As always Giliath demands your power stones!
*
Some time had passed since father and I departed our villa, and likewise, Trista. Trista itself wasn't a big city. It only took a few moments for the orbal car to find the highway that connected to it. The highways I'm referring to here aren't like the ones you'd find in my previous life.
Those were built over three dimensions and crisscrossed through each other in all directions, like a complex maze. Those didn't exist here. Orbal cars were still pretty new on the market. Roads were mostly made of dirt or pavement being one or two-way streets. Four-way streets were rare, but they existed. You'd find those types of streets in much larger cities, like the one we were heading to.
The capital of Erebonia, Heimdallr.
I glanced my eyes out the window, showing excitement in my eyes. It really was cool riding in an orbal car. I saw monsters off in the far distance, but they didn't dare approach the main road that connected the town of Trista and the city of Heimdallr. The main road was safe for the most part to travelers like us.
My seat was raised high enough, allowing me to see the rolling scenery while we drove by it. I saw a huge city in the far distance, clad in crimson. Every house on its perimeter was in different shades of red. And beyond that were mountains, likely the Eisengard Mountain Range that crossed through the majority of the north side of Erebonia. And behind us were more rolling hills and trees, which was the direction we just came from.
Giliath saw my excitement, and laughed.
"Haha, this will be your first time in our capital, Naoto. Of what you can remember, at least. You were brought here as a little baby, so you couldn't remember then. The city you see before us is the capital of our Empire, Heimdallr. Its radiance shines, basking in vermillion flames of the sun.", Giliath said.
"So cool. This city is huge!", I happily replied. I wasn't lying. The buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. I even saw a dominant castle raised further beyond everyone else. That was likely where the Imperial Family resided. I recall the name of this palace. Valflame Palace, I think?
"Indeed. It is big enough to have over half a million people reside in it. Unfortunately, our time spent in the capital will be short. We will be immediately heading to the airport. Otherwise, I would have showed you around.", Giliath said.
Hearing that, I glanced back at the driver who was driving this car. Such a pitiful fellow, isn't he? A cold sweat could be seen going down the back of his neck, but he didn't dare utter a single word. Giliath's presence alone was domineering enough to make a member of the secret service stay silent. That's how powerful my father can be.
At the end of the day, Giliath is a brigadier general of the Imperial Army. He stood at the peak of his fellow commanding officers, only to be overseen by the Imperial Family themselves.
I do know down the line, Giliath creates his own Intelligence Division, to which certain characters of the Trails games join it. That shouldn't take place for quite some time. Perhaps not until he becomes the Chancellor. And as many times as I'll say it, this man is now my father. He's the crème of the crop.
It's a lot of pressure to face, let alone being his firstborn son. I really feel sorry for you, secret service guy.
Thankfully, he didn't cause any scene. He just remained quiet and respectful of our time spent in the orbal car. We drove along the highway at a steady pace. If there was one thing that was lacking, it was music. It's a shame that most orbal cars can't listen to tunes. Not for a while at least. It made the car ride pretty quiet overall.
I still don't know what's going on inside that head of his. Regardless of Giliath being my new father, he's bringing me to Liberl to attend a funeral of my supposedly dead relatives. Had he gone mad? Wherever Giliath goes, trouble typically follows suit. It'll be very, very interesting to see once he meets Queen Alicia II. And for that matter, is Her Majesty related to me in some way?
It's something to get to the bottom of. And I hope this visit clears things up for me.
I decided to shake that thought aside for now. I know the answers will come in due time. Since I've already reviewed my Status and what was new with it, I let my eyes remain glued to the window, taking in all the scenery I could.
My Stats remained unchanged, so I had no reason to review them again. If there was one thing to point out, my Status eliminated some Stats you would find in the Trails series. It likely condensed them, or removed it altogether. Trails was a turned based game, and guess what? That isn't how life works. So it took those aspects out. I was left with Strength, Arts Strength, Defense, Arts Defense, Speed, and Dexterity.
I could at least dive into what those did. Strength targeted my physical abilities, while Arts targeted the so-called "magic" abilities. But don't get me wrong. An Art is not a magic spell. It's derived from orbal technology, so it's an entire field by itself. Magic is magic, and trust me, magic exists here. Most people just don't know about it. Arts do not equate to Magic, despite being similar in a lot of ways.
But Arts Strength is used to determine how strong Arts are when an Art is cast. And likewise, Defense and Arts Defense is my ability to resist those respective damage parameters.
