Point-of-View: Prysm Duralles

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"So, how are you adjusting to life here in Arcadia, Miss Jenwell?"

"Ugh, that sounds so formal, no need to be so stiff...just call me Mysst, kiddo," She replied, before adding, "And to answer your question...it’s fine, I guess. This place is comfortable enough, and I don’t have any responsibilities for the moment, so yeah, I can’t complain."

Almost a full week has passed since she came to Arcadia with Ilex, and yesterday, Ilex asked me if I could have her socialize with me and some of the other women, to try and help her make friends.

I had no objections to that, I’ve actually met her a few times before when I was a kid...her father was a Knight who served under my father when he was the Knight Commander, and the Jenwell family is pretty prestigious and influential, so my father invited her family over a few times.

I don’t really remember much about my interactions with her back then, and she doesn’t remember at all, we didn’t really talk much. She was a lot older than me, for one thing, but she also didn’t really speak a lot with my older siblings either, she was pretty reserved from the little that I do remember from back then.

Her father retired from the Knight Order a few years before Larrk killed my father, and Mysst become a Knight shortly after Aries Velenet become the new Commander.

Apparently, Mysst didn’t get along with her family, especially her father. I heard from Ilex that she lost her younger sister because she turned out to have the Light Attribute, and after that, she saw her family in a different light, and avoided them entirely after joining the Knights.

Anyway, after Ilex made this request, I spoke to some of the other women and asked them if they were free today, and after getting a decent sized group together, I invited Mysst to a bar that had recently opened in the city.

Besides me and her, the others who’d come included Rosary, Izzy, Lucifer, Pavorphobus, and Tania and Sinia from the Demi-Human Elders. I also invited Lumena, but she was too busy so she declined.

"Hey, we should totally spar after this...your Soul Weapon is really interesting, I could sense that it was dangerous when you showed up while I was attacking the Capital the other day," Grinned Izzy, as a waitress finished taking our order and left to get our drinks.

"No way, absolutely not...the chances of me beating you is undoubtedly zero, my Soul Weapon isn’t very effective on people with more Mana than me. And you have more than double the amount of Mana that I do, it wouldn’t be a fight, it’d be more like a one-sided slaughter," Mysst shook her head without hesitation.

"I have to admit, I was a little skeptical when I heard that a human Knight was joining our side, but I don’t sense any animosity or hostility from you towards us, plus Larrk vouched for you, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt to trust you," Remarked Sinia with a smile.

"I must say, a lot of the humans I’ve interacted with in this nation don’t seem so bad...I still have my doubts, but at least as far as first impressions go, my opinion of humans has swayed somewhat," Spoke up Pavorphobus.

"Glad to hear it, and for the record, I do get why you’re struggling to trust us...my own family tried to have me executed because I possess the Light Attribute, I’d have died a long time ago if it wasn’t for Larrk. Convincing him to take me with him was hard though, he was pretty wary of me since, you know, he’d just killed my family and probably thought I might want revenge. But considering the fact that they would’ve killed me if he hadn’t killed them, I held no grudge over that," I recalled with a sigh.

That all seems like such a long time ago now, so much has happened since then.

"I’ve never experienced anything like that myself, so for the longest time, I didn’t put much thought into how illogical the prejudice over Attributes was, especially when the divide between Nobles and Commoners was the more blatant prejudice I had to deal with and experience. But now, I have to wonder...just how many innocent children have been killed or banished for something they have no control over? If Larrk succeeds in his negotiations with Obsidian tomorrow and they agree to forming an alliance with Arcadia, maybe those prejudices will start to disappear, along with the prejudices against Demi-Humans and intelligent Monster races," Mused Rosary wistfully.

"Our attack on the Capital to free big sis Lucy probably didn’t help with that...even though we didn’t kill anyone, it doesn’t change the fact that I, a Monster, attacked the place," Grinned Izzy sheepishly.

"Yeah, I can confirm that, a lot of Nobles were pestering the Knight Order to find and kill you after they heard about how you easily defeated several Knights, including the Commander," Mysst informed her.

"Huh? What are you talking about? I didn’t defeat her, I left before the fight ended, since I was just acting as a diversion," Pointed out Izzy with a shrug.

"Considering the fact that you were absolutely dominating despite the fact that the Commander was using her Soul Weapon Ascension, I’d say that more than counts as a win in your favor," Responded Mysst dryly.

"Ooh, looks like our drinks are finally here...let’s talk about something else and get wasted," Grinned Rosary, as the waitress returned with a tray of drinks...

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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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