Post by wes on Mar 23, 2015 21:01:03 GMT -8
For those that didn't know of the previous story.
Enjoy
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“Get out of here you pathetic loser! You're not fit to be a damn warrior!”
“What... but.. Hey!” Stumbling out from Perion's dojo of Dances with Balrog, a man falls flat on his back. “What the hell was that for?”
Glancing at him is a kid younger than him smirking, “Whatever do you mean? Balrog said to get him out however I see fit. I saw fit to kick your ass out of this dojo.”
“You're a real ass, you know that Flux?” says the man with contempt.
“Yeah I know. But I'm also a warrior and accomplished spearman, unlike you. You couldn't even finish the obstacle course, Zap,” replied Flux with a wide smirk.
Flustered and with no retaliation, Zap left without a backward glance towards the main street of Perion. As he reached the street, he immediately lashed out with his right hand into what he thought to be the wall. What he was expecting was a thud but someone's hand had caught onto his fist. As he looked back towards the man, he realized this guy was an elder. Even though he was filled with hatred, he managed to apologize to the elder. The elder then looked down at him and asked, “What's got you so riled up?”
“Nothing, I'm sorry for hitting you. I didn't know you were behind me,” stammered Zap as he withdrew his hand.
“It's quite all right and maybe I can help you,” replied the elder with a calm air around him.
“No, I'd like to be just left alone. Thanks for offering though,” said Zap as he started to walk away.
As the elder watched Zap walk away, he drew on the energy around him and felt Zap's anger as much as he felt loneliness. In that instant, the elder immediately knew what he had to do. Calling out to him, he said, “You have so much hatred yet you had the gall to be apologetic. Why is that?”
Zap turned around and replied, “That's how I was raised.”
“Then why are you so mad?”
“I've wanted to be an adventurer since I was 8 and I grew up here in Perion. Yet I can't even finish an obstacle course for the dojo. I don't think I'd be able to do the others if I can't even finish the first step,” replied Zap as he shuffled around somberly.
With a twinkle in his eyes, the elder moved towards him and said, “That's not a problem. Maybe being a warrior just isn't you. How about coming with me to Ellinia?”
“What does being an adventurer have to do with traveling to Ellinia with you? Besides. I don't know you,” replied Zap.
“Oh I'm sure you do,” replied the elder as he lifts the hood off of his head. Standing before Zap was Grendel of Ellinia.
"What about my family? I can't leave them," replies Zap.
"Go with him. I'll take care of mom and pops."
"Camila? What are you doing here? I thought you were training in Henesys with... what's her name... At... Athene... no.... Athens.." cried out Zap as his sister walks into view.
"Athena...? Jesus.. would it help for you learn about the 5 lords of Maple? There's Athena, Dances with Balrog, Dark Lord, Kyrin, and..." replies Camila with an exasperated sigh.
Grendel interrupts and says, "Grendel, lord of Ellinia. Nice to meet you, Camila."
Wide-eyed and in shock, Camila drops her jaw and stares at Grendel. Grendel then turns to Zap and addresses him, "Now that, that's settled. Would you like to come with me?"
Without skipping a beat, Zap says, "Hell yea, I would!"
"Good, now what's your name, young lad?"
"It's Zap. Why?"
"Oh... just wondering," says Grendel as he calmly pulls out a scroll. Without warning he shouts, "Return scroll to Ellinia partaking Zap and Grendel!"
As Camila watches, still in shock, she sees the scroll suck in Zap and Grendel disappears as if they were never there. Shaking herself out of the surprise and shock, she looks up into the sky and says aloud, "I hope you become the adventurer you were hoping to be big bro..."
A few years later in Kerning City, a girl saunters out of Kerning City Bar exasperated, stamping her feet, she cries out, “Where the hell is Ace!? I told him to meet me at the edge of Kerning an hour ago! Where the hell could he be?”
Without a warning, the man appears before her as shadow melds into the form of a man. Startled, she steps back and screams, “I know you finally became a shadower, but you have to stop doing that. It's not cool.”
