Adventurers Guild Adventurer's Guild - Official Board

Spoiler: Ancient Memories

Long ago, in the middle of a unknown world, 24 spirits were born....they neither had a name nor knew who had created them....but....They had an intention....To maintain the world in peace and to support the beings who soon would be born there, they, with the control on the elements, would give form to the ecosystems, would guide to the different races and would be the mediators of the gods, who could not interfere with the world and so the time happened, the races were born and propagated, the world turned into a prosperous place with endless seas, pure rivers and civilizations in heyday. . . until something changed, «Something» clouded the skies and covered the ground, «Something» that can't be described nor mentioned, «Something» that must never have existed.
The spirits surprised by this event tried to contact with the gods....but there was no response....so.... they confronted «That» themselves.
«That» did not have a concrete form, there were thousands of shades, curses and screams in only one creature....but.... they faced it....
It was a horrible battle, 11 of the spirits were destroyed and devoured by «That»....
and, when the battle seemed lost 4 spirits used they last resource....They burned its soul and took its existence to the limit to exercise a power similar to that of the gods, and, only with it «That» was annihilated....But the spirits were very tired and could maintain not even its form, only a life apex was staying in them....so as last effort they dispersed its souls along the planet to balance the elements once again....with the exception of 4....
The 4 that gave the deathblow to «that», its souls were almost broken completely and they did not even have forces to move, so there they remained. . . deeply asleep. . . .

Spoiler: Alessia Scwarz

My name is Alessia Schwarz, I was born in a small town close to the mountains, since my parents died when I was young I had to do all kinds of works to be able to survive, on having spent the years, I obtained all kinds of experiences, and thanks to them I acquired a lot of information about the world. But the most interesting thing that I learned was the souls manipulation, although it sounds like something chilling in fact is only to place an essence inside an object to show a certain effect, with this knowledge I turned into what is known as a doll maker... Well I in fact am dying so it isn't really important, yep,I am dying at the young age of 54 years, although this is close to the life expectancy of this world, for me who to increase my life expectancy a few decades its nothing , it is in fact a quite short life, whatever, apparently I was murdered by an inquisitor that accused me of being a witch, there is,to me who have traveled over the world, who saw with my eyes the kindness and the nastiness of the persons, and experienced all kinds of situations, for me who at the end live in peace creating philters and ointments to improve the health of the near village because of certain injury in my soul, there is, this is the type of end that the gods give to the kind persons...ja ja ja, do I feel heavy, the death was always something so calmed?... I supposed that it would be something more dramatic, ja ja ja..... I can only hope that some day someone should complete what I could not....

Spoiler: A Name For Me

~~~~Eh? where am I? it is supposed that I am dead but. . .
« Hello, are you well? can you hear me?»
...!!! eh? who? a small girl?
«Ugh, it is possible that i don't seems like that but I exist since the world was created you know?»
do not say to me. . .are you a god?
«I am not a god, perhaps in the old times I was adored like one, but I have never been one»
ah. I see already. . . you are not a god eh, then. . . What are you?
«Do I see that you have already calmed down a little so I will start with the explanation»
yes. . . please,
«Very well, first of all I am an existence that was born together with the world»
together with the world?
«Yes, its right, in the beginning I was one of the spirits that were balancing the world»
hmm I see already, so you are a spirit that maintains the world in peace or something like that not?
«Well, at least it was but due to certain events most of my soul is destroyed now so I only exist like a memory of the old times»
«Ok, since you know aout me, might you present yourself now? you can speak with normality here you know?»
ah! in all this time I have not even spoken. . .
«Yup, this space is something like my proper world, therefore while you converse with me you can speak without saying a word»
I see. . . then, why not we keep on speaking in this way? since here I feel a little weird and am not sure of being able to speak
«There is no problem»
Well, my name was Alessia, I was a person who live many things until the end
«A short presentation uh, well, really does not matter since I know most of your memories»
good, since we come to this point, would I like to know what matters has with me an ancient existence like you?
«ho, so you already did an idea to yourself eh?, good, since you understood up to this point, I will go at the point. . . we should do a deal»
A deal?
«Yeah, I have something in common with you, both of we have our soul in a critical state, so my plan is to combine our souls, of course normally this would not be possible but we have an ultra compatibility, so its alright»
exactly what are you thinking to do?
«Since my soul is only a little fragment i will give you the remains of my body and integrate our souls in one»
So you probably will disappear right?
«Only my “Will”, my soul will be still with you »
Ok, do it, but before. Can you tell me your name? its a little sad that my soul partner haven't a name. right?
«My name uh...well you can call me lily»
Lily...its quite a good name, well, now we need to think in a new name for me
«You want a new name? »
Yeah, since I will live again, I want to forget my previos name and get a new one
«hmm...Crau...i think Crau is a good name for you »
Crau?
«Yes, it was the name of a old friend, she was like you,»
It sounds good, now my name is Crau, Best regards Lily
«Yes, Best regards Crau »

Backstory finish!!!
@brasca123 you want a long tale so there is^^

 

Yep! This looks nice! If you can do something similar to this on your reports, it would be a lot better! \(^^)/

Good job! It's an interesting backstory!

 

Spoiler: Episode 0

…A few weeks before joining the adventure guild

Every-time danger appears, I run away like a coward. The screams from towns folk and roars of dragons still pierce my heart. Even the blood still festers my eyes, leading me to drink for weeks on end. To make matters worse, my hope burned along adventure city, never catching a glimpse of light ever again.

I could do nothing about it, right? I mean hunting small animals in the wilderness is one thing but dragons, they are a completely different game. They are ferocious and mean creatures, willing to kill a man for even breathing near them.

My left hand shakes a little and I put my right hand against it, trying to calm myself down. I need to stop thinking about it.

I breathed in and out, then looked around Lazy Clothes. The scene of Lazy Clothes was silent as usual, no customers around. I guess they have better things to do than to go to a used clothes shop. However, I can’t imagine Granny giving me much pay this week.

I look around the shop again, trying to find something else to do. I have cleaned and dusted every inch of the store already, and what was left was things I am not allowed to do.

Hmm, what should I do Sayuri? You were always the one who knew what to do and when do them. I could only walk beside you and prayed that you never left me behind. Now, I am lost like a fisherman without a boat and net.

A few papers scatter across the floor near the left counter area and a thud sound occurred at the same time. The old wood must have finally given out. At last, I have something to do.

Checking the shelf, I realize I was wrong. It was not the wood that gave out but the rusty nail that broke off, thus the reason the shelf fell.

“Huh, I thought granny said these were made of quality metal. Then again, she says everything in the shop is of good quality” I spoke quietly to myself. Searching around, I found a few new nails and took the shiniest and replace the broken one with a new one.

Then I began to collect the old invoices and put them back in their proper place, categorize by date then by last name.

An old purple inked invoice caught my attention with its lavish lettering. Taking it in hand, I notice it was for a piece of clothing for one of the guild members of the adventure guild. They also listed in the comment section that they gladly welcome new members to their guild.

“An adventurer…maybe this time things will go well.” I said feeling a bit of excitement. I can’t believe I forgotten about the adventurer guild. Surely there I can earn enough money to use for information. I might even be able to pay off my debt if I’m lucky.

A deep fear grips my heart, can I really do an adventurer's work?

(OOC: A short entry that describes a little bit about Jean before entering the Adventure Guild and told in his view.

I'm hoping it was okay that I stated he was there during the dragon raid incident but didn't really do anything special during it.)

 

It's all good, no problem!

 

Spoiler: Feng Shui

Feng Shui

After a rather ardous journey, I finally reach the Moonlight Lake again. The sun is setting, and the red light surrounds me like a blaze, swallowing everything in a pleasant red, while a cool breeze makes me shiver, and continuing in the plains, moving the plants like a wave.

But all of that doesn't matter right now. First, I should remember what Feng Shui generally is. I think it was something like... "determining fortune and misfortune with time and space".

This means that, depending on place and time, fortune and misfortune differ, right? But how do I determine that... it's not like fortune and misfortune are visible.

The sun sets and everything slowly darkens, more and more, until the darkness seems to grasp for you. A chill, feeling like misfortune- wait, that's it! Every natural event, form, time and region has different amounts of fortune and misfortune within it. So, depending on them, curses might have a bigger and smaller effect. And, like it influences curses, so influence curses nature. Or rather, the misfortune it contains. So, if I can manipulate these things that affect misfortune, I should be able to reach tremendous effects.

But what contains how much misfortune? Hm... can't I just test that with negative energy? It seems to respond well with misfortune, and bad with fortune. Let's test it...

...

Time passes, and the moon rises while I experiment, finally reaching midnight. The moon is barely visible, almost completely dark. It is said that nights like these are full of misfortune and evil spirits. So that also is Feng Shui? I slowly understand... especially how to make harmless things harmful. Slight alterations can have terrifying effects. If I combine this with Bad Luck... it should bring downfall upon the target. Great misfortune that follows that person over years, growing stronger, until the person finally perishes, having lived a terrible life. Seems perfect.

Yeah, this is enough for now. I will learn the rest through experience and applying my knowledge.

Having finished my experiment, I return to the guild.

OOC: This is rather short, and just starts my character's deeper understanding of misfortune.

 

Spoiler: Alchemic tools

Alchemic tools​

I've got the materials now. The only thing left is to actually make the Reactor and Copycat from them.

With the materials packed in my item box, I travel to some barren place in the Great Plains far away from civilization and soak the surroundings in negative energy over the next dozen hours. With that done, no common creature should be able to safely approach this place.

The first thing I want to create is the Reactor. I take all of the iron ingots and repeatedly cast weaken on it. As a result of being hit by a few dozen weakens, I can now form the iron like clay (weaken also reduces the binding energy of the atomic system affected by it, causing the bindings to be easily separated and reformed). While this sounds handy, I sadly can't create sharp things with this, and it takes a lot of time and energy.

Making best use of the time I can form it like this I first form the outer shape into a mixture of a cauldron and a furnace and leave an opening for a hatch. With this finished, I now create and attach the holder for the refined fire crystal in the middle of the future reactor.

Next, I put the refined ice crystal in the reactor and cast weaken on it until it turns into a viscous paste, which I evenly smear over the inner surface of the reactor. I place the refined fire crystal in its holder, create a big hatch from the remaining iron, and attach it to the opening I left. With this, the Reactor is complete.

Resembling a furnace, a cauldron, and a nuclear reactor, one can temporarily grant it the power of fusing and splitting things by consuming energy, using the refined fire crystal as a catalyst. From time to time the refined ice crystal layer will have to be restored, but I don't have to worry about it now. In fact, this very layer acts as something to keep the energy inside by isolating it from the outside. Without it, the Reactor is pointless.

Next is the Copycat. Similar to the iron, I cast weaken on the copper until I can form it. But in this case, the form is way more complex. I form it into a statue resembling a cat, that has both of its comically big front paws opened towards the sky and an opened mouth. In its inside, there is a channel that leads from the mouth towards both of the paws.

This doesn't seem like much, and it really isn't. Once you place an item in its mouth, the mouth closes and you have to infuse energy into the statue by placing your palms on the sides of its head. Then, the item gets turned into its essence, and the energy you infuse imitates the essence. Once enough is gathered, the energy travels towards the paws and the item you put in it will appear above both paws, consuming all of the energy you put into it. Depending on the amount, the quality may be inferior or the item destroyed.

And as the infused energy doesn't get converted efficiently, you will have to put in a lot. But it can copy items.

The possibilities! So many things I can do... I store the Reactor and Copycat in my item box and return to the guild.

OOC: With this, I have created my alchemic tools. I hope you approve, and I am actually allowed to use them. If there are any questions about them. ask and I will explain as much as possible.

 

I don't know if I can still register... But here I am.
Name: aueneg
Job/Occupation: Swordsman
Preferred Weapon: Dual Katana

 

Wrong thread. Go here and read the instructions carefully.

 

Just posting my side stories here that were buried somewhere deep in the tavern...

Spoiler: Brother

“So, when and where, and are you ever going to tell me or anyone?” a question I never wanted to get asked, at least not until it’s finished.

“What are you going on about?” I feigned trying to keep the file I’m holding in perfect alignment and applying even force on the bare metal that’s in front of me.

“You know we haven’t seen each other a lot ever since father started dragging you to his campaigns, but do know that I’ve known you almost all our lives. Also that you should start changing into a file with finer teeth, Pete’s not going to be happy if you over-shave that blade by the way. You can’t feign ignorance, not to me at least.” He shuffles from the entrance of the workshop, supporting his weight on one leg. He finds a seat in which he rests that leg.

“And what are planning on doing if I tell you?” a question which I know the answer to, yet I asked anyway.

“I’ll stand witness for you.”

“Don’t need any. Your father won’t approve if he finds out I brought you there, he wouldn’t even be happy with all of this as it is in the first place. He’ll eventually find out so it’s better to shoulder all the blame than get you or anyone involved.”

“Father’s never been happy about me in the first place so I don’t care. That man who was father's student or whatever he is, you know he’s going to bring friends…” that was punch in the gut there. I am the living proof of that. A boy pulled out of the orphanage. To succeed the father for the son could not, he physically can’t.

“I know, and I’m telling you I could deal with it. I’ll be fine on my own.” a low growl escapes my mouth.

“Yes, there’s no doubt about that. You’d kill seven of those pansies and more but I’m talking about standing as witness. When you can’t find a neutral party to serve as witness you at least bring your own because he’ll bring his. Unless your plan consists of not letting any of them walk out of there alive and considering how hard you were hitting that practice pole earlier, none of them surely will.”

I answered with silence and tighten my grip on the file as if planning on breaking it. I took a deep breath and kept honing the shape of the steel I have with me. Hoping to suffocate the fire that's burning inside me.

“Come on, let’s both get in trouble like the good old days. Maybe after that we’ll hit the brothels and introduce you to fine ladies, I mean you can’t just spend your time working on Pete’s workshop until you’re finally knighted. I remember, knights do have that saying don’t they. ‘Nothing keeps the blood running than having a woman after the battle’, was it?” he smiled, an attempt to help me reign in the rage. This man has always been the charmer. Always been loved by women, often too much which is something his father’s been concerned about a lot recently.

