Tides from the Deep - Blood Devourer

As Talia explored her new accommodation, a steady stream of students from Krakatoa's School stopped by to introduce themselves.

“If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask,” one upperclassman said, patting Talia's shoulder.

Talia didn’t even register the name of the guy she had just chatted with for half an hour.

She was completely starstruck by the treatment she had been receiving since she set foot in Elder Krakatoa’s School – or was it Vice-Principal Krakatoa?

Students seemed to alternate between the two names when referring to Talia’s savior.

Without him, she wouldn’t have been granted entry to the Academy, as her Primary Mana Channel still wasn’t even Level One.

But even more surprising than an Elder sticking his neck out for her was the fact that so far, in this School, she had not once felt like a repugnant monster to be kept separate from decent people.

If anything, Talia felt like a minor star.

She heard someone knock on her door and cleared her throat.

“Come in,” she said awkwardly, unaccustomed to people actually knocking before entering her place.

“Hey,” Nami, Lilo’s older sister, entered and gave Talia a knowing smile. “You haven’t rested one bit, have you?”

“Well…” Talia was embarrassed.

She had wanted to rest, especially after spending so many days at sea, but so many people had come to her, and she hadn’t had the heart to turn them away.

“I’ll tell the other students to stop bothering you. But… You’re the daughter of the Kraken Slayer,” Nami shook her head. “How can you not be accustomed to dealing with this amount of attention?”

“People on Solara were… different,” Talia replied.

“Nobles live and die by their gossip,” Nami said, sitting beside Talia on the extremely fluffy bed. “You need to learn to push them away—people get really bored between lessons.”

Talia really wanted to ask how Nami knew so much if she had just come to the Academy herself.

More importantly, why had she come together with her younger sister? Why not come before, when she actually turned sixteen?

But Talia didn’t want to pry – she had just listened to Nami’s explanation about nobles being nosy and she wanted to avoid picking up such a bad habit right as she arrived.

“Anyway, I’ll talk to the senior students and the servants. I’ll let everyone know not to bother you too much. Just know that some will still be interested in knowing you. Your mother… she was the most special Hākai Pō anyone has ever seen, Talia.”

“Thank you,” Talia smiled.

“Now, though, you must go meet Elder Krakatoa. Usually, a senior student would help you choose which classes to attend for your first-year graduation. However, given your status, you must see an Elder. It would be shameful for the Academy to send anyone else.”

Talia nodded along, her head still reeling.

***

Nami led Talia through the complex of Elder Krakatoa's School.

The hallways were wide, high-ceiled, and airy, making Talia feel tiny.

As they walked, she kept marveling at the scale of the building.

Compared to the humble dwellings of Solara, this was a world apart.

Students in uniforms with a volcano emblem on their hearts walked past them, some nodding respectfully at Nami and casting curious glances at Talia.

“We get the School’s uniform in the second year,” Nami explained. “The first-years wear simple ones.”

As they were going through a long, empty corridor, Talia heard a voice.

She casually turned her head around but found no one there.

“Huh?” Talia heard some unintelligible words again coming from the wall.

At that point, she halted in her tracks.

“What’s that?” Talia asked, pointing at a faucet that stuck out above a marble basin carved out from the wall. “Did you hear that?”

“...on the third floor, in the library... at midnight… they kissed!”

“That faucet,” Talia said, pointing. “It's... talking?”

Nami's expression cleared, and she let out a small laugh. “Oh, that! It's a Whisper Spout. They're all over the School. This is probably a three-way one or more.”

Nami moved her ear closer to the faucet and smirked.

“They’re gossiping about a senior kissing a first-year student.”

“Wait, what’s a Whisper Spout?” Talia asked, intrigued.

“They're enchanted water fixtures. Students use them to pass messages or share gossip. It's much faster than sending notes and harder for professors to intercept.”

Talia's eyes widened with understanding.

“So, anyone can use them to send messages?”

“Well, not just anyone,” Nami explained. “Nothing happens if I just talk in it. Otherwise, they’d be overhearing our conversation right now.”

“Oh, how do you use it, then?”

“You need to know the right key. Each Whisper Spout has a different one. It's usually a simple spell, but they’re secret. You have to trade with a Secret Dealer to get the keys.”

“A what?”

Talia stared at the Whisper Spout, fascinated by this new piece of Academy magic.

“Come on,” Nami said gently, tugging at Talia's sleeve. “I’ll explain at another time. We don't want to keep Elder Krakatoa waiting. I promise I'll tell you more about the Whisper Spouts later.”

