Chapter 25: Athena's Test
"No, I'm asking you, what did you do to not blow up your Storm Monkey tears?!"
Kyriaki was being interrogated by two beautiful boys as she walked along the beautifully decorated hallway.
"I just kept my eyes on it."
"No, how could you! I did the same but it all blew up." Euclid shook his head as if he was recalling the memories.
"You must have put it on more than 10°C."
"Ah,no way…"
"Yes."
"But I clearly set it to 10°C tho?" Euclid pointed his index finger at himself.
"But you heated it for more than three minutes, didn't you?"
"...Ah. AHHHHH! I just took my eyes off to check the tempest mushrooms for a second!!"
"You can't do that. Alchemy is a craftsmanship that empathizes timing, meticulous patience and multitasking. Who would take their eye away a second before a dangerous magical ingredient was supposed to be ready?"
Kyriaki pushed the door with little strength and entered the training grounds reserved for
"Student Kyriaki, Student Kyrios and Student Euclid, 10 penalty points for being late." The moment they set foot on the training ground, a low voice full of dissatisfaction reached their ears.
[You have received 10 penalty points from Professor Endymion]
[Current penalty points: 10]
[Please be more careful with your studies]
Kyriaki froze on the spot.
It was her first time receiving penalty points. She wasn't obsessed with it to feel wronged, but having actually earned it, she felt a little distasteful.
Kyrios, recognizing her emotions right away, patted her head with a kind smile.
"Don't be disappointed, only 50 penalty points get you to clean the hallways."
"..."
"Congratulations on receiving penalty points for the first time." Euclid patted her shoulder from the side.
"...shut up." Kyriaki hissed, continuing her walk towards the mob of students.
Endymion, with a haughty expression that even ignored his grandchildren, glanced at the students as he comfortably sat on his vine throne.
"As I was saying, since there are students who are first tier warriors in this class, from today onward the EESOP armory will be opened to the first year. You can get one weapon and a weapon art each for all the ten weapons you registered. It operates on a first come first serve basis, so you better hurry up." He then calmly snapped his fingers, summoning an ordinary looking wooden door.
'I would have been thrilled to use this Suzume code door if it wasn't opened for me to find an effective way to kill people.'
Kyriaki sighed out loud and started walking towards the door without speaking. Endymion paid no attention to her as he flashed a wicked smile at the remaining students.
"Those who aren't qualified to enter through this door, better start working or else I might choose you for private tutoring."
The sound of people hastily pulling out their training weapons and taking positions followed in an instant as Euclid and Kyrios catched up with Kyriaki before she entered the armory.
The greenery scenery changed, and what welcomed them was a hall filled with various kinds of weapons. Divided into ranks, grade, material, shape, age and even by the person who crafted it. It was truly fascinating how neat the armory was compared to Endymion's personal treasury.
Although most weapons were below A rank, they were all undoubtedly decent in their rank.
Kyriaki walked past the hall of weapons towards the next door, ignoring Kyrios who was already enchanted by the massive armory.
"Who'd have thought a mere armory of an academy would hold this much valuables?" Kyrios let out his inner thoughts without hesitation.
"Only dragons would do something like that, of course." Euclid nonchalantly replied.
"Haha…true."
Kyriaki pushed the door to the sword art section and turned her head back, making eye contact with Kyrios.
—I'll be right back—
—Alright!— Kyrios waved his hand with a bright smile, replying to her telepathically just like she did. A very subtle smile possessed her plumply rose lips.
Kyriaki entered the sword section with a relaxed expression. Euclid, who observed the scene where the twins just stared at each other and went on their own way like they were characters in some random hero comic, shook his head as he entered the sword art section, following Kyriaki. He seemed to think they were very strange as siblings.
"Are you going to use long sword arts when your weapon is a whip-sword?" Euclid asked before walking towards the twin sword category. Filled with curiosity,his ocean blue eyes looked utterly stunning.
"For now, yes." Kyriaki calmly replied. Then in a second, she disappeared into the long sword category of the sword art section like a ghost.
Long sword arts didn't suit a whip-sword user. It was most convenient compared to single whip arts, but still it undeniably restrained the user's full abilities.
However, the whip-sword was a rarely used weapon from an ancient civilization of an extinct race that looked similar to Humans.
Although there are some humans, and even dragons like Thanasios who had used this type of sword art, there was a common aspect to all of their arts; They were all self-made.
