KaiserBlak
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Adelheid Chapter 3 Part 1:
🕑 Added 2021-08-29 13:01:01 +0000 UTCOkay, so I finally published on vella. Right now, its waiting to be reviewed before going online on the amazon store: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09DWSD43C
Also, I made some changes to the previous chapter.
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Chapter 1: The War of Creation
In the beginning, Veles did not exist. The world did not exist.
No light, no darkness, no wind, no fire, no water, no earth.
Nothing existed, only chaos.
For countless ages, the situation remained the same until it came. It had no name, only known as the Beginning. The Beginning was a creature with countless limbs, four eyes, one large, three small, and one horn atop its head.
Nobody knew the origin of the Beginning, only that it had miraculously appeared one day. From then on, the chaos had a new resident.
The Beginning simply existed for an unaccountable number of eons until one day, it perished.
From its body, the world formed.
From its muscle, the land existed.
From its skin, the meadow covered the land.
From its spikes, the mountains and volcanoes sprang forth.
From its blood, the seas and ocean appeared.
From his veins, the rivers brought water from the oceans to the land.
From its hair, the plants grew and covered the land.
From its bones, the metal took root under the land.
From its nails, precious gems were hidden throughout the land.
From its breath, the wind and clouds caressed the land.
From his voice, thunder sprang forth.
From his sight, lightning struck the land.
From his horn, a pillar that separated the land from the sky.
His largest eye became the sun, and the world knew light.
His three smaller eyes became the three moons, and the world knew darkness.
The world of Veles had been created.
But no life existed on the land.
Eons passed, and the Beginning's blood emerged onto the land and became the animals that roamed the land. Wolves roamed the forest, snakes slithered through the meadows, falcons roosted on mountains, bears traversed the icy tundra, eagles soared the skies, sharks swam in the seas, and squids inhabited the abyss.
The animals slowly conquered the land through the ages, but their time was over. The Beginning's brain split into hundreds of parts. Slowly, the pieces of the Beginning's brain began to change shape and became the titans.
The titans domesticated the animals and plants and became the rulers of Veles. However, like the beasts that conquered the land before them, their time came to an end.
Slowly, one by one, the Beginning's organs began to take form.
Its lung became a many-winged beast that hoarded the clouds and winds to itself. Its name was Invidia.
Its stomach became a beast with a body that almost completely formed from its mouth that devoured everything in sight. Its name was Gula.
Its liver became a beast with eight legs that could cover half the continent. Its name was Avaritia.
Its gonad became an amorphous beast that spawned numerous smaller beasts of all shapes and sizes. Its name was Luxuria.
Its kidney became an unseen beast that lurked in the abyss of the oceans. Its name was Acedia.
Its heart became a colossal beast with scales thicker than shields, hands with nails sharper than any blade, legs thicker than ancient trees, a tail that could split the earth in a single strike, two wings that could shroud the sky, and two horns. It had an unquenchable wrath to destroy everything. Its name was Ira.
Each of these six beasts brought countless disasters to the land of Veles, nearly exterminating all life in the world. The six beasts became known as the first monsters, the Six Calamities of Veles.
Just as all hope seemed to be lost, the six strongest titans formed from the largest fragments of the Beginning's brains rose up and led the titans to fight the Six Calamities.
The war between the titans and the Six Calamity was long and brutal and caused the near extermination of the titans. However, one by one, the six strongest titans killed the Six Calamities.
All except the monster formed from the heart, Ira.
The beast created from the Beginning's heart was special. As long as Veles existed, Ira would never die. No matter how many times the titans slew it, the final beast would always resurrect. Left with no other choice, the six titans sealed the final calamitous beast so that it would never awaken again.
The titans won the war that would become known as the War of Creation. However, the price they paid was heavy. One of the six strongest titans was tainted by the last beast, and only a few of the titan race was left.
The price was heavy, but so were the rewards.
The six strongest titans received their just rewards and ascended to godhood.
The Holy Seraphina, the leader of the titans, became the Goddess of Light.
The Evil Satanis, the strongest of the titans, became the God of Darkness.
The War Iras, the bravest of the titans, became the Goddess of Fire.
The Silent Acyss, the most mysterious of the titans, became the God of Water.
The Fleeting Lyonis, the swiftest of the titans, became the Goddess of the Wind.
The Bearer Pillum, the sturdiest of the titans, became the God of the Land.
The Six Pillar Gods would usher in the age of prosperity and the rise of contemporary races.
***
Adelheid closed the book, the Chronicles of Veles, and leaned back on the headboard of her bed. There were cushions sewn in it, so it didn't feel hard at all. It had been about a month since the seventh princess had awakened, and for the past month, Adelheid had been confined to her room.
