The Chalice of Beginnings, a divinely crafted chalice that the goddess used to resurrect a life of any kind. Even with special blood, or Crests, the chalice was not able to achieve its goal. The Four Saints Aubin, Noa, Timotheos, and Chevalier confronted the disappointed goddess with her problem. The Four Saints expressed their interest that their Crests could bring back life since their blood is rare. But still, the ritual failed and they weren’t able to bring back that life. The details of why the ritual failed was a mystery though. Perhaps it was because barely any mortals had the same Crest as the Four Saints. Similar to the goddess, her Crest is unique too. I ended up with her Crest too, the Crest of Flames. She and the legendary warrior, Nemesis bore that Crest. I only found out about my mysterious Crest because another teacher at Garreg Mach Monastery was eager to see if I had one. None of my students knew about my Crest and I wanted it to be hidden.. As a professor, I liked to keep a professional relationship with them. It’s not that I disliked them, it was more that they wouldn’t be able to keep it quiet. They are adults who have almost graduated, but some of them are rowdy. I still don’t fully understand how I got my Crest since my father, Jeralt, did not have one. He tells me Mother had the Crest but that Crest was a minor one, while mine is a major Crest.
Mother died from being sick right after she gave birth to me…so I have no memory of her at all. My father would always tell me how Mother loved me so much, yet I didn’t know how to feel since I never saw her face. She died in Garreg Mach so her grave was in the monastery but my mind would always wonder if there could have been a way to revive her. The Chalice of Beginnings of an artifact that was long lost. The archbishop, Rhae, didn’t have any idea where the chalice could be resting. It would be interesting to find a divine item but I don’t have the time for that. I have papers to grade and students to take care of so my schedule is quite full. The amount of work I had to do kept me up until 11 at night. I was in the dining hall with a candle because I refused to waste any valuable time so I could get these assignments graded. With every dip of ink, my brain felt slower and slower and my eyes were feeling gradually more heavy. Eventually, I gave up and told myself I would finish in the morning. Until I remembered I left my other folder in my classroom, ugh.
I walked quietly outside of the dining hall to the Officers Academy area, where the classrooms were. My mind couldn’t tell if I was imagining this but I heard faint talking…and it seemed to be coming from my classroom. I groggily open the door and see six of my students. They all were sitting on a table and looking at some sort of paper.
“I knew I heard footsteps…” mumbles Lin. He seemed as exhausted as me but somehow didn’t pass out.
“Professor!” Dimitri, the royal prince of the country Phargeus clears his throat. “W-we thought you were…um, a-asleep.”
Claude, the next heir of his country, the Alliance, laughs. “You caught us, Teach.”
“That was because you were raising your voice too loud,” Ledle, the daughter of the Adrestria emperor, rolls her eyes at him. “I’m sorry, my teacher.”
Hilda, who was Claude’s best friend, yawns. “I’m glad someone finally caught us so we could stop researching about this stupid…place…”
“Now there,” Ashe, who is from Phargeus, says. “I think we are close to figuring out what could be hiding down there.”
I stare at all of them, utterly confused. “O-o-okay…so…first of all, I am drained out. And secondly, w-what place…? What makes it so important that none of you can wait until morning to do this?”
“There have been rumors about an underground area within the monastery, Professor,” Ledle explains. “They call it Abyss.”
“Abyss?” I ask.
Dimitri nods. “Some students have been talking about it being a dangerous place. Thievery, gangs, and violence have been the most common theories people have.”
“And how come I don’t know about this?” I never heard of such a place. Archbishop Rhae never told me about that, perhaps she was hiding it from me.
“I mean, you always seem distracted by everything, Teach.” Claude shrugs.
Lin stretches. “We were trying to find more information about it but the Church didn’t supply anything about Abyss. Ledle thought there must be something valuable enough within Abyss if it is so mysterious.”
“If a place is said to be dangerous, I don’t think there could be anything valuable.” I shake my head.
Ledle disagreed. “Oh? But you never know, Professor.”
“Even if it is dangerous and nothing there is valuable, wouldn’t it be better to see what the trouble is? Perhaps we could solve whatever conflict there is to make it…not so dangerous.” Dimitri says. The rest of the group nods and looks at me.
“You guys, want to explore a suspicious underground place so you can find treasure?” I couldn’t believe my students were willingly wanting to put themselves in danger over curiosity.
“Think of it as a way of training, Teach,” Claude notices my skepticism. “If it is that dangerous, we should go with weapons and some backup soldiers.”
Hilda nods. “It can be like our little training activity.”
“Please, Professor?” Ashe asks.
My brain wasn’t fully grasping their reasons but them pleading to explore a shady underground space was a bit irritating.
“Fine…I-I guess but…we will bring weapons just in case…” I finally answered. They all were so joyful that I said yes but I still wasn’t so sure. “But we will leave tomorrow since it is our day-off, okay?”
“Thank you so much, Professor,” Dimitri smiled. “We all apologize again for breaking into your classroom.”
“I-it’s fine…” I nod. “Back to what Ashe said a while ago, but what do you think is down in Abyss?”
Claude shrugs. “We were thinking about the Chalice of Beginnings…or some rare treasure related to that.”
I laugh. “Wasn’t that chalice lost?”
“Legend has it that it has but that doesn’t mean it is true.” Lin chuckles.
Yeah, a holy artifact in an underground area of a monastery…real funny. What are the odds of finding that?