“Suit yourself.” I relented, something that I’ll forever bear.

“About time we head back, mother’s probably going to be livid once she found out I went inside the workshop again. ‘The fumes inside is too bad for your health!’ or ‘There’s a lot of sharp and heavy objects in there!’ you know, the usual.” He started. I put the blade I was working on after wiping it clean on top of the table and hang the oil stained apron I’m wearing to the seat. I offered my shoulder for him to pull himself up easily and slowly walk out of the smithy.

“She does have a point though; just a few days ago I accidentally got a white hot iron touch my arm while working in there, which really hurts by the way.” I mused, looking at the healing mark on my arm.

“You know, women love men with scars.” He was thinking aloud, looking at the scars present on that same arm. Scars I've earned following his father in his battles.

“Says the guy who is as smooth as a baby and gets smothered by the ladies on a regular basis...” I retorted.

“Brother, you do know I can’t fit the ideal of all of them? I remember when you dragged me out of the brothel last time, the lady who runs the place saw you and was instantly smitten. She’s been asking about you ever since.” He responded.

“…and you want to bring me there after the duel to gain her favor, am I correct?” I concluded. This man, really…

“You need a woman in your life, she likes big and sturdy men especially like you who have battle-scars, and she’ll owe me one. We all get what we want. Besides, have you seen her? That enchanting face and body of hers might as well belong to a succubus! I was told she uses magic to enhance the experience so there’s probably some truth to that.”

“And with a face women can’t resist, you might as well be an incubus…”

He responded with a laugh.


An old abandoned fort, me, my adversary, and three other people he brought with him. He’s nowhere to be found; we were supposed to go here together, handing the sword Pete and I has finished to his father and testing it prevented that. Still, it’s time. I only need to end this, rightly.

“You’re late! Now let’s be done with this, we have wonderful places to be other than here and I'd rather not spend too much time watching men manhandle one another.” beckoned the man standing farther from the three others.

I approached him, while putting on leather gloves. It was agreed upon that only that and a gambeson are the only protection we’ll wear. He’s already set, standing there with sword at hand and on guard. I'm not the only one who's itching to end this, huh? Let's oblige.

I unsheathed my sword. Charging at him, screaming on top of my lungs, and thrusting my sword at his chest…

“…hey…”

All of this is wrong…

“…snap out of it…”

What did I?...What I did…was...

“…being too damn loud really doesn’t suit you…Rald...”

That voice, I’ve been had, huh?


Hearing his voice feels like being bathed in cold water at winter. The scenery was washed away revealing what was hidden from these eyes.

Three man standing a few paces from where I am, I can see their faces more clearly now, one of them was the man I was supposed to fight, another holding a staff with a glowing rock on the end.

I see…

The man I ran through with my sword. The man who treated me as his own brother despite taking away all of his father’s love that was meant for him, he never held it against me. That man now breathes his last.

I can see it now…


Anger wells up. Not the raging kind. Not the one that burns up the tinder leaving a pile of ashes and empty husks. Not the wasteful, slow, and heavy kind. Not the one that clouds judgment. Not the one that has led me to this moment...

What replaced that fury was cold. It extinguished the heat burning inside me since the challenge was issued, all the insults, and all the mocking that feed the fire snuffed and sealed shut. What was left was something that was focused. Anger controlled in strength. Cold. Deliberate.

I stood up, with blade on hand. The death grip that chokes my sword slackens. The shaking of my hand stills.

"I'd prefer if we end this quickly." a voice cold as tempered steel escapes my mouth.

"You'd still fight, eh? I'd call you a kinslayer, but we all know you're just some rat that the old man picked up as a pet." the man spat out.

"And you'd be a stain i'll wipe off my blade." words I used to goad him, that contorted face says it's effective. Not that it's not the truth, though.

He charged, aiming to cleave at me with an overhead cut. I mirrored him. By stepping forward to my right offset to his direction as I threw a zornhau I made two things possible, an angle that puts my blade closer to his body and a stronger bind. The bind is when two blades contact each other, you are weak in it when the point of contact is farther from your hilt and stronger when closer to it. The stronger I am at the bind, the more control I have with the clashing blades, and the more control I have the lesser force I need to push him around. Our strike meets at the center.

His sword was pushed to the side and his left shoulder was cut at the same time, the mark of the meisterhau. It results in the collapse of his posture, opening him to further attacks. Stepping with my left leg directly straight occupies the space he once have control of demolishing his form even more and the pommel strike to the side of his face grinds the rubble that was his structure further into dust. He crashed to the ground.

I won't kill him, not yet. My attention now trained to the two person he was with, I advanced. The other drawing his sword and the mage pointing his staff at me as he started a chant. Unsheathing the knife at my side I hinder the spellcaster's actions by throwing it, concentrating on spells with a knife stuck to your inner thigh would be near impossible which takes him out of the equation. The other approaches with his sword raised. The same as the other one, only this time neither of us ended up in a strong bind as our blades contacted roughly at the same place from our hilts but still, the bind is where you feel one another's intent. Using the contact point of our blades as a pivot, I presented a threat by lifting the hilt of my sword which brought the rest of my blade dangerously close to the left of his head. Feeling the change in the pressure as I shift and seeing cold steel near to his face, he lifts his blade vertically with his hilt in front of the left side of his face. This results with him in a stronger bind. Perfect.

"Meet strength with weakness, meet weakness with strength."

These words perfectly describe the unfolding event. With his sword dominating the bind on his left, I step to his right and used the point of contact as a pivot once again. Another pommel hitting another face. I am now directly at his right, him reeling from the bludgeoning and his sword nowhere near to threaten me, I teach him his last lesson. Every part of the sword is lethal. My left hand lets go of the sword, making the rest of the grip available as a hook. It wraps around the back of his neck and I pull so that he's bent forward, then I grip the pommel again. He's now in a position where he's bending over with his neck trapped and choking between my crossed arms and my sword's handle, I also positioned in a way that puts my left hip behind his right. The intention is to throw him into the ground and break his neck with it. A very audible and satisfying crack was heard even before he hits the dirt, looks like I might have torqued on that flimsy neck too much.

Looming above the wounded mage, I grabbed his neck and raised him. I yanked the knife that was lodged into his thigh, but not before twisting it a couple of times. He was then gutted. Slowly. All was left now is to deal with the man that was the brain behind this. He has regained his consciousness after kissing the pommel of my sword, what he won't regain is the teeth I knocked out with it. He was lying on the ground, desperately reaching for his sword. I mounted him and pinned his arm to the ground with the knife I'm holding. He screamed but was made to shut up by my fist. Repeatedly, again and again my clubbed hands drove his head towards the ground feeding him the remaining teeth in his blooded mouth. It continued until the leather gloves covering it was flayed off my knuckles along with the skin.

Standing there beside the man I called my brother, I bid him goodbye though words fail me. Returning home for me is not an option now, a shepherd boy that was passing through saw all of the events as it unfolded, he ran towards the town. I have to disappear.

Spoiler: The Man and the Fox

Huge stacks of timber that are about as tall as I am are now in front of me, the left over for the last quest I took. They will serve as materials for the base camp I’ll be building, nothing really fancy like a cabin, just a semi-permanent shelter I can use from time to time. The sun still sleeping beyond the horizon, but the signs tells me that this will be a good day, a great day to get some work done.

First I work on is a shed to keep my firewood neat and dry. Two straightened branches that are about as thick as my arm was set upright at about the height of my hip at around a meter apart from one another, Two branches of about the same thickness but twice the height was also placed a meter parallel from them, these branches would serve as the foundation of the shed. Wood of the same thickness was used to connect these four to create the frame; the cordage I used was spruce root I dug off the grounds which are numerous and makes for good cordage. The roof was designed to be slanted at about forty-five degree; this was done to effectively shed rain water and snow before it could penetrate the thatch that I’ll use. Once the woodshed was done, I filled it with logs I processed at the left side and unprocessed ones on the right, I also made a shelf on the top half that contains fire starting tools that I can’t really keep in a pouch such as the bow drill that I’ve crafted some time ago.

The next day, I started working on the shelter itself. A simple lean-to and raised bed set-up is something I’m looking to build; a bed that is raised from the damp and cold ground in wet and cold climate is very important as it will help keep me from dying of exposure. I created the frame between two trees using it as a part of the structure, making sure that both tree are young and healthy is also important as partially rotten ones will get uprooted given enough time and you don’t want to be under that tree when that happens; timber that’s about the height of my shoulder was used to connect the trees, I leaned several logs in the upper frame and tied it down to serve as the roof, more than two meters wide and no less than a meter deep. Once the frame was done, I set on completing the bed. The bed will be raised at about at the height of my knee; this ensures enough space underneath in the event that I need to add insulation under it when in the temperature gets too low, it can also serve as added stowage space. Simple logs with notches cut to them was piled perpendicular to the frame for the raised bed, I used hazel logs because even thick ones have a bit of spring to it which will make the bed more comfortable, I tied them up with cordage after making sure that all of it is straight enough and aligned properly. Seems sturdy enough to hold my weight and more, good because the bed was made spacious enough to hold other things I want close and dry.

It is now the third day in this project. I’m sitting here eating breakfast; it will be a busy day so I need to have sufficient energy. Sitting on a log I had now affixed opposite the soon-to-be shelter, I pour a cup of ginger tea I brewed as I was eating breakfast. Beside me is a yew staff, good quality and was given to me by a bowyer in Delta Town. I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty of this wood, the cream colored sapwood and the reddish brown heartwood has always been one of the most beautiful natural materials I’ve had a pleasure of working on. I contracted that bowyer to make a composite bow for me, he was apparently the father of one of the men I trained for the security contract I carried out recently, his second son that was a bit of a problem child straightened out his act after joining the guard unit and gave me this bit of yew wood for free as thanks, it came up after a bit of conversation on what his bows were made out of. The bowyer uses yew or ash core with sinew and bone on each side, I elected to use the Yeti sinew I’ve collected to be used as a backing to the bow and told him how bows were made from my home, he was intrigued about the simplicity of the process involved compared to what he’s doing but I’d say there are pros and cons for both design. I’ll be working on this material to create a completely wooden bow separate from what I ordered from that bowyer; the two bows will be of different draw weight but will be at warbow range which is over a hundred pounds but for different purposes as one will at the low end of the warbow spectrum of poundage and will be focused on speed while the other is for pure power. The arrows for them is something I could manage, I’ve made iron and hardened steel warheads during my time as an apprentice for a blacksmith friend of mine and I’ve become good enough at carving to work on the shaft as well as carving bone arrowheads for hunting purposes. Creating a traditional yew bow was one of the things that drove me to get better at woodworking; the last one I handled was a few years back when I was still part of a mercenary group, belonged to a friend who taught me a lot. That bow was around a hundred-and-fifty pounds, something I’m comfortable shooting for quite a while at a decent pace, being out of practice would probably make a bow of that same poundage a bit of a challenge to use but I haven’t neglected my physique so it’s nothing that constant training will solve. A lot of people think that military archery is the same as hunting archery, they are wrong. Large animals such as elks, bear, or mountain lions can be killed with a bow of at least sixty pounds of draw; you need a lot more than that to kill a man clad in armour at a hundred paces. Strength of the muscles at the back and arm is necessary just to use a warbow, using it continuously in the course of the battle is also needed; in short, good aim is useless if you can’t even draw your bow so a lot of strength is as important as good aim for archers.

Looks like it will rain a bit later, work’s gonna get cut short if that happens. I finished up the roof of my shelter first in order to have something over my head by the time it rains, using a tarp to supplement and water-proof my log roof and using fallen branches leaves to help insulation and as camouflage. Finishing up the heat reflector when the rain started to pour, another tarp was used to cover the fire I’ll start for the evening. A fire reflector is a small wooden fence placed near the fire to control the direction in which heat radiates and to shield the flames from wind, placing it in a manner of which the heat source is between it and my shelter ensures that the warmth bounces back to where I’ll be sleeping, it also serves as a nice place to hang wet clothes for them to dry and pots over the fire to cook. With the rain halting the construction, I set on touching up my knives and other tools. While my combat equipment has all been rust-proofed, the tools I use in everyday living still needs constant maintenance, I took out a container that’s filled with rendered pig fat and started smearing the blades of my knives, saws, and axes with it, this protects it from surface rust that can appear on the blades overnight, it’s also used as lubricant for hinges and metallic moving parts. The pig fat I used was bought in the marketplace, I could render fat but I don’t have sufficient tools for it at the moment, so store bought ones should suffice for now. Aside from cooking and maintaining tools, fat is also good for water-proofing leather; I applied some of it to the outer layer of a leather pouch I use to store tinder in case conditions prevent me to start fire with surrounding materials. Fat was also applied to the two new pouches that will hang at my utility belt situated at the back of my hip, they’ll be useful for when I forage, a pouch for when I come across wild edibles and other useful stuff I find along the trail.

Once I finished eating dinner, I started to make my bed. My usual bedroll and the yeti fur that was given to me as a reward should keep me warm through the night even if the fire went out.

Seems like the rain stopped sometime during my sleep. I was relighting my campfire to cook breakfast when I noticed a patch of black and white in the shadow of my wood shed. That patch moved as I started roasting the rabbit I’ll have for breakfast, it unfurled its fluffy tail and two big and pointy ears popped up. A marbled fox, it may have sheltered itself from the rain while I was asleep. Most of them I’ve seen were at the northern mountains and some at the northern part of these plains, this young one might’ve wandered off a bit south too much. Probably in search of this thing I’m roasting on a spit.

There’s several reasons why this one’s not gonna die by my hands, few on top of my head would be that it’s still too young, harvesting animals that are too young is not acceptable unless the other option is dying, I also have no need for its hide as I have better ones in my possession and finally, I also think that it’s not a good idea to wear anything made out of this creature in the presence of that fox-girl receptionist. Let’s leave this little one in peace for now.