She was beginning to feel claustrophobic despite the vast size of her room.
"Your Highness, Healer Elune is here." Adelheid nodded at Sofia's words.
The door opened, and a middle-aged female walked in. She wore white clerical robes and had a pleasant smile upon her face that could make anyone lower their guard. "How are you feeling, Your Highness?"
Although Adelheid was addressed with honorifics, it felt as if Elune was addressing her as a granddaughter instead. Despite appearing only middle-aged, the female healer was actually in her sixties.
After a few words of pleasantries, Adelheid took off her nightgown and turned her back towards Elune.
Her rehabilitation wasn't as she had expected. Adelheid had expected physical therapy in order to regain all the loss mass she had sustained during her three-year coma. Admittedly, her body wasn't as malnourished or scrawny as it could be. Adelheid heard it was the work of the magic circle under her bed that kept her as healthy as she had been, which had been removed now.
Adelheid closed her eyes as Elune's warm palm was pressed against her back. Something warm began to flow into her and spread throughout her tiny body.
The awakened princess could discern that it was not magic like the diagnostic spell the court mage had used on her a month ago. According to Elune's explanation, it was a type of power that came from a person’s life force, so everyone was able to use it with enough training.
The soothing sensation continued to extend throughout the princess's body, revitalizing her. Adelheid could feel an itchy sensation, just not as strong as when she had first started treatment. The itchiness was a natural process, as it meant that Adelheid's muscles were being stimulated and developing.
After about an hour, Elune pulled back her hand. The healer took out a handkerchief and wiped the thin sheen of sweat off her face. She took a moment to catch her breath before smiling. "Congratulations, Your Highness. Your recovery rate has exceeded my expectations."
Adelheid held up her hand, motioning that she didn't need Sofia's aid in dressing herself. After she wore her nightgown once more, she turned towards Elune. "Does this mean I can finally leave my room?"
Elune nodded. "Indeed. However, as a precaution, I'm going to need to monitor you for another week."
Adelheid nodded in acceptance. She waited for a few moments, but the healer still stood there, not leaving. "Is there something else?"
"Your Highness, didn't I say I'm going to need to monitor you? What if something unexpected were to occur while I'm not present?" Elune explained, her tone full of gentleness.
The seventh princess nodded her head in acceptance. "Matilda, Sofia, select a dress for me."
"As you wish, Your Highness," Sofia and Matilda accepted their orders and began to pull out numerous dresses of all colors for Adelheid to choose.
Every single one of the dresses was packed full of laces and frills, but that wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was that over half of the dresses were eye-achingly pink. Through gritted teeth, Adelheid asked, "Why are so many of them pink?"
Sofia answered. "Replying to Your Highness. All these dresses were designed according to your preference from three years ago."
Adelheid suddenly had the urge to time travel to the year 1731 PE so that she could asphyxiate the newborn princess so that such a travesty never occurred. Who in the right mind would like such...such...such a design?
"Put them all back. Are there any clothes with pants?" Adelheid asked. If she could, she would not rather wear any dress. She had thought she could accept since her body was biologically female, but after seeing those dresses that could be called crimes against fashion, Adelheid had lost any and all desires to wear a dress.
"Ah, but Your Highness would look so good in this one," Matilda said, holding up one of the pink dresses.
It was the pinkest, glitteriest, puffiest, frilliest, and laciest dress of the bunch. That dress was the single most offensive sight that Adelheid had ever seen. Had she not seen Matilda’s innocent eyes, she would have thought the maid was doing this on purpose to shame her. "Matilda, burn that dress now."
"Huh?" Matilda said, her face baffled.
"Matilda, that thing offends me. Burn it. Now." Adelheid repeated. If sight alone could set objects on fire, that dress would have become ash in an instant. "Make sure that not even the ashes remain."
"But why? It's so pretty and perfect for you." Matilda said, not understanding Adelheid's sudden mood swing. Was the seventh princess experiencing her time of the month? But Matilda remembered that Princess Adelheid was around five years too young to experience such bodily functions.
Adelheid's face darkened at Matilda's words. Her with pink? Preposterous! Never in a million years!
"Dear, perhaps her highness's preference has changed. Go and find some pants for her highness," Elune said, seeing Adelheid's increasingly dark face and Matilda's obliviousness.
Matilda wanted to ask some more, but Sofia quickly latched onto her wrist and pulled her away. She lowered her voice and harshly whispered to the younger girl. Matilda whispered something but quietly relented with obvious disappointment.