Standing before her was a man dressed in black overalls covering his torso along with his pauldron that has it scribed on, “Revenge has its faults.” Along with bloodied bandages covering his left eye and arm, a hallmark trade along with his black bandana. Without blinking an eye, he nods and points toward Perion as if asking if that's the destination.
Shaking her head, the girl says, “No, it's not towards Perion, but we're actually going to Lith Harbor. So pack up your stuff and we'll head out.”
Ace thumps his fist against his dagger that glows with a purple tint and starts walking toward Kerning City's exit toward Lith Harbor. Turning around, Ace looks back toward the girl and says, “Coming, Kushina?”
“Of all the things you say... You always say the minimum, don't you?” sighs Kushina as she checks her pack one more time. Shuffling through her bag, she checks to see that she's brought enough of her ilbies and steelies, “Hey... Wait a moment Ace. I need to go to New Leaf City to get some potions.”
“No need,” replies Ace as he takes out his bag and shows her the rows of Ginger Ales that he bought in preparation for this mission.
“Wow... Wait.... What? How did you even know we were going on a mission? When did this happen... Wait not even that. How did you get so much money! There's like 3000 ginger ales in there!” cries out Kushina as she sifts through Ace's bag of potions.
Ace then takes out a smaller pack and shows Kushina. In the pack, scrolls are neatly packed into a crevice along with checks that they had received in previous missions. As she looks into the pack, she notices that the scrolls are all white and glow with an enlightening spark. She whispers in a hushed voice, “Ace... Are those what I think they are...?”
Without responding, Ace closes his pack and puts them into his sheath while Kushina stares in awe. “White scrolls,” he mutters back as he stares into the street slowly losing his focus.
Kushina immediately sees Ace losing focus so she quickly smacks him on the arm and grabs him, “Ace! Snap out of it!”
“Snap out of it! Come on! Ace!”
“Ace!”
“Ace...”
Slowly her voice fades out as Ace is consumed by his past. “Ace, are you okay?”
Slowly Ace opens his eyes and sees his beloved, Aeris. “Aeris! I dreamt you were dead and that I was about to take revenge on our best friend, Avarice.”
A hand suddenly smacks Ace, “Hahaha, you kill me? Hahaha, what did I ever do to you?”
Coming up along him, an assassin garbed in plated light armor with a blue tinted claw sits next to him and Aeris. “I'm sorry, I just had the weirdest dream,” says Ace.
Turning towards his loved one, he leans in to kiss Aeris and says, “I'm fine and I'll always protect you.”
Just as he leans in, his loved one fades. He turns around to see his best friend grinning and then suddenly stabbing Aeris. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Aeris!”
As Ace begins to thrash around, Kushina grabs onto him tighter and shouts, “Ace!”
“No... NO! NO! NOOOOOOOO! Stop!” shouts Ace as he opens his eyes seeing nothing.
“Ace! Wake up! Come on! Snap out of it Ace!” shouts Kushina as Ace continues to thrash around, “Remember Ace! It's the present!”
Ace shuts his eyes and opens them again to find himself in Kushina's arms with an audience all around them. As he stops to realize where he's at, his master, Dark Lord comes running out of the bar to see Kushina and Ace sprawled out on the ground, “Alright, get out of here. Show's over!”
As the audience dispersed, the Dark Lord kneels down to their level and asks, “Ace, this can't go on. You need to rest and go see a priest.”
Shaking his head, Ace gets up and puts up one finger. Walking away, he goes to the nearest tree out of sight and pulls out his dagger and slams it into the tree. His dagger sinks in halfway with his anger slowly draining away at him. The attacks were coming and at a faster pace. He knew one day, it would eventually take him. Ace grabs at his shirt and tears it away to reveal a large gash extending from his right shoulder to his left abdomen. Moving his hand to touch it, he imagines the screams of Aeris and the laugh of Avarice. “He will die for his sins. I swear to you Aeris,” mutters Ace.
Not knowing what to do after reassuring the Dark Lord, Kushina had unknowingly followed Ace. As Ace began to take his dagger out from the tree, Kushina hid again, with her back to a tree and remembered the first time she met Ace, 5 years ago. He was digging out trash in her backyard. Kushina had approached him with bread and water. Through the days, this became the daily routine until she became his closest friend. Together they trained and went on missions til they became the classes they were now. “These attacks are getting worse,” she says to herself.