Talia nodded, tearing her gaze away from the talking faucet.

***

Nami led Talia to a large wooden door at the end of a hallway.

She knocked twice and opened it, ushering Talia inside before closing the door behind her.

Elder Krakatoa's study was spacious and meticulously organized.

Bookshelves lined the walls, all filled with neatly arranged tomes and scrolls.

A large desk dominated the center of the room. It had a polished surface and was almost completely empty except for a single stack of papers and an inkwell.

The light streamed in through the tall windows, highlighting the room's spotless condition.

After the mess Talia had seen on Professor Iakopo’s ship, this almost made her do a double take.

A quick thought bounced into her head.

This is the second strongest man in the Academy.

Elder Krakatoa sat behind the desk, reading a book that levitated in front of him.

His crimson robe was carefully draped over the back of his chair – he was wearing rather simple leathers for someone of his stature.

Without his robes, Talia could fully see that his magma arm extended past his elbow and up to his shoulder socket.

“Ah, Talia. Come in, come in,” Krakatoa said, waving at her with his good hand. “Have a seat.”

Talia sat in one of the two chairs facing the desk.

“Nami, would you mind waiting for her outside? I would like you to show her the rest of our School, including where to have meals.”

“Yes, Vice-Principal,” Nami bowed and made herself scarce.

“Now then,” Krakatoa said, leaning forward. “I imagine you have questions.”

Talia nodded.

“Why did you help me? You don't even know me—is it just because of my mother?”

Krakatoa's eyes crinkled as he smiled.

“Just because of your mother? That's more than enough for me.” He paused, studying her face. “Though I admit, you look more like your father.”

“You knew my father too?” Talia asked, surprised.

The Elder's expression darkened slightly.

“That's... a complicated matter. One for another time, perhaps.” He cleared his throat. “For now, let's focus on you. Your Primary Mana Channel – it's not at the level it should be, is it?”

Talia shook her head, looking down at her hands.

“I see,” Krakatoa said. He didn't sound surprised. “Well, we'll have to do something about that, won't we?”

“You knew, right?” Talia frowned.

Elder Krakatoa nodded.

“I had the report from Solara. Captain Tulo pegged your Primary Mana Channel at a Level Zero. It is a very unlikely event. Almost unique.”

The Elder smiled widely.

“But I can see, through these,” the man tapped on his rose-tinted spectacles, “that it is not Level Zero anymore—not fully Level One, though. Would you mind telling me which encounters made you jump a whole level but not quite?”

Talia pondered for a second whether to tell the man or not, but she knew that the secret of her Class would sooner or later emerge anyway.

In fact, more than one person had already seen her use [Blood Siphon].

For all she knew, Elder Krakatoa might be testing her to see if she would tell him the truth. It wasn’t crazy to imagine the man had his way of getting the information he needed and that he had already read a report of some kind on her.

“I can absorb monsters and, sometimes, I can get their abilities in the form of Skills. Every time I kill a monster close to my level, I can absorb it, and it increases an Attribute and my Primary Mana Channel.”

A ripple went through the man’s volcanic arm, and his eyes widened.

“Fascinating.”

“I—I’m afraid it might be because of my wrists… Maybe I’m cursed by the Kraken…”

Talia expected confirmation from the man or, at the very least, an admonition for her nature.

Instead, all she got was a big, hearty laugh.

“What?!” The man wheezed. “Darling, I don’t want to make fun of your intellect, but that is nonsense. You won’t turn into the Kraken anytime soon, I can tell you that without any shadow of a doubt.”

“How do you know?” Talia rebuked defensively.

“Because I was there, remember? Captain Tulo found you after your mother had disappeared. But I was there. I fought alongside your mother the very beast which you’re afraid might share your blood. And I can tell you, without any doubt, that you’re not going to turn into a monster. Ever.

“Never forget that.”

Elder Krakatoa's eyes flashed, a molten red glow overtaking their usual color.

The temperature in the room suddenly spiked, causing sweat to bead on Talia's forehead.

The Elder's volcanic arm pulsed with an angry, fiery light.

“Never,” he growled, his voice low and intense, “let anyone tell you that you're cursed or that you'll become a monster. You are Yalena's daughter.”

A ripple of Mana was contained in the man's last words, and Talia almost jumped from her seat, feeling the overwhelming power held within them.

The air around them seemed to shimmer with heat, and Talia could swear she saw the faintest outline of flames dancing around Elder Krakatoa's form.

But as quickly as it had come, the intensity faded.