When the two girls returned, they only brought back a single outfit. Sofia carried a white dress shirt that was slightly frilly but not offendingly so and heeled boots, while Matilda carried a high-rise black pants on her arm.
"There were actually pants in my wardrobe?" Adelheid said, surprise. She hadn't really expected her wardrobe to have any pants at all. It was just something she said in the heat of the moment. "Give them to me."
"Your Highness, perhaps it would be best to let us dress you," Sofia said, trying to convince the pale princess, but Adelheid was adamant. With no other choice, they laid the clothing down. Although her memories weren’t complete, Adelheid knew she was incredibly independent and hated relying on others.
Adelheid stepped off the bed, slightly unused to the floor beneath her feet. Taking only a second to adjust her, she began to undress. She might have been embarrassed letting other people see her near-naked body, but she had long gotten used to it after a month of being washed by her maids, too weak to wash herself. Once down to her underwear, Adelheid reached for the pants. Unfortunately, in the process of slipping her other leg into the pants, Adelheid lost her balance.
The seventh princess closed her eyes, expecting a repeat of the time she first woke up, but instead of the carpet, her face felt something soft. Opening her eyes, she saw white.
"Are you alright, Your Highness?" Sofia asked, having stepped forward and used herself to prevent Adelheid from falling onto the floor.
"I-I'm- yes, I'm alright," Adelheid said as she regained her balance, her face slightly flushed as she realized where her face had been planted.
"Your Highness, how about we help you. It seems that you aren't fully recovered." Sofia said, only this time succeeding in her persuasion.
"Alright, please do so," Adelheid said as he closed her eyes, trying to suppress the shame that was threatening to burst out from within.
Sofia and Matilda first helped Adelheid undress the pants. Then they slipped on her socks before fitting her into the white dress shirt. Only then did they put the pants on her.
Oh, I got backward. Adelheid thought as she realized she had started to wear the clothes incorrectly, so even if she managed to get the pants on, she would still have failed. The shame threatened to explode once more.
Somehow, Adelheid managed to suppress the redness that was threatening to appear on her face. She was led towards the chair in front of the dresser by the two maids. Sitting down, the seventh princess observed herself.
Adelheid had long grown accustomed to her appearance. The inhumanely beautiful face of a child no longer caused her any surprise. It was amazing what humans, or rather, halflings, in this case, could adapt to.
"Your Highness, what sort of hairstyle would you like?" Sofia asked.
"Something simple," Adelheid replied.
"As you wish, Your Highness," Sofia said with a tinge of disappointment in her voice.
"I'll do it!" Matilda said excitedly, her hands reaching towards Adelheid's hair.
There was a slapping sound, and Adelheid saw Sofia slap Matilda's hand away in the reflection. Matilda emulated the face of a kicked puppy and retracted her hands. Adelheid had to suppress the urge to rub the flaxen-haired girl's head.
Under Sofia's skillful fingers, Adelheid's inky black hair no longer covered her back and was pulled tied into a fancy braided bun. Only her front and sidebangs were not tied up. "I thought I asked for something simple."
"Your Highness, this is the simplest hairstyle I can do," Sofia replied.
Adelheid tilted her head side to side. In her opinion, the braided bun was already quite fancy, but since it didn't take long, she took Sofia's word for it.
"Let's go." Adelheid said, standing up.
"Please hold on a second, Your Highness," Elune said. Seeing Adelheid turn towards her, she continued. "It's the Water Months. The air is cold. Please wear a cloak at least."
"Our apologies for not considering these matters." Matilda and Sofia bowed in apologies for forgetting about the cold weather. They had long grown used to it, plus their winter maid uniforms were quite thick and layered, making the cold not as harsh on their bodies.
"It's fine, just fetch me a cloak. I want to go out as quickly as possible. If you count the time I've been sleeping, I've been stuck in this room for over three years." Adelheid said, showing a bit of impatience.
Sofia and Matilda moved toward the wardrobe once more and returned with a red cloak that was perfect for her stature. It had a golden edge and the symbol of the empire embroidered into it.
The two maids fasted the cloak onto the seventh princess. Adelheid was surprised at how warm it was despite how thin it seemed, but only for a moment. "Now, let's go."
Sofia and Matilda opened the door and bowed slightly as Adelheid and Elune walked out of her room. Once outside, Adelheid's steel-grey eyes scanned the environment, full of curiosity.
She saw the flower pots on their pedestals, the suits of armor, and the tapestries. Everything was fresh and novel to the now seven year old. Under her leadership, the three females behind her followed closely behind her.
What Adelheid didn't expect was that she would be out of breath at the second corner.