“They're enough to get me to where he is,” says Ace, startling Kushina, “Let's go.”
Kushina starts toward Ace as he turns to walk toward Lith Harbor, but she holds her hand back afraid to tell him what she felt. She turns around as her hair waves in the night, wondering when will the night wither away before it becomes day again.
In Lith Harbor, a kid saunters around as if looking for a familiar face, but as he keeps looking. He has yet to find the right person, screaming out in frustration, “Goddamnit! Where is he!?”
“You... called?” grinning his friend stepped out from behind a board.
Without responding, he struck an arrow and shot at his friend with intent to kill. Narrowly missing his friend's head, the shaft sticks into the board. Shaking his head, his friend looks at the arrow and board seeing that the arrow had stuck through the 'O' of the message. “Good likeness, very nice aim, Andy.”
Andy mutters, “I know right? It's a good thing it missed your head.”
“Haha, you're such a charming fellow, if it hit me. I'd be sure to die wouldn't I, now?” replies his friend with charm.
“Let's go, Erik...” mutters Andy annoyed as he whispers, “So I don't have to see your damn face any longer.”
“Hahaha, alright. I'm sorry though, I was buying a new axe. Check it out,” exclaims Erik as he shows his new axe off. Andy raises his right hand over the object and it displays the item's info.
Maple Dragon Axe +7
+13 Strength
+93 Weapon Attack
+34 Accuracy
+3 Weapon Defense
Surprised as Andy was, he managed to conceal behind a thick layer of sarcasm, “Boy... what a wonderful weapon. What'd you pay an arm and leg for it?”
“Hahaha, I still got my limbs here Andio-buddy,” replied Erik with humor.
“Remind me again, what you're becoming?” asked Andy as he looked at the two-handed axe.
“I'm going to be a Hero! The one who wields the axe of doom! The one who smites others into oblivion! The one who will save...” shouts Erik as if he's talking to an audience of admirers.
Before he could finish, a man harshly bumps into him knocking him onto the ground. “Savior eh? A hero? Don't try to act big when you're not son. You'll only get yourself killed.”
“Hey! That's bad manners!” yells Erik as he gets up to his feet, “I demand an apology!”
“An apology? Sure. Here's an apology!” replies the man as he throws a steely directly at Erik's face.
As the steely flew at Erik, Andy buffed himself with Inner Focus, which allowed him to see everything as if it was in slow motion. Within the split second, it allowed him to fire three arrows. With any luck, Andy hoped it was enough to deter the steely's movements before it pierced Erik. Two arrows were headed toward the steely itself and the third, towards the man as he walked away without a second glance. The first arrow was badly timed and the second was straight on, that it went through the hilt of the star and pinned it to the wall. As Andy turned to watch the third arrow, he was surprised to see that it had missed its target. But he was sure that he was spot on, until he noticed that the man had completely disappeared from his sight.
“Looking for this?”
Shocked, he quickly turns around to see the man appearing from thin air, but it was the menacing figure that he saw appearing. First he saw the arrow that he clung to with his. Then he saw the angry glare of a slash in a grin on his neck, his imposing plated, black as hell, armor, and then lastly he saw the amount of stars he wielded.
“You're pretty talented to be able to do that, son. I'm sure... we'll meet again,” says the man as he drops the arrow onto the ground. As it clatters to the ground, a man suddenly shouts, “AVARICE!”
Andy glances toward the voice and sees Erik clumped on the ground, still unmoving in shock at what happened. But more to the point, he sees a man and a woman glaring in disbelief at the man next to Andy.
“Ah, Ace. How nice of you to join us. As you see, I don't have to time to play around with you guys,” says Avarice with a menacing, playful tone.
“I'll kill you, damnit!” yells Ace as he rushes toward the man, Avarice.
“No! Wait! Ace!” yells the woman.
The man, Ace immediately dashed forward and then suddenly reappeared at the man's side with a purple tinted dagger and a shield that looked like a dagger itself, “DIE!”
