Buldrokkas'tee—this man, whose height left a lasting impression, turned out to be quite a decent fellow.
Before leaving the backalleys for good, Theresis, Buldrokkas'tee, and Yujin would gather whenever they had spare time to discuss Arts and martial prowess. We'll ignore the incident where Kalaisha told Theresia to stop acting like a mother and promptly got whacked on the head with a spoon.
Buldrokk, upon seeing Yujin's Arts, had watched with glowing red eyes, deeply curious about its nature. While full sparring was still out of the question, Yujin was able to show off some of his sword forms. Buldrokk and Yujin both noted how similar their Arts were. Both focused on physical reinforcement—the main difference being that Yujin's glowed platinum, while Buldrokk's was a deep, saturated crimson.
When Buldrokk threw his spear with full force, the sound of the air warping was followed by an impact like a falling artillery shell. Seeing that, Yujin was certain: if Tarkan and Buldrokk had fought, Tarkan would have been utterly crushed.
A week passed in a flash. Having settled their affairs and packed what was necessary, Yujin and the siblings left the slums they had never quite felt attached to.
"Tere."
"Yeah?"
"What?"
Yujin laughed as both Theresia and Theresis turned around at the nickname. They were currently traveling by car. Kalaisha was also laughing, watching Buldrokk, who looked like he had been folded into his seat just to fit inside the vehicle.
"You laughing?"
"No… it just looks like someone crumpled you up and stuffed you into that chair."
Buldrokk, his expression as crumpled as his posture, gave Kalaisha his habitual rap on the head before returning his focus to the road.
"…Why does it feel like the number of people lecturing me has increased to four?"
"Five, if you count the Master," Buldrokk grunted.
"Aaargh! No!"
After her exchange with Buldrokk, Kalaisha turned back toward the rest of us.
"Since the drive is boring, how about a quick lesson in common sense?"
"Sure, we've done nothing but slack off lately, might as well do something productive," Theresis replied.
"I wasn't slacking!"
Yujin stayed quiet, having already grown used to Kalaisha's childish antics. She unfurled a hand-drawn map.
"Alright, this here is Kazdel, our country."
"…It's really small. Barely a speck," Theresis noted.
Terra. That was the name of the world they lived in. On the map Kalaisha spread out, Kazdel was marked as a tiny, insignificant spot.
"Is our land really only this big?" Theresia asked, pointing at the neighboring nations.
"Sorry to break it to you, but we're the country everyone loves to hit for fun. What did you expect?"
"…Fair point."
The country that gets hit for fun. Buldrokk's expression soured even further at that.
Yujin wasn't particularly interested in other countries, but he knew of at least one: Kazimierz, the land of knights.
"There are several neighboring countries, but the only one we really need to watch out for is Ursus. They're aggressively expansionist."
She pointed her staff at the area marked 'Ursus.' It was an empire, and it apparently boasted a national strength to match its title.
"There aren't many others you need to memorize specifically, but the big powers are Ursus, Victoria, Iberia, and Gaul. They all take turns bullying us whenever they're bored…"
"Is Kazdel really that easy of a target?"
"Totally."
The sorrow of a weak nation, Yujin thought as he looked at the map. There wasn't much they could do about it.
"Also, Leithanien is famous for its Arts and music. In other words, its Casters are legendary. Master told me the Casters there are all monsters."
Casters. In Yujin's mind, it was easier to think of them as mages from a novel. Since Old Man Aorn was originally from Leithanien, Yujin recognized the name.
"The other places don't matter much. Sargon is too busy with their own business to care about the outside world, and Yan is the same."
"We don't know exactly what they're doing?" asked Theresis, who had always enjoyed studying strategy and foreign affairs.
"Right. Master mentioned it once in passing, though it sounded weird. He said Sargon is using its strength to block 'evil things,' and Yan is too occupied dealing with 'gods that fell to the earth' to have any energy left for expansion."
Evil things and fallen gods. Yujin dismissed it as just another strange piece of lore.
Since Kazdel had no reason to interact with the remaining nations, they skipped over them. Yujin asked about Kazimierz, but received a cold reply.
