The Manipulators

Willier-Chapter 12

I have to admit that once upon a time, I dreamed of being a real Gelumnatio. However, that idea has proven to be less and less possible and plausible over the next few years and decades. In the end, though, I did reach my goal in a way different than I expected.

...

What's more embarrassing? Landing butt first in front of Vaperrashi, thinking that Vaperrashi is a statue, or expressing your true opinion about the Gelumnatio and Combustioantitheus in front of Ingeborg? Definitely the last one. 

The paper test we took was mainly about history, which I passed with flying colors because Trueman very kindly decided to forcefully make me study Sunrise history when we were in school, very fun. In the end, I came to be the third among all other new recruits. Ingeborg was the first and Hallam was the second. As it turns out, they are also among the four new allies I would be staying with for the foreseeable future. Ingeborg and Hallam, as one should know by now, are stern faced Gelumnatios. My two new allies, namely Graciano Draco Antiaqua and Ridge Silvestro, are also among the top of the ranks.

Graciano Antiaqua Draco is the descendant of the Draco family, meaning that he inherited some of the power of the great Water Serpent. As an Antiaqua, his specialty is water and can shape it into his weapons or make a tsunami with it, if he is strong enough to do so (he is not). His skin is shaded with yellowness and is somewhat blue, creating a disgustingly beautiful shade of green. His eyes are keen and big and usually kept on a stern expression on his face. Not particularly handsome in my dictionary but is manageable. Ridge Silvestro is a sunflower Silvestro, meaning that the four of us have no idea why he even is a Lunist. Adding onto that, he even is gifted with the ability to excrete heat and could even control fire; not all sunflowers can do that. Unlike the rest of us, he can be defined as crazy, and he even smiles like a Combustioantitheus; he doesn't even have the blood in him. He has a few freckles on his face and looks innocent and all.

The five of us somehow got well with each other pretty nicely: Hallam dislike me by my origin but at least respect me a little more now, Graciano doesn't like Combustioantitheus nor Gelumnatio, Ingeborg acted as if I am in need of mental support, and Ridge is too freaky by my standard. 

Once, in our dorms, Ingeborg and I literary had a fight on our opinion about Combustioantitheus. Unlike the past, our perspective strangely switched sides: I spat about how the Combustioantitheus are all evil and crazy while she said that not all are that bad. In the end, she didn't manage to change my idea but instead cleaned the ground with my face, figuratively. When Hallam found out, he turned around in his chair and gave us a small smile, the equivalent of a laugh to Gelumnatio. I returned his smile with a funny sad face, that widened his smile a bit. 

Speaking of our dorms, the lay out is almost the same with our previous one: five instead of three beds, a table for all of us, several small desks, a window inscribed inside of the stone wall that directly faces the moon, and a ceiling light stand that luminate the room, except for some corners. Ridge found out that a piece of the wooden floor creaks whenever we step on it, and he proceeded to annoy us for the following night. Being nice, we kindly, without any weapons, forced him into submission. 

As a Lunist, our jobs are scarce since most of the jobs are only concerned with hunting down individuals that pose a threat to the kingdom. A week into the army and we still received none. As some of the best newbies in the recruitment, we decided to try our hand in some good old fashion arena fights. Back in the days, arena fights often occur and filled the empty holes of the Mintians back then. Now days, with safety concerns, the arena is only used for important activities such as Boneman Selection or Clan fights.

Once we made sure that we received no mission at all, the five of us with high moral approached the arena. It is a grand structure that once and still stood tall among the bustling buildings. It is constructed mainly out of rocks are copied the Human Greek structure type. The arena doesn't have a ceiling, and the walls and seatings are supported by pillars. The central pit where the fighting occurs are surrounded by tall walls. On top of the walls are where the audience sits. It is usually divided into seven seating sections, but today, Mintians or foreigners just seated randomly. Of course, no body dared to sit on top of any of the throne chairs... except for two men. A man in a black Human suit with a big black fedora hat was seated on top of a chair with the number three in the government section. The other man wore the usual Mintian armor and glasses is currently carving a piece of stone was seated on a chair labeled twelve in the same section. 