With a quick motion from Avarice, he sidesteps from the falling dagger and aims a kick at Ace, who dodges it by making a backflip. Once Ace lands, he quickly charges again slashing through the air at Avarice. For a moment, it looks like Avarice crumpled to the blade, but smoke pops up and Ace notices that his dagger sunk into a hard material instead of flesh.
“No! Ace! Watch out!” screams the woman as she jumps forward.
Avarice materializes beside him and smiles, ready to plunge his steely into Ace's throat. In that split second, Erik regains his composure and rushes at Avarice with his axe. The axe comes between Avarice and Ace, just in the nick of time to hold off the steely from sinking into Ace's throat. Andy jumps away and fires four arrows at the man, Avarice, while the woman nicely times the steelies with the barrage. Once again, disappearing into smoke, Avarice appears on top of one of the buildings. “You were saved this time, Ace. But next time I see you. You will die.”
Ace, losing his composure sinks to the ground on his knees, his dagger and shield laying beside him. “I had him. I had him. He was going to kill me. I had him.. I was too weak.. I HAD HIM!”
Slamming his fists on the ground, he keeps repeating, “I had him!”
Kushina, unable to watch as Ace continued to berate himself for his weakness, turned around to thank Erik and Andy for saving Ace and helping them out.
“Thank you so...” started out Kushina as she tried to thank them both.
“It was no...” replied Andy before being completely cut off by Erik, “It was no problem ma'am. He had it coming to him when he became so ill-mannered and attacked me! But I mean, I wouldn't have been here if my bud, Andy didn't save me.”
As Erik slings his arm around Andy and cradles him close like a buddy, Andy embarrassed and annoyed, shrugged him off and asked the question on his mind, “Who was that guy?”
“His name is Avarice,” replied Ace as he sat on the floor.
“Yeah. No. I got that part,” mutters Andy as he lamely stares at Ace.
“He's the one that made my life a living hell.”
“It was years ago..” says Ace as he slowly began to dig through his deep, locked secrets, “Avarice lived next to me since we've been 5.”
“5? Holy crap... you're how old?” asked Erik.
“I'm 22,” answered Ace as his eyes glazed over with thoughts, “Avarice lived with his parents, but they had an out 9 years later at the age of 14. He was abandoned in the streets for not living up to his father's expectations. We were friends and he would always come over to train with me. We practiced our skills as rogues until we respectively became bandit and assassin. He was always a fast learner and hard worker, but he was very troubled with the world. I always thought it was troubles with his family so I never addressed the issue. Later on, I came to find out that he was actually stealing and conning people of Kerning to survive. For all the times, we've been together, he never asked for help nor did I offer it. Maybe it was because of his pride or his stubbornness. Then when we were 18, two special people came into our lives. Their name were Nina and Aeris. Nina was the one that changed Avarice. She showed him what was wrong and how to survive.”
“Nina? That sounds really familiar...” mutters Andy.
“Shhhh!” shushes Erik as he sits listening intently.
All the while, Kushina is stands there watching Ace pour out his deepest, darkest secrets. Kushina never expected to hear Ace talk so much nonetheless confide in two complete strangers. She never thought she'd see the day that he would share and talk about the things he's been through.
Continuing on as if he hadn't been interrupted, Ace says, “Aeris... Aeris was a strawberry blonde... with a very stuck-up attitude. She was arrogant and had an ego that could rival those that had finished the mission, DDA. But... man was she something special. She had eyes that sparkled in the moonlight, lips that were smooth and perky, and her hands that craved attention wanted by no other. She was always positive, outspoken, and had the charm of a model. She was...”
“We get it, we get it. She was amazing. Did you love her?” asked Andy.
Two hands came out of nowhere and smacked Andy on the head. As Andy turns, he sees Kushina glaring at him while Erik has an intense 'What the fuck' look on his face.
“Why the hell did you guys do that for?” yelled Andy snapping Ace out of his reverie.
“Anyways, he's not someone that's to be trusted,” said Ace as he stands up and brushes dirt off his pants.
“Wait! That's it?” complained Erik as he gets up as well.
Andy mutters, “Finally.”