"You'd best not get your hopes up. They are knights… but they are not knights for the 'Infected,'" Buldrokk answered. He knew Yujin admired knights. Yujin could only let out a heavy sigh.
"Infected, Infected. It's always about that… It's not like they chose to be this way."
"You're the outlier, Yujin."
Every person in the car, except Yujin, was Infected. Because of Oripathy—that cursed disease. Yujin, who didn't shun the Infected or seem to care about the disease at all, was indeed the strange one.
"Every nation rejects the Infected. Kazdel is said to be the only exception, but even that is out of necessity," Buldrokk said.
He was right. Since most of the Sarkaz making up Kazdel were Infected, the moment they began to shun their own kind, the nation would lose its very foundation.
"Because of that, the Sarkaz carry the resentment of the entire world. At some point, the hatred poured in and swelled beyond control."
Silence filled the car as Buldrokk finished. No one could deny his words. Oripathy was the root of it all—the dark shadow that followed the brilliant development brought by Originium.
"With time, it'll be solved eventually," Yujin muttered. Disease usually met its match in a cure eventually. He wanted to believe that the people of Terra would overcome it in time.
"This mood is way too depressing!"
Clang!
"…Why are you hitting my helmet?"
"Just because!"
Kalaisha, having struck Buldrokk's bone helmet with a resonant clang, put her hands on her hips and continued.
"I thought only Yujin's talent was amazing, but after spending time with you all, I've realized it. You're all total geniuses!"
"Geniuses?" Theresia asked, tilting her head.
"It means you get better results with less effort than everyone else!"
It made sense. Theresia had been hiding her Arts from Yujin, and Theresis had awakened his own spontaneously while fighting for his life.
"Maybe all of you can become Master's disciples. Our teacher is generous toward those with talent."
"He won't be generous toward you after you failed your mission and slacked off," Buldrokk countered.
Clang!
Kalaisha whacked his head with her staff once more. The clear ringing sound echoed in the car, and Yujin and Theresis struggled to hold back their laughter. Buldrokk fell into a stoic silence.
"Anyway! Once we get back to where Master is, I'll teach you how to handle Arts properly. It's based on classical Leithanian magic theory—it breaks down the structure and design of Arts so they're easier to use."
Kalaisha claimed she would show them how to use Arts with "class," unlike those who just used brute force.
"Unlike certain meatheads who only know how to use strength, let's try for a bit of elegance! Right, Theresia?"
"Anti-physical reinforcement discrimination..." Theresis muttered. While he practiced swordsmanship, his mind was that of a strategist, but "meatheads" clearly referred to Buldrokk and Yujin. Theresia, like Kalaisha, fell into the Caster category.
"By the way, people who fire Arts from a distance are called Casters. Do Guards have a different code name?" Yujin asked curiously.
Kalaisha shook her head. "Technically, Yujin, even you and Buldrokk are Casters. Anyone who uses Originium Arts is called a Caster."
"So, in the broad sense, we're all Casters."
"Exactly. The sub-classes just branch out from there. I mean, look at Theresia and me versus Buldrokk and Yujin—it's clearly different, right?"
Kalaisha promised that once she explained the classical theory, it would make sense. Yujin nodded. In truth, Yujin had been using his Arts purely based on instinct. He'd never had a proper teacher. Passing mercenaries had offered tidbits of advice, but they were usually just trying to get on his good side and never touched the core of Arts theory.
"Once you learn from Master, you'll understand immediately. His depth… is something we can never truly see the bottom of."
"Naturally. The years the Master has lived likely exceed the combined lives of everyone in this car," Buldrokk added.
From their descriptions, Yujin could begin to guess how long a being like Netsalem had walked the earth. But his train of thought was interrupted by another sound.
Clang!
"…I didn't even say anything this time! Why hit me?!" Buldrokk shouted as Kalaisha whacked his helmet again.
"Just because!" she replied with a bright smile.
Yujin grabbed Buldrokk to hold him back as Theresis leaned forward and yelled, "Hey! Hey! The wheel! Grab the steering wheel!"
"Aaaaagh!!!"
The scene ended with Buldrokk playfully—or perhaps out of genuine annoyance—choking Kalaisha.