So our eyes are of the same shade, at least my right one is. It is staring at me as I eat, quite hard to concentrate on eating if someone’s staring at you even if it’s an animal of some sort. Hmm…I’ll surrender a bit of meat for now…seems like it wants more, huh? Whatever, let’s oblige for now. It did enjoy eating a good bit of my portion judging by the high pitched noises it’s been doing, I’ll probably need to eat as I forage to get my fill. Thankfully, it seems like the weather will be good for today. Once I have everything I’ll need for the job at hand, I head out to the plains. This creature will probably be gone by the time I get back.

Scanning the immediate area as I walk, looking for things I need and things I’ll need. Making notes on what useful resources are to be found, where to find them, and in what quantities. Also included in my mental notes are possibilities, a standing but partially rotted tree that might fall over once the weather went sour that could pose as danger or as a resource, location of ash trees that are known for producing dead fall branches I could readily use for fuel, other sources of water in the event that the river near my camp runs too fast to take advantage of in stormy weathers because sources of water are always important.

About seventy yards from where my camp is situated, there’s a river. As said, a water source always increases the comfort of living in the wild, here I can get water for cooking and drinking, washing my clothes, my other things and myself, catch fish and a lot more, the rain last night made this river run pretty fast compared to the usual which drastically lowers the chance of the water to stagnate compared to its usual gentle flow. If a stream or a river runs too slow it means damp ground and damp ground means breeding ground for flies which will be something that will affect your stay in the area. Water sources are also where several wild mint plants grow, one of them are apple mint plants which can be used for medicinal purposes or for tea but what it’s really good at is as natural insect repellant, leaves and stems of this plan will go under my bed to drive away ticks and fleas, I will probably add tansies if I found one because they are more potent, hedge woundwort also grow at damp soil environments, powerful antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, also makes for good tea. I’ll be going about a kilometer further north, the northern edges of the plains are mostly covered in moors, there are a lot of resources I could take advantage of in that area.

Thick and full, vividly pale green in hue, and a branch growing every fourth leaf. Peat or bog moss, quite abundant in boggy areas and in moorlands, something I’ll need a great amount of. Great many uses for this moss, a few notable ones are related to hygiene, sanitation and medicine. They can be used to purify water, wound dressing, cleaning cookware and utensils, body scrub, and loo rolls as they have good anti-bacterial properties. I’ll need blankets upon blankets of these things as it also serves as good insulation for when the temperature gets cold and camouflage for the wind barriers and heat reflectors I’ll erect in my camp. These things do grow near the camp, but in boggy areas like these, they cover almost the entirety of the damp land.

Going back to camp I also went to find small conifer groves near the border of the plains. Dead standing conifer trees are good source for softwood; need to refill my wood blanks for carving, spruce needles for tea, and some more cordage from its root. Birch trees are also a very important resource. Finding dead standing ones are always a good find as birch logs are great for firewood because they burn hot, long and even in damp and cold weather, the bark peels easily on these dead ones and I put sheets of them in my tinder pouch. Fungus is also great candidates for stuff that will go inside my tinder pouch, bracket fungus easily catch sparks which is great for fire starting. It’ll probably be time for lunch once I get back to camp.

Cooking some meat and washing some wild edibles was the first thing I did after going back, it was noon and I was getting hungry from that trekking I’ve done. The fox vacated the shed, probably to hunt for hares so it seems like I’ll be left in peace. After having my fill, more construction work awaits me, have to create wind barriers after determining the direction in which it comes from, camouflaging these barriers with moss would do for now as sturdier perimeter fences will be built sometime in the future and will be covered with dead leaves for concealment.

Hmm…little guy’s not actually gone for good, huh? The fox came back at nightfall, just in time for dinner. It seems like it failed to hunt some of the hare living in these parts, seeing as it’s bold enough to approach me as if asking for its share, have to cook more, good thing I have a lot of Yeti meat in store. Well, now that we’re both full, time to relax. It has been a tiring day foraging materials and construction work around the camp, just enjoying the heat of the fire and relaxing after all that work is a very important part of this way of life as well, probably the best part of it. Once I have that bow I commissioned, or finished working on the longbow I’ll be crafting, I could start hunting big game; venture a bit into the northern mountains for bighorn sheep and yetis. Hmm…the fox has made itself comfortable in the fire as well, curling himself near the fire and just silently watching it. Let’s throw a bit of fuel to the fire for it to last us throughout the night.

Seems like this little fox is here to stay. Waking up in the morning, I thought that he finally vacated my camp, only for me to discover that he transferred himself under the bed I made. Little guy popped out under it when it was time for breakfast. Good thing I cooked enough for us. The high-pitched cooing means he’s quite pleased with the food, it’s not so bad.

The project I’m working on for today is a simple seat I could use when I’m around here. I’ll build it using the straightest branches of substantial thickness, enough to bear my whole weight and more. Two branches of about four feet in height was tied together at one end after cutting an angle and notches so that they form an acute angle once tied down, two branches that are longer than the width of these two were tied at its front and back at different height with the front being the lowest at around an inch or two below my knee and the other one at the back two to three inches higher from the first one to form an “A”. Another two branch were tied together at one end and was inserted to the gap formed by the two smaller branches until their wide end touches making the two perpendicular and was tied down with the other end serving as the third foot of the chair, I finished it up by putting smaller branches as the seat and backrest before finally securing them with cordage. With this, I can rest my back more comfortably, sitting on a log doesn’t really support it and sitting on the ground to use the log as a backrest isn’t always viable specially when it’s raining and once I’ve acquired some good animal skin, the comfort level of this chair will be raised even higher.

Well, someone’s getting comfy at least. The little fellow took my seat; he jumped on it as soon as I started tidying up before I prepare for lunch, probably as a bit of revenge after filling the underside of my log bed which he slept on with apple mint leaves and branches, the strong smell it gives off is not something everyone appreciates. The little fox is now sitting there, its fluffy tail wagging around as it anticipates the food…looks like I have to make accommodations for another in this camp…

Spoiler: The Rose' Thorn

“I-I yield! I yield!”

A pommel strike to his visored face, then the pommel levers under his right arm, his neck trapped between the strong of the blade and the crossguard, left leg in between his, hips overlapping his center of gravity. He was slammed into the ground.

“Rald, Stop!” A woman’s voice, ignored. Planted the greatsword into the ground and approached the knight.

He scrambled face up, gold inlayed armour obscured by mud and gore and vomit. Kicked his visor up, the left hinge of his bascinet’s visor broke, grabbed it and pulled the dagger sheathed at the side, its point tracing his jaw line.

“I yie-” spat the blood he’s drowning on. “I yield, gods damn it!”

“Can’t you see my banner? I’m worth more to you alive, my family will pay ranso-” cut him off…dagger in hand pierced his throat; he chokes on blood and died.

“Ugh! Father’s gonna chew you out all night again. We could’ve made a fortune from that man.” I can hear that voice clearer now, familiar. A voice that smothers the fire that’s burning inside me and snaps my eyes wide open.

“Cyrene. My hands slipped.” I responded to the voice that pulls me back to sanity.

“Conveniently piercing through under his skull? Those sure and sturdy hands of yours seem to slip a lot when you’re fighting against knights.” Words she sighed as she looks around, the battle might’ve been won but there are still threats around. “Archer, in front!” she found one of them.

“Can’t help it, knights seem to have slimier blood than the normal.” I picked my sword up after removing the blood from my dagger and sheathing it, charged at the bowman that’s now aiming at us. He loosed an arrow, aiming at the girl beside me, my sword slaps it away and the girl dashes ahead.

The archer scrambles for the falchion and the buckler on his side; he barely loses his head as the girl aims a cut to his meagerly armoured neck. His safety didn’t last, as that girl winds around his sword for a thrust that he successfully defended, only for the lass to capitalize on now having both his sword and bucker behind hers, effectively locking it and preventing him to defend against a thwarting cut she delivered at the other side of his neck. Blood stained her beautiful face.

“It’s about time we finish up, Imperial cavalry’s gonna take care of the ones that flee in the woods.” She muses quite cheerfully, a stark contrast to the hell that’s surrounding us. Cyrene leaps in to support me as I hold off four men-at-arms from helping their friend and takes a knee behind me as she reloads a heavy crossbow she was carrying on her back using a cranequin.

“Loading!” she signals.

I started swinging my greatsword, planting my left leg, I pivot three times as I perform three right overhead strikes, then reversed it by using my right leg as a pivot while I used left overhead strikes carefully moving my blade over the kneeling lady behind me. Rule 13: Simple, the cloak guard is usually preferred when protecting a kneeling non-combatant or a chest of goods against attacks at multiple directions, only this time, the cloak is a reloading arbalist. I continued this until she finished, though not before breaking two spear shafts from the attackers.

“Shooting!” she shouts behind me.

A bolt was loosed at the one with most armour aiming for the center of his breastplate. The deafening ring of hardened steel against hardened steel momentarily halts the attackers, the sight of their comrade crashing down with a severely dented breastplate lengthening that pause. What the lady shot at the fallen man is a bolt tipped with an armor breaker, while it doesn’t literally do what its name suggests; it is practically a head of a warhammer fitted to a crossbow bolt being fired from a thousand and ten pound contraption, killing the recipient through the armour by the sheer force of its impact.

I broke the sudden void in action by unleashing a powerful blow. The one I was aiming at tried to defend with his guisarme, its haft snapped like a twig. I was chipping away at the shaft of their polearms while my companion was reloading and have already managed to break two of them earlier with my sword, their weapons were weakened enough that the lady managed to break the last one with a single stroke of her one-hander.

“I’ll take the two on the left; you take the one on the right.” She says as her left hand grips the buckler that’s hanging on her scabbard and a dagger. She stands at the sixth ward, left leg forward, her left hand extended as it holds the buckler square on with the dagger’s point protruding under it, her sword abreast hiding behind it point forward. She charged.

Following her, I turn to the man on the right. My advantage in range affords me to target his legs before he can threaten me with a counter but a neat thing about long lever-like objects is that small movements on the handle side translates to big movements on the other, and a greatsword is a big, long and dangerously sharp lever. I feinted to his legs to goad him into lowering his weapon, he bites and lost his head for doing so. It seems like the lady’s fight is also over, one man with a sword cleaving through his thigh the other man with a dagger through his neck.

“That’s it for them, huh?” The people who were lagging behind finally caught up to us, they started clearing up the field. The remaining rebels finally put their weapons down, the worthless wounded were killed and the ones that can be ransomed were bound. We, the free company named Blooded Rose, were the first to break into their lines and caused a route; as such we’re also the first to get prisoners. We’ve got a lot of them.

“So, that’s a four to one.” The young lady started as she wipes the blood off her face.

“What are you going on about?” I started wiping the blood off my blade.

“That’s four. The archer, the one I shot with my crossbow and the two lying right there against your one.” She smiles, a beautiful heart shaped face caked in gore.

“And?” I started walking back to camp.

“Well, we can’t have our best fighter do all the work now can we? You’ve been the most reliable way of breaking through the rebel army’s formations; you’ve also been in the frontlines since the beginning of the battle. I’m just taking care of the firm’s greatest asset.” She says as she walks behind me, before giving that asset a playful slap.

Arriving at the camp, I went straight to my tent, set my helmet on the table, lean my greatsword against the weapon rack, hang my sword belt on it and started taking off my armour…she’s still here.

“Here, let me help you with that.” She started fiddling with the pointing lace of my spaulder.

“Get yours off first before worrying about mine.” She ignored me and started humming as if to drown my protest, she slapped my hands away when I started unbuckling the straps of my arm harness and removed it herself before laying it on the table one after the other. After my arms are clear of plate steel, she started un-strapping my cuirass. As she lays it on the table, I bent down to undo the pointing laces and straps of my leg harness as fast as possible; she lightly hit the back of my head.

“There, done. Now do mine.” She started as I put my leg harness on the table, I gave her a questioning look, she responded with an innocent smile.

…

I started with the her pauldron…seems like she’s planning on making me do all the work, she even had me took off her mail shirt which is probably one of the most annoying thing to get off of someone who is armoured. Once the upper part of her harness is removed and was set on the table, the innocent smile she had on her face changes into something more mischievous, playful, and seductive. She had me remove her gambeson revealing a supple body barely covered in a white, thin, and sweat soaked tunic. I kneel in front of her, untying the lace of her cuisse from the lendenier she’s wearing on her waist and then reaching around the straps on her upper thighs and undoing them, next goes her greaves and sabatons. She’s wearing a pair form fitting trousers made of wool, as am I. Though it does accentuate the lower extremities, this was done primarily because any added bulk from clothing will have an effect to the leg armour as it was designed to fit the form of the leg, though that look is not left unappreciated. I set them as orderly as I can with the little space left on the now crowded table. I then sit on the stool beside it and was about to start inspecting them for any damage, she won’t have any of that.

“Come on, we’re not finished yet.” I turned around without standing up to find her pointing at the last piece of arming garment she’s wearing. I grabbed her by the hips and pulled her close in a playfully abrupt manner, she giggles and started playing with my hair.

I started unlacing her lendenier, a quilted garment worn in the waist in which the cuisse is pointed; this was done to ease the weight that the leg is bearing. Once it’s loose enough I pulled it down her legs.

Off her tunic goes...followed by the rest of her clothes. Using the basin filled with water in the corner of my tent, some scented oil, soap and a clean cloth, and she started cleaning herself up. She started with her hair and works her way down, the light of the setting sun as it hits the wall of my tent creates a backdrop that focuses these eyes on her. Long, firm and tempered muscles running throughout her limbs and body, the marks of imperfection etched on her skin borne from a life as a sellsword, that vibrant pair emerald of eyes that's full of vigor and life. A silhouette I've held in my arms more times than I could remember, but for some reason still never fails to enrapture me.

"I appreciate you enjoying the view, but I'd appreciate more if you use those hands of yours. Can you wash my back for me, Rald?" Still, she's wearing that playful smile. I can't do anything but oblige.

I took the damp cloth from her hands as she parts the chestnut locks dangling on her back, I started gently rubbing it against her nape, down to her shoulder blades, and her lower back.