Immediately Andy begins to walk away, but then he hears Erik say, “Oh yeah. I'm Erik, a fighter and that is Andy, a ranger. What are your names?”
“My name is Kushina, a Nightlord and my partner here is Ace, a Shadower,” explains Kushina as she shakes Erik's hand, “By the way, thanks for that. Really.”
“Like I said, no problem,” says Erik as he shrugs off the thanks, “We were attacked first and we weren't going to see someone die in front of us. Even if you guys were complete strangers.”
Andy turns around and hollers at Erik, “Hey it's time to go talk to Teo. We need to meet up for the mission.”
“Oh right yea! I'm coming!”
“Wait... Teo?” asked Kushina puzzled.
“Yeah..? What's it to you?” mutters Andy.
Kushina answers still in a puzzled tone, “Teo has a mission for us too.. We're supposed to meet him here in Lith Harbor.”
Excited, Erik bounces up and down, “Oh! Oh! Oh! Maybe it's a coordinated mission!”
“Maybe. We'll see,” says Andy.
Without another word, the four of them travel towards the pier where Teo had designated the meeting place. All along the way, Erik and Kushina are talking about their past missions and how many people they've met while Andy and Ace remained quiet all the way to Teo's place. But before even making it to the pier completely, they were stopped before a crowd. As they looked up, they saw that it wasn't only them that had been requested a mission. There were hundreds, if not thousands of adventurers crowded around the pier.
“Hey, what's going on?”
“Is this the meeting place?”
“Man, where the fuck is Teo?”
“Did he lie to us?”
“Oi! Get off of me, you fat ass!”
“Who are you calling a fatass?”
The ruckus between each adventurer got louder and louder as they all clamored to get the mission first. At last, Teo climbs onto a box and yells out, “EVERYONE SHUT UP AND CALM DOWN!”
As everyone began to calm down and quiet down, someone piped up arrogantly, “Hahaha, maybe you should calm down, old man. Or you're bound to pop a gasket.”
Teo looks down at the crowd and sees a group of warriors bundled together. Outraged he asked, “Who are you? State your name and class, you arrogant, piece of...”
“Alright, since you want it that way. Better to get it out there, who everyone's dealing with. My name is Flux. I'm going to trash everyone here for this mission. I'm a renowned Dark Knight of Perion. Better believe it!”
“Ha! That's nothing!” says someone near the harbor, “I'm Mars.”
The crowd gasped and moved back from the man claiming to be Mars. It was said that Mars was the first mage to complete the mission DDA and able to get back in one piece. (The mission DDA was to defeat one of the dark dragons that came once a year to cause damage to the world. The mission was to have whoever took on the mission as a solo would need to have an aether from the dragon's underbelly) He moved into view wielding an Elemental Staff 8 as it glowed with a lightning aura. “You think you're all that? Just because you're renowned in Perion? Sit your ass back down and shut up so Teo can let us know what is going on!”
Unable to retaliate, Flux sits back down glaring at Mars. All the while, Ace, Kushina, Erik, and Andy are now on the steps of the City Hall watching everything. Kushina and Erik are arguing on why people would be gathered here from all of the major cities while Ace stared at Teo. Teo starts to describe the mission that everyone here was able to participate in, but instead of a mission, it was a bounty placed on someone. As Teo begins to unfurl the wanted poster, Kushina gasps behind Ace. Erik and Andy turn around to stare at Ace.
The wanted poster was of Avarice for the reward of 2 billion mesos. Dead or Alive.
“Wait... what?”
“Whose Avarice?”
“That was so vague...”
“Okay, I'm out of here...”
“Dude! That's 2 billion mesos though!”
“2.. billion...?!”
“Where that nigga at!?”
All at once, everyone began clamoring an uproar until someone stood up and shouted, “Everyone shut the hell up! The fact is that someone is being hunted down, the reward is 2 billion mesos! I'm sorry Teo, but that information you gave us is too vague. I'd like a full explanation.”
Teo stuttered as he tried to explain as hordes of adventurers started pushing toward him, “Well.. You... You know it's a tad.. bit complicated.”
“That's enough, Teo. I'll explain it,” said someone as he steps out from the shadow of the crate.
