decorated with a crescent moon and another "T" inside it.
Strapping the scabbard to his waist, Tom began swinging the blade through the air, testing movements and balance. The sword was fairly light, so his arm didn't tire even after a dozen swings.
Quickly changing direction, he rotated the blade into a thrust, accidentally striking the table in the corner of the room.
"Oh!…" He immediately pulled his arm back and sheathed the sword.
"It's sharp," he muttered with a nervous laugh, teeth clenched as he stared at the hole the blade had left in the wooden table.
Removing the sheathed sword from his waist, he placed it on the bed. He figured it probably wasn't a great idea to walk around the city with a sword at his hip — especially since he hadn't noticed anyone armed on the streets the day before.
Pocketing the coins and tucking the book under his arm, Tom left his room and the Moonlight headquarters, beginning his search for a carriage to take him to the library.
Finding one proved a bit difficult, since he had to walk nearly two streets before spotting a carriage stand in front of a small shop.
Approaching it, Tom waved to the driver, who nodded in response.
"To the d'Kallivyeski Library. How much?"
"One way is five zenns. Round trip is one krann," replied the driver, an elderly man with an unremarkable appearance.
Is that expensive or cheap? Tom tried comparing it to the book's rental fee, but it didn't help much.
"Round trip, please," he said, handing over a brownish coin and climbing into the carriage.
The carriage had four wheels, a simple cabin with a dark roof, and an unpadded bench. Outside, there was a cushioned seat where the driver sat, holding the reins of the horse pulling it.
With a snap of the reins, the horse began to move, and Tom started observing the city streets.
In general, the roads were paved, and the buildings and houses had a Gothic style — sharp structures, with a strong presence of gray, black, and red. During the day, the street signs bore no glow at all, and no bats flew through the sky.
…
At the base of the SYNC mercenary squad.
Firm footsteps contrasted with a wary gaze. Blue eyes scanned every corridor, searching for something — or someone. Emily, her blonde hair slightly messy, walked toward the base's outer area, where faint metallic sounds could be heard.
Stepping outside and into the sunlight, Emily spotted a figure.
A golden-haired woman was swinging her arms, cutting and slicing through straw dummies with a sword that moved with mastery and precision.
"Huh. Ha. Iah."
The swordswoman let out sporadic sounds as she completely decapitated the dummies.
Emily opened her mouth to speak but stopped, simply watching.
Niora, who was usually wearing a dark blue overcoat as part of the squad uniform was now dressed only in a top that exposed the muscles of her back and arms, along with pants on her lower half.
"Ms. Niora," the princess said with a smile.
The mercenary swordswoman drove her blade into another dummy, splitting it in half, before finally turning toward the princess.
"Emily… I thought you said you didn't want to leave your room today," she said reproachfully.
"Ah… yes, I did," Emily replied, averting her gaze awkwardly after contradicting what she'd said earlier.
Niora retrieved her clothes, which had been draped over another dummy off to the side — one that was still intact — and dressed herself in her white shirt and dark blue uniform.
"So. What happened?" she asked plainly.
"I wanted to know if…" Emily pinched her forehead as she paused.
Niora furrowed her brows, her expression bordering on irritation. Sliding the sword into its scabbard, she turned her attention fully to Emily.
"If what? What is it?" she gestured impatiently.
"If I can send a letter to my father. He must still be worried. I've been gone for almost two weeks now." Emily bit her tongue on purpose after finishing.
She was nervous about the mercenary's reaction — it could either be understanding or a full reprimand.
"What?" Niora's irritation shifted to confusion. She clearly hadn't expected that.
"I— I promise I won't ask for help, won't send my location, no hints, nothing. Just to let him know I'm alive," Emily rushed out, almost tripping over her own words.
Pfft. Niora scoffed.
"You don't even know what city you're in, so you couldn't send clues even if you wanted to," she said, then sighed deeply. "Let's talk to Reivan. Then we'll see what he says."
While the commander was in the imperial capital, Reivan, the vice-commander, was in command of the SYNC squadron.
By then, Emily's palms were sweaty, but she nodded, relieved that Niora's answer was closer to a maybe than a no.
Taking the lead, Niora headed down the corridor, with Emily following behind. The experienced mercenary and the young princess made their way toward the vice-commander's office.
…
Back in Nikz, capital of the kingdom of Molren.
The carriage wheels came to a stop. Tom looked outside and saw a two-story structure, a stained-glass window at its center, Gothic spires at the upper corners, and a wooden door thrown open to the wind.
Above the door and below the stained glass was a sign reading "d'Kallivyeski Library," clearly indicating he'd arrived at the right place.
Stepping out of the carriage, Tom passed through the wooden doors and entered the library, observing the vaulted ceilings overhead. All around him stood shelves upon shelves, packed with an endless number of books.
After looking around, he finally noticed a corridor leading to a counter where two men were talking.
Assuming they were librarians — or at least one of them was — he approached.
As he got closer, he could hear laughter. When he was less than ten meters away, Tom froze.
The two men held goblets filled with a deep red liquid. Though their facial features differed, they shared two similarities: carmine-colored irises and protruding canines.
Tom paused to think, his thoughts spiraling.
Wait. They're drinking… blood?! And the bats at night. Man, I think I got stupid after coming to this world — or maybe I'm still thinking this is Earth's past.
