Jiji no. 8

Sankt Vessel Users

By the time that Holder is already spending three hours in the infirmary, he felt bored. He was even shocked that at the middle of those time, he managed to sleep. Seriously, there is this creature looming beside him, and then he was able to sleep? He was too tired—from those unbelievable things that happened—to the point that his body requires rest. Even for a small time.

When the clock ticked exactly three hours since he entered the infirmary, the door burst open. That made Holder to leap from sudden shock. Even Jiji appeared shock from the sudden banging of the door.

“Woohooo! I finally found you, mah boy!”

Holder blinked three times—seriously, three is not just enough. He was looking at a woman who wore a laboratory coat. Her hair is violet, her face beautiful—but her cheeks are red and her eyes looked at him in a way his Baba Cicero looked at him when he was drunk of his rice wine.

“P—Professor Zen Maxxes?” Holder asked with look of disbelief.

“The one and freakin’ only!” her voice was in a high pitch. Too energetic for a woman whom he just met earlier with gloomy and indescribable darkness as her aura.

“Wh—What happened to you?” Holder asked. In truth, he was mad at the professor.

Because she was a sadist (Jude already told those things, but he wasn’t actually believing, not until he saw). How can a woman highly respected by the kingdom can do that kind of atrocity? By atrocity, how can she just let a beast run to the place of too many people, unleash its rage, and watch how people fear, suffer and die? Was that really, how a well-trusted person of Agnosbadtt should act? To just let people of Agnosbadtt die while she watches just for entertainment?

“I—I am drunk, am I?” the professor asked. She then smiled at her, eyes closed and lips twitched into a forced smile, trying to make her face funny.

“Y—You are professor,” he said.

He was planning to scold and make an argument to the professor. He was really angry at her. He wanted to let her know how he feels and how it was inhumane to do that kind of sadistic things. To kill just to find a person whom she can use for the sake of the kingdom. Bullshit. He just realized that this instant and blink-of-an-eye raising promotion from lowest to highest rank were equivalent to hundred of dead people at the training camp. How unacceptable would that be. He even asked himself, would he accept it? That kind of promotion where he will be one of the Central Kingdom’s foundation of Maximum Defense as what Professor Zen told?

He doesn’t want to. He just want a level up and promotion in a little by little climbing. Until to the peak. Until reaching the thing he mostly wanted to have. Not this snap-of-a-finger changing of everything.

But do he have a choice?

None, of course.

He cannot surely disobey the professor’s want. Hell, even Balel and General Balfor cannot do anything when he was asking for help, and the professor wants them to stay put where they were standing.

“Well, I just celebrated our success, so rice wine time!”

The professor then showed a peculiar thing for Holder. A bottle. But this bottle would never be similar to the rice wine bottle of his Baba. What professor Zen have is a bottle with shiny appearance. It was also transparent that he can even see the said rice wine formed in the shape of the shiny bottle. He was fascinated by it. Even envious, for he wanted to have that kind of bottle too, to give to his Baba Cicero.

“What success was it, then, professor?” Holder asked.

The professor looked at her unsteadily. Holder was sure that her world was spinning crazily. “Of course!” she said, high-pitched. “We’re celebrating the fact that we found you! Where have you fuckin’ been?!” The professor then held Holder’s shoulder, and shook him forcefully. That made Holder dizzy.

“U—Uh, professor! Y—You’re making me dizzy!”

“Oh, right, sorry.” The professor then stopped shaking him. But Holder was thrown by her. He slunk at the lines of chairs and pillows stacked in the corner. The slime then went on his front, and growled like a dangerous beast while looking at the professor.

Witnessing that, professor laughed energetically, then clapped her hands. “I really succeed!” she said. She almost jump in joy, but her being drunk is not enough to do that. Her world was spinning, so how could she jump? “I really found your destined partner! I am the greatest of them all!” she celebrated.

Holder shook his head, and started to stand up. He patted the slime, and then said, ‘hey, it’s okay now, man. Don’t be angry.”

Instantly, the slime went out of its rage. It suddenly calmed, and just jump at Holder, requesting for an access of hug. Yet, Holder was not yet used to him. The images of death and bloodily murdered reservists still hang on his fragile recollections. So instead hugging, he slowly lifted the slime, and just put it above his head, like a bird sitting on a nest, waiting for her hatchling to unleash from a fragile shell. By that, the slime seems satisfied.

“He seriously like the scent of your strength, Holder,” the professor said. She told it in a serious manner. As if she was not drunk. And when Holder looked at her, he was surprised that the professor seems not drunk anymore.

