Chapter 2

Part one:

"Hey Simra! Can't we just begin? You are already here after all", one out of 6 present paladins asked.

"No. We are going to wait for Banana".

Skil's body slightly trembled. Is the leader of the Temper province going to come and give a speech himself? Only those who were inside or near Razihelnor yesterday were summoned to this meeting today.

He could already guess what the meeting is going to be about. Every paladin that was present during the attack was also present here, except for the 5th officer, who was commonly never to be seen.

Given the fact that Skil was the youngest paladin, he was proportionally the most nervous one. Despite the orders he received long ago from his mentor, the Priest Zer Ox, to never engage in combat alone, that was exactly what he did.

He could have helped to evacuate regular people, or seek reinforcement, but something got to him in that moment. He went ahead to fight the intruder, and since then, he wasn't able to erase the picture of his opponent from his mind.

That guy looked so young and thin yet was so strong. He had to be drugged, and the mere thought of that scared him.

Beside him and Simra in the room were also 4 other paladins present, one of which was the Priest Zer Ox, and the others were unknown to him.

He wasn't even sure if they were even members of the Temper province.

Although it was a singular faction, ruled by dictatorship, most of its members had no everyday duty, and were only called to assist when higher commands see appropriate. This was not only dependent on their skill, but also on their loyalty.

Loyal and highly capable paladins were busier than the others, but that wasn't always the case.

Loud footsteps from 2 persons were moderately approaching the door of the room from the outside, and eventually, they arrived.

The first person to walk in had regular built and height, black hair and the rest of his face was covered with a blue scarf, except for his purple eyes.

That was the 4th officer of the Temper province, Uk!

Right behind him followed up another gentleman, wearing regular clothes and being the same height as Zafer, making him the smallest person in the entire room. That was the leader of the Temper faction!

Despite Skil being a member of the Temper province for a whole year he never got to learn the real name of the faction leader.

This was due to everyone else always referring to him by his nickname.

Banana.

He stopped in the middle of the room, where everyone could face him, gesturing to Simra to take his seat as well, but the latter ignored him and remained standing beside him.

Banana then scanned the room, noticing everyone's scary stares.

"Sorry for being late everyone! My shoe kept getting undone on the way here!", he smiled.

This was a common saying for when someone had no excuse for being late.

"The meeting won't last long anyways".

The Simple physiology of Anomalies: Paragraph 2:

„Because of the reasons mentioned in the previous segment, every human was born with 3 out of 11 genetic mutations. (Adjusted: Anomalies)."

„.. those mutations could be further developed and controlled. Out of the 3mutations assigned upon birth, the one that was the easiest to develop was called a primary anomaly, followed up by secondary and the tertial, which was usually almost impossible to enhance any further".

Banana made a long pause before starting to speak. His voice wasn't very deep, and his appearance wasn't bulky neither.

„As you all know, we are currently not far behind from taking the number 1 spot as the strongest faction, but we were only able to get here, due to the sacrifices of our brave paladins", there was no reaction from the audience, so Banana continued.

„Our beloved Temper is currently short on number. With only 15 active members, we have no choice but to stay on the defense".

"I would also like to announce that, since yesterday, we have 1 candidate who is hopefully to become a future paladin of our lovely faction, but because he is still young and inexperienced like Skil here, we won't be able to count on his help anyways".

The paladins who never met Zafer showed sudden surprise on their faces. Despite wearing a scarf, 4th officers Uk's reaction wasn't any different than that of the Priest Zer Ox from yesterday.

"Our number one enemy, the one that has been holding the rank as the strongest faction since decades ago, the Nubis, currently outnumbers us in paladins by 1, meaning there are 16 of them, and most of you are probably already familiar with most of them".

"However, that isn't that big of a problem, as them having around 6 to 8 new candidates, and if all of them prove themselves to be worthy of a membership, then, we will still be able to hold our ground, but advancing further would require a lot of brainstorming, and I hate that".

Although the number of people that were training to become an elite warrior or paladin exponentially increased, that didn't ease the process of accepting new members, and the reason was simple.

To be recruited, a province expected a warrior to be capable of high combat performance which was unbelievably difficult to achieve. It could take several years of non-stop training for someone to barely pass the bar, and that was only the half of the application.

The other half was usually consisting of loyalty and trust. There was no use of a strong soldier if a province or its members couldn't trust them to complete a confidential assignment, or if a danger of betrayal was present.

