The Calling of Wrath - Chapter 8 - Dream and Letter

                                                                   Cassandra

“Oof!” the air is shot out of me as I fall to the ground due to father’s punch.

“Not bad, but if you don’t want to end up constantly giving your monthly share of World Tree Sap to some random knight that manages to best you, then you need to do better,” father’s voice echoes through the training hall of the castle.

I grimace at the thought before spitting out a mouthful of blood and climbing back to my feet.

A smirk emerges on father’s face as he holds his hands at the ready and says, “Good. Come at me again!”

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After training for hours, I collapse to the ground in a sweaty heap, only to have a cloth thrown onto my face.

“Wipe your face,” father suddenly says as I grab the towel, “we have guests.”

I do as he says before slowly climbing back to my feet and turning towards the entrance, only to find Vincent – the captain of the guard – standing there with several other knights.

The captain gives us both a respectful nod before saluting and saying, “Your majesty, I’ve brought this month’s challengers for the Sap.”

Already?

“Already?” father says, repeating my thoughts out loud, “Isn’t it a little early for this month?”

Vincent frowns slightly as he glances at the challengers and says, “Yes, but the sacred beast representative decided to take a vacation and wants to get it out of the way as early as possible.”

“Hmm,” father nods slightly, but I can tell he’s annoyed by the very faint twitch of his lip, “alright. So which ones are challenging who?”

At this question, most of the knights voice their challenges towards my brothers, with the majority of them choosing my prankster – and weaker – brother, Rodrick. Meanwhile, only two of them send their challenges towards me.

Which isn’t a surprise, since I’m getting the least amount of Sap due to my age being the youngest. But the number will only continue to raise as I get more Sap delegated to me when I grow older.

I examine the two knights for a moment before glancing at father and nodding my head.

This shouldn’t be too much trouble.

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                                                    Year 819 | Month 1 | Day 4
                                                   The morning after Leo left

My eyes open and I’m left slightly disoriented from the dream of the past, but I quickly remember what happened with the old man before jumping straight out of the bed and onto the ground right in front of the bed.

Wait… bed?

I turn around to look at the bed with a frown.

Why is there a bed here?

My confusion only increases as I turn to look around the cave, only to not find even a trace of the old man, with the lone exception being that of the small pouch – similar to the one the old man had on his waist – and the folded up paper sitting not too far from the bed.

I’m really confused. Did the old man really put me to sleep before bringing me back and leaving?

Also…

I turn my attention towards the strange blue and see-through barrier covering the cave’s entrance.

…is that to protect me while I sleep? Or is it to lock me in here?

After looking around the cave for a few more seconds, I finally kneel down and pick up the paper.

Looks like this might be the only thing here that can answer my questions.

I unfold the paper and immediately recognize it as some sort of letter.

Dear young Cass,
I have been tricking you.

My eye twitches at the terrible introduction.

The appearance you have been seeing me under is nothing more than an illusion.
And my reasoning for this is very simple.

Why not?

“I want to punch him,” I mutter to myself before continuing to read the letter.

Now then, getting down to business.

I know that you’re both Wrath and a local, and would like to provide you with some advice about moving forward.

I frown.

So he was acting after all.

Which explains why he was teaching me about some things that sounded pretty important to a society that was already initialized into the System.

To start, an Organ of Sin can only be born in a place filled with that particular sin, and only when a specific ritual is performed while sacrificing someone of the seventh Tier or above.
Which means to say, there aren’t very many.

Especially for Hearts of Wrath, which generally can only be formed during a war on a battlefield.

But despite that, I doubt the organization that took you – the New Earth Alliance – will try to look for you on Midgard.
After all, you were taken to Earth, and escaped on Earth. So you being back on Midgard is likely not known to them.
Meaning they’ll probably be searching for you on Earth.

I let out a sigh of relief at that before tilting my head slightly.

How does he know all of this? And how did he know that I was taken by them?

Or is it just common knowledge over there that the New Earth Alliance is doing this?

You’re likely wondering how I know all of this, so I’ll give you a simple answer.

I am part of a different organization from Earth that is in opposition to the New Earth Alliance and their ways of doing things.
And that’s all you need to know.

I let out a huff of air.

I’ve known you for less than a day, so how the hell are you presuming to know my thoughts already?

Moving on, the Organs of Sin automatically search out for a host on their own based off of their own requirements, and once they find them, they immediately begin to integrate themselves into the host’s body before the Organ’s basic intelligence is wiped away, leaving the newly-created Embodiment on their own.
These requirements are dependent on which Organ of Sin it is.

Yours for example, the Heart of Sin, searches for three different things.

One – An individual who can cause change in their plane.
Two – An individual who can survive the integration process. Meaning someone with the True Body talent, making them immune to the true damage caused by direct physical contact with any Organ of Sin.
And Three – An individual matching the previous requirements with the greatest potential of Wrath.

Ookaay… so I probably fit the first requirement due to my status of being from one of the royal families in the plane. The second requirement is obvious, and the third requirement…

Why do I fit the third requirement?

I don’t normally get mad very easily…

Which made me rather curious about you, since you don’t seem to be very Wrath-like.
As for your identity, my guess right now is that you’re the daughter of some powerful guildmaster or something.
But I guess everyone has their secrets.

Yeah, I don’t get why the Heart chose me either, but whatever. At least the old man doesn’t seem to know I’m a princess.

Normally, the Sins are brainwashed – which, in case the System’s automatic translation isn’t working well, means that their minds are changed along with their thoughts so that they become loyal to the New Earth Alliance – but this is only possible to do immediately after the Sin is reborn as an Embodiment.
Meaning that they’ve already missed their chance to do it to you.

I shiver at that.

So that’s what they meant by brainwashing…

Anyways, to finish things up, the other ‘invaders’ will likely just take you as what you people call a sacred beast and won’t realize you’re a Sin.
Unless you go around using Sin energy near someone above Tier 7. Then they’d be able to sense it.
But your class and species both block anyone from identifying you, meaning no one is able to find out who or what you are through the System.

So, don’t worry about that.
And I hope you enjoy my gifts!
One of them is called a spatial bag, which can hold a lot more than appearances may suggest. Meanwhile, the other is a special barrier that will last for a few months and will only allow you to pass.
It will also hide your presence from the powerful monsters of the Dark Forest.

Also, I don’t know how you ended up in the center of the Dark Forest, but I’d advise you to leave.

Sincerely,
Leo

Okay, so it looks like he doesn’t know what my full name is. Which is good.

However, once I finish reading the letter, my eyes widen in shock.

“Excuse me, what?” I practically shout, my voice cracking slightly in the process, “I’m at the center of the forest?!”

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