Did she just swallowed her drunkness too, just like my Baba? Holder thought. His Baba Cicero was known for it. The reason why he was never caught in act of drinking a liquor is that because he was said to be greedy of drinking that he even managed to swallow his being drunk too. How crazy the thought, and Holder never once believed it. But looking at the professor, perhaps those things were true?

“I—I am not sure, professor,” Holder told.

“Ah, you unconfident brat. Come on, you’ll be starting your journey as an elite warrior today.”

“A—Ah, Professor,” Holder tried to stop his professor who is now back to her sanity. “I—I want to ask something.”

“What is it?”

“This slime, is there any possibility that it would grew unattached of me?” he asked. The slime purred in sadness.

“Be careful, Holder. Sankts cannot speak, but it can hear and understand everything the you’re saying. And to answer your question, no. The Sankts are bound to only one person. And for the rest of your life, it would be your partner. It will never grew unattached of you.”

The slime made a nodding sound.

Holder sighed. “Then that means I can’t run away from that position? That being elite and foundation thing?”

“Yes. Hey why do you seem not to like it?”

“I don’t really.”

“Why? Everyone was dying to get that position!”

“Not me. Everything just happened in a snap.”

“You mean from being an unstable reservist up to being in a high position? Everyone loves to have that, you know that.”

“Well, professor, not everyone knew how to be greedy.”

The slime then jumped and purred in agreement for Holder’s words.

Holder sighed. “But I know I can’t escape it,” he said.

Professor Zen tapped her back. “Do not worry, I’m sure you will be used to your new life in no matter of time. Now, come with me, you will have to meet other Sankt Vessel users.”

They started walking.

“Sankt Vessel users?” Holder asked.

The professor nodded. “The Sankt Vessel users are just like you. Ah, wrong, you are a Sankt Vessel user yourself, now that you owned Jiji no. 8.”

“You keep on telling me about the Sankts, and about the book of Sanktas. But,” Holder scratched his head, “I’ve got no idea about it. Really.”

“Huh? You haven’t heard the legend of the book of Sanktas?!”

“Uh . . . no.” another scratching of his head.

The professor sighed. She went silent for a few minutes, and just walk in an isolated corridor. She stopped in a certain face of the wall. She placed her right palm to the wall. There a glowing line of a doorway. It shone in white. When it was done showing off its brightness, it laid low, and just make a magical doorway where the lights are just swarming and swimming at the boundary of the doorway. It doesn’t blind him. And he knew that it was a doorway towards another place.

Portal.

“Do not worry ‘bout that, Holder. I think I will change the curriculums of your training.”

“C—Curriculum of trainings?” he sounded so fool, really.

“You will have your trainings first before you officially became part of the group of Sankt Vessel users.”

The professor started entering the portal. Holder, though hesitating, started to move and enter it as well. The slime Jiji seems to like the portal, for he was cheering Holder to enter it. And so, he did.

It was just like crossing in an ordinary doorway. Nothing special. But when they step their feet on the opposite of the portal, Holder gasped with what he had seen. A new, damn beautiful place he wasn’t expecting to see. Even the slime Jiji gasped in fascination too.

He looked back to see the portal again, but he didn’t see anything. Only the blue and green illumination of lights. It was a huge room. A huge—extremely huge, to exaggerate—room filled with pellucid crystals standing on the floor, creeping elegantly at the wall, and hanging at the roof, like one majestic chandelier of royalties. There are blue and green streaks of lights dancing around, similar to the well-known auroras of the northern kingdoms.

“Wow.” Holder lost the count how many times had he gasped and uttered ‘wow’ from the things he saw at the central kingdom.

The professor chuckled. “You’re too ignorant of the palace, huh? Are you from here?” the professor asked.

“No. I am from Hem.”

“That explains,” she said. Then walked again. Then stopped. And looked at him. “Hem?!”

Holder nodded.

“Wow! Another person from Hem region will be an important part of the kingdom!” She said, rejoicing. From that, he saw how her professor’s cheeks burned, and how her eyes turned back to the earlier way she looked.

Ah, her being drunk went back. This professor is unbelievably incredible.

“Do you by any chance knew someone named Vlad Serim Viscus? He’s my childhood crush!” The professor looked above the ceiling, at the beautiful swirls of crystals and blue and green auroras. Her cheeks redden more than how her alcohol had tinted it. She looked dreaming. Perhaps, reminiscing the time when Vlad Viscus is still alive.

Holder nodded, smiling. “He’s my father.”

The professor’s eyes grew in shock. She looked at him. “Eh?”

Holder continued to smile.

“You’re his hidden son?!”

Holder again, scratched his head. “I guess I am.”

Feeling embarrassed, Professor Zen Maxxes quickly ran, and left Holder. But then she just said, “F—Follow me!” in an unstable and embarrassed tone. Her drunkness even flushed away of her again.

