Echoes of the Fractured God

" I'm a devil," her voice echoed in the small hall, causing the people present to freeze in silence.

Devils are known as blood-driven maniacs, and this makes everybody hate them and always kill them before they ever get the chance to grow. This had also forced them to become silent about their aspect; it is very rare to see a devil, as they usually try their best to keep their aspect a secret from others. If someone awakens a devil aspect at the public celestial lake, that person is bound to die the same night, but Caelia was different.

She made it through the night and even got into an organization, which made it more shocking that even after knowing she is a devil from the assessment, her confidence was when speaking of it. Even if one were a devil, they tend to be introverted due to fear of what people might do to them; hence, they are rarely seen.

The hall became deathly silent, and everyone's eyes were fixated on the golden-haired girl walking towards her seat at the corner of the hall.

She had an indifferent air around her, but when people paid close attention to her, they somehow felt a subtle loneliness radiating from her.

Jack was already covered in sweat. His back felt cold, and he shivered slightly while watching Caelia take her seat, and yet even after such an intense reaction from everyone in the room, she didn't seem to mind, which made Jack even more fidgety.

' They knew about it! Those bastards! His reaction cannot be compared to the insults he is hurling at Nyxir and Ivarin.

His reaction was expected because he nearly teased a bloodthirsty devil.

This is the reputation that the devils had garnered over the years, and although none of them had seen a devil in action, the fear they had towards them was deeply ingrained in their minds.

"Attention please," Alfred's voice jolted them back, and they all focused their attention on him.

" More like it. Your team comprises five people, each with different aspects that complement in battle. "

" Your training will begin tomorrow, but before that, I have to make your role very clear to you. " Alfred's face became serious as he looked at their faces one after the other.

"Caelia will be the team leader as well as a vanguard, Larry is the support combat type Saint, while Jack will be the tracker and strategist. As for Ivarin, you are working together with Jack to set up defenses and traps while also ensuring your team's weapons and armor are in good shape. Lastly, Nyxir, you are the support for all of them. As you are a mage, you will be their hidden attacker as well as buffer, you are also to support Caelia in leading and take her place when needed."

Alfred went through all the instructions with the same serious expression before turning to Ivarin.

"You all are to report to me tomorrow morning so that your training can begin. You will start by learning the attributes of your aspects, and also train in your various roles.

After Alfred finished, he left the hall, signaling the end of the meeting, and immediately, discussion broke out.

"What have you discovered about your aspect? I never expected you to be a mage." Ivarin turned to Nyxir and questioned with glowing eyes.

"Me neither," Nyxir replied with a stoic expression.

"What do you mean, did you not attend the assessment?" Jack, who had already gone up to them, heard their conversation and inquired.

"Let's say it is about a rare aspect or something, but I'm not sure myself, that's why I'm asking him," Ivarin pointed at Nyxir, whose face was still glued to the front.

"It is a rare aspect, but my talent grade is too low for importance to be attached to it," Nyxir replied with the same stoic expression.

"Aren't you supposed to be like a warrior before you can be accepted?" Larry chimed in from behind. "Because almost every person I have seen has a warrior-grade talent, and that includes me."

"My talent grade did not show; it was concluded that my energy was too weak to be detected by the jade pagoda used for the assessment."

"Are you saying that you are not even up to a mortal grade?" Jack asked in an amused tone.

"That might not necessarily be the case; it might be that the pagoda did not reflect his talent due to something else," Ivarin tried to cover up for Nyxir.

Meanwhile, Nyxir's mind was elsewhere; he had been stealing glances at Caelia, who sat in the corner just staring at the front like something interesting was going on there. He waited intentionally to see her leave, but she had not moved since her introduction, and she did not seem to be leaving anytime soon.

'Is this what Ivarin meant by eccentric?'

'This is abnormal, okay?'

"I'm going to my room," Nyxir finally got up and picked up the small bag he brought with him.

"You are also staying in the guild, that's great." Ivarin tapped Nyxir on the shoulder and followed him out while Larry and Jack also tagged along.

The room became empty and quiet, with only Caelia, who seemed like she had melded into the room. If anyone entered without looking around, they would have thought it was empty, as she sat still, like a statue, almost as if she had completely blended with the surroundings.

Nyxir walked down the hallway towards his room, which is located at the end of the hallway. Alfred has given them their temporary quarter to stay until they are done with their group training. The temporary quarter is for recruits who are in training because some of them came from somewhere far and could not make it if they decided to return for training the next day, but it was just a formality, and also it is not a compulsion for recruits to stay in the guild.

He found a small door by the corner of the hallway and pushed it open to reveal a small living quarters with only a small bed occupying more than half of the entire room. There was a small table placed against a small window frame, which opened slightly to let in rays of sunlight. The table contains a handful of basic practice manuals and a leaflet on the things to pay attention to when in the guild.

By the side of the table sat a wooden chair on which a small case sat. There was a small note attached to the top, and Nyxir turned around to see to whom it was addressed carefully.

"Mine from who? The guild?" he walked towards the chair, picked up the case, which seemed unexpectedly light, and repositioned it on the table before sitting down to look through the case.

There was a small round orb in the box. The orb seemed not to have any color, but at the same time, it seemed to radiate all the colors one could think of, strangely bringing tranquility to the looker.

"An essence orb!" Nyxir jerked slightly at the sight of the orb. He stared in surprise at the orb for a long time before closing the box, a smile hung on his lips.

An essence orb is a very rare consumable resource type item found in some uncommon monsters. The orb helps to accumulate magical power for mages and is also used to forge magical weapons that can harness a person's full strength attack for a single strike, but because it is a one-use item, people tend to use its magical power accumulation attribute to progress faster instead of the attack.

The more magical power a mage accumulates, the more dense their magical power will be and the more potent their power outburst will be, which will make their attack more robust.

But ultimately, the attacking force is still dependent on a person's spiritual power. If your spiritual power is sparse and you have strong magical power, your magical power outburst will still be limited by your spiritual power level. It is like a channel and a dam. No matter how much water there is, the output will still be dependent on how wide the channel is, even if it eventually overflows. But having an essence orb helps to boost a person's magical power by a very fair degree, which is something that is supposed to take a very long time.

"I'm already getting resources from my first stay in the guild." Nyxir smiled slightly and closed the box lid before setting it aside. He rummaged through the handful of practice manuals placed on the table and soon lost interest as they were filled with a bunch of stuff he already knew.

Next, he skimmed through the leaflet to commit the rules to his memory before slowly unpacking his clothes, ready for a short rest.

After dealing with his chores and preparing for the next day's event, he lay down on the small bed, which is surprisingly bouncy, and closed his eyes. He entered his soul sea and connected to the dark space before plummeting into the endless abyss.