Final Fantasy: the lunar journey

Chapter 10: assault on the imperial palace

In the testing area of the job research facility, the team saw two crates that each contain at least four crystal fragments. Then Gertrude entered the testing area along with her assistants, with papers that they will need to see if the job classes are successful or not.

"Alright, I want you to try out the job classes and test the abilities and spells" said Gertrude.

"I'm not sure about this, me and Laura have learned black and white magic from different masters. I fear if I become something different than a white mage, I won't be able to change back into a white mage" said Sonya, feeling nervous.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure you'll turn back into a white mage. Just try out the latest job classes, and see if they need improvements or not" Gertrude reassured.

Eric went first, and the first crystal fragment that he pulled out has the symbol of a candle on it. Then he glowed briefly along with the crystal fragment, then the glowing stopped. Now he wore an ivory colored robe with patterns that resembled melting wax of a candle, on his head is a circlet with four candles mounted on it. In his hand, is a candelabra shaped rod. He examined himself in curiosity, and noticed that his feet were covered in cloth thus leaving the toes and heel bare. Luckily, he still wore his visor.

"The job class you have chosen is the Candle mage, and it was an ancient type spellcasting class since one thousand years ago. What little information we had uncovered, there was a mention of the first Candle mage who used a long lost branch of magic to burn monsters by using candles and protect allies with candle wax" Gertrude explained.

"In other words... a proto black mage?" Asked Eric.

"No, because the black mage job class has existed longer than that. The Candle mage, on the other hand, is pretty much like a black mage but with few support spells. We're basically restoring that job class, along with its spells as we speak" she replied.

"Huh, neat" he remarked.

"Now try out its basic spell on the target, you may keep it if the job class is successful" she recommended.

He watched as one target rises out from the floor, so he began concentrating on the spell on the target. Laura and Sonya step back and watched as he conjured few candles that surround the target and unleashed a tower of fire, thus burning it to cinders. Gertrude and her assistants were writing on the papers, astonished that the Candle mage job class wasn't a failure.

"Well done, that will be all. Seeing that the Candle mage is a success, you have my permission to keep it if you want" said Gertrude, as she is impressed.

"Thank you, I can put it to good use" he replied.

"Unfortunately, you can only learn up to level 4 spells. It's because we're still researching and restoring the high level candle magic spells, so it can be of use for the Candle mage" she added.

Then it's Sonya's turn to try out a job class, so she walked up to the left crate and pulled out a crystal fragment. The crystal fragment she pulled out has the symbol of a speech bubble, in which she has no idea what it means.

"The job class you have chosen is the orator, it's still in the experimental stage, so I advise you to try another" explained Gertrude.

Sonya put the crystal fragment back and picked another one, this time, it has the symbol of the yin yang (in which it looked familiar). Then she glowed briefly along with the crystal fragment, then the glowing stopped. Now she wore a yellow dress that reached above her ankles with a red ribbon at the waist, a small black hat, and black shoes.

"The job class you have chosen is the Mystic, it's rather a new job class that we have invented instead of an old job class we have restored. What it does is inflict status ailments that ranged from blind to silence, so it's rather a useful job class" Gertrude explained.

Sonya watched as another target rises out from the floor, so she tried to cast blind onto it. Nothing happened as there is no magic coming from her hands, she tried casting silence at the target and still nothing happened. Gertrude and her assistants started to write on the papers, concluding that the Mystic job class needs improvement.

"It seems that it's a dud, but it did project the outfit just fine. However, it needs more improvement since it's magic doesn't work" said one of the assistants.

Sonya wasn't happy with the outcome, she felt as if she was stuck in a dud job class. Luckily for her, one of the assistants used a peculiar device on her to revert her back to being a white mage. It was Laura's turn to try out a job class, but there was a low rumble coming from within the imperial palace.

*Boom!*

There was an explosion coming from within the palace, which shook the whole facility. Everyone was wondering where it come from and what caused the explosion, the lights flickered on and off before returning to normal. Eric and his teammates were prepared in case if there's a fight, then one imperial guard rushed down the hall and entered the testing area.

"The imperial palace is under attack! Everyone, evacuate to safety!" He yelled.

"What's going on!?" Asked Sonya in a state of panic.

"We're under attack by monsters, in which we believe that they come from the Blue moon!" The guard replied before running to warn the other researchers.

Sonya and her teammates escorted Gertrude and the assistants out of the testing area and directed them the other direction, before going to the main hall to investigate. In the main hall, they can see that the large roof part was blasted out. Then three winged monsters come through the huge hole to attack them, by which Sonya casted aero (A white magic spell that creates a gust of wind) to dice up the winged monsters. It weakened them since they're weak to wind magic, but it wasn't enough to defeat them. Then Laura casts thundara to zap the winged monsters, and they all disintegrate into a puff of smoke.

"We must check to see if the emperor is okay!" Said Eric.

"Right!" Replied Sonya, but she was worried about Siegfried who was confined on a bed to recover from the head cold.

Authors note: how was the part of Eric and Sonya trying out the new job classes? And what will become of emperor Darill?