Trash: Chapter 146 The Weasel (Patreon)

Chapter 146

The Weasel

Getting off the train was like feeling drunk, only to be instantly sober once my feet touched the ground. Perhaps this was an aspect of my newly acquired Skill, or maybe it was a sign of just how connected I always was to the Earth, but I felt a deep embrace once my feet struck pavement. It was a dull and muted connection at first, one that felt like I was wearing gloves, but it helped to settle my nerves instantly. Then walking a few steps further, I made my way to a patch of wet grass where I felt the earth itself call out to me and fuse me with its strength. Within the span of two full breaths, all lingering exhaustion and nausea from my travels was removed, leaving me with perfect calm and clarity.

“You okay?” Lucia asked, coming over with her and my bag. Realizing that I had apparently run off the train without my personal effects had me at a loss.

“Oh, thank you,” I replied, while nodding and reaching out to grab my bag from her.  She paused for only a second, until she apparently saw the strength flooding back into my body the longer I remained connected to the earth. At which point I grabbed my pack and instantly placed it on my shoulders. Then, Luna gave me my sword, which I strapped to my side, and Junior gave me my violin which I strapped over my left shoulder. With that, I had all my gear maintained and I thanked my team for helping me, before I gave a quick glance around at the others who were also disembarking from the train.

In all about a few dozen people my age, and some members of the train staff got off the train with us. In the gaggle of people getting off, I could easily make out ROW apprentice Mousey, as he stood directly behind Captain Delthorne, the same one who Lucia and Junior were now both ogling. Lucia seemed to be somewhat discrete with her stares, while Junior was a bit more obvious, I’m assuming this was partly due to his not being allowed out in public much as a kid.

“Recruits!” A male called out wearing a crisply maintained uniform, though the badges and metals on his uniform seemed odd for whatever reason. Still the man’s presence was enough to grab the attention of all the younger people who just got off the train. That and the fact that he was flanked by two real officers in full uniform gave me the impression that this was likely a senior sent to oversee us, while we settle in. That the officers were there to step in should we be too unruly, but overall, they would let this man who was not much older than us lead us, for now.

“Do not speak, I don’t want to know about your names, your past, or where you came from. From the moment you landed on this block right here, until the moment you leave on the same trains that brought you here, you are property of Unity University, and therefore my personal problem to deal with. My name is Fire Mage Candidate Schmid, or Candidate Schmid for short, though you all will refer to me as salvation, as in listening to me is going to be your only salvation at staying alive here.” As the boy, Candidate Schmid, spoke, several of the other kids who got off with us seemed to realize the gravity of just what they had gotten themselves into. But before we could all contemplate our life choices leading us to this point, he continued.

“You all might have thought you signed a one-way ticket to a free education, a superior class, and all the amenities that this University has to offer you. I am here to inform you that almost all of you have been lied to.”

“Gasps and murmurs.”

At this comment the gaggle of students who had been mindlessly gaggling together suddenly stopped and looked at the representative before them. A representative who made it a point to be as painfully honest as possible when talking with these kids. Odd that I was thinking of people that were my own age, or maybe older than me as kids, but they were. From my past lifetime to now, I felt that I was easily twice their age. Then looking further, I glanced at Luna and instantly felt terrible as I knew I was much older than her too, yet I couldn’t help but hope that there might be more. Fortunately, before this train of thought took root within my mind, the cadet continued.

“I know, I know. Your recruiter promised you the moon, so long as you joined a healing team. Well, I am here to inform you that your dreams are mostly shattered,” Schmid continued while pulling out a parchment and seeming to read from it before continuing. “For only one qualified healer candidate has been accepted here in the past quarter, and her team is already half-full. Meaning that there will be two slots for combat specialists, and one slot for an auxiliary member,” Schmid said, looking down at a parchment of paper that he was reading from.

At his words, I could feel tension rising with me, as I could almost feel the trap forming. There also seemed to be an air of tension building within everyone around, as it seemed that everyone was patiently waiting for this one chance at salvation. The equivalent of a juicy steak that Candidate Schmid was now dangling in front of all the other cadets.

“Don’t worry, you can convince the healer candidate to take you over their current team members as well. Though once you are kicked out from the party, that is it, you are not allowed back into that healer’s party and will need to find a spot within another appointed healer’s group,” Schmid continued.

The more he spoke, the more I could feel prickles of anxiety pulsing through my body. It’s not that I didn’t like attention, but I felt that what was coming would be the wrong kind of attention.

And I was right.

“Cadet Bloom, step forward,” Candidate Schmid called out, his voice deep, echoing and filled with the faint brown authoritative traces of a command type Skill being used. My mind instantly shrugged off the effects of the Skill, but I still found myself stepping forward nonetheless.