“Hey!” Holder called. “Tell me more about your crush—I mean my Papa!” he jokingly told. The slime seemed to laugh from it as well.

She head towards a bluish door which at the flat surface is carved with dragon breathing images of fire.

“Hey, Professor, wait up!”

He followed the professor towards the door, but she was quickly moving. That is why when he finally crossed through the doorway, he saw how the professor opening another door at the end of the room, and crashing it wildly to close.

“Hey prof—” and then he saw people looking at him with shock written on their faces “—essor”

“Oh. My. gods.” One of the people staring at him started to talk. “Oh my freakin’ inactive gods!”

Holder stepped back from the people staring at him, but the one who talked first from the group suddenly burst-appear on his front.

“Are you perhaps the eighth Sankt Vessel user? We received a news about it! Finally! Oh em freakin’ gee, I’m so excited to work with you. I am Benny Flick.” The man who started talking non-stop had offered his hand to him. Holder was intimidated from the aura of the man, though he was cheerful and welcoming. Something in him makes you want to not to bother messing with him, or else demons in hell will break lose.

“H—Holder.” He shyly grabbed the hand of the man.

“Awwe, he’s shy! How cute!” The femininity at Benny’s characteristics—how he talk and move—was dominant. The way he speaks is high-tuned, while how he moved is soft and different from the men whom he was used to see at the training camp of Army Reservists.

Benny then looked at the slime above Holder’s head. There he spotted the slime, Jiji.

“Oh em gee! Your Sankt is cute!” he touched it, but immediately jolted it back as the slime suddenly went angry and tried biting his hands. The people behind Benny started to laugh.

“I guess he hated being told cute.”

“I’m sorry about that, sir Benny,” he apologized. Then patted Jiji above his head. “Hey, Jiji, stop that. He’s an ally.”

Jiji then stopped, and just continued enjoying the warmth of Holder.

“That’s okay. By the way, just so you know I find you cute.” Benny then winked at him. Holder then felt a shiver running down his spine.

“You’re intimidating Holder, Benny.” Another man appeared. He was wearing an armor. But red. A lance was on his right hand. And just like Benny, he has this strong intimidating aura as well.

“By the way, I am Duthor Brags. Nice meeting you.”

Holder then slightly bowed his head to appreciate Duthor’s introduction.

“Ah, such a fine young man you are.”

Holder then froze and stiffened when someone from the back spoke and started scanning him as if he was a special item.

“Hey Baba Karma, you are scaring him! Please stop that.” Duthor politely asked to the one at his back.

“Am I?”

“Yes, Baba. Look at him, he was frozen.”

“Ah, sorry.” And then she appeared from a shadow that just bursted beside Benny. He saw an old woman. Her back is already hunched from her being old. The surrounding of her eyes were pure in black, as if she had outlined it with an eyeliner. Her skin were as well wrinkled, and a huge black wart was beside her nose.

“I am Baba Karma, nice meeting you, my Apo.”

Holder bowed his head, and said, “nice meeting you too, Baba.”

Then he observed something as he bows. Behind Duthor’s feet, there is another pair of feet standing. And then he saw a kid’s head shyly looking at her while holding a teddy bear. Her body were mostly hidden at the red armor of Duthor.

“H—hi,” said Holder awkwardly.

“H—hi. I am Channie.”

“Ah, Channie is always shy to people, especially when knew. But don’t worry, you’ll see how sweet girl she is soon,” explained Duthor.

Holder then smiled at her. He then looked at the last two remaining people behind the lines of those who introduced themselves to him.

“And those people always refuses to get acquainted by newbie-baby. The girl there is Lalaine Mishap. She’s a cool Assassin. I always join her company since I am learning her cool techniques. And that cold yet hot guy there covering half of his face with scarf, is Benedict Mariolis. They’re crackheads too, don’t worry. It’ll just take little time to know them more.” It was Benny then who explained.

Holder then bowed to them. “N—Nice meeting you all,” he said. “Uhm, are you all perhaps . . . a what professor Zen calls . . . Sankt Vessel users?”

“Yes, Holder. And you’re one of us too,” Duthor said.

“By the way-highway, what happened to professor Zen and she moved weird. Have you done anything wrong?”

“Uhh . . . she had spilled to me that she once have a crush to the late General Vlad Serim Viscus—”

“—We knew that already—”

“—Always she tells us—”

“—She was trying to steal General to me! I’m his wife, Duh!—”

“—I want to meet General Viscus—”

Holder was interrupted by the four who immediately reacted from what he told.

“—Before, uhm . . . before she found out that General Viscus was my father. That I am his son.”

The eyes of the four Sankt vessel users in her front simultaneously widened.

“SON?!” they asked, shocked.