10pm, Zephyr Academy,
Male Dormitory.
Jacob perused through the academy guide as he laid on his bed. He like all other new students was provided with a document that explicitly detailed the rules and regulations of the academy. It also provided information about the department structure, classes and even professors.
As he flipped through the book, the snores of his three roommates reverberated around the room. "I can't wait till I can get a private room", he said with a sign then continued his reading, engrossed into the details about the academy's schedule of activities for the school year.
Upon checking the time, he realized that he'd spent over an hour on the book.
"Time for bed, I guess. Tomorrow is going to be busy", he said just as he closed the book.
'They should be starting their mission soon. The plan is both ingenious and reckless all the same time. Rio, Thomas….good luck'.
*
*
*
"Well that's all the training we could, considering….this situation", Cain said.
"I still don't approve of the plan. It's still seems to risky", Seth complained.
Both of them stood on a small hill overseeing a foggy forest.
"Well he managed to convince the old man and his parents, so it's out of your hands", Cain said.
"Not necessarily, in the event that the artifact becomes aggressive, my authority supersedes their decision", Seth explained.
"Your authority as a war bishop?".
"Correct".
"You people from the house of war are so uptight about your ranks and titles considering they're derived from an outdated board game", Cain sighed.
"That game you so casually dismissed was derived due to war, so it's quite fitting. And besides, our ranks are directly tied to our abilities".
"So what rank would he be at or should I say they?", Cain asked pointing at the two figures descending the slope.
"It's still to early to tell but with this reckless plan …he's well on his way to becoming a war bishop himself".
*
*
The two individuals in question were currently on their way to a relatively low level dungeon. The foggy forest below was their destination.
The boy on the left was dressed in an all black attire. He dressed like he was on is way to a corporate meting rather than a deadly dungeon, from his vest to his shoes nothing looked like he was headed for certain danger. The only speck of color was the silver glove he donned on his right hand while he wore a simple black one on his left. The boy on the right dressed much simpler compared to his counterpart. He preferred simple jeans, and a t-shirt under a thin sweater. What stood out from his attire was katana strapped to his back.
The one on the left dressed in black was Rio, the one dressed casually on the right was Thomas, standing side by side, one would not be able to distinguish between them because they looked exactly the same, just like twins.
But this was different though, even twins had subtle features that set them apart but these looked too identical, like flawless copies perfectly sculpted by an artist obsessed with perfection.
"Jacob should be settling down now, right?", the casually dressed Rio asked.
"Yeah and after this we'll go to our designated locations", the other said.
Over the past few months, since his encounter with the mysterious Destiny, Rio participated in numerous, grueling training sessions with his uncle and self proclaimed master, Cain. Through these tiring and mostly involuntary sessions, he discovered something that was both pleasant and distressing. He was born blessed.
'Perhaps too blessed', according to Cain.
Although, he had lost most of his memories, some of the perks of being born into the house of war were fortunately ingrained into his body. While sparring, he sometimes moved and evaded on instinct rather than reason, moving as if combat was as easy as taking a walk..... although it was not always like that.
He recalled when some of the guild members had tried to teach him some combat moves, what transpired was so painful to watch that they decided permanently place him in the lab.
Since his fateful meeting with destiny however, things were different. He felt reborn. If he had to compare it to anything, he was like a machine that had been working at only half capacity but suddenly started operating at full power.
He felt stronger, no...he was stronger.
That was evident in the fact that he immediately jumped tiers after his seals were lifted in fact the seals revealed more than hidden power, they showed him a bit of himself.
"You think too much", Thomas blurted.
"I'm simply reminiscing".
"Well do it on your own, don't forget that our thoughts resonate when we're together".
'Oh... right ', Rio did forget. It was one of the effects of the cursed treasure, Mirror of souls.
That was the key component of Rio's plan which involved splitting himself into three different people. Cain's comment only confirmed a thought he had when checking his status a while back, he was too blessed.
As a descendant of the house of war, he is a natural born sorcerer yet he was born with a high aptitude and affinity for mana making him an individual capable of developing a soul technique while also wielding magical spells.
His latent potential is immense but not without drawbacks. A well-rounded mage or sorcerer spends years training, gaining experience or making a name for themselves as an adventurer.
Normally, this wouldn't be an issue as there were several in this part of the continent with more than one type of magic, Rio however possessed more than three innate abilities. Just thinking about the time it would take to properly develop all of them made his head feel heavy.
He decided to take full advantage of the resources his family had at their disposal, specifically their artifacts. Most of the continent's greatest artifacts, weapons or even building materials were produced by his family.
"Be careful, the mirror negative effects may manifest at unfortunate situations ", this was the warning his father gave before sending the cursed mirror to him.
Sacred treasures are the most coveted of all artifacts on the continent, they acted as military deterrent for some cities while being a precious resource for others.... although they are the rarest among all artifacts.
The possibility of finding one of such treasures in a dungeon are why humans never decided to give up on raids and it's also the reason why being an adventurer became a stable profession over the last thousands of years.
'Leave it to humans to turn anything to a business', Rio sighed.
And while such precious artifacts were scarce, cursed treasures on the other hand came in spades. The initial discovery of them left the academic community as well as the larger continent in an uproar. A unique type of artifact that could rival the scarce but widely coverted sacred treasures ignited the desires of groups not satisfied with their place in the pecking order. And although they would eventually learn why these artifacts are called cursed, they are simply too powerful to ignore.
"That fact that you went from thinking about the mirror to the first discovery of cursed artifacts is really something.
Are you sure you and the nerd shouldn't be switching places?", Thomas jeered.
"Stay out my head and besides you're part nerd too.", Rio blurted.
He felt a bit strange arguing with himself but even stranger was the fact that this version of him was both alike yet different at the same time.
After the issue of his numerous abilities came to light, Rio consulted his grandfather who in turn sent a list of artifacts that could be of use.
Among them was an old door sized mirror riddled with cracks, that induced vertigo when looked upon. Such was the nature of the cursed treasure named the mirror of souls.
According to the information in its dossier, the mirror was created a hundred years after the House's establishment. The creator was described as a mischievous cretin who had a mind of trickery. The mirror posesses the ability the split or fracture any living being under its influence into several pieces. Upon learning about that, Rio utilized this to split himself into three distinct yet identical individuals or reflections.
The result of that split gave birthday to Rio, Thomas and Jacob, who represent distinct aspects of the original Rio. Having created a detailed plan of the split and what personalities to release, each new reflection displayed a specific trait of the original person.
The mirror itself functioned by keeping a percentage of the user's soul and equally diving the rest between reflections.
However, like all cursed treasures, this one also possessed negative effects. The most damning one for this one was that if any reflection was destroyed, the others would experience and relive the event for six hours.
The psychological effects would be drastic and was the main reason Seth, Rio's uncle was against this plan. The other side effect was less daunting but also quite perilous: the reflections would experience random bouts of veritgo.
As soon as they reached the base of the cliff, both Rio and Thomas were assaulted by a wave of whispers.
"I guess they can sense their impending deaths", Thomas said calmly.
"I'm pretty sure wraiths are already dead. Let's just send them off quickly", Rio replied.
"Sure".