Ridge obviously bombed Vaperrashi's history test because he asked us who they are. Hallam looked him with a questioning stern face and told him that these two men are a part of the Boneman. Fedora man is number three and the glasses man is number twelve.

A simple history and government lesson, the Boneman are thirteen executive members of the government apart from the Big Eight. Number one is the strongest and with the most power while number thirteen is the weakest among the ranks. The fedora man is called Willyr, just Willyr. Supposedly I was named after him. Willyr never reveals his face, possibly because he is also a well-known executor for his devotion to his jobs. The man perhaps killed more than half of the suspects suspected than the Lunists did. The glasses man is named Crew Gregory, a hybrid between a Mintian and Human. He is in his middle thirties and has the same beard style as Sixten does. He, despite being younger than him, looks a lot older than Sixten with his tired eyes and thinned lips. His skin colors also looked a lot browner than Sixten's. He specializes in Human magic and runic crafts and rumor has it that he was a student of the legendary magician, Ridha Cosmas, a former friend of the Sun. These two individuals are common visitors to the arena. Willyr once claimed that he missed the day when blood smothered the land and Crew said that the light from the sun could help his eyes to focus on his crafts. 

We approached a gathered crowd on the opposite side of the arena. It is a mix of both Lunists and Solists. Despite common beliefs, Solists and Lunists aren't as opposing as Mintians thought. We usually would talk and interact with each other a lot, it's just that when Mintians walk pass the arena, they would usually see us fight each other. The five of us watched as a Solist successfully bamboozled a Lunist from the side, earning him laughs and boos and claps. Seconds later, though, a second challenging Lunist punched him in the face and knocked him out. The Solist had to be dragged away by his allies as the new king of the court was challenged again. 

Among the crowds, several Lunist recognized Ingeborg as the first of the new recruits, and soon they pitted her against Trueman, who just so happened to be here and also the first of the Solist new recruits. Obviously, this wasn't a fair fight since Trueman is a literal Manipulator, but Ingeborg took on the challenge anyways. In the end, just as expected, she was defeated and had to be carried away by Hallam and they went back to our dorms. Ridge, who apparently didn't realize that Trueman is a Manipulator, decided to take him on. Once he realized that he couldn't use fire, though, he immediately switched to vine attacks, which Trueman burnt to the ground. Just like Ingeborg, he had to be supported by Graciano to go back to the dorm and rejuvenate. 

The Solist morals are high, and Trueman is even higher. I usually would just walk away from this kind of bizarreness, but I decided to do something stupid: fight Trueman. I do not know what I was thinking, yet here I am, facing Trueman, the one who burnt the Orinkemis dry two years ago. I decided to go for something that I never tried on Trueman before: Reflected Mirroring, a move style that I made up. Of course, I don't know Gelumnatio history so someone else could've created this kind of moves a long time ago. To simply put it out, I would need to animate myself on a slab of thin ice to make my enemy think that I am in front of them while I was behind. Of course, I would need to first confuse my enemy in order for it to work. 

I charged at Trueman in a fake effort to attack him. However, just as he was about to throw a close-range fire ball at me, I lifted the ground sand up to block his vision. Though he recovered almost immediately, the setup is done, I am behind him while he stared at my mirror. I slowly walked toward him as he walked away, toward my animation. I suddenly started sprinting toward him as I moved the ice slab toward him also. He braced for an attack for the front as the ice slammed into his arms, shattering into pieces. Temporarily confused, I raised by ice spear and stabbed him from the behind. However, my spear melted before it could touch him. 

Turns out, he coated himself within a layer of heat armor. He turned around with a surprised face and delivered a fire hot punch into my face, knocking me out of the circle. The Solists cheered as another Lunist went to confront Trueman with his sword. I laid on the ground, not moving, and realized that perhaps I would need to learn a thing or many so I could stand a chance against a fierce opponent like Trueman.