„Couple of months ago Sir Simra and Priest managed to capture a few hooligans of a random sect that were terrorizing our smaller cities and villages. They escaped yesterday with the help of an anomaly enhancing drug, however you all helped to keep the damage minimal".

"Nevertheless, the cost of that was their freedom, and now they, as well as others from their sect, hate us even more, and plan on uniting with the Nubis province. Those were the candidates I already mentioned".

„Hey Zer Ox", a tall paladins called him over, "didn't you manage to overpower one of them with your little student? Why didn't you chase after him?"

He meant Skil.

The Priest got irritated, "why are you asking such dumb question? You already know why, but if you want me to spell it out to you… I am not strong enough to fight a drugged child, and no one here is". This question was rather mocking.

He was speaking the truth, nevertheless.

"Also", he stood up completely interrupting Banana's speech, "I'm going to use this opportunity to say a couple of words about my student".

"Skil. You acted completely inappropriate. You were lucky that I came on time to save you. What were you even thinking when you challenged that junkie?!"

Banana stepped in, smile not erasing from his face, "he is right Skil! With you gone, our Priest would be the only scriptman in the Temper, and although you are still kind off useless to us, we have high hopes for you! That's at least what Zer Ox said".

The priest looked at Banana with a crumb of disgust, "you are not useless, but if you die, I can't help you to achieve your life goal, and you won't be able to repay me for everything I did for you so far. I expect you to act more rationally".

By drugs Zer Ox here meant the anomaly enhancing drug. Its purpose was self-explaining and although it was illegal, National Security has difficulties tracking and arresting those who produce and abuse them.

Everyone remained silent until Banana coughed, "now with that settled…" he had a smug expression on his face, "I would gladly like to hear what happened to our new candidate during the attack".

Part two:

"So that's everything he said?", Zafer pressured him.

"Yes, that was it. I guess he didn't want to keep anyone there no longer since he was late in the first place. But, Zafer, you need to understand that what you did there, what you accomplished, wasn't something that those guys haven't seen already".

"But it was amazing, right? I single-handedly protected the Gardens of the Elite from Arcanie", he wanted to at least hear his opinion.

Skil made a brief break before answering, "well, yes. Your anomaly was strong enough to prevent Arcanie from doing whatever she intended to, but you have to admit that it was based on luck by a huge part".

"What do you mean based on luck?"

Skil's voice got sharper, "like what if she aimed for your neck or chest?", he let him process that before continuing, "or what if she decided to take you on in close combat? Then what?", he made his point clear with that last one.

Zafer pondered for a second, "well alright, you may be right about the first one, but if she attacked me at close range? Me? I would have just crushed her with my fists".

Skil was shaking his head the entire time Zafer was talking, "No. No you would not. Arcanie may not seem like it given her feminine looks, but she would kill you in a matter of seconds. You probably would not be able to even stall for time".

"Look", Skil continued, "even if you managed to grab her without having your abdomen opened, then what? I already saw you use your Iron Fist anomaly to crush that jerk's hand, but if you think you can break Miyalin…I have some bad news for you…".

Zafer finally remained silent. Skil was right, he never even touched Miyalin, so if he says that Zafer would not be able to break it, then that was probably true.

The latter took a deep breath, "Look, its autumn already and you told me that you started getting yourself into this whole business since the very begin of this year. That's around 500 days. What were you doing exactly during that time?"

Zafer leaned back, "well first of all I was trying not to starve. I was making some small money with my best friend, but our business would get crushed every time, so I just relied on his own savings. All in all, I didn't have much time to train or read newspaper about some crazy female paladin".

Skil felt bad for scolding him that much earlier. He knew the struggle, but unlike Zafer, he was way luckier.

"So, you wanted to join Temper in hopes that you can pay him back? Your best friend?".

Zafer stuttered silently, "Well I joined because I wanted to get stronger and gain experience, but that's also one of the reasons".

Skil leaned back as well, "yea, money. You can get a lot of it being a paladin, but there is also a huge risk, you know?"

They were both staring at the river that was falling off a cliff, thus creating a waterfall down below. Each breath they exhaled was visible due to the low temperature of the air. Winter would usually come earlier in mountain cities.

"So why are you doing all of this then? Becoming a paladin and being scolded by the Priest?", he returned the question.

"I need to get a revenge".

Zafer straightened himself, "revenge? On whom?"

