Arcanum

"We don"t really know ourselves..... Once we got back we were orders to help hold the wall and gates...." They all replied.

"Hmmm... see that large pile of ground over there that looks different to the paved ground?.." Yuna asked pointing out a distant large mound of earth.

"Yeah..." I replied looking interested.

"They must have used some sort of tunnelling system to infiltrate the city a.s.suming the guards will all be stationed on the wall... I a.s.sume they"ve been sealed with either explosives or a spell." Yuna answered.

"Ohhh... so that"s what Jay meant when they said there"s a small contingent that got past." I answered.

"Yes... but don"t worry I"m sure overwatch has most the city covered." Yuna smiled.

"What"s overwatch?..." I asked curiously.

"Overwatch is what we call several elite team, each consist of three students designed for extremely long range combat..... A Firearms sniper..... A Sorcerer that specializes in sensory spells..... and a close to mid-range student that specializes in neutralizing targets quickly and quietly to protect the other two members from anyone who could have potentially discovered their position." Yuna explained.

"Fire arms?..." I asked curiously.

"Yes.....Firearms fire is easier to hide... and maintain their element of stealth." Yuna answered.

"Can"t we just ask them where Jila is?... I"m sure they would know where she is." Daisy asked in a hurry to find Jila.

"Sadly.... Once they are deployed they tend to stay out of communication so enemies can"t use magic to locate them. Even our students don"t know where they are deployed....." she answered.

"Is this the first time you"ve been in a situation like this?.." I asked curiously.

"Ummmm I"ve been on missions and things but nothing on this scale..... I"m focused on close hand to hand combat.... so I"m not very good in situations like these..... That"s why Paul probably picked me to go with him... since otherwise I"d be pretty idle..." She sighed.

"So is teleporting division a set of students that focus on teleportation?..." I asked remember that Sven said earlier.

"Yes Atlantis is split into many divisions... Each play an important role in situations..... Teleportation division members specialize in creating teleportation way points to help transport people large distances quickly.... Creating permanent way points is very time consuming and expensive..... I think creating a permanent one for example in a city takes upwards of 5 years..... And several students creating special runes with expensive inks and materials." Yuna smiled.

"Are you in a special division?.." Jay politely asked.

"Ummm not exactly.... I"m just a normal combatant like most students.... so you can technically call us the combat division?.." I guess she laughed.

"Do you have to join a division?..." Grace asked.

"Nope... you have the choice to study and advance yourselves which ever way you want... but divisions have special requirements... for example the Overwatch each member needs to master hiding their Arcanum Presence from other Arcanum users." She answered.

"Arcanum presence?..." I asked curiously.

"Yes.... everyone can sense someone"s Arcanum presence..... For most people it may feel like a gut feeling... like you can tell if someone is a wielder or Arcanum or not..... But extremely strong individuals you will know.... it would feel almost overwhelming unless they"ve trained in masking it or hiding it." She answered.

"So do you use Arcanum.... I don"t see you use spells..." I asked curiously.

"Yes I do.... Arcanum is like... a force..... How you wield it differs from person to person..... You guys harness Arcanum through the use of spells... for me I use Arcanume to enhance my abilities to fight in hand to hand combat.... I move faster... hit harder and toughen myself with the use of Arcanum....." She answered.

"Like a monk?.." I asked curiously noticing the similarity.

"Ummm of sorts... Monks use something called Chi or Ki?..... It"s something a little different.... From my very basic understanding Chi and Ki comes from the inside..... they utilize their internal force..... Whereas I kinda absorb Arcanum from around us and mould it to enhance my abilities." She answered.

"Ohhh..." we nodded in understanding... but to be honest I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Sadly…. I"ve spent most my energy for today..... Although I am very good in hand to hand combat... I can only enhance my abilities for 5 minutes before I need to rest for a few hours..... And I couldn"t risk getting seriously injured when we was surrounded earlier." She added.

"Ohh my G.o.d... I thought that was amazing!!! How you so easily defeated all those Dark Elves in one hit." I gushed in awe.

"Yeah luckily for us... they were mostly Men..... And someone diverted the attention of the two women buying me an opening... otherwise it would have been very hard trying to save you." She said to me.

"OHH!!! That was me!!" Daisy smiled.

"What on earth was that?..." I asked shocked never seeing her use that spell in our week of training.

"It"s a spell I don"t use often... it called.... "Consecrated Flame"." Daisy answered.

"Ohh that was you?... thanks for the save." Yuna smiled.

"Yeah and the fireball and Hail of arrows was from us." Jay and Grace added.

"Ohh very nice for first years... A Blue Flame caster..... An Adept Paladin..... A shifting Druid and a very accurate Ranger... Paul, Scarlet and Travis picked well this year." She smiled.

"Picked?.." I asked curiously.

"Yeah!!! After the preliminary examinations... each inst.i.tute takes turns picking the student they want to enrol into the Atlantis." She answered.

"Ohhh..." I nodded in understanding.

"So are the other inst.i.tutes like Atlantis?.." Jay asked.

"Well I can"t say for certain how the other Inst.i.tutes are structured.... but I imagine so.... but unlike the others Atlantis doesn"t have a region to rule over, no economy to watch over...and civilians to take care of.... So we aren"t as wealthy..... But we do fine." She smiled.

"What made you come to Atlantis?..... What was your life before this?..." I asked slightly interested.

"Well.... Before Atlantis I was just an ordinary girl..... To be honest didn"t have much in terms of future..... My father was small time merchant and my mother was a tailor, some time when I was twelve much to our surprise we received a letter letting us know that I was eligible to be enrolled.... so when I was thirteen I was taken away for preliminary testing.... and to my surprise Atlantis picked me." She smiled.

"Are you happy being taken away from your family??.." I asked a little worried in how she worded it.

"At first I was scared.... I showed no ability to harness Arcanum... even now I struggle to cast even Cantrips..... And if you"re not picked by an inst.i.tute.... you basically get enrolled into the milita.... which is probably even worse... but it all turned out okay.... I earn enough money to support my parents..... Every weekend if I"m not busy I"m free to meet them.... the closest way point is a little far.... but it"s worth the travel" She smiled seemingly extremely grateful and happy.

"Is the mailia really that bad?.." I asked wondering what it could be like....

"It really depends on where you stationed.... it could range from peaceful to extremely hazardous... some may even pay well like in the capital and in some cities probably no pay at all." Yuna answered.

"Is that why the guards here treated us differently to the other town?.. I asked jay curiously.

"You mean those guards that were rude to us?..." He asked.

"Yeah that happens often..... If Atlantis didn"t pick them they"d probably feel that Atlantis and the system failed them and just have some sort of disdain against Atlantis....." Yuna answered.

"Hmmm I see where they are coming from." I answered.

"What about you?.... How"s Atlantis been treating you?" She asked.

"It"s all pretty good!!! Food.... cla.s.ses all fun." I smiled.

"Enjoy it will it lasts... no doubt you guys will be getting detention." She laughed.

"Wait what?..." Daisy and I asked in shock.

"Yup all first years returned to Atlantis.... you guys should have been with them." She answered.

".........we"re doomed." Jay muttered.

"Yup... Chain of command is important....." She laughed.

This all felt so weird.... having a casual conversation walking inside an empty city with a war outside, but what else can we do.... Helen hasn"t given us a call nor have we seen a soul for the last 10 minutes.... Can Paul really last this long getting bombarded with attacks and spell?....