Bowing and retreating from the person, Teo says, “My apologies, Kalyb.”
As Kalyb stepped out from the shadow, his appearance gave off a feeling of an elegant, distinguished man. Dressed in black overalls and a cloak that sparked lightning, he stood out. Even among the adventurers that were dressed with crazy assortment of armor.
“First of all, I'd like to introduce myself. I come from the guild Nobles. Along with myself, there are 5 others that are in that guild. We are not adventurers like you guys. We are of pure blood and all come from nobility. We stand on the side to judge what's good for the world and what must be wiped out,” said Kalyb as many adventurers stared on.
“This mission or on-the-hunt is described as dangerous among that of death. I would like to say this. This mission is not for the weak nor is it to those are of little faith. This will be harder than the mission DDA,” explained Kalyb.
At this moment, many adventurers gasped, but because of the lure of the reward money, they stayed and fought against their instinct to run.
“This man, Avarice, is seeking to recruit many into the dark guild, Nox Aeterna. They threaten to overthrow the world and plunge it into chaos. We, the Nobles, have sought adventurers to undergo this task and defeat Avarice and bring an end to his plots. Now, will you help us?” asked Kalyb as he spreads his arms out.
Ace stands up and in one moment, all eyes are locked onto him. He asks the obvious question that's bothering everyone, “Is he the only person we need to worry about?”
Kalyb looks straight at Ace, “No. There are much more.”
Understanding Ace looks at Kalyb, about to ask another question when he suddenly hears in his thoughts, Now is not the time to ask a question, Ace. Go forth on this journey and find Avarice.
Startled, Ace sees Kalyb smile as he says, “So, who will undertake this quest?”
All at once, every adventurer stood up with a fired-up look and as a group said, “We shall undertake this quest!”
“Excellent,” says Kalyb, but gets interrupted by someone.
Mars walks towards the middle and smirks, “Well.. Let's start the fun, Moris.”
“Haha, gladly,” replies the man that had stood up before.
As Ace glances toward the man, he realizes it was Moris, the crusader that he had fought in the past. Sensing the danger that was to come, he quickly turned around and shoved Kushina, Erik, and Andy down and attempted to cover them.
Kushina sputtered out, “What... What are you doing, Ace?”
No sooner than a second later, a dark cloud formed right above the man, Mars and Moris. Glancing behind him, Ace saw that Moris and Mars were covered in blood red aura that seemed to leak out from them. As he watches for that split second, Mars and Moris butt their firsts together.
“Let's roll.”
The sky splits and giant shards of ice rain down upon the adventurers. Screams filled the air as the shards crashed down on top of them. But amidst the chaos, Ace looks toward Moris, startled to find Moris staring straight at him. Moris grins and charges. Without a second thought, Ace bounds up and charges at the hero, while drawing up his blade and shield. Upon meeting blade with sword, a resounding sound is met with a sonic boom purely caused by the charge of both Moris and Ace.
“We meet again, Ace,” smirks Moris.
“This time you will die,” snarls Ace.
“We shall see about that. Mars now!” yells Moris as he leaps backwards.
Mars steps in and fires an arrow of ice towards Ace. Dodging it, Ace also leaps backward only to see Moris above him with a charge on his sword.
“PANIC!” shouts Moris as he slams downward at Ace.
Unable to do anything in mid-air, Ace raises his shield to block the incoming attack. The moment the sword and shield made contact, sparks flew as gravity pulls Ace towards the earth with Moris bearing down on him yelling, “DIE!”
With his back to the ground and his shield occupied, Ace immediately unclips his shield and shoves on it, surprising Moris as he pulls out another blade from the same sheath as his dagger. The moment his shield is unclipped, he lands on the ground and leaps upward at Moris again, this time with the intent to be on the offensive.
Spinning in mid-air, Ace spins like a deadly tornado aimed towards Moris. Without having the time to react completely, Moris is left to attempt to block the incoming attack by twisting his sword through the air. For a moment, it looks as if Moris is going to succeed but then with a slight twitch, Ace buries his dagger into Moris's left forearm. Catching onto that moment, Ace stops and slams his other hand down towards Moris's face. Left with no other option, Moris raises his right forearm and catches the hilt of the dagger. Locked in a deadly fight for each others' lives. They landed deadlocked with no other option than to press on with their strength.