"On the damned disease. It turned my family into apparitions".

Zafer felt bad for Skil, but was also confused at the same time, "wait you told me that you are a scriptman. Is that how you plan on taking the revenge?"

Skil's face got filled with determination, "hell yes! I just need to learn more from the Priest, and I will be able to write a code, that's going to erase the disease from this existence".

Zafer frowned, "but wait, you said that your anomaly was the 8th one out of 11, which enables you to write codes?"

"No. Anyone can write codes and become a scriptman. However, only someone with anomaly number 8 can have their skin turned into a parchment. Those are then used by scriptman to write codes".

Zafer nodded in understanding the difference between the 2 terms. The 8th anomaly could not really be used in offense, so it was obvious that Zafer didn't know how it works yet.

After having a certain part of their body flayed, the skin of an 8th anomaly owner would then undergo a ton of processes in order to be turned into sheets of paper called parchments.

On this parchment could then be written tons of codes that could alter the reality itself! That's the reason why the 8th Anomaly was also called The Adjustment.

"Skil!", someone called him over from the nearby building.

It was the Priest.

"I got it arranged for you! You can go pick up your new Miyalin weapon", he shouted, on which Skil only responded by making a heart shape with his hands.

"That's my mentor right there!", he turned towards Zafer, "are you sure that you want to tag along?".

"Why not? There is nothing else that I have to do while I wait for my friend to finish the flower farm anyways".

Skil frowned, "he won't let you help him?"

"I guess. He is working with someone else, and they both already wasted all savings on teleportation points for themselves. I'll get mine when the farm starts printing money".

"Well, that's good. I could use some company for the next 40 days".

"Forty days?!", Zafer jumped.

"Of course! It takes time to forge a Miyalin weapon!"

Zafer argued, "but the Priest said that you can go and pick it up!"

"That was just a phrase. It's obvious that it is going to take a while".

"I thought that the weapon was done already".

"How could it be? They haven't even measured me yet!", he explained.

"What? They need to measure you?"

"Yes, so that the dimension of the weapon fits my size. A Miyalin weapon is already expensive enough, and it takes a lot of time to forge it. If it's going to be forged, it's going to be done properly".

Zafer went silent, pondering about something. He still had some savings from the money his best friend gave him before setting off to Razihelnor, but there was no way it was going to last a whole month!

Skil exhaled, "please don't worry about money. I will be paying for both of our accommodations and food".

"No, you can't", Zafer has gotten serious.

"Yes, I can. For how much do you think my skin sells? I may be the youngest paladin in Temper, but don't you think that I am the poorest!", he stretched out his arm and rolled up his sleeve to reveal a bandage around it.

Although most of the paladins had to be good and loyal warriors, there were some exceptions from time to time. One of those were scriptman, a.k.a. people born with the 8th Anomaly, The Adjustment.

The Book of Runes and Curses: Paragraph 1:

The difference between iron and Miyalin weapons wasn't only in their durability, but also in runes they could withstand. Iron weapons and armour could have couple of runes implanted in them, but their performance was nothing compared to the runes Miyalin could endure.

Nevertheless, due to some complex reasons, runes that were meant for iron equipment could not be implanted into Miyalin, but Miyalin usually had its own better replacements.

It was one day later when they arrived at Aperture Temple. It was settled in a valley and the right relation between nature and man-made structures made it so that everything was functional with minimal damage to the flora and fauna.

It was however autumn, so everything was dead, but the beauty of the Temple didn't perish. It occupied a 2 square kilometer large area, making it currently the third biggest Forge Temple in the whole nation.

There were only a couple of Forges that were allowed to work with Miyalin, and most of them belonged to the National security. Luckily, Temper had an agreement to use those forges since their own got destroyed recently.

"By the way, since you are already here, why don't you also purchase a Miyalin weapon for yourself?"

Zafer laughed, "why? Are you going to pay for that as well?"

"No. I am not that rich, alright", he laughed, "but we, the members of the Temper province, have some special privileges, like paying in installments. When your friend finishes the farm, won't you be able to pay for it?"

Zafer thought about it. What Skil said was true, and he would eventually probably have the money to pay the full price, but that was considering everything goes as planned.

For the past year, every time he and his friend tried to build a functional farm, something would happen, and it would get plundered.

However, before Zafer could answer him, a slim girl with wavy hair ran up to them.

"Hi! Are the two of you from Temper?", she smiled at them.