Adelheild's back was nearly parallel to the floor, and she needed to leverage her palms on her knees to prevent herself from falling. Not only that, but a thick sheen of sweat was covering her forehead. What the hell is wrong with my body? I only walked a few meters, yet I'm already out of breath!
"Your Highness, are you alright?" Matilda walked forward to support Adelheid, but Adelheid raised her hand and signaled Matilda that she didn't need any aid.
Sofia had also reached out to support the seventh princess just a bit slower than Matilda. Seeing that Adelheid didn't want their help, she retracted her hands, but she was ready to step in at any time in case Adelheid collapsed.
The calmest one was healer Elune. She slowly placed her palm on Adelheid's back with practiced ease, and Adelheid felt a warm sensation flowing into her body from the point of contact. "How about we return, princess? Your muscles have atrophied too much. If you push your body too much, it will do more harm than good."
Adelheid stayed silent as she stood straight once more. Then she looked towards Elune and asked, "Have I reached the limit of my body?"
Elune wanted to say yes, but upon seeing the seriousness in Adelheid's eyes, she began to hesitate. Finally, she sighed and replied, "No, not yet. With my help, you can probably move for another hour or two."
Adelheid nodded. "Then let's continue."
The seventh princess began to walk down the palace corridors once more, only this time her pace was slower, and each step was calculated to minimize exertion. Elune, who saw this, was secretly shocked in her heart. Is Princess Adelheid unconsciously minimizing her exertion to conserve her stamina, or is she doing this consciously?
Although the act of using the least amount of energy to complete a movement sounded simple, applying the principle in reality was another matter, and not usually something a child could accomplish.
Followed by her two concerned maids and a healer, Adelheid made her way from the sixth floor, which her room was located on, of the palace to the ground floor. The process took nearly two hours, including the break time, but Adelheid was satisfied. After being caged in her room for over a month, she finally experienced a bit of freedom.
Perhaps, she would lose interest in the castle after a few more rounds, but Adelheid was sure that she would not be idle. There was still so much she had to learn about the world she currently resided in. She had already died once, she didn’t want to die a second time.
"Princess, you are almost at your limits. If you push yourself, it will only delay your recovery." Elune kindheartedly reminded at the side.
Adelheid stayed silent. "I'll go back after I see what's outside."
She had already reached the ground floor. It would be a pity not to go outside.
"Your Highness, the closest exit doesn't lead to the garden, but the training grounds for the knights," Sofia said. As a dutiful maid, she had completely memorized the palace's layout, at least the parts not restricted to her.
"Sofia, what are you saying? The knight's training ground is the greatest place in the palace." Matilda said, dissatisfied with Sofia's viewpoint. Suddenly an idea occurred to her. "Maybe the princess can even join them!"
After speaking it aloud, Matilda realized her idea wasn't bad at all. On the contrary, the more she thought about it, the more excellent the idea became in Matilda's mind.
A vein appeared on Sofia's temples.
"What do you think you're doing? Her highness has only awakened for about a month. Accidents happen constantly at the training grounds. How can you let her highness go see such a place? What if it agitates and scares her highness?" Sofia harshly rebuked Matilda, feeling that she was too thoughtless.
"What? How can you say that?!" Matilda argued back. "The knights are the backbone of the empire. How can Princess Adelheid not want to look!"
"You!" Sofia shouted and pointed her fingers at Matilda, finally unable to restrain her temper any longer.
The two began arguing back and forth, causing quite a commotion in the palace halls. Adelheid even saw some servants rushing over after hearing the noise.
"Enough, stop making a scene," Adelheid ordered, causing both of them to swiftly bow, but not before sending one last glare at the other.
Adelheid sighed.
"Healer Elune, are the knights trained in the usage of aura?" Adelheid turned towards the oldest member of the quartet. On Earth, magic and aura did not exist, so she was curious as to the strength of knights. How would they compare to the weaponry of the modern world?
Elune hesitated for a moment before replying truthfully, "Yes, to be clear, only aura journeymen can be knighted by the Vuldar Empire."
"Aura journeymen?" Adelheid asked, tilting her head.
Adelheid didn't know that her actions coupled with her confused gaze resulted in an inexplicable charm that caused those who saw it to want to abandon everything and embrace the seventh princess. In fact, had she done this on the streets of Midgard, a kidnapping might even occur.
Matilda, who saw this, squealed in delight as her face flushed, and not even Sofia was immune as her breathing became rough. Upon hearing the squeal, Adelheid turned her head towards Matilda, expressionless but with a raised eyebrow.
Matilda squealed even more.