Cadet Schmid just stared at me, seeming to judge me right there in front of everyone. I had to admit that I looked out of place, wearing a backpack, sword strapped to my right side, with my violin hanging over my left shoulder.

“You are Cadet Bloom?” He asked, more of his command Skill rolling from him. As he spoke, I could see that no one else dared to speak or even move at this time. I assumed the statue like appearance of everyone else was an effect of his Skill at work, some type of compulsion Skill? Maybe a Truth telling Skill?

I nodded. Seeing my movement Schmid had a slight smirk form on his lips as he took me in. A smirk that was quickly hidden by his next steps.

“This here is Cadet Bloom, your one and only chance at salvation to keep your Self-Created Teams Doctrine contract intact,” he continued, then as if trying to stir the pot even more, and make my life even more unbearable, he pressed on. This time, he spoke to the others that were around me, those other unfortunate students who got off the train wishing for nothing other than to make a better life for themselves. “Though know that you all are not alone, for you are just the students who have the home field advantage of coming from the same train as her. There are others, from around the world, who are all coming here and competing for those same three vacant spots. That is why we suggest that you all try hard, study well, and above all show why you deserve to be picked up in one of her open team spots.”

There was a slight pause, as the wave of energy flowing from him and empowering his words stopped. Giving everyone enough time to take in what was being stated. Then in the exact moment when people’s minds seemed to fully comprehend what had just been discussed, Cadet Schmid continued, “Cadet Bloom, will you and your team follow Healer Candidate Zabal here?”

While it was posed as a question, I knew it to be an order. I nodded, going near the person that Schmid noted as Zabal. To my surprise, I was shocked to see that Zabal was a male healer, though I guess that just showed my own personal bias. Like finding a male nurse, they exist but are far rarer than female nurses. This seems to be a similar case, of while male healers might be rarer, they aren’t impossible. In fact, thinking about it, the statue for the DiVoratore bloodline heir is a male. Meaning that had things gone differently, I could have been a male healer instead. That also reminded me that Zabal was the name for one of the seven ancestral healing lines as well. I made it a point to ask him if he was naturally of the line, or if he too had been adopted into the line that he now possessed the last name of, like me.

Healer Candidate Zabal looks at me, and at the people coming next to me, before asking, “are these your team members?”

Looking over my shoulder, I see that Lucia, Luna, and Junior are all gathered around, along with a fox-faced girl who just stares at me with a clever gaze. No threat, no want to deceive, just pure gumption to have a plan and go for it. Seeing her, I can almost feel her wanting me to talk to her, to test her determination to be here, as a member of my team.

“What’s your name?” I ask the fox-faced girl.

“Mine? I’m Lelia, Lelia Volica,” the girl began, seeming somewhat unsure of herself at first, but finishing strong.

“And what is your role?” I press.

“My role?”

“Yeah, are you a fighter?”

“Me? No. I am GSD,” the girl, Lelia, replies.

“A GSD?” I ask not quite sure where this is going, or what that term means.

“Get Shit Done. You need something at midnight, I get it, no questions asked,” Lelia states, her tone assured, and her face so serious that I almost chuckle at the thought.

“A GSD, I like that,” I muse to myself, then I try to get a better definition so I can understand what she is offering, “so like a supply clerk?”

“If that is what is required, then yes, I will be a Supply Clerk, until you need me to be something else,” Lelia responds.

Chuckling to myself, I can’t help but like her fire and determination that is radiating off of her. “Well then come on, let’s see what else this place has to offer.”

“You mean it?” Lelia asks, her mask of confidence breaking as she suddenly looks excited.

“Yeah, now come on, you can audition for this part, for now,” I state, as I turn to follow Zabal who only chuckled slightly at the display he just saw. I want to ask him about it, but I assume he has seen this and worse as a healer candidate himself.

“Right this way,” Zabal says gesturing to me from over his shoulder. I just walk, as I can feel the other members of my team look back at the now energetic bundle of nerves that somehow weaseled her way into our group with nothing more than determination and confidence.

I was just about to wonder what happened when I got a system message.

Catarine Bloom’s Team Page: (Update)

Auxiliary Members (2/2):

Lelia Volica has joined the team as a probationary Auxiliary member.

I had little time to think about the new message, realizing that I only had two slots for combatants left. But I felt confident that I had made the correct choice with Lelia, at the very least she was tenacious enough to take an opportunity that was before her. Something I had to give her over her peers that followed us on the train. Then walking up the steps leading to the official office building for Unity University, I could feel the weight and grandeur of the moment creeping up on me.

Then before I knew it, I took my first step into the hallowed halls of Unity University. My foot stepping down on smooth marble flooring, and I could feel a shift in my mind, as I swore I could almost feel my destiny changing with each step I took.