"Ah, hey you!.." She jumped. A bit of revenge, she's always been ticklish down that spot.

"Uh, sorry for the interruption Rald, Cy. Boss wants to talk to you big man, now." A man's voice came from the entrance of my tent. Hiram, one of the men I’ve come to know when I joined this outfit announced his entrance; he taught me a lot of the things I know outside fighting. Cyrene presses her bare body against me to hide it from the intruder's view.

"Hiram. Give me a moment; I'll be there in a second." I replied.

"I'd give you all the time you need, but boss says it's urgent. Anyways, I'll be waiting just outside your tent; just don't make him come for you, especially when Cy’s in a state of undress. Gods only knows what will happen if he sees his daughter like that inside your tent." The ranger asserted as he walks out of the tent.

“It’s time, huh?” I spoke as she started having me dry her body up with a cloth.

“Well, you did brought this upon yourself. Don’t worry; you’re too much a boon to the company to get rid of. Just try not to kill a lot of high value prisoners next time so we can make a lot more money from them, then the only complain father will have is about the weight of his pockets and he’ll do so happily. Go and talk to him,come back to me.” It's as if singing those words; the girl now lying on top of my bed.

"Always." I exited the tent.

I make my way to her father’s tent. Garlan Rose, the leader of the Blooded Rose which is the most prolific mercenary band within the empire. We were hired to stomp a rebellion, some nobles trying to separate from the empire and gain independence, they say. They’re just scum who’s hiding behind the promise of freedom so that they can be the ones who gain control. Seeing the weak leadership of the empire’s ruler emboldens them to rebel…my home was one of the first casualties of their “righteous” crusade for freedom.

“Hey, man. Great job on that engagement, no matter what the boss says in there you did well out there in the field. Never met anyone crazy enough to slam through the opposing side like that, swinging that massive sword of yours to swat the incoming spears, then smashing through their formation and breaking through. Some of our lads even liken you to the eye of a storm, the calm at the center of the chaos they said.” Hiram joins my side as I walk through the camp.

“The other side was despondent; I just took advantage of that fact and break through, all part of the job.” We walked, the others who were free of assigned tasks has started merrymaking. Hiram's one of the merrymakers.

“Hmm, but keeping your composure in the midst of that chaos is not something you see every day. Even our seasoned men can sometimes break under the same circumstance, that circumstance being facing dozens of spears and polearms and you’re all on your own. But yeah, we're here. Good luck on your meeting, I’ll be enjoying the night with this lady here.” He grabs a drink from one of the girls that follows the band and embraced her. Well, time to face the thorn’s lashes.


Garlan’s POV

Fucking imperial mongrels, our prisoners are ours to keep and we will do whatever the fuck we want to them. The deal was that we can keep the spoils of war, prisoners included. Trying to acquire them just so that they could publicly torture, humiliate and hang them, I don’t give a fuck about their holy war. Like I give a rat’s ass if they come back to the battlefield if we ask their families for ransom for their release, that’s their problem to worry about, not ours. After the odds we faced today, it’s only right we earn a bonus.

Minimal loss and maximum gain, ideally you want that outcome but rarely does it happen. We number at around three-thousand and the rebel army we faced was double that number. That kid, Harald. What he did was a bit reckless but it did result in preventing a great loss of fighting men on our end. Boy's got great amounts of anger in him, I never really asked about his circumstances but I can tell that the young man has been through a lot, nobody joins the company without issues of their own but that man’s a bit too young to wear a look such as that time.

The boy isn’t fearless that I’m sure of, lots of men have claimed to be so and I have meet men that actually have none. The boy fears for his life like everybody else but when most people run the other way, he pushes forward, sometimes a bit too far. He’s driven by anger so he fights harder, yet he fears for his life so he fights better, with perfect balance he'll also fight smarter. Though that balance is off; he’s still letting his anger take over rather than focusing it and the longer the fight goes, the more that balance shifts for the worse. The fact that he’s also the best fighting man we have factors in, he’s the best we have but all that skill will amount to nothing if he can’t keep himself composed for too long. That body count of knights he's racked up doesn’t help our position either; I’ve been receiving reports about imperial knights homing in on him. Times when he almost comes to blows with them are also among such incidents, can’t really blame the boy for being pissed at those piss drinking pansies.

“Harald, come on in.” He’s arrived. A young man who wears more scars in his heart than he does in that battered body of his, he’s been discrete about his past but I could always tell even from the first time I met him. He has seen hell.

“Heard you need me for something, boss.” He enters the tent. He's changed a lot since that time. A living corpse was I would liken him to, a really deadly one. It was a security escort mission for a noble we're now fighting on the other side, he was employed independently as a freelancer. Baffled me first that someone like that would be included, but when I saw him do his thing, I knew we need someone like that in our band. Back then, he really fears nothing and fights like so. The boy has regained the fire in those eyes since then, he's regain the will to live on.

“First things first, good work out there. Without you breaking through their lines, we would’ve been stuck trying to hold them off before the Imperial cavalry arrived, that would’ve cost us a lot.” Give the credit where it's due. The boy literally ripped a hole through the rebel's formation, he earned his worth in this company and woe to those that will deny that.

“That it? You didn’t call me out here just to praise me, didn’t you?” he asks, he seems to have gotten used to how these things usually go.

“No, but I’m not gonna chew you out all night either, we’ve no time for that. I’ll just say this, no matter the issue you have on these rebels, ignore them if you have to. There’s no place for personal matters on our job. One of the men you killed was the heir of the house of DeLarge, a powerful noble on the other side of this conflict. They would’ve paid a lot to us for the safe return of their heir, you killing him cost us. The knights from the Imperial loyalist side are also not happy about you homing in on their brethren regardless if they are at the enemy’s side or not, you’re giving us the kind of attention that we don’t need.” Simple reality, the heat he's produced in the Imperial gentry might affect our reputation and more importantly our employment in the future, after all.

“Finally, we’re being called for the siege of Fort Movarth to the east. There we will work with the Imperial mages, which is why I’ll be separating our forces into two. You’ll lead the one that will secure the walls while I will coordinate with the mages and secure the keep.” He seems to have issues with mages as well, I’m not too fond of those witches either but someone’s got to take the job. I’ll leave Hiram and Cyrene to assist him; it’s his first time commanding a lot of our men after all and the two of them would be enough to temper his penchant for recklessness. Cyrene’s also safe as long as she’s with him.

“Also, tell my daughter I’ll talk to her in the morning once her business with you is done.” He responded at that bit with a baffled look.

“What, do you think I don’t know that you’ve been fucking my daughter for quite some time now? Go; get out of here before I lose to the urge of wanting to punch your face in!” A sudden shout came from me. This should rattle him a bit.

He left, in a bit of a hurry which. Rarely do I see that man panicked, which was definitely quite amusing.

“Make her happy, son.”

Spoiler: Wandering Swords

A man was standing at the opposite side of the road. Wearing a heavy black cloak with the hood over his head and a sword on his side, he just stood there as if waiting for something...or someone. A couple of dead bodies at the side of the road, all of them with weapon in hand, all of them cut down with a single strike.

“Hello, young man. Can you grant this old one’s final request?” An ancient voice came under the hood. He lifts it up to reveal an equally ancient looking face. Deep valleys carved by time running along his features, marks of battle he lived through disguised as one of them.

“What would that be, old man?” I do have an idea of what would that request be. A member of the guild who likes to gossip told about a wandering swordsman who challenges the worthy, the rumors said. Nothing worthy about a “has been” sword for hire, though.

“A duel. A final one to mark the end of this old one’s life, I want what I deserve. I want to die in the heat of battle; a warrior’s life deserves a warrior’s death.” A confirmation of the rumors I’ve heard.

“I can’t see why I should oblige your challenge, fighting an old man doesn’t seem to have much in store for me.” I replied. I just want to get back to camp so that I can test out the longbow I crafted against live targets; I could be hunting deer by now.

“Hmm…You and I have a lot in common. A wandering sword trying to find his lost scabbard, a place to rest so that he can finally end his war. Don’t worry; I have something in store for you. I may be old, but I have one last fight in these old bones of mine, you can also keep my swords.” I do not doubt those words; the carnage he wrought was enough proof. The dead were all men and women in their prime; all challenged the one knocking on death’s door, all of them were the ones who entered instead.

“Any rules we’ll follow?” I ask just to get this over with.

“Oh! You’ve accepted, huh? I assure that you’ll never be disappointed. Rules, huh? Let’s see…the usual. Leather gloves and gambeson would suffice.” He smiled once he heard I’d accepted the duel, a child-like vigor enveloping his old body yet, somehow it doesn’t look out of place.

He was practically bouncing around as he removed his cloak, he has two swords on him, actually, of about the same length, that heavy cloak obscured the other from my view until now. He set the other one with his cloak and draw the other from its scabbard, in his hand is a sword around forty-eight inches in length with a blackened upswept hilt, scent stopper shaped pommel and a fullered blade. The sword looks well made and solid despite the aged look, the blackened hilt furniture and the satin finish on the blade makes it look as ancient as the wielder, no doubt that like him, that blade has taken many lives.

We stood opposite each other, a smile on his aged face, a nondescript calm in mine, both of us putting the hilt of out blades in front of our faces, a salute. The fight starts.

He stood in guard, left foot forward with his blade resting on his right shoulder. Vom Tag. I stood in Pflug, right foot forward with the pommel of my sword leveled with my left hip and its blade trained at the old man’s throat. We inched forward, carefully judging the distance. Once we’re only a step away from threatening one another, we were lit on fire, movements set ablaze.

He who stays still, dies. He who keeps in motion will live.

I change from left Pflug to right one and back again, repeating as I reorient my position; he changes to Alber, Nebenhut, and back to the Day ward, orbiting one another like two stars caught in each other’s gravity. Death lies in the void between us as we watch the other’s movement.

Vor, indes, nach. The three name for the time of action in a fight. Vor is the time in which the opponent must react to what you are doing in order to spare him from death with a parry or a void, here you have the initiative. Nach is the opposite; here you are reacting to the opponent who has gained the initiative. I take the vorschlag, the first strike, with an overhead strike. For it is better that he react to you than you react to him. The masters of old have always recommended seeking for the vorschlag, through cuts or thrust, threaten him and press forward, for he can’t threaten you if he’s busy trying to elude your blade, which does work, unless the opponent is skilled enough to do something about it. He is.

Between Vor and Nach lies Indes. The moment I commit to the cut, he sinks back and aside just enough so that the blade will miss him. And as my blade pass where he should’ve been, he moved forward with an attack of his own. Indes, as some masters say, is an action one performed when the opponent has started his own but is not finished yet. In mastering the “instant” one can find the true mastery and art of swordsmanship. His sword accelerates as it aims for my neck. I’ll die…that is if I was a clueless novice, I wouldn’t be talking about the principles of it if I was.

The instant I saw him react to my opening attack, I redirected it to an overhead cut to the left to intersect his. Indes plays its part once again, the second part of knowing and acting in the instance happens the moment two blades make contact. Fühlen. The twin of Indes is perception, to feel, is the opponent strong in the bind or is he weak? Fühlen, gives the feedback needed to act Indes, it sharpens those words.

Indes is the key that unlocks all art in swordsmanship, it is sharp, and it will kill. Indes doubles, Indes mutates, Indes runs-through, Indes changes-through, Indes takes the slice, Indes wrestles, Indes takes the sword. It is the word that does whatever the heart desires in the art of combat, anyone not aware of the concept will get cut down. Along with its twin, Fühlen, they differentiate a plebian with a sword from a true master of the art.

Our blades meet in the deadly void between, my strong against his weak.

Meet strength with weakness, weakness with strength.

I push through, pushing this point aside with mine aiming for his face. He changes the point of contact by pulling back his sword without losing contact with mine, now his blade’s strong against my weak and I was pushed aside, he aims a thrust at my thigh, which I pushed down to the ground with my crossguard. The rasping sound of steel against steel fills the air as the fight against control of the bind continues; neither of us trying to leave the bind, doing so without presenting a threat to the other first will lead to death.

Seeing a chance, I push through once again. He sets it aside easily but that’s not much of a problem so I continue to push through as I raise my sword along with his as our hilts were clashing against one another, we’re now in a position called Kron in which the sword is in front of the head and raised with the blade pointed up to guard against downward blows, our elbows are in contact, preventing each other from raining down blows. This was a ploy so that I can take advantage of my strength and youth by wrestling him with swords in hand. Yet, he was faster.

As soon as our crowns were raised, he delivers a thwarting undercut aimed at my abdomen and I was forced to mirror him while trying to step off line to avoid the cut, he then follow up with a Zwerchau to the left which I beat down with a powerful downward cut. We separate.

Blood was dripping at my left side. His strike was able to cut through my gambeson despite the lack of proper generation of power with a close range thwarter, he started his first while I just followed so it was to be expected that mine didn't penetrate his gambeson, maybe it was what saved me from having my torso cleaved through. He isn’t completely unscathed, though. That last exchange gave him a shallow cut to the head, it might not be fight ending, but the blood flowing down his left eye should help a bit.

“I see we are students of the same lineage. You came from the Holy Empire as well?” the old man asks, his smile seems to be wider than the one he was wearing before we started despite being wounded.

“Aye, seems like we are. It’s small world, huh?” confirming his answer, the old man lets out a hearty laugh.

“I see, a sense of familiarity in death seems like a very nice coincidence. Let’s end this.” He stands once again, ready with the Day ward. I stand at Plough, just like when we started.

He’s trying to maneuver, trying to make it so that he’s in a better position. It’s not a coincidence that the sun is shining directly at his face; all manners of combat rely upon deceiving the enemy, using the surroundings to one’s advantage is a form of that deception, and I intend to hold on to that advantage.

That battle of motion last for quite some time, both of us are once again a step away from each other’s range. He’s smiling, yet struggling to keep his breathing even. I can’t blame him; our style relies on short burst of speed and strength after all. It’s not something his aged body can sustain. Soon enough, he’d want to end the fight.