Elune coughed into her fist, bringing Adelheid's attention back to her, and sent a warning glare to the two maids. Earlier, she had been affected as well, thinking, Ah, if this was my granddaughter, how great would it be?
"Aura mastery is divided into several stages. An aura novice is, as the name implies, an initiate in aura usage. Next are the aura disciple, aura journeyman, and then aura master. Most people can’t even reach the realm of aura master in their lifetime." Elune explained.
Adelheid nodded. "There are higher aura stages, right?"
"Of course, but the people who can reach such a stage are incredibly rare. Within the empire, only about a hundred people have exceeded the aura master stage." Elune replied.
"What about you?" Adelheid asked, curious about Elune's mastery.
Elune smiled. "I'm just an aura journeyman. My primary profession is a mage. Aura is just something I learned to aid my healing."
Recalling the soothing sensation she felt, Adelheid nodded and gained a better understanding of aura. Aura wasn't just something used to increase physical strength and constitution but can also heal.
"Alright, let's go see the knight's training grounds."
Upon hearing Adelheid's decision, Matilda showed a triumphant expression to Sofia. Sofia promptly ignored Matilda and obediently followed behind Adelheid, who was already walking towards the training grounds.
"Humpf," Matilda blew a raspberry at Sofia before following, walking shoulder to shoulder with Sofia.
The knight's training grounds within the palace, to be specific, were the training grounds of the Imperial Guards Knight Order, the Vuldar Empire's strongest knights. And only members of the Imperial Guards had the right to train within the palace walls.
Adelheid glanced at the guards, who showed surprised expressions when they saw her and her three attendants. The two guards wearing full armor crossed their spears and blocked the entrance to the training grounds.
"Halt, identify yourself. Only authorized knights and personnel are allowed to enter." One of the knights said, his brows furrowed when he saw Adelheid's clothing and her three attendants. He suspected that the child's identity wasn't simple at all.
Adelheid opened her mouth to speak but stopped when Elune's hand touched her shoulder.
"Impudent," Sofia said, her voice cold and dignified. "Before you is the seventh princess of the Vuldar Empire, Adelheid von Vuldar."
The two guards stilled for a moment before they removed their spears and bowed their heads. "Forgive our rudeness for not recognizing Your Highness. Please forgive our previous offense."
Adelheid didn't speak, only nodded. Judging from Elune's previous actions, the seventh princess guessed that the nobility or imperial family did not lightly speak to knights or perhaps those of lower status according to convention.
In the eyes of many nobles, knights were only half nobles at best since they lacked the most crucial feature that defined a noble, the right to pass down the title. Because of this, even barons, the lowest-ranked among the nobility, towered above knights in status.
Adelheid took the right action as the two knights thanked her for her grace. The two then removed their spears barring the entrance to the training grounds, which the quartet passed. Before even entering, the sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard. When they entered, the sight of warriors engaging in a deadly dance of blood and steel could be seen, dazzling Adelheid's eyes.
The training grounds were easily over five thousand square meters in size and split into various sections. Even within the confines of the imperial palace, it took up a good portion of space, signifying the importance placed upon the knights.
Despite the vast size, only about a hundred people were present, but over half the space was utilized despite the seemingly low number of people. Adelheid soon discovered why.
The training grounds had differently sized sections, ranging from fifty square meters, one hundred square meters, two hundred square meters, and one five hundred square meters area. Most of the areas were fifty square meters, and almost all of them were filled.
Within each of the training areas, two people could be seen moving far too fast to be tracked by the naked eye. One moment two people could be seen clashing swords at one spot but suddenly appear at another point the next instant. Not only that, but large gashes would suddenly appear on the ground if it weren't riddled yet.
At this moment, the power of aura masters was deeply imprinted into Adelheid's mind. Each one of these knights, if any one of them were to appear in the Olympics, they would break any previous records. If you told me that these knights could block bullets, I would believe it.
Just as Adelheid was enraptured by the power of the knights, a loud explosion caught her attention. Twisting her head towards the source, Adelheid felt her breath hitch.
In the largest training area stood two figures. One was a stereotypical knight wearing full plate armor sans the helmet holding a zweihander in one hand.
But it was the other figure that caught Adelheid's attention.
The figure was clad in full plate armor of pure gold that shone with holy light. The armor was a work of art, seemingly too beautiful to be used as an armament of war. Around the golden knight floated six swords that danced in the air.
One sword crackled with electricity.
Another emitted a fiery heat that died the blade red.
The third was circled by numerous icicles that chilled the surrounding air.
The fourth was ten times as large as the rest and encased in gray rocks.
The fifth seemed to have been formed from the shadows itself.
And last but not least was a holy blade of divine white.