I don't think I need to explain Speed, do I? In the Games, it would give you more press turns, or AT Delay as they called it in Trails. But I'm guessing Speed will be more simple for me. It'll determine whether or not I can outspeed my targets, find weak points, potentially determine critical hits, and so on. As for Dexterity, it'll be my Accuracy. Low Dexterity will likely cause many attacks to miss.
That's it for my Stats in a nutshell. It'll likely be a while before I can see how they perform in combat. I still need to reach that point first!
(A/N: I took the Intelligence Stat out of the equation altogether. Increasing EP is now tied to Combat Orbment Slots and Arts Power + other external factors like Titles/Occupations)
Status aside for now, I thought of my new father again. Giliath Osborne. And one aspect of what he can do. He's one, if not the most proficient in a combat technique in what's called the Hundred-Form Military Combat. This form of combat allows one to master a wide variety of tactics and skills to use in battle. That included how to use orbal guns, and attack with swords. Learning this technique isn't out of the question. I'm sure my father will be happy to teach it to me when I'm ready.
Thinking that, the car pushed along the highway, and we finally made it to a large and open gate. Some guards were posted at each side. It wasn't uncommon to see the military active here in cities. Especially if they're in a bigger one like Heimdallr. They patrol around a lot. It sounds to me like they're waiting for us specifically, though. And sure enough, we heard the driver speak out to us.
"General Osborne, it looks like we'll have some guests coming out to meet us.", The driver respectfully said.
"That much I can see. Pull the car up to them and turn sideways.", Giliath commanded.
"As you command, General."
Doing as instructed, the orbal car slowed down. It then turned sideways, allowing father to lower the passenger window. I was then greeted with the gigantic view of Heimdallr up close for the first time. I became more excited!
I realized something quickly. Wouldn't doing this cause me to be in the guard's immediate view...?
"Dad?", I asked, turning my head to look at Giliath. He looked right back with a wide grin on his face. He didn't answer me, but I knew what he wanted to say. I could only turn my head back around, and looked outside, popping my small head out the window.
It was quite funny to see the guards suddenly become flustered just seeing the sight of my appearance. They scrambled together, quickly retrieving their orbal rifles on their bodies. They were much larger than the orbal handgun that was at the driver's waist.
Even the passing travelers beside us became surprised to see these guards scramble before us. But they knew not to disturb them, and went along their way. Before long, one single figure approached us who stood out from the rest of the guard. He had aging white hair, and even had a white mustache. There was a short beard growing out of his chin. And yet, for some ungodly reason, this man was packed with muscle. It was unclear just how old this man was.
But I saw my father smile at this new person who arrived before us. The guards beside the new man saluted him, and remained in that posture.
"Isn't this man...", One of the travelers said, unsure of what he was currently seeing.
"What in Aidios's name is General Vandyck of the Imperial Army doing out here in Alto Street!?", Another traveler said in shock, realizing who the aged man was.
"I dunno, but it looks like a meeting is about to happen. We should go.", Another traveler said, urging their friend to head into the city. Whatever was happening here had no business with them. They knew well not to interfere in military matters.
The guards simply ignored the wandering citizens, and allowed them to enter Heimdallr. Meanwhile, our orbal car was parked in the middle of the road where this new person now stood before us.
"At ease, soldiers. I am only here to greet an old friend.", The aged man said, issuing a command in a similar tone to how father does it.
"B-But General Vandyck, we received a report that Brigadier General Osborne was on his way into the capital. We cannot delay his entry.", One of the guards quickly said, trying to halt the man.
"My men and I will take it from here. You are to resume your posts at once.", The aged man commanded again.
""At your command!"", The guards replied in unison, before they scrambled again. They swiftly left the scene, and returned to their posts as guard sentries, making sure the traffic flow resumed back to normal.
After that was said, I saw a tall shadow arrive near us, which blocked my view. I looked upward, and saw the white-haired man smile back at me.
"Well now little one. You are not the person I was expecting to see today.", The man said, greeting me with a smile.
Little my ass! This dude is gigantic. Seriously, how tall was this guy compared to me? He was likely even larger than father.
"Um. Hello?", I said, awkwardly greeting this giant old man. All Giliath did was let out a loud laugh.
"Hahaha! Do forgive us General. This is my son you see. I decided to go on a little trip. Naoto, this is General Vandyck. He's in a similar position to me and serves as a like-minded General of the Imperial Army."
Just like that, Giliath introduced me to this man. I knew very well who he was. This man was General Vandyck. He would eventually become the school principal at the main campus at Thors Military Academy!