To fit their strength, body type and abilities, they created their own type of weapon art. The reason everyone was surprised when Kyriaki chose this weapon was not just because of Cadmus' Dragon Slayer, it also concerned the nature of the weapon type.
A weapon that required a unique self-made weapon art that only the user can wield. It might sound simple, but creating weapon art isn't that easy. Everybody can make one, but only few could be successful in making a powerful weapon art that can rival existing ones. And not to mention, the time that is consumed to make one technique could be years and decades.
'It doesn't matter, I have 900 years left.'
Kyriaki shrugged her shoulders adorably and picked up a book with a beautifully printed title.
[Fire Dragon Art]
'Ah this one must've been created by a fire attribute dragon.'
[Sword of the Azure sky]
[Sword of Light]
[Apollo's Sunset]
[Dance of the Silver Moon]
[Blazing Blade of Ares]
'Wow, aren't they all above rank B? And the restrictions are all F- at the least.'
Kyriaki leisurely browsed through the sword art books, reading each title and nodding her head like she was in some Chinese martial art novel.
One might wonder why she was so relaxed.
Was it because she already had a weapon art of excellent quality she got from the Monarch's Archives?
That might be one of the reasons.
But Kyriaki was a person who liked to meticulously plan everything and had hundreds of backup plans. In those plans, would she be satisfied with just one art that would be protecting her life? Would she just let luck decide her next move?
Of course not.
Kyriaki loudly threw away a sword art book she estimated to be useless, fixing her eyes on the wall.
In fact, not the wall but the shield that was placed on the wall.
'Kyrios visit this place to choose a long sword art in the original timeline.'
She walked towards the shield with a predator's eyes. Those eyes, as beautiful as melted gold, studied the shield with great interest.
[Athena's shield (Replica)
Category: Weapon
Type: Shield
Rank: S+
Effects: Defense +25%, Aggro +20%, Strength+10%, 10% Damage transfer to enemy of choice, Has a 1% chance of freezing the enemy to stone.
Description: A replica of Athena's shield, Created by the grandson of the High Dwarf king who made the original shield, as an experiment. He gifted it to Queen Athena as an apology for creating a replica of her beloved weapon without permission. Queen Athena, the 22th Monarch of Dragons, accepted it and placed it in the Ochros Palace as a test for the students.]
'It still doesn't say what kind of test she put in there.'
Kyriaki confidently placed her hand in the middle of the shield, where Medusa's face was crafted.
"In the name of dragons, I challenge the test of Athena." She then said out loud.
Swoosh!
The moment those words slipped out of her mouth, Kyriaki vanished into thin air. As if she was never there, like she was erased from existence all at once.
∆ ∆ ∆
The soft touch of fresh grass and wild flowers, washed by the kisses of spring rain greeted Kyriaki with a wonderful embrace. Rustling of the pleasant meadow and the scent of lovely spring tickled her nose. The colorful blue sky, holding white cotton clouds like a baby's comforting dream speared out endlessly resembling an ocean.
The cool breeze of early spring, mixed with the sleepy breath of slumbering winter rustled Kyriaki's golden hair as she lifted her upper body with a giggle.
The world that greeted her looked like it came straight out of a Gxibli movie.
"It's pretty."
She was wholly sincere.
There was a time she fantasized of living in a place like this, away from everything that made her exhausted. Like living inside a serene Gxibli movie.
"It makes you want to run away from your world to this world, isn't it?" A beautiful voice filled with pride, curiosity and satisfaction came from behind, swallowing her whole with a giant shadow that felt soft and warm for an unknown reason.
"True. But I'm not allowed to do that." Kyriaki replied without looking back. She looked unbothered by the shadow over her as well as the identity of the beautiful voice.
Instead she lowered her chin and ran her tiny hand over wild flowers of stunning hue with a calm and peaceful expression. A blue butterfly flapped its wings with a swan's effortless grace and landed on her fingers, tickling her heart.
"Why is that?" the voice, now mostly filled with curiosity, asked back.
"Because I am a leader. Leaders shouldn't give in to visual pleasantries or pleasure too much. And they shouldn't run away no matter what hardship awaits them." For the first time, Kyriaki lifted her head and turned around, looking at the person that was talking to her all along.
A tall woman in golden armor looked down at her with a smile so beautiful it threatened to pull her into an ecstatic dream.
Red and blue butterflies danced around her as if they mistook her for a flower as the spring breeze ruffled her long golden hair softly. Her golden eyes, like the blazing sun, were fixed on Kyriaki as if she was trying to understand something unknown.
