Meeting Erika Russell was an interesting experience, to say the least. She was as rowdy and rude as she appeared in the games. You don't get to meet Erika Russell until toward the very end of Sky SC, where you get to see her flaunt her demeanor quite vividly against a certain someone. I'm talking about that red-haired man I crossed paths with during the Hundred Days War, albeit not directly. That was how we saved his sister, Mischa. You know it, Agate Crosner. I haven't seen the guy really since then, but it looks like he's been hanging around Cassius, which is good.
Mischa Crosner does die during the Hundred Days War, and that's how Agate develops his one-man-fits-all type of combat style. But with Mischa around, I wonder how Agate has grown over the years. Is he as much a ruffian as he was in the games? I would press further on the topic, but I don't think I need to, seeing him hang out around Cassius and all. Cassius does act as an unofficial teacher of sorts to guide him, but doesn't go as far as having him become an official disciple of the Eight Leaves One Blade school. I also caught wind of Agate becoming a Senior Bracer, so all's well that ends well, I think?
More importantly, this little meeting unexpectedly let me meet Erika Russell's one and only daughter, the very one she is extremely overprotective of, Tita Russell! The exchange was quite funny in my opinion. Erika stood in front of Tita every step of the way, trying to shield her from wandering eyes. At least Professor Russell knew how to display herself in front of royalty. She knew not to step out of line. Because of that, the exchange we had was awkward. Tita kept fidgeting seeing us dressed all in formal wear.
And with that, Tita became the last character that I had yet to meet who belongs to Trails in The sky. Estelle Bright, Joshua Bright, Scherazard Harvey, Olivier Lenheim, Kloe Rinz, Agate Crosner, Zin Vathek, and now Tita Russell. She is much younger here, more around Renne's age. She's twelve I think by the time Sky happens?
If you include the rest of Sky's cast in Sky the 3rd, I've met them all too! Mueller Vander, Julia Schwarz, Alan Richard, Renne, Kevin Graham, and Ries Argent.
There's one character I'm intentionally omitting from this list. Josette Capua.
Yeah, we don't talk about her. The game did Josette dirty, and she's one of the most useless characters you can play with in the whole game. The only thing she's good for is bringing her on as support, and using her support skill to farm extra Sepith, haha!
Estelle and Joshua can very much handle the Sky Bandits and that whole scenario. I have zero interest in it. It helps them propel them upward to complete their journey as Junior Bracers. I'll watch the event unfold from the sidelines at Jenis. The two do visit the school to help with the year's school festival, so that is likely when I will interact with them.
We did get down to business quickly, and I had one assignment for Professor Russell. A look into a particular set of schematics I had help drawn up. Her eyes were stars once she knew what I wanted to make. It wasn't just any Combat Orbment.
I plan to skip the fourth generation entirely. I want Professor Russell to develop the Enigma model. To be specific, the Enigma II model where it acts as a cellular device. That part of the technology isn't what I'm interested in, though. I will likely start seeing Master Quartz soon, and I want to get ahead in the game. I do not know if this will be possible, but Professor Russell and her family are one of the smartest minds in all of Zemuria. If they have three generations tackling the schematics, I feel something will happen.
In response, Professor Russell was equally as excited and wondered how I could create such a design, even though it wasn't made by me. I didn't go into the specifics, and just asked if she was up to the task, and Professor Russell instantly agreed. The meeting didn't last long, but it was enough to pass the rest of the day pretty uneventfully. Both Erika Russell and Tita Russell bid their farewells, and I had Hilda guide them out of the castle. I didn't give them a deadline, as long as they could potentially work something out.
Money wasn't an issue either. If they wanted to purchase materials for it, they could.
Later that night...
The scenery had changed entirely. It no longer focused on Grancel Castle, but the skies above it. Somewhere above Erebonia and Liberl's airspace...
Low-hanging clouds drifted in scattered formations within the night sky. The moon was on the rise, and the sea of stars could be seen. A moderate wind steadily blew, keeping the air chill, despite it being summer. All of a sudden, a sole shadow quickly ascended upward, and pushed through one of the clouds, only to quickly disperse them. If one looked closely, it appeared to be a small airship of sorts. It was cloaked, and couldn't be seen from an outside lens. That's right, the tech in Trails is so advanced, it even has cloaking tech.
It quickly sped away from Grancel City, and was now travelling in the sky above. It's been about fifty years since the Orbal Revolution kicked off, but science overall has improved leaps and bounds as of late, thanks to certain scientific minds. A crazy scientist who is part of Ouroboros happens to be of that collective share.
And Ouroboros was none other than one such organization that a certain, violet-haired boy was collaborating with for the time being. He hadn't accepted the seat of becoming one of its Enforcers, but it was assigned to him on paper.
Enforcer IV, The Emperor.
AKA, me.
I mean it's cool. I don't exactly see Ouroboros as an evil organization like you'd come across in other fantasy stories, even though they have highly-questionable people amongst their ranks. They just have their own agenda going on. They primarily want to collect the seven Sept-Terrion treasures the Goddess Aidios left behind for mankind to work with, and send them away to a place that is out of humanity's reach. They do so by doing country-wide plays to bring said treasure into existence, and take it afterward, letting people, like me, deal with the aftermath.
But since I'm collaborating with Ouroboros for the time being, I may get involved with these so-called plans. I think they are called the Gospel Plan, the Phantasmal Blaze Plan, and the Eternal Recurrence Plan? I don't know much about the latter, but I do believe it takes place during Van's story. I'm much more knowledgeable about the first two Plans, all of which encompass what is called the Orpheus Final Plan. If we take that name literally, then Ouroboros is attempting to literally change fate itself. Perhaps they've witnessed some form of causality we do not know.