The room swiftly cooled, and Elder Krakatoa's eyes returned to normal.

He took a deep breath, visibly calming himself.

“I apologize,” he said, his voice returning to its usual tone. “It... pains me to think of how you've been treated — I received a report on that as well and oversaw the punishment of the idiots who would have stopped you from taking the test.”

“Right,” Talia cleared her voice, suddenly remembering Noelo and the fact that the old man had mentioned an Elder who had wanted to bar her from coming to the Academy. “I heard that there was an Elder involved in that?”

Krakatoa nodded gravely.

“I am not certain who’s behind it. At the moment, there are only three Elders at the Academy, including me. The others are on a mission inside Dungeons and fighting Abyssal Creatures. Such an order might have come from anyone—the ones who were punished for trying to reject you weren’t members of any School, which would have given away the Elder… so, we don’t know who was.”

Talia frowned.

“But don’t worry,” Elder Krakatoa said reassuringly. “I will personally take care of this. You’re under my protection, Talia. And whether you decide to leave for another School or not, you can always come to me with your problems.”

“Thank you,” Talia said.

“Your mother was an extraordinary woman, Talia. She had a way of seeing things in ways no one else could. I hope you’ll develop that same quality, even though…”

He paused, his eyes growing distant for a moment. “You know, there was this time when your mother…”

Elder Krakatoa trailed off, shaking his head with a small smile. “But that's a story for another day. We should focus on your future here at the Academy.”

Leaning forward, he clasped his hands on the desk, though Talia noticed a faint wisp of steam rising from where his volcanic arm touched the wood.

“Now, about the Schools. As I’ve already said, you're not obligated to choose mine, though I'd be honored to have you. The beauty of our system is that you have options. If you decide to stay with us, you won't need to take any additional tests. But the choice is yours.”

“I don’t want to be shameless, Elder Krakatoa,” Talia said sheepishly, “but would you tell me which Schools are currently the best and what options you think I might have?”

“Shameless?” The man laughed, reclining on the chair. “You’re just being smart.”

Then, he pointed at the wall to his left, and Talia saw four banners hanging there.

“There are four Schools that compete for the Academy’s resources at the moment. That’s mine,” the man said, pointing at the first on the right.

It had a black volcano, Elder Krakatoa’s sigil, embroidered on a scarlet background.

“We won last year’s Academy’s competitions for almost all grades, and our students placed first in almost all classes. You could say that, currently, we’re the strongest.”

The man continued, this time pointing at another banner.

This one had a silver star on a deep blue background.

“That’s Elder Kahua’s School. Right now, they’re our only real adversary. They have fewer people, but, including your sister, they have some remarkable members.”

Elder Krakatoa looked at the banner for a moment longer.

“To be quite frank, I do expect you to evaluate them as your second-best option. Our first-year students will carry the most weight in the competition this year. I suspect that whoever might get you on their side will be the favorite.”

Without giving Talia time to reply or even blush, the man continued.

“These two are Lady Naia’s School,” he pointed at a green banner with a sea snake on it, “and Elder Kawena.” The man pointed at a yellow banner with a red sun.

“However, Elder Kawena is away, and her School is not that popular. She’s been away for five years now, an entire graduation cycle.”

“Wow,” Talia said, not knowing an Elder could be away from the Academy for that long.

“Lady Naia is Principal Kaimana’s protegé, but she’s only at the Tide Master level. She’ll be an Elder one day, but for now, she doesn’t have enough pull to be a threat to my School or Elder Kahua’s.”

“That means it’s either you or Elder Kahua if I want to be in a strong school with a lot of resources,” Talia said.

“Pretty much,” Elder Krakatoa responded. “You should talk to your sister, maybe take Elder Kahua’s test, and then make a decision.”

Talia nodded.

“And what about the classes?”

“Ah, yes,” Krakatoa said, reaching for a sheet of paper. The parchment curled slightly at the edges as his fingers brushed it. “You'll need to choose your courses. Given your unique weapon,” he nodded at the glaive, “I'd strongly recommend my Weaponry class. It's good for one of the three mandatory slots you need to fill to graduate from the first year.

“As another option, I'd suggest Abyssal Survival with Elder Kahua. It's a combat and survival class that could prove invaluable, especially given your... unique situation. You’ll have to take Missions and slay as many monsters as you can to grow stronger.”

Talia nodded at that, and Elder Krakatoa continued.

“Those would fill two of your three required courses. For the third, well, I’ll leave that up to you. What subjects interest you most, Talia?”