'Just like the Goddess Athena I imagined in Greek mythology.' Kyriaki smiled back.
Dragons call it Drakonic in this world, but in her previous world, they call the language she now speaks Greek. Ancient Greek, to be exact. So naturally, the names and places that followed were also related to that language.
But thankfully, the dragons didn't have a habit of marrying their sisters and daughters, rxxing other people's wives and impregnating their grandmas and nieces.
Athena was the Goddess of Wisdom and war in Greek mythology.
But in this world, this Athena that stood before her was one of the Queens of Dragons far far in the past. Also known as the Humble Queen in history books for her generosity towards other species.
"I greet the 22nd Monarch of Dragons, Athena Pleione Eleftherios." Kyriaki knelt on one knee, bowing with perfect manners that couldn't be found in a hatchling very often.
"Golden hair and Golden eyes…you must be one of Athena's descendants. Rise and tell me your name, Child."
"My name is Kyriaki Elpis Eleftherios, The Crown Princess of the new generation." Kyriaki lifted her head first, locking eyes with Athena.
"Oho…" When Athena let out a satisfied exclamation, Kyriaki property stood up.
"Which generation is in charge of Mitherr-ge right now, My Princess?" Athena asked with sparkling eyes, gesturing to her to follow her as she took the lead.
They started the walk on the endless prairie filled with wildflower fields and the meadow towards the direction of the sun.
"49th generation, ruled by my father Elysium Haris Eleftherios, Your Majesty." When Kyriaki replied as courteously as possible, lowering her head in response, Athena chuckled softly.
"No need to call me Majesty anymore. I'm not even the soul of Athena, I'm just a puppet, placed here to welcome the challenger of Athena's Test."
"Then let us settle for our names, both of us." Kyriaki smiled politely, looking at Athena calmly.
"Hoho…already fluent in leading conversation. Since my knowledge is limited to the 22nd generation, it seems things have changed drastically in the meantime."
"It seems so." Kyriaki looked around, nodding in agreement. They were now climbing a small hill with only grass and wildflowers around.
"This is a separate dimension created by Athena. She liked to do this kind of thing a lot as a hobby." Athena joined her, looking around with a peaceful and satisfied expression.
Kyriaki had to smile as politely as possible to hide her true feelings.
'Who creates small dimensions as a hobby?!' Was what circled around her mind as she did so.
"Do you know why you are here, Kyriaki?"
"To challenge Athena's Test."
"That's right," Athena nodded. "Since only challengers of G rank can enter this space, you might have already guessed that the challenge is supposed to fit your rank. Then, shall we start?"
As they finally reached the peak of the hill, what came to their view was mushroom cottages and a town full of delight and laughter under the hill.
The mushroom cottages, the size of a small student room at most, looked really colorful and aesthetic. Stone roads, clean and wide, as well as all kinds of useful tools and buildings that could be found in any village made the scenery so peaceful and mesmerizing that Kyriaki silently stared at it as if she was enchanted.
Then she opened her little mouth adorably, resembling an innocent girl about to ask for candy from her mother and spattered out something that could cause a spine chilling reaction from an ordinary person.
"Do I just have to kill them?" She lifted her hand, pointing it at the tiny creatures living there.
Long pointy ears, clear skin and jewel-like eyes… but their size resembled a dwarf. Like Christmas elves that live at the North Pole and work for the Santa Clause in stories from her previous life. Even the way they dressed resembled those types of tiny elves.
Meanwhile, Athena's eyes widened in shock. But the next minute, she burst out laughing.
"Oh I thought they hadn't taught you about monsters yet, but it seems EESOP is fast in their lessons."
"Oh no, they didn't. Actually this species has gone extinct a long time ago for us to even have early lessons." Kyriaki calmly replied as she refused to take her eyes off of the peaceful village.
"They have gone extinct?!" Athena, who was hit with another blow of great shock, widened her golden eyes. Her armor creaked like a robot as turned to look at the tiny hatchling standing beside her.
"Yes, by the time of the 23rd monarch, Endymion III's ruling period, Fairies launched a surprise attack at the Fairy Forest Songe and declared war on them. In just three years, they were erased from the history of monsters."
"Ah, that's understandable."
They were as tiny as dwarves, but their delicate appearance prevented them from acting like dwarves. They were as beautiful as elves, but their size prevented them from acting like elves. And in the end, those tiny creatures took advantage of the fact that fairies' love for solitude and peace, imitating Fairies for their own gain.
[Ding!]