I do have the ability to use Vermillion Eyes and peer into the future. Perhaps of what I want to potentially view, the Eternal Recurrence Plan might be my main one. From there, I can branch off into relevant characters that I want to see take place. Likely from Daybreak onward. I can recall most events up to Reverie.
Presently, I could be seen on the deck of this smaller airship. It was the very same one Ouroboros uses when they transfer their crew around. The sleek-red designed ones. My hair was constantly aflutter with the passing breeze. There's no way you could watch the skies and the land below in my previous life, unless you rode a helicopter. And even then, it was unrealistic. I could feel a sense of freedom just by observing the land below.
My Phoenix Robe was no longer visible either. I still had it on my person, but I was entirely cloaked with a black cloak, hiding most of my body away. Only my head could be seen. Just like how Joshua looked when he said goodbye to Estelle at the end of the first chapter. Moving my cloak, a fancy, silver hilt could be seen strapped to it. Glistening Moonlight. Having it equipped and on my person meant I was ready for combat. There was no danger at the moment. I was ready for our clash against the Garden of Swords. I wonder, will it give me a chance to see Swin and Nadia?
As I thought that, I heard a hiss come from the door nearby, ending my train of thought.
"I knew you'd be out here, Master. Enjoying the breeze?", Ennea's voice called out to me. A beautiful, blue-indigo haired woman stepped out. I smiled, greeting Ennea.
"Come to check up on me, have you?"
"Heehee, how can I not? You said it yourself, Master. I'm YOUR maid now. you can't take it back~", Ennea replied with a playful smile. "Having second thoughts of accepting this mission?"
"You know when to strike while the iron is hot. No getting around youm Ennea. But I know very well what I'm getting myself into. It's not that I have doubts on the mission itself, but what will happen around me. I have had one life-and-death battle before this, but that was situational. The ability I possess wasn't in full bloom then. I do not know what will happen.", I said, and turned toward the side of the deck to face the land below me again.
"...Your ability, Master? Is it the one where you can bring items in and out of that weird space whenever you want to?", Ennea asked. "Is it the same one where you created that "Party", causing all those weird numbers to appear above those monsters' heads while we were on Nemeth Island?"
"The very same one. That was within a controlled space called Instance Dungeons. This time, on the other hand, is not within one. It is going to be against the real world. There could very well be implications caused by this. I just don't know.", I said, and sighed.
"Well, then I'll change your perspective, Master. How do you feel about tackling the mission? Are you confident?", Ennea asked, seeing the worry in my eyes.
"Absolutely. I've had steady progression since you-know-what took place. I feel like I can take on the entire world. Right now, I'm akin to a walking-and-talking orbal computer that's sending way more signals out to the world than it can receive. That's my interpretation right now, anyway.", I answered. "And I mean that in a good way. These numbers I possess are off the charts. I just don't know how it will implicate those around me. That includes you."
"A living orbal computer...That's a weird way of describing what you can do, but I can see it. I don't exactly get the whole picture, but keep that confidence. Our opponent is not one to be underestimated. Much like my own, they're equivalent to the Order of the Moonlight Horse. Perhaps even worse than them. They're like machines. Solely designed to kill. And to make matters worse, that brat Melchior is leading one of the groups. I do not know if we will encounter him.", Ennea said, and sighed.
"Melchior, eh? In your opinion, who is worse, him, or the Oathbreaker?", I asked. Melchior is one of the individuals I'm interested in learning more about, since he's likely a Daybreak cast character.
"Melchior by far. Not only was he a mischievous brat looking to cause trouble everywhere, he enjoyed doing so. He loves to see others writhe in pain. Such a twisted personality. I wouldn't mind knocking him down a peg or two myself, courtesy of Mr. Harwood.", Ennea responded, grinning at me. I could see a cold gaze in her eyes. One that I hadn't seen in a while. Not since we've been in those caves.
The gaze of an assassin. Deep down, that's the path Ennea had once lived on. And she didn't have a say in the matter. Then I came along, and pulled her out of the DG Cult before a certain Steel Maiden could.
"Is that right? Is he easy to spot at least?", I asked, since I didn't know.
"Definitely. His hair is a dead giveaway. It's bright green.", Ennea answered. A bright, green-haired guy, eh? I'll have to take note of this. "But apart from that, are you really sure you're up for this particular murder mission, Master?"
Oi. Phrasing!
Imagining a certain talking racoon asking the exact same line to the god of thunder, I gazed back at Ennea, confident as ever.
"Oh Ennea, what will I do with you? Did you forget about the "other" me already?", I asked, grinning at her.
"...The other you?", Ennea asked. Her mind paused, only to suddenly realize what exactly I was referring to.
In response, I willed the Gamer System.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has switched Occupations from Noble to Child of the Progenitor.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's HP has decreased by half. Current HP: 31,000/31,000.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's STR has decreased by 30%.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Current STR: 9999. Attack Damage: 10,500.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's ATS has been increased by 100%.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's EP pool has been increased by 50%.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's ATS: 9999. Gamer Naoto's Arts Damage: 15,200.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Current EP: 103,500/103,500.]
Wooosh...!
It's been a while since I've changed Occupations. I've only had two thus far. Noble, and Child of the Progenitor. The latter upgraded from True Dhampir once I drank Roselia's blood for the first time. I do undergo a visible change. Ennea saw my violet-hair singed with red strands, like it had caught on fire. But the strands were deep crimson. A crimson hue wrapped around my golden eyes, very similarly to Vermillion Eyes, but it was much darker in color. Once I smiled, I bared my "fangs".
Ennea saw two large protrusions sticking outward inside my lips. But before Ennea could do anything, I dropped a question on her, causing Ennea's mind to falter once again.
"How about I make you mine in both body and mind, Ennea?"