During the tedious hours he'd spent reading and studying geography, he had actually come across this information. But laziness, discouragement, and the boredom of learning everything from scratch had made him dismiss it.
According to the book — ironically the very reason he was here — Molren, also known as the Kingdom of Night, was territorially small but commercially strong, a major exporter of agricultural goods. Open to many races but ruled by vampires.
"Is everything alright, sir?" one of the men asked, setting down his goblet after noticing Tom standing there.
Remember — this is normal. This is normal. This is a vampire kingdom. I'm the 'strange one' here, not them. Tom repeated this to himself mentally as he approached the counter.
Yes, he was uncomfortable seeing vampires casually chatting and drinking goblets of blood. But told himself he needed to get used to it and not show discomfort. He was the foreigner here.
"I just… remembered a work-related issue," he improvised.
"I see. And you are?"
"Tom."
"Tom. Simple and straightforward name. Pleasure, I'm Clinton, and this is my colleague, Ruzz," said the vampire behind the counter, extending his hand.
Both vampires were pale, almost ghostly. Clinton had a thinner face, short brown hair, and a pronounced wrinkle on his forehead. Ruzz, on the other hand, had a squarer jaw and red hair that reached his shoulders.
Without hesitation, Tom shook Clinton's hand — then Ruzz's.
"So, young man," Clinton asked, "are you looking for a specific book? Or perhaps a particular subject?"
"Actually, I came to return this book." Tom placed it on the counter.
Clinton flipped through it quickly, checked the library seal on the back cover, pulled out a ledger of loans, looked at Tom, the book, the ledger, and back at Tom.
"I think it's under Fox's name. I'm just returning it," Tom said, noticing Clinton's confusion.
Taking another sip from his goblet, Ruzz spoke up.
"So, are you married to Fox? I didn't know she was married."
Tom raised his lips and furrowed his brow.
"No, no. I'm not married. She's a coworker."
"Oh, right," Ruzz said, swirling his goblet.
With things clarified, Clinton made a few notes in his ledger and looked back at Tom.
"The total comes to two kranns and one zenn."
What?!
Tom didn't say it out loud, but his expression betrayed him. His eyebrows shot up nearly into his hairline.
Ruzz spat out part of his drink when he saw Tom's reaction.
"But it's only been three days!" Tom protested. In his head, the math was simple: three days at three zenns per day, totaling nine zenns.
This time, Clinton stared at Tom in confusion, the wrinkle on his forehead deepening.
"No, young man. The loan was made twenty-one days ago. At one zenn per day, that's twenty-one zenns total. Which converts to two kranns and one zenn."
That daughter of a— Tom cursed Fox mentally while covering his open mouth.
She raised the price on purpose to make me pay what she already owed, without me suspecting.
Reluctantly, Tom took three brown coins from his pocket and placed them on the counter. Clinton took them and returned nine brass coins — the change.
"Payment received. Anything else, young man?" Clinton asked politely.
Tom was about to turn and leave when something occurred to him.
"Do you have anything on mages, hods, or ascendants?"
"Are you a mage?" Ruzz asked almost instantly.
Tom and Clinton shot him reproachful looks.
What a rude guy, Tom scolded him mentally.
"Ruzz, don't be impolite. I've told you before, especially with customers," Clinton said sharply. "My apologies, Tom."
"Oh— yeah. Apparently I am a mage, but I can't use magic or hods," Tom replied awkwardly.
He chose to say mage instead of ascendant. He didn't want to draw attention or put himself in danger by revealing he was an ascendant. From his conversation with Fox and Malivor, magic seemed common enough, and ascendants, much less so.
"We do have books on magic," Clinton said, "but they're not available for loan."
Tom's shoulders slumped like a wilted plant.
Seeing his disappointment and considering the situation, Clinton sighed deeply and flipped through his ledger.
"Let's do this. Given what you went through, and Ruzz's rudeness, I'll allow you to borrow a book on magic."
Tom's brown eyes nearly sparkled.
"A few conditions. You may keep the book as long as needed, but you must bring it back here once a week. The rental fee will be three zenns per day. Is that acceptable?"
After a quick mental calculation, Tom agreed.
Even with the higher cost of the fee and transportation between the headquarters and the library, learning magic would make him stronger. That would allow him to finally take part in Moonlight's missions, earn pay, and cover the expenses.
And there was no way he'd forgotten the mysterious hall — which required at least some mastery of hods to return to.
"Ruzz, fetch one of the books on hods and the introduction to the art of mages," Clinton said, concluding Tom was still a beginner.
And he was right, without even knowing Tom was an ascendant.
The red-haired vampire nodded and walked toward a shelf a few meters away. Despite his height, he had to stretch to reach the upper shelves. Standing on his toes, Ruzz grabbed the book but lost his balance, knocking almost all the books from the shelf.
Tom blinked reflexively.
When he opened his eyes again, it was as if the books were falling in slow motion.
Startled, he tried to move to catch them, but his body wouldn't respond, no matter how hard he tried.
What the hell is this? Move.
Not even his mouth would move, only his thoughts flowed. His body remained completely frozen.
Ahhh.
Almost screaming internally, his eyes finally moved.
Looking around, Clinton was still frozen behind the counter, watching the scene, while Ruzz remained suspended in a strange, off-balance posture, moving painfully slowly toward the falling books.
But this…
A clear realization formed in Tom's mind.
My ascendant power.