[Greenling
Category: Monster
Description: A monster species that had gone extinct thousands of years ago in the war of Fairy-Greenlings. It has a hybrid appearance of light elf-dwarf-fairy combined, with average 100cm height, and a beautiful appearance. A type of intelligent monster that likes to use tricks and pretensions to lure prey. Wield simple illusion magic, their teeth and claws can rip off an average human to shed. They cannot level up above G+ ]
A natural smirk came to Kyriaki's lips in an instant.
"Hah…I never thought I'd see a day where these tiny troublemakers have been wiped out from the planet. Do you know why they are here?" Athena asked, sitting down on the grass as if she was on a picnic with a relaxed expression.
Kyriaki shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she had no idea. But in fact, she knew everything to know about this dimension even before she was born. Literally.
"It's because the Queen created a sword art in her late years of monarchy. But she felt it was too weak for her to personally use it. In the end, she used the Replica of her Shield as an excuse and created this dimension. Wanting to test young children before they level up too much so that she can give away her sword art to someone that would find it useful." Athena blinked a few times, as if she herself was recalling those memories.
"Hah…" She then let out a playful sigh, looking at Kyriaki as if she had so many complaints to make.
"Do you know how troublesome it was to manage these Greenlings?! At first, there were only 100, but they soon reproduced thousands and thousands. It was truly an unbelievable sight. So Athena had to kill 1/5 of them and make a time loop with only one thousand Greenlings left. Luckily, they aren't smart enough to realize they are in an endless timeloop yet."
Athena chuckled. Her golden eyes gleamed under the midday spring sun like yellow diamonds.
"Just as you guessed, the test is to kill all of the Greenlings with basic Swordsmanship moves, without any fancy sword arts or magic. You can take as much time as possible since there's a time difference between this dimension and reality."
Even before Athena finished talking, Kyriaki had summoned her Whip-sword, ready to lash out at any moment.
For the third time since they met, she was able to successfully surprise Athena once again.
"Oh my, a bold choice of weapon. You might as well win this too, Kyriaki. So kill them all."
Swoosh!
Kyriaki leaped up in the air, with a few huge jumps, she arrived at the middle of the village like Irxnman landing on the ground. Although no cool music was played in the background and no debris flew out, Kyriaki was satisfied with her superhero landing.
She tightened her grip of the sword, taking the posture of a sword woman raising her sword to the level of her head. A slight hint of a long forgotten, hidden and ignored madness flashed through her beautiful yellow diamond eyes.
The child-like beautiful eyes were no more. Not the indifferent gaze she displayed most of the time, nor were they the elegant eyes she flashed at those around her.
Yet they were the most brilliant eyes one cannot find anywhere in the world. The sun itself would envy those eyes.
"Come at me, my stress relievers." Her tone, as if she was asking for a reward, echoed through the Greenling village like she was announcing the start of a stage play.
Instantly, the lively village full of laughter fell into silence.
Greenlings peeked from everywhere.
Dozens and hundred of them with their twinkling eyes as beautiful as a fairy's looked at her in silence.
As if they were observing, as if they were evaluating.
Then, a Greenling that was the same size as her took a few steps with a beautiful smile on his face. The bell on his cone cap jingled, breaking the eerie silence like an ice breaker.
"My friend! Welcome to our village!" He spoke in the Fairy tongue, but his words sounded ancient, perhaps because of the time difference of today's Fairy tongue and what Greenlings learned when they were outside.
"We, as fairies—"
Slash! Thud!
That was it.
Another silence followed.
More colder…more eerie.
Kyriaki leaned forward and made a light jump, executing a smooth horizontal strike like water.
Slash! Swoosh!! Thud! Thud!
Two more figures fell.
Tak.
She landed on the stone street with a small sound and raised her overly big sword once again without delay.
[Ding!] [Ding!] [Ding!]
The sound of a bell rang in her head as silver-golden screens overlapped with one another. Kyriaki read the notification on the first page calmly.
[You have slayed a Greenling G-]
[First Kill detected!]
[Last condition to unlock Sub-authority:
[Sub-authority:
[Activating newly unlocked sub-authority:
[Collecting core energy of the slayed monsters into the Host's core]
[Core energy +0.2]
[You have slayed a Greenling G+]
[Core energy +0.5]
[You have slayed a Greenling G-]
[Core energy +0.3]
Then, It happened.
∆ ∆ ∆
"Fairy Language in this world is the carbon copy of 19th century French."
—Kyriaki Elpis Eleftherios (Former Human from dimension Earth-Prime)—