The old man opened the next exchange with a thrust aimed at my wounded side, something I'm presenting for him to take. Him getting blinded by the sunlight and the blood running down his face also prevented him from seeing the subtlety in how I hold my sword. Standing in Alber, my right hand holds the sword with the thumb resting on the blade's flat, my left hand's palm directly at the bottom of my pommel.

We exchange points, Indes plays one last role in this fight. In one swift motion I bind with his sword and collect it, the crossguard forcing it to miss above my head, my point finds its target and pierces his chest. The perfect Absetzen.

The old man now lays there, dying. I'm sitting there beside him.

"Fought well for an old man." I'm still bad at saying final words. He groaned after a painful laughter.

"S-sah...my swords, the-yours n-" his final words before he stopped breathing. He looks oddly peaceful for someone who died in violence...he has found his home.

I gave the man a proper burial. A spot atop a hill overlooking the Great Plains. A simple headstone where a pendant he was wearing was set onto, the pendant of the Empire's Order of Paladins.

Spoiler: Soulrender

Spoiler: Spellbreaker

 

Spoiler: Out of Aeternus

The first day outside Aeternus. [Side Kuma]
We left the city. Rather, I decided to leave, since I overdone myself there. I don’t think that I’ll have the face to come back there for some time.
Me and Maligno came to the Frontier Village. More specifically, to Eranno’s house. The bearkin miner that ended up turning into our friend after that thing on Galant’s mine.
He welcomed, though, after hearing the story about why we came here, he frowned and spoke.
“You plan on not going back and do nothing, then?”
As much as I dislike the way he phrased it, I couldn’t correct him. My actions were enough for me to want to hide from there as much as I can.
“Why not train? You know, in my times, I tried to be a knight too. But was expelled just like you.”
That’s right. Our friendship came into being not only as members of the same race, but also by the fact we were expelled from our homes for not meeting the expectations.
Bear knight. An existance important for the villages of the bearkin. They normally came from families of knights with history, almost like noble houses, but also from common origins.
But the method to ascertain if you are or not able to be a bear knight is the same. You enter an apprenticeship since young. After the coming of age, if you’re not able to beat your teacher in a spar, you’re not suitable to be a bear knight.
Normally, when this happened, the failed knight would go back home and search another occupation. But in villages composed mainly of bear knights, the culture of expelling the failed ones was common.
“Well, I see no problem in training for now, but what kind of training you’re talking about?”
As I said that, his face hardened.
“Spartan training! Just as I had when I was young!”
“H-hm… I don’t know what do you mean with ‘spartan training’, but I guess we can give a shot.”
“Master, I have bad feelings about it...”
Maligno whispered this on my ear, but I brushed off for the moment. After all, how bad it could be?
Little did I know about what would happen after that.

Spoiler: First Month

The first month of training was a living hell. [Side Kuma]
“MOVE, MOVE! IF YOU’RE STILL BREATHING, YOU CAN MOVE!”
Eranno yelled as he lifted my body from the ground where I had almost passed out.
This was a daily routine of training. Running and running and some more running. After that we had to train dodging from middle to large stones he throwed at us. Sometimes all the mans from the mining group came to help throwing stones.
In the first week I fainted and had many bruises in a daily basis, but now I only almost pass out.
Sometimes, after the dodging training, we had to go from the frontier village to Galant mines to help with the mining, but it was used too as strength training, making both me and Maligno to carry the stones and to keep mining for hours without rest.
In the end of the day, we had to train handling weapons; for me a spear and for Maligno a knife, since he doesn’t want to carry big weapons around.
“STOP JUST WAVING THIS SPEAR LIKE A TWIG, YOU BRAT! FIGHT PROPERLY!”
While he casually hit us with a training weapon, Eranno would shout swears and try to fix our main problems with fighting.
As both of us never had any training, we could say we could only barely put a fight to him. As a bearkin, I could somehow find common grounds by relying on my brute strength, while Maligno used his natural traits as a cat to try and outspeed him.
Though we soon discovered that he was holding back so that we could fight with him in common grounds.
In any case, he gave us every week one day to rest and do whatever we wanted. I personally used the day to sleep and train lightly, while Maligno went to the library to study.


The first month was pit of excrements. [Side Maligno]
I don’t know why I complied to my master’s idea of training under that behemoth of a bearkin. I’m seriously suspecting that he’s a devil in disguise.
In the first week we had to work our butts off to survive his so called ‘basic training course’ or running like a madman and dodging stones. We also had to carry stones, the same ones that would be thrown on us on a later date.
The training was a real hell, but at least in the free day I can go to the library. Why I’m wasting my free day on the library? Well, in the start was to research about herbs and venoms, but now I have another reason. Anyway, I wonder how it’ll be next month about the training. Well, at least teacher’s food is good.

Spoiler: Second Month

The second month of training was akin to a hunting season. [Side Kuma]
Although the training routine turned even harsher, the time we spent in it shrunk a bit. The motive was, we were currently at the Verdant Forest.
Eranno brought us here to train in a real and dangerous environment. The daily trains continued, but gave space to the daily routine of hunting for food and survival.
Though he doesn’t seem to have problems handling any of the monsters and animals we found, me and Maligno had to stretch ourselves to find a suitable prey and to kill it safely. When we couldn’t do it, we starved.
Recently Maligno casually disappears to search for food or to look for herbs, and only comes back after one or two hours.
Eranno doesn’t seem like he minds what Maligno is doing, but also doesn’t let him slack on training.
I don’t think I got that much better in handling the spear, but Maligno used his knife as if it was natural for him to do so. Probably related to cats and their claws, maybe?
Well, at least I think my physical condition is better than when we started it.


The second month was a constant war for survival. [Side Maligno]
If the first month was hell, the second was an even deeper hell. I thought that Eranno was a devil, but now I have confirmed that he most likely is a demon lord on disguise! No sane person can be this sadist!
And the worse part is, it seems like Master took a liking to him. She looks up to him with sparkling eyes while she does the training routine as if it’s nothing great!
I have to write a note to myself to never ever visit a village of bearkin! They’re a bunch of monsters with innocent appearances.
Anyway, at least I have gotten better at this. I don’t get the same beatings I got on the start, since I have improved my fleeing skills.
I also haven’t slacked on my study of herbs. Actually, the visit to this forest was quite beneficial, as I could see the real deal of what I had read in the books. Though I'm scolded by Master once I come back from my 'research escapes'.

Spoiler: Third Month (barely)

The third month didn’t even started. [Side Kuma]
After the Verdant Forest hell, we finally went back to frontier village to start our third month of training.
Or so we expected, but the training grounds that Eranno was planning to use, the Gallant mines, suddenly got mixed with a problem concerning a golem or something like that.
“The guild probably will issue an raid, I think. This is no small problem.”
Maligno commented as he looked a bit relieved for the interruption on the training. It’s not like I enjoyed the training, or anything, but I was a bit upset to have it interrupted in the middle of it.
“Are you not going to join?”
As Eranno asked me with a bit of a sour face, I shook my head.
“No, I’ll go. You too, Maligno.”
Bidding farewell to Eranno and the miners, we both went back to Aeternus.

OOC: I was planning to do a more detailed thing, but the raid just happened, cutting short my time. It ended up almost as a draft, but was necessary before I could enter the Raid, since it was something already planed.

Spoiler: TL;DR version

- Kuma left Aeternus since the last inccident, maybe (almost) forever, in shame for her behaviour;
- She started living with another failed bear knight and decided to train under him (Maligno too);
- After two months of living hell training, they discover about the problems in Gallant Mines;
- Kuma goes back to Aeternus temporarily to help with the problem.

 

Spoiler: “The hunt for a weapon”

From the quests I had completed not too long ago, it became increasingly more apparent on how much I needed a suitable weapon. Luckily, I knew of one place with some suitable weapons; hell. So, after saying my partings to Arie, I left the dimension. As soon as I left through the portal, I paused slightly before taking off my necklace. It was simple, a single string tied on two ends.


Of course, the string itself held no sentimental value. However, the ring that the string was laced through filled me with melancholy. The ring I gave to both of my wives, the ring they wore when they both died. I held it in my hands and gently stroked it, only wrapping it back around my neck when I saw fit. I couldn’t help but curse exactly why I had to be chosen as an angel. If I hadn’t been, if I had stayed human, then maybe things would have been different.


Maybe through some turn of events, Kaylie would have married and had her own children, leading a happy life that she had wanted with me. Maybe Halouster would have stayed safe in heaven, maybe our children wouldn’t have been born so she would never have killed them and they would never had to experience death. I mean hell, what have I done since I was an angel that truly benefited anyone? My loved ones have died because of me, I’ve caused more grief than I can stick an amount too, and the number of lives that I’ve ended over the years has been matched only by few.


The guild never really needed me, whatever help I tried to provide was minimal. If I had stayed as that lone prince, I might have been able to keep everyone safe. I knew that I didn’t feel at place as a prince, nor did I feel any love towards those in the kingdom, but that way, no one would have undergone pain because of me. However, no time magician in the universe was powerful enough to turn the time back millennia. I doubt even Aly had that much power.


Even for a being as powerful as her, turning the time back to before she was even born would be a bit too much. Hikari’s power is growing immensely though. In another millenia she might be able to do it. But then what? I live my life as a prince and then die. Then lose my memories and go through an endless cycle of reincarnation. However, maybe that reality was more pleasing than the current one. Fuck I hated being sane! Too many dumbass problems to deal with, and at my age, being sane is by no means a blessing. Living this long has made me numb. Numb to killing, numb to death.


Of course, that’s not to say that it doesn’t affect me but I’ve come to feel that being mad is the only thing that can keep me going. How many things have I experienced so far? Too many for any single person to bare. It’s a wonder how I’ve survived this long really. Compared to the total population from the beginning of time, Only about 5 percent of them are older than me, and even they are probably more insane than how I was before. Though, the degree of my insanity wasn’t something extremely high as my soul stayed true to it’s barest core values. If it didn’t, then I would have left the guild months ago.


A breath of air came out of my mouth as I realised my mood was not very optimistic. Taking a talisman out of my item box, I ripped it in half. Within seconds, a portal appeared in front of me and someone who was no stranger to me came through it, Lucifer. I waved my hand at him and he returned the gesture with a smile and a nod. “Anything you need Tazzy?”


At his use of Arie’s nickname for me, I visibly grimaced and sighed. “So you know?”


“Of course I know brother, I’m Lucifer! I could whoop Satan’s ass if I wanted.”


At his informal tone, I chuckled a little before getting to the point. “I need a new weapon if you would be so kind as to point me in the right direction.”


Lucifer blinked before finally coming back to his senses. “Is that it?”


I nodded and he sighed. “Always was an errand boy. Any particular modifications you want?”


At his words I creased my brows. “Are you telling me you’re going to forge it?”


He looked at me like I was an idiot. “Heavens no. I’m going to get my blacksmith to forge it. So, modifications?”


Sighing for what seemed to be the thousandth time today, I listed off a couple things. An affinity for all attributes was the best possible attribute. If he couldn’t do that, I went on to tell how as long as it doesn’t repel any elements then it should work fine. Of course, I also added that it had to be the strongest weapon in terms of durability. Up until now, he kept a calm look on his face as I told him the attributes I wanted.


“Oh, and I would also like for it to be able to change forms.”


Lucifer visibly stiffened as that condition came out. A few seconds later, he sighed.


“It’s not impossible but I doubt it’s something we can make with our current power. If you get one of your super powerful guildmates to get something that we know as ‘Flaynsteel’ then we could make you one but not even I have that power.”


I was stunned at the reveal. Something Lucifer who could bitch slap Satan couldn’t do…. that was new. A wry smile crept onto my face as I looked back at Lucifer.


“Then scratch that last one.”


Lucifer nodded before disappearing and I wondered how long it would take before he came back. A couple seconds of walking and I found out. Lucifer popped out of the poral holding a scabbard in one hand. Of course, it wasn’t without the hilt of a sabre sticking out. I raised my eyebrows slightly as I looked at Lucifer. He just shrugged and said two words. “Time Magic.”


I accepted his explanation as he handed it to me. It was extremely light and as I took it out of the sheath I was slightly stunned.


It looked old and I immediately liked it. I could see that the material used was something that looked similar to raven steel but it was no doubt many times stronger.


“Drip some blood on it.”


Following his instructions, I nicked my thumb with the edge of the blade and poured a line of blood on the blade. It was quickly absorbed by the metal and I could feel it growing heavier in my hands to the point where it was the perfect weight. It also slightly elongated to what I believed as the most optimal length of a cavalry sword which happened to be somewhere around 90 centimeters or so.


“I couldn’t get the metal for it to change form so I got the next best thing. It will change according to your body’s specifications constantly growing heavier with your increase of strength. It should last until you can get your hands on a weapon that changes form.”


I nodded absentmindedly as I stared at the saber. I grinned and thanked Lucifer before he left. I had already comprehended both light and dark fully so I could no move onto the body training techniques. In this sense, it was quite useful that I got my hands on a weapon this early. Sliding the weapon back into its scabbard, I waltzed back into the separate dimension. Time for more training.

Spoiler: Aesthetics

 

Spoiler: "aueneg" and Telos

-----(Hiding the character's name right now), as a kid he live with his family peacefully in a village. A place where there's only peace, but a certain thing changed it.

He and his family discovered about his power, blood magic. Even though he can only control his own blood the people around him distanced themselves from him, scared of him using their blood to be use or get killed as a sacrificed.

As time pass by he live his life inside the his house isolated. days after days pass, his life continued to pass by. After a month his family can't endure it anymore and drag him out of the house just to make him experience the outside world again.

They told him "You need to live your life happily! Don't be a dumb idiot that only stays inside his house scared that people will not even see you as a human! You can only go back here after you met someone that can accept you!"

He left the house, he entered the village but once the people saw him they stayed away from him, Some even threw stone at him.

Getting chased out of the village he went to the forest to find food and take shelter there. Without him knowing he stayed at the forest for months.