At this time, Kushina looks on as Moris and Ace fights on with their lives on the line. Not knowing the ordeal that conspired between those two, she notices that the entire time, she was hesitating to go to Ace's aid. As she watches, she sees the archmage, Mars move to get a clean shot. Without another moment of hesitation, she steps toward Mars determined to stop him.
Enjoy
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Get out of here you pathetic loser! You're not fit to be a damn warrior!”
“What... but.. Hey!” Stumbling out from Perion's dojo of Dances with Balrog, a man falls flat on his back. “What the hell was that for?”
Glancing at him is a kid younger than him smirking, “Whatever do you mean? Balrog said to get him out however I see fit. I saw fit to kick your ass out of this dojo.”
“You're a real ass, you know that Flux?” says the man with contempt.
“Yeah I know. But I'm also a warrior and accomplished spearman, unlike you. You couldn't even finish the obstacle course, Zap,” replied Flux with a wide smirk.
Flustered and with no retaliation, Zap left without a backward glance towards the main street of Perion. As he reached the street, he immediately lashed out with his right hand into what he thought to be the wall. What he was expecting was a thud but someone's hand had caught onto his fist. As he looked back towards the man, he realized this guy was an elder. Even though he was filled with hatred, he managed to apologize to the elder. The elder then looked down at him and asked, “What's got you so riled up?”
“Nothing, I'm sorry for hitting you. I didn't know you were behind me,” stammered Zap as he withdrew his hand.
“It's quite all right and maybe I can help you,” replied the elder with a calm air around him.
“No, I'd like to be just left alone. Thanks for offering though,” said Zap as he started to walk away.
As the elder watched Zap walk away, he drew on the energy around him and felt Zap's anger as much as he felt loneliness. In that instant, the elder immediately knew what he had to do. Calling out to him, he said, “You have so much hatred yet you had the gall to be apologetic. Why is that?”
Zap turned around and replied, “That's how I was raised.”
“Then why are you so mad?”
“I've wanted to be an adventurer since I was 8 and I grew up here in Perion. Yet I can't even finish an obstacle course for the dojo. I don't think I'd be able to do the others if I can't even finish the first step,” replied Zap as he shuffled around somberly.
With a twinkle in his eyes, the elder moved towards him and said, “That's not a problem. Maybe being a warrior just isn't you. How about coming with me to Ellinia?”
“What does being an adventurer have to do with traveling to Ellinia with you? Besides. I don't know you,” replied Zap.
“Oh I'm sure you do,” replied the elder as he lifts the hood off of his head. Standing before Zap was Grendel of Ellinia.
"What about my family? I can't leave them," replies Zap.
"Go with him. I'll take care of mom and pops."
"Camila? What are you doing here? I thought you were training in Henesys with... what's her name... At... Athene... no.... Athens.." cried out Zap as his sister walks into view.
"Athena...? Jesus.. would it help for you learn about the 5 lords of Maple? There's Athena, Dances with Balrog, Dark Lord, Kyrin, and..." replies Camila with an exasperated sigh.
Grendel interrupts and says, "Grendel, lord of Ellinia. Nice to meet you, Camila."
Wide-eyed and in shock, Camila drops her jaw and stares at Grendel. Grendel then turns to Zap and addresses him, "Now that, that's settled. Would you like to come with me?"
Without skipping a beat, Zap says, "Hell yea, I would!"
"Good, now what's your name, young lad?"
"It's Zap. Why?"
"Oh... just wondering," says Grendel as he calmly pulls out a scroll. Without warning he shouts, "Return scroll to Ellinia partaking Zap and Grendel!"
As Camila watches, still in shock, she sees the scroll suck in Zap and Grendel disappears as if they were never there. Shaking herself out of the surprise and shock, she looks up into the sky and says aloud, "I hope you become the adventurer you were hoping to be big bro..."
A few years later in Kerning City, a girl saunters out of Kerning City Bar exasperated, stamping her feet, she cries out, “Where the hell is Ace!? I told him to meet me at the edge