"Yes, indeed", Skil greeted her. He was the same height as her, meaning the difference in height between her and Zafer was a little bit in her favor.

"So you are Skil, okay…", she turned around signalling to maidens to take their backpacks and Zafer's iron sword. Their rooms were already reserved, and their arrival expected, thanks to the Priest.

"Yes, and this is Zafer. He is a new candidate", he introduced Zafer.

The girl measured him with couple of glances, "that's good. I'm glad that Temper is starting to recruit the non-scary ones".

Skil laughed, but she actually meant both of them.

"What do you mean by that", Zafer could not get the point.

"Well, there are only two categories for you paladins. The scary ones and cookies, like you two, okay…"

"Us both?!" Skil was taken aback.

Zafer frowned slightly, "wait, I don't understand what makes me not scary?"

The girl looked at him with a smug face, placing her hand flat in front of her forehead, moving it forwards and backwards implying the difference in their height.

"Wow", he turned to Skil, "you never told me they were hiring harlequins here".

"Yes, you are really funny", Skil rephrased that for the girl.

"Thanks, but that is only my side hustle. I'm a designer by profession, okay".

Skil got surprised, scanning her petite body again, "you are?"

"That's right. My job today was to greet you and take the measurements".

Zafer got puzzled, "you are also measuring?", he didn't mean her specifically but the designers in general.

The smug smile returned on designers face once again, "yes. I will have to measure every part of your body in order for the most suitable weapon to be forged later".

Zafer chuckled, "every part?"

"Well, it's up to me to decide if it's necessary, okay", she shrugged her shoulders.

Zafer blushed on the inside, "that's crazy. I'm not the one who lost his weapon though".

The girl's smile disappeared for a second, "oh. So, it's you then, okay…", she looked at Skil.

It made more sense to her that the candidate came seeking for a Miyalin weapon since most of the paladins were only using and nurturing 1 weapon at the time. Gathering runes for it consumed a lot of time and money, meaning that smiths usually weren't seeing the same customer more than once in a single year.

"Well anyways, we can do it later", she turned around swiftly walking towards the nearby building, "you can follow me so that we can settle other things".

The building was huge, but it wasn't a smith since no banging or smashing could be heard, unlike when they were passing some other buildings.

The walls of the first floor were covered with 10 meters tall bookshelves, filled with books and scripts.

Each book resembled one rune, and their price was determined by its nature, and some other things, having the value added on that of a Miyalin weapon.

This was where runes were stored, and weapons were designed.

"In this notebook are all weapon designs that we have. Feel free to pick one, okay".

Both Zafer and Skil approached, flipping through the pages. Each one contained a big sketch of the weapon with its number written above, and initial dimension of blade and handle bellow.

This was only useful to the designer, however, since it helped them calculate the actual dimensions based on the measurements.

There were some two-handed swords and one-handed swords, but most of the notebook was filled with axes. This was confusing, since they were shorter than swords, meaning it's user would have a range disadvantage.

"What's up with so many axes?"

Skil smiled, "they are more preferred, especially the ones that have a blade only on one side of the handle. This is so that the opposite flat end could be used to smash, and not cut".

Zafer frowned having little experience with Miyalin, "but why choose smashing over thrusting? You can't pierce anyone with an axe".

"You can't pierce Miyalin armour with anything if it's strengthened with a rune. You can't cut through it, and even if you can, there is a huge chance of your weapon breaking or getting dull".

"Because of this, most of the paladins prefer using axes so that they can smash, bend, or break the armour. That's why your 6th Iron Fist anomaly is so valued in the world of paladins. An experienced Iron Fist's user is strong enough to bend and tear Miyalin with their grip in a matter of seconds, faster than any Miyalin axe".

Zafer shrugged his shoulders, "it's still not as close as broken as other anomalies and their abilities", he humbled himself, but genuinely believed this was the truth.

Some anomalies were indeed very overpowered.

The girl came up to them again, "you can also use this if you need it", she pushed a much thicker book towards them on the desk.

It had a cover and looked very high quality, despite the dust on it.

It was labelled, "The Book of Runes and Curses".

Skil paid no attention to it since, as a scriptman, he already was familiar with every rune and curse, but Zafer's eyes widened. He stepped away from Skil, flipping through the pages of the book.

It was a manual to every rune that exists!

If he had enough time to learn the content of this book, he would immediately be way more competent in combat, even if he wasn't using the rune himself.