A certain day changed his life, the day where he met an injured female silver wolf kin.

The first time he saw her he got scared and made him run away from her. After a few minutes after calming down he went back to check the female silver wolf kin. There he saw that she has a lot of wound.

Without thinking he went into his place and took out some medicine that can help her wounds to recover.

After a few minutes, he arrive at the injured female silver wolf kin. He treated her wounds and carried her to his hut that he made when he stayed inside the forest.

The first day that the injured female silver wolf kin wakes up she got scared of the boy and in return the boy got scared and ran outside of the hut. Once again after calming down the boy went back and somehow the girl has calmed down too.

"What's your name?" As the boy ask her the girl answered "Julie."

"Are you not scared of me?" The boy once again ask. "Why would I get scared?" as Julie answered, tears started to flow down his eyes.

Julie got surprise as she ask "Why are you crying? Hey."

The boy didn't answer as he continued to cry. The girl panicked not knowing why the boy cried.

After an hour the boy recovered and told her "You should get afraid of me as I have blood magic.". Julie got surprised but just smiled and said "Then if you have blood magic why didn't you use it to me?"

The boy got silent and left the hut.

Months pass again and Julie became close to him. The time he lived alone came to an end and he became an active person. He ask the girl if she wants to visit his family so both of them can live there.

The girl didn't reject and followed the boy. But at that suggestion, he regretted all of the things he said.

As the two of them pass by the village, the people starts throwing stone at them, without thinking about it he controlled his magic and made a barrier made of blood. He thought of fighting back but Julie stopped him.

They escaped the village and arrives at his house. There once again he met his family, once his mother saw him, she ran towards him and hugged him. She started to say things that "Why didn't you go back home?!" "Are you hurt?".

He got surprised and hugs his mother back. He saw the door of his house opens and there he saw a little girl peeking.

He got confused as to why there's someone else inside the house. His mother noticed where he is looking and introduced him to his little sister. His mother told him that he's been missing for 4 years.

After talking to him his father arrived and there he introduced Julie. At first they got surprised that he has someone with him.

After talking telling them what happened, they got surprised and accepted Julie as one of their family.

After a few days pass by, a group of soldiers arrived at their house. Searching for someone, he asked them who they are searching for and told him that they are searching a female silver wolf kin.

He ask them why they are searching for Julie but the only thing that they did is beat him. After getting beat for a few minutes his family and Julie arrived at the house. There they saw him bleeding and weakened.

His father tried to fight but before he can even land a hit he got stabbed at the chest. His mind suddenly went blank.

He shout and tries to stand up but before he can stand up he got kick in the stomach and there he saw his little sister and mother gets stabbed.

"Kill all of them and that filthy demi-human!"

As he heard those words he saw one of them slash Julie. He felt like his world stop and there he lost unconsciousness.

A few seconds before one of the soldier will stab him. Lightning surged from his body and before the soldier can react his chest got pierced by the boys hand.

"Seriously this guy doesn't know how to fight. cheh, if he could have fight then he can save his family." as the boy said those words, the other soldiers rush towards him.

He suddenly vanished and before they can even move their heads suddenly went flying. The soldier who said the words to kill them, became pale and starts running outside.

"Telos."

As a voice enters his ear he look at the source of it, there he saw Julie in a state that is slowly dying. He gets near to her and looked at her as if he can't believe that this things is happening.

"What's with that look?" as Julie ask him, he answered "You're dying you know.".

A smile appeared at Julie's face. "You know that I loved you when we start living at the forest right?"
the boy slowly touched her face and said "I know but the other one doesn't know, he only likes you and he's scared that he might get rejected which is why he's not saying anything."

"Then I'm glad." as she said those words the boy kissed her, "Both of us is glad that we met you." as the boy said those Julie smiled and there she stopped breathing.

"Hey, don't run away from me!" as the boy shout he disappeared.

Outside the house the soldier mounted his horse and went to the village.

The soldier look at his back and saw that the boy is not following him, he felt relieve but before he can even get pass at the entrance of the village the horse suddenly collapse. He crash at the road, after rolling a few times, he saw a horse with no legs.

He got scared but before he can even stand up both of his legs separated from his body. He screamed like a pig that is being slaughtered. Some of the villagers who heard it went to him and saw him screaming. Because of the commotion all of the villagers gathered at the entrance.

They wondered what's happening but in just a second they saw the soldier that is screaming get sliced up into pieces. They got scared as some of them even vomit.

There they saw a person walking having lightning flash around him. They got scared but before they can all run. All of them had their body sliced in half.

After killing all of the villager the boy went back to the house and there he carried the bodies of his family. After burying their body, the boy went and carried Julie's body. He went to the hut and there he buried her. After burying her he wrote something in a piece of a leaf and there he collapsed.

OOC: This is about aueneg before he went to Adventurer's Guild.

 

[OOC: Character List for a list of characters that have showed up already in Jean's Adventures]

Spoiler: Albert Image

Albert ????[Side Character]: A man who was originally born in the earth series world 7 universe and was reincarnated into the current adventurer world. Like many others that came before him, he had two thoughts: find a way home or stay here in this world. He choose the first and pursues his obsession with creating games.

One of his inventions was a magic card system that allows him to use elemental magic based on the color of the card and the runes. Additionally, illusions may pop out from certain monster drawn cards.

Spoiler: Lydia Image

Lydia ????[Side Character]: Married to Albert and an acquaintance to Jean. She likes to talk with her fist at times but don't let that fool you. She is a very curious person when it comes to magical arts and food(especially ice cream).

Spoiler: Skull Mask

Skull Mask: Mysterious man that assault Jean for some reason in Episode 1. He is assumed to be associated with the other group of people that Ren is a part of .

Spoiler: Ren Image

Ren ????: Sister of Sayuri and attacked Jean in Episode 1 for some reason. She likes to tease Jean and cause him pain, probably due to the fact that Sayuri likes him.

Spoiler: Sayuri Image

Sayuri ?????: Went missing a few years ago after promising to meet with Jean. Nothing else is currently known about her.

Spoiler: Yuri

Yuri ????: A white hair nekomimi that loves to fool around, he is only serious in battle. He specializes in mostly magic for support. A follower of ????-san and a hater of ?????-sama.

He also does not like the smell of lemon for some reason...

 

Part 5 of Insanity Arc

Table of Contents:
Insanity Arc Part 1
Insanity Arc Part 2
Insanity Arc Part 3
Insanity Arc Part 4
Insanity Arc Part 5 Bad ending (not true ending)
Insanity Arc Part 5 True ending

Spoiler: Insanity Arc Part 5: Replacement

As I walked down the, or as I was already down I began to call upon my parents. Is call the correct word? Summon? Perhaps my minds in too much of a mess, distress? Rubble of thoughts? A conundrum of opinions? And so continues my useless ramblings. When will this curse (blessing) end (start)? Will this illusion (reality) ever come to light? And if so, how will this affect my psyche (self), in a good (complacent) or a bad way? These are things I will not know, will not see, will not acknowledge.

My voice echoed as such things flew through my head in a dizzying cycle. I wonder why was I born with such an ideology, such an existence where my thoughts, actions, and even my thoughts contradict each other. But more importantly… echoed?

Now that my mind is no longer in a frenzy… oh who am I kidding, it’s still in a frenzy, just a slightly lesser one. Does that mean my priorities of my feelings, whatever if left of those, is that Carmen is above my cat? I mean, I guess that would make sense, a cat is in the end a pet, something people mainly use to entertain themselves. Although you’re sad when, let’s say, your favorite book ends, since it will no longer entertain you, you get over it. But, isn’t that the same for friends? You have friends to entertain yourself, even though you might say that you will never forget that person, people will eventually drift away, I have no way of know whether or not I will still remain friends with Carmen in the future, but in reality, don’t people eventually forget their friends? Or rather in this scenario, move on? If your friend deceases, like a pet or a book, don’t you eventually move on? The how are they any different then a piece of paper, or an animal that you picked up? They aren’t… are they?

But…. While I say this… do I truly believe that a friend is on the same level as a book? I do not know. I cannot tell if I myself am lying, because if I’m lying, then it’s a lie to myself, to my being, to my ideals, and my eyes have laid a biased judgement upon that thought cementing it upon my mind.

Nevertheless, I should get back to my earlier thought. What was it again? I can’t recollect it that well due to the fact that I haven’t even stated it due to the fact that my head went on a philosophical trip for a second. Ah yes. I remember.

Where are my parents?

It’s not too long after Carmen has left off in a storm, a tempest, leaving as quickly as she came. But I believe any parents, even my own, would wonder why a girl would rage out of their child’s room and go to ask them if everything was alright, or at least, slap the idiotic boy for making a girl cry. Yet they didn’t.

No matter how much of a monster those two are, they still should still come to me in worriedness. This only worries me further, taking my mind away from the tragedy the had befallen me.

Now then, what do I mean by that they are monsters? Simple. My mother is a monster of common sense, telling you the most efficient way of doing things, your shortcomings and other such things. My father is a monster of logic, cold hearted thinking and arithmetic basically. In a way, these two are direct opposites. An example perhaps? When I could still learn, if I were to ask a question, these two would have two radically different approaches. My mother, would take an hour to explain a question, reviewing, rechecking, and revising, and going to much into detail of what was going on, I’m not sure why she does this, perhaps it’s her stubborn personality, the one I inherited from her. My father on the other hand, is a direct opposite, he would just take a few seconds explaining the bare minimum. Well, not even, the bare minimum for him, since he can comprehend things quickly, he doesn’t see how other people can’t get things or how they can be so slow, now then, if I were to pick between the two, I would obviously pick my father. No other reason other than the fact that I can’t tolerate going one question an hour.

Oh, if I were to describe myself? I’m a child of two monsters. I inherited my mother’s common sense as well as my father’s quick speeded logic, though my expertise in those two areas are not up to their levels, though I’m coming close to my mother’s. I guess that makes a child of monsters a monster as well.

Well, regardless, they are not present. I could’ve sworn I didn’t hear of any plans of going out, furthermore the time to take my medicine is soon, and even if my mom planned to go out, she would at least put out my portions that I had to take and laid them out on my desk beforehand. It’s a bit…. Eerie.. I suppose that’s the best word to describe my current chain of thoughts?

Perhaps in an attempt to comfort myself, I find myself patting and sifting my had through Lucky’s fur, consoling myself. Knowing I had to move on, but not wishing to be left alone.. ha… how hypocritical… I find a box and put the peaceful body into it. Cat’s love boxes… I guess… it gives them a sense of comfort and security, or so I heard from my sister. Smiling at him a last time, I write a note and place it upon the box. And I walk away. Walk towards wherever I’m going. One step at a time. Haaaa…. That sounds like I’m walking towards my death, or the li..

But I couldn’t finish that thought, all I saw was a brief dash of darkness, then a felt a horrible thud to the back of my head, then intense weight on my body. Urg… so heavy….. not even Lucky sitting on my while I slept was this heavy. And so I voiced my complaints outloud. Hey did I ever mention, it’s not a good idea to call a girl heavy, even if that girl is laying ontop of you and is about to kill you? It’s never a good idea. NEVER. So all in all, if something’s heavy, don’t say it is until you’re 100% sure that it’s not a girl. Or something even remotely close to a girl.

“So heavy…. “

Trying to sit up, but the sheer weight just kept my body pinned to the ground. I tried to rub my eyes, but I felt that my arms couldn’t move, not because they were stuck under something, but because something was keeping them in place. I open my eyes even though I didn’t enact my habitual eye rubbing while getting up ritual, to see Carmen on top of me. Her cheeks were blushed red with ….anger? She’s most definitely not embarrassed, seriously, who gets embarrassed that easily? We’re not in a romcom here……

Nevertheless, what is she doing here? Didn’t she just storm out?

Well, regardless, I should say hi… shouldn’t I?

But before I could, I got a big old slap to the face……… no seriously, don’t make this into a cliché Carmen… I felt pain, although it paled in comparison to the pain of my disease, it was there. I looked her straight in the eyes and heard her mumble some words.

“..test number.. 6 is a fa….. as w….. b.t…. it… me… th…. Clos….t… I’m getti… there………….”

Test number? Ha…hahaha….. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH……………

“Hey Carmen!” I shouted, I screamed, I gave my all.

“How many of my memories are actually mine?”

“How many years have I actually lived?”

“Who am I the replacement for!”

“And why’d you make me suffer through that disease!”

Upon that face, upon that smile, came a sense of shock, perhaps better worded, a surprise that she hadn’t expected. After all… I just have too many contradictions… too many falsehoods… too many lies… I guess my analogy for a friend is wrong, at least it is in my case. Carmen isn’t the pet (book), I am. I’m the disposable memory that she will eventually move on from. I never was a friend, I was a replacement. Then what was those tears? Perhaps I responded differently than whoever she made me off of? Or did I respond too much like him?

“HEY”
“ANSWER ME!”
“….please…”

My plead was ignored, my question was ignored, my being was ignored. Afterall, I’m just a replacement. Something that people will get over in due time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boy emerged from the tube confused, bewildered, innocent. Looking up, he questioned the only figure he could see in the darkness.

“Who are you?” Those words resounded throughout the chambers, echoing against the walls. In turn, a voice answered with a casual sing songy tone.

“Me~? I’m Carmen.” Full of mirth, those words hit the eardrums of the boy, the figure, the unknown.

“Who am I?” He asked, eager for answers, his mind quickly jotting down the face and name of the girl who stood in front of him, so that he may remember her.

“You~?” She laughed as she heard this question. The boy was about to question if she was alright, when suddenly she stopped her laughter, abruptly.

“You are hmmmmmm….”

The boy looked at her quizzing, puzzled, and intrigued.

“Ah! I got it!”

Seemingly jubilant over her decision she then told the boy her revelation.

“You are my little brother!” Those words echoed for miles without rest, resounding in the figure’s ears.

“And your name is Carm.”

Insanity Arc Part 5 End.

Spoiler: Sorry

Sorry for such a bad ending, they had little to no prelude to the actual outcome. I just can't come up with an actually good outcome that satisfied me, and this is the one that came close. And so, thanks for reading this horrible drama.
*bows*

Spoiler: Carm returns

"So I guess my times up... huh?"
Oh well, I had my fun....... I wonder if Carm is enjoying himself in this world... haa to think I would worry about a creation. Regardless.... my soul can no longer hold... it was fun while it lasted, but it seems I will never see you again, will I?




And so... Carm returns from the dead... waking up in a forrest, he crawled back to the guild, and his cat.

Spoiler: sorry 2

Sorry... that ending is a bit anticlimactic for such a dramatic title, isn't it?

 

Side Stories~~ Side Stories~~

Spoiler: Birth of a New Path 1

This happened after Moon completed his first quest.

After submitting my quest report and eating a hearty meal at the Tavern, I went back to the Inn to think of today's events.

I reflected on what the traveller told me earlier in Great Plains. Maneuverability is a key to winning battles especially those of numerical disadvantage. Despite the power of the skills I have, I was unable to overpower the Goblins together.

I took out the two parchments he gave me earlier. One parchment has a dark blue roller while the other has violet.

"If I recall correctly, he said these can help me close the gaps...and I have to start with the blue one else I can't use the skill."

I put the violet scroll back in my bag and opened the blue one. I tried to read it but it couldn't make sense of it aside from having to feel some sort of energy from my belly.

Nevertheless, I still tried for 2 hours only to feel a faint force at the size of a dot. I decided to continue this for tomorrow and went to sleep.

It's not like I knew that it'll be my first raid tomorrow.

Birth of a New Path 2

Flashpoint?

 

Spoiler: Birth of a New Path 2

After coming back from the raid and completing all the after work, I went back to my room at the inn. My first raid made me realize the limitations brought by my abilities so I want to take a break for a few days and train myself to get stronger.

Now that I've acquired 「Magic Operation」, I'll do quests in the day and magic training at night.

"How was it again? First I have to feel the magic in my body then try to manipulate it around." (Moon)

I recalled the magic lessons my parents gave me when I was younger. I told them that it wasn't any use since I didn't have a talent for magic. I still listened as I appreciate the effort for their trash son.

I sat in a meditating posture and started my training. I felt the sensation of magic inside my body and circulate it around my body. I manipulated the magic round and round until my mana depleted.

There are still two hours before it's time to sleep. I decided to proceed with my original plan of learning from the scrolls given by that guy I met at the Great Plains.

I checked the scroll again and just noticed how it was unexpectedly similar to manipulating magic even though it is not magic. I tried it again and noticed not only how it was effortless to sense the energy but also the change in the amount. The last time had a size of a dot but now it's as big as a grain of rice.

I held back on my delight and started on manipulating the energy by small circle movements for a few minutes.

Continuing my training the next day, my 「Magic Operation」 increased from I to II and I learned a new skill - 「Qi Manipulation」.

 

Spoiler: Tale of the Sealed Sword

In a weapons shop of the city Aeternus their was a monster trapped inside of a katana left to collect dust. Many who first saw the sword were interested in the prospects of wielding it. But no one could unsheathe the sword from its scabbard. Known as the no good sword throughout the shop it was meant to only attract eyes never to be bought.

Before the present, when the monster was free it roamed the world tearing through anything in its way. Its final battle was one against a wandering Enchantress who was hired by the king of the current country the monster was destroying. After the Enchantress had nearly expended all of her supplies and mana all that was left was a monster in magic chains within a sealing circle.
"What do you have to gain from stopping me?"
"I was paid to, it's as simple as that."
"Then why don't you kill me?"
"Even if I wanted to I couldn't, not even with all of my power. Why were you so angry rampaging all over?"
"I hate them because they hate me. I destroy them before they destroy me. I will eradicate everything!"
"Surely their was once a time when your soul was gentler than this."
"When I break out of here I will tear you limb from limb!"
"How cliche your last words are. This was our first and last meeting, but I must say I thought you were quite cool. Except for all those times you almost killed me that is. Anyways, I'm turning you into a sword, a katana to be exact. You will never ever be able to to be drawn though."
"I'll find a way to kill you and if not you your descendants! Turning me into a sword won't change anything I will still kill everything!"
"Ah, but someone with a true heart of a hero should be able to draw you from your scabbard. The scabbard that will be your last prison."
*The circle begins to shine crimson, brighter and brighter until a white flash appears blinding all near it*
All that was left of the contents of the magical formula inscribed into the wasteland was a katana floating in mid air. After a few moments the mystical sword fell to the ground lifeless just like any other sword. As the Enchantress went to pick up the sword she said "It was a short friendship."

Back in the present, the sword was just bought by a passing adventurer Exspir Avit who knew of the secret in the sword. He knew that the sword had a demons power, though he had yet to understand how to free the sword from its scabbard. Will he be able to accomplish the prerequisite for unlocking the chains of the beast within? Even if he does, will the monster destroy him or will he seize control of the monster instead?

 

!!-ANNOUNCEMENT-!!
RAID OF THE SENTIENT ICE GOLEM HAS ENDED! ​

Here is the reward and title for the member who has participated in the event (Sorted by name)
REWARD EARNED :

@AmIaCat
[ 1 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 68 Gold | 135 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Aqua Melodia
[ 1 Quest Completed | 18 Gold | 35 Elemental Popsicle ]
@aueneg
[ 1 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 68 Gold | 135 Elemental Popsicle ]
@BlancFrost
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 225 Gold | 450 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Blank9
[ 2 Quest Completed | 90 Gold | 180 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Clown333
[ 2 Quest Completed | 90 Gold | 180 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Crau
[ 1 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 90 Gold | 180 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Drevart
[ 2 Quest Completed | 68 Gold | 135 Elemental Popsicle ]
@ExitedDeviljho
[ 1 Quest Completed | 18 Gold | 35 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Fairy-chan
[ 1 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 90 Gold | 180 Elemental Popsicle ]
@fuzor100
[ 1 Quest Completed | 18 Gold | 35 Elemental Popsicle ]
@ghjk
[ 1 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 90 Gold | 180 Elemental Popsicle ]
@gkjh
[ 1 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 68 Gold | 135 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Greater Infinity
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 250 Gold | 500 Elemental Popsicle ]
@HOMOSENSEI
[ 1 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 90 Gold | 180 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Jibs
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 125 Gold | 250 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Kroenen
[ 3 Quest Completed | 125 Gold | 250 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Kuma Desu
[ 3 Quest Completed | 225 Gold | 450 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Kysil
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 225 Gold | 450 Elemental Popsicle ]
@NiQuinn
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 250 Gold | 500 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Nurman
[ 3 Quest Completed | 175 Gold | 350 Elemental Popsicle ]
@platys51
[ 3 Quest Completed | 150 Gold | 300 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Quaesitor
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 250 Gold | 500 Elemental Popsicle ]
@RustyBanana
[ 1 Quest Completed | 18 Gold | 35 Elemental Popsicle ]
@scriptor
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 250 Gold | 500 Elemental Popsicle ]
@seriouslynope
[ 1 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 90 Gold | 180 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Shield Loyalist
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 150 Gold | 300 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Siostar
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 175 Gold | 350 Elemental Popsicle ]
@sparfiolka
[ 1 Quest Completed | 18 Gold | 35 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Spfere
[ 2 Quest Completed | 68 Gold | 135 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Totally Not A Clone
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 175 Gold | 350 Elemental Popsicle ]
@ToumaNorstein
[ 1 Quest Completed | 18 Gold | 35 Elemental Popsicle ]
@udonsage
[ 2 Quest Completed | 68 Gold |135 Elemental Popsicle ]
@Zerith
[ 2 Quest Completed | 1 Party Quest | 150 Gold | 300 Elemental Popsicle ]

TITLE EARNED AND EXTRA REWARD

"Special Task Force" - @BlancFrost , @Jibs , @Zerith : [1 x Experimental Shield Pendant ]
"Task Force Support Unit" - @seriouslynope , @Siostar : [1 x Experimental Flare Gun ]
"Thirst for Battle" - @NiQuinn , @Greater Infinity : [ 1 x Upper Party Quest | 150 Gold |1 x Frost Resistance Armor ]
"Wandering Member" - @Greater Infinity : [1 x Winged Boots]
"Battlefield Gourmet" - @scriptor : [1 x Ancient Cookbook]
"Hazardous Pyro" - @Kuma Desu : [1 x Flame Resistance Pendant ]
"Hazardous Pyro Support" - @Kysil: [1 x Fire Booster Pendant ]

Note : Ask the Guildmaster for more information about the items if needed.

Thank you to all that participated. I hope you all enjoyed your time writing it~! Have as much fun in the next event~!

 

In which Levana meets two adventurers, (@udonsage) Jean Basfel and Yuri Naoya.

[OOC]: Color coded as above to indicate who wrote what ^

Spoiler: A Chance Meeting

Normally, I would say I was tired what with the constant arrival of random events in my life but I was taking things as they came. There was no use complaining about it. First was the encounter with the three ambushed adventurers. After that, finding that hard to reach cave of hot springs. Then, that wave upon wave of monsters that became a troublesome horde. I had a feeling that the surprises weren't over yet. So, I kept an open mind and waited for something to happen in good humor.

Sure enough, I found myself coming across another encounter that I almost sighed. Why did I have to jinx myself? Cautiously, I readied myself to take necessary action.

~At the Great Plains~​

The white hair man named Yuri with white fluffy ears, sends out a blast of astral enegry towards the pack of wolves onto the left side of the river using his staff called 'Muti-color Wood'. "Nya?!?! I thought we were done with wolves!" Yuri yelled and sent out another blast this time full of vigorous flames that caused some of the wolves to catch on fire.

"Its your fault their here, you just had to cook meat?!?!" Jean replied slashing one of the wolves in half with a burst of green wind. The wolves numbered about 20 in total that were still fighting the duo.

A woman with pale, silver hair eyed the combat in front of her. They had yet to notice the additional arrival which was a good advantage. Daggers at the ready, she double-checked one to see that her fire gem, Flint of Oya, was still installed and ready for use. Cautiously, she approached and made sure she was downwind so that the beasts wouldn't notice she was there. Taking a deep breath, she crouched low and sprinted. Before they could sense her, she activated her skill, Tuoni's Shroud, and vanished into thin air.

Her target was one that was about to pounce on the person with fluffy ears. Just as the beast was about to jump at him, she plunged her right dagger deep into its chest and knew she had managed to stab the animal through the heart. For insurance, she twisted her dagger to make the wound wider. Tuoni's Shroud vanished and it was only then that everybody noticed an additional person in the fray. By then, the wolf she stabbed was dead.

"Nya!" Yuri exclaimed with wide eyes, not paying attention to the wolves.

"Focus!" Jean yelled with a slash from his sword, cutting another wolf in half. He then slams his sword against the air, sending a wave of flames from his point outwards, knocking down the wolves surrounding him. Then he dashes towards Yuri and woman, ending up on Yuri's left, taking a ready stance.

Seeing another wolf coming at the white haired man, Levana pulled at his sleeve and watched as the animal missed and landed clumsily.

"Nya!" shouted the man in surprise. He stumbled and ended up hugging the woman for balance. Suddenly, he felt the collar of his shirt being gripped by a strong hand which was also holding onto a dagger. The blade was dangerously close to his face when he looked at her.

"Focus!" She warned. Levana then pushed him to the ground as two other wolves came close. She let go of the man and sent a double slash of Soul Cleaver at the beasts and approached quickly before they could get their bearings back. Targeting the eyes of one of them, she sliced out a Smite and the wolf howled in pain as its eyes were wounded. It was effectively blind. Meanwhile, the other one staggered back in pain as her first attack of Soul Cleaver had left a gash on its chest. The beast growled in anger but remained wary instead of jumping in to attack.

"Nyu..." Yuri sighed feeling helpless from situation.

"Don't just lie there. Barrier up, please!" Jean shouted with his blade now with the extension of a lance with a blue outter shell of mana. He slashes one of the feet off of a wolf and then another, and finally did a horizontal slash.

Nya!" Yuri protested but quickly got up and set up a clear clear barrier to push back the wolves surrounding the group, giving them a few minutes of breathing room.

Being that Levana didn't know these people and that the situation was rather dire, she skipped the introductions and went straight to the matter at hand. "We're outnumbered. I'm mainly a melee fighter. I only have one long-ranged attack to speak of. I do, however, have a defensive spell that negates all damage for five seconds. I can act as bait to lure them in."

She eyed the two carefully and waited for their reply. This was not a very ideal time to form a team but they had no choice. Besides, it could have been worse. At least, they were only up against mountain wolves.

"My apologizes, I only have melee range skills and some short-mid range spells. Yuri, on the other hand, should have a few good range spells such as Astral Energy Blast, Chain Lighting Blast, and Tidal Wave. However, Chain Lighting Blast and Tidal Wave requires an abudant amount of time. Besides those skills, he has the ability to mend wounds, produce a barrier, magic to quicken someone's agility, and boost someone's magic power."Jean replied this time, his tone switching to a more polite manner.

"Nya!" Yuri replied in agreement and was smack on the head by Jean. "Why do you sound so happy when its your fault here?" Jean said. "nyu...." Yuri replied rubbing his head.

"Hmmm..." Levana started to think. The disparity of their skills proved to be a challenge. The Chain Lightning Blast and Tidal Wave seemed like great spells to use but they didn't really have the time to prepare for it. She looked at the feral wolves that were eyeing them like they were their next meal. Levana looked at the two men with her and spoke her mind.

"The fastest way to deal with these kinds of pack animals is to kill off their leader. Either that or show them we are far stronger than they are. The former seems to be the most logical thing to do at this point. What do you think?"

"Nyuuu...we tried the leader thingy. "

"We?"

"nya?!?!" Yuri pouted, "Jean tried that, okay?"

"That's better. Well, given the amount of wolves here, the only logical conclulsion I can draw from is that these wolves were remenant forces from the raid recently on North Mountains. So, the only way is like you said show them power or we could distract their attention. Still, it's a mystery why they went towards the great plains verus roaming the northern mountain range."

"Apparently," she started to explain, "some adventurers decided to stay in the mountains to continue clearing out the monsters in that area. Perhaps these ones didn't have a choice. Unlike goblins that had hidden camps inside the mountain ranges, the wolves tend to roam in the open. Perhaps they felt the plains were safer. However, they wouldn't last long here. Their thick coats are more for colder weather than the hotter temperature of the plains."

Levana suddenly sighed. "So I suppose we're stuck with fighting this out? Kill as much as we can once the barrier is off?"

"I got five minutes left in me. " Jean readies his sword and channels mana into the blade, turning it as sharp as obisidan. "White hair woman, do you have any spells that give off any type of heavy smell?" Jean said.

The question was odd but she answered anyway. "No, I don't" Looking around them, she added, "I can still buy you the time that you need though. Plus, I have a powerful attack that I'm sure can intimidate them for a bit." She paused and glanced at him. "What's the plan?"

"No choice..huh. " Jean pulls out cigarette box with the title 'Ceremonial Smokes'. They were the type of cigarettes used mostly for incense but could also be used to smoke as well. Additionally, a single cigarette gives off the smell of a wood and pepper mixed in.

"Animals tend...to have a strong sense of smell. So, if I toss afew of these towards them, maybe it will confuse them."

"Let's do that then. As soon as the barrier is gone, we confuse them with the smoke and then take out as much as we can in five minutes. After those five minutes, I can use the skill that would intimidate them and then we can jettison out of here. Is that good?"

Levana turned to the man with the ears and asked the same question. "Is that good Mr. Cat?"

"Its good, nya. No, I need more energy nya! We got this!" Yuri said with ethunaism.

"Jean?" Yuri spoke to Jean who was focusing on the wolves in front. "...Agreed. Let's get this over with and go home. Say when you're ready miss." Jean responded.

With the plans all set, Levana took out the fire gem from her dagger and put in the gem of lightning, Xolotl's Bark. This would add paralysis to her attacks. Readying her own source of ignis, she then turned to the two men with a nod.

"Let's go."

The barrier collapses, extingushing what little time the group had. Immediately, Jean leaps into the air and throws half the contients of the smokes. Then he lits them on fire, spreading the smell of a wooden pepper near the wolves. It wasn't enough, he thought and noticed how thick the smoke came from the cigarette. "There" Jean said making the wind spread the smoke along with the smell, causing the wolves to be in a confused state. Jean then proceeds to attack the wolves in front of him.

Meanwhile, Yuri casted a magic circle over the two of them which increased the ability of both Lavana and Jean to be faster and amplify their spells to be more lethal.

The buff effects were immediate so Levana didn't want to waste whatever precious time they had. She dove in as the smoke caused confusion among their enemies and made sure she was a good distance away from the two men as she activated a continuous stream of Ankle Biter.

The added effect of speed plus the contrasting slow effect of her skill was a devastating blow to the wolves. From her peripheral, she could see the fluffy eared man was concentrating on his spells while the other man made a barrage of attacks against his enemies. Focus.

Jean felt confident with what time they had, he saw the efforts of Levana bear fruit against the wolves as well. He thought maybe this would all turn out for the best and they could get away without feeling completely exhausted. Just then one of the wolves he attack lie not in blood but grew in size until it was 25 feet in height. "The hell-" He said before being interupted by the claw swipe from the giant beast, pushing him back a few paces. Lucky for him, he was able to set up a defense stance to reduce the impact but a hole was puncture through his jacket. "I just had this repair..." Jean remarked with a sigh.

"Nya!" Yuri replied sending waves of astral energy to keep the little wolves busy.

Seeing the sudden turn of events, Levana doubled her efforts. She needed to keep these wolves focused on her. Deliberately, she slashed multiple attacks of Soul Cleaver towards the legs of the animals. They grew irate and she succeeded in keeping them concentrated on her.

Seeing a wolf headed for Mr. Cat, she attacked it and managed to actually sever a leg. Not hesitating in the slightest, she continued targeting the wolves that came after their magician and managed to take down two more beasts.

Hopefully, this was enough to keep these little ones preoccupied. Mr. Cat's multi-tasking of spell casts were impressive under the circumstances. A few minutes more and we might finally be in the clear.

"Enough, dirty Kalman Väki!" One of the wolves yelled out transforming into a man with a bunny mask and red piercing eyes. The wolves beside Bunny Mask became bone dry and blood from them seeps into a a two piece sword and he blocks one of her attacks. "hmph!" The mask man said. Meanwhile, Jean was focused on the big creature, slashing it tail and then hind leg to no avail. It seems something is giving this wolf power.

Levana didn't even flinch after being called out like that. The five minutes were up. She had no idea how the others were doing but she kept her attention on the sudden appearance of the new enemy. Whatever or whoever it was had come at a bad time. It was strong, true, but it was unfortunately going to become a good example against the remaining wolves.

A pure blue aura surrounded Levana like they were ribbons of flame. Even her eyes had a dark sheen of blue to them as she gathered her ignis for her most powerful strike. The enemy with the mask didn't know what she was up to but he wanted to interrupt the conjuring of the skill. He came at her with blades drawn.

When the enemy was finally a few feet from her, Levana made a crouching stance with her right dagger angled against her left hip. Just as the masked enemy was about to strike, she dashed in as if to tackle him causing her enemy to give a half-hearted dodge and that was her opening. The blue aura that surrounded Levana melted into her blade and she took that moment to slash out at the masked man.

Pure blue ignis arced from her blade and reached her target. The masked man panicked but when he looked down at his chest where the slash was supposed to be, he laughed when he saw he was unscathed

"A bluff! How childi-" Before the man could say any more, he gasped out in pain. It was so shocking he had actually dropped his weapons. Following that, he screamed and started grasping at his chest. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?"

It felt like blades were tearing at him from the inside. It was then that the masked man noticed that he had actually scratched so hard at the skin of his chest that he managed to tear off skin. What he saw was that his blood was on fire with blue flames.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Levana didn't look away. Surmata, her strongest attack, was named after Surma, guardian beast of the gates of Tuonela. It had emodied sudden, violent death and it seemed the skill had done the name of Surma proud. This masked man was as good as dead. The flames would slowly eat at his life making sure he would suffer. After all, this attack came from the collected spirits of the dead from the last raid. They would feed on him greedily.

Levana then turned to the two men and saw that they had paled. Even the wolves were shocked at the violence.

"We have to move!" She called out and gestured for them to make their escape.

"Agreed" Jean said and slashed towards the ground, kicking up the dust for a quick smoke screen. His mana pulse once again glowed a bright red but it seems the wolfs did not want to give chase. So, Jean, Yuri, and Levana headed away from the encounter with their lives intact. The duo of men simply accepted Levana's lead since it seemed she was the more confident compared to the two men.

Eventually, the group found a small sky blue river nearby. From all the running and intensive fighting that occured, Jean felt like they needed to take a break. "Why don't we take a break for now.....miss?" That's right, Jean and Yuri never picked up Levana's name. And from the time the battle started, they had thought of her as the white hair swordsmen. Although Jean suscept that she looks familar, like he seen her recently. Yuri didn't seem to mind the fact and was simply eating some beef jerky he stole from Jean's pocket during the run.

Levana was cleaning her daggers in the river when she heard Jean ask the question. After her weapons were free of the blood of the wolves, she sheathed them and turned to the two men. With a bow, she introduced herself, "I am Levana, Rank E Adventurer. I just came from the Northern Mountain raid recently before encountering you both. It's nice to meet you."

"we were-NYA??!" Jean yanks Yuri's tail, making him choke on the food. He then smacks Yuri's back to cough out the food.

"Ahem, my name is Jean Basfel and this is Yuri Naoya, a nekomimi from the east. We were traveling towards Frontier Village for re-supplies before we were attack by wolves."

"Nyuuu...." Yuri strokes his tail to get the dirt out.

"I was on my way to my next quest item on my list when I saw you were in trouble."

She then turned to Jean with a troubled expression. "Are you ok?" Realizing how intrusive and rude she sounded, she apologized. "I just noticed an imbalance. Please excuse the intrusion."

Her sensitivity to mana alerted her to a problem in Jean that made her impressed he could still look fine.

"So, you noticed..haha" Jean said with a cheap chuckle."My body is fine for the first few minutes; though, I'm going to have to ask Yuri to supply me with a little of his mana." He said and holds the clear container, mana pulse, in hand. "Usually, I'm alot more careful about it but I think I finally gotten used to the pain of it." He said with a bitter smile. Truthfully though, the pain was akin to a person who was straving for days.

She thought for a moment and took something out from her bag. "Can you wait just for fifteen minutes? I'd like to give you something."

Jean gave me a curious look and nodded. Yuri seemed even more curious and looked closely at what I was doing. His tail swishing back and forth lazily.

I remembered the pecious black stone I found in Delta Town and used my newly acquired knife to carve some characters on its surface. Afterwards, I chanted a quick prayer and felt the stone work.

Spoiler: Mana Stone

Soon, a cloud of blue mana filtered in and I felt its aura on my fingertips. I turned to Jean and handed it over.

"Keep this with you always. It will take a little bit of time for the stone to acclimate to the aura of your body. When it does, it will act as an extended pocket of mana for you. It's about 50 units worth of mana. I'm sorry it's not more but the stone isn't of high quality."

Jean was silent for a moment, staring at the cold stone, his eyes showing deep glint then changing back to their normal hues of purple. Sliding the stone into the item box, he also pulls out a few gold coins to offer to Levana."My payment to you, Levana-san."

Levana waved his off his offer. "No payment needed. Think of it as an introductory gift." She then looked at Yuri whose tail was still swishing idly. She took out another item from her pouch and handed it over to him. It was 1 speedy tuna fillet that she received as a reward from a quest. "I hope you like this, Yuri."

"Nya~" Yuri chomps into the fish with his tail happily wagging back and forth. "I'll make sure to tell Krane-san you did well helping me." Jean said patting Yuri's head. "Nya!"

Levana smiled at them and bowed. "I'm sorry to cut this short but I have to go. My quests are long overdue to be done so I'll have to part ways with you here."

"See, Nyu later" Yuri replied and Jean said his good bye as well.

[OOC]: In the middle of being edited but had to post it so that I got my timelines straight XO

 

Spoiler: Practice Practice Practice

I was back at my rented room at the Adventurer's inn at Aeternus. I had just finished segregating my things when I recalled using the explosive arrowheads back at the raid. It was a move I gambled on that thankfully worked but thanks to that, I was starting to think about a plausible skill for a ranged attack.

Inputting the spirit inside that arrowhead and shooting it at the enemy was a great success. However, the amount of ignis I ended up using was not little. It was a technique that needed a lot of mastery if I planned to use it the way I did at the raid. Another problem was the simple fact that I didn't really have spare arrowheads in my arsenal.

With my specialty in carving, I could craft them out from wood and use that instead. Spirits liked nature so that would actually be a plus. However, I was sorely lacking in resources at the moment. Another issue was that inputting spirits on objects would need concentrated effort and proper preparation for an optimum result.
Solution? Find a way to manipulate naturally occurring ignis into bolts I can shoot at the enemies. Pro to that was that I didn't need a prepared object for the attack plus I didn't have to use my own deposit of ignis. Con was, it wouldn't be as strong or as effective and I would need a certain amount of natural ignis to make it work.

Another con was directing the ignis bolts towards the target. With Soul Cleaver, it was easy to aim the attack because the general direction it was going to was reliant on where I slashed. The force of the slash also helped in its momentum. With individual bolts, I had no idea if I could manage to send it flying with a force strong enough to penetrate through skin.

However, there was hope. I knew how to use mana in that way and I could use that as basis for this skill. Why not just use mana then? Because my mana aptitude compared to that of my ignis was abysmal. The only reason why I became a Jailer in my oni hunting team was because I was good at looking for loopholes in certain techniques. One of which was in using talismans.

But I digressed. Ignis and mana felt very different from each other. The former needed coaxing while the latter needed directing. How I somehow manage to relate my experience with mana manipulation to that of my usage in ignis would prove to be a challenge. However, I was quite good with disecting techniques. It was, after all, how I managed to succeed in my oni hunting team.

Following that train of thought, I sat down on the chair in front of the small writing desk in my room and started experimenting. First, mana. Bringing up my right hand, I focused my energy into my palm and succeded in bringing out a fist sized ball of mana that was neutral in property. It was purely energy and non elemental. I then manipulated it into small, multiple pebbles an inch in diameter and directed them to move in different ways.

In circular motions trailing after one another, in zigzags, going in different directions, and lastly, flinging each individual pebble against the wall with it popping like a bubble on collision. This was hardly tiring. It was the kind of practice I did as a child. The reason why it was important to do was for me to take special note of the feel of controlling the balls of energy.

Next, ignis. Unlike the mana exercise, I didn't use my own source of ignis from insdie my body. Instead, I used the natural, flowing ignis in the environment. It really was a different feel altogether. Forming a fist-sized ball of ignis took seconds longer than my previous mana exercise. One had to lead it into a form rather than push it towards one.

The difference might sound minute but the wiring of a person's mental acuity needed serious adjustments for things like this. Especially since operating mana and ignis were close to opposites from each other. It was a serious challenge to practice.

Like earlier, I did the same as the mana exercise. Circular motions, zigzags, and then sending them off in different directions. However, when I got to the last part, it proved extremely difficult that I was surprised it took me three times longer to finish it. Somehow I had to find a way to make it quicker.

I took the rest of the day to alternate between mana usage and then back to ignis. When I grew tired, I would eat the sandwiches I had ordered from the Tavern and relaxed for a few minutes and went at it again. By afternoon, I was more or less quicker than I had started.

This was going to take me a few more days of practice to get it right. That was fine. Better to understand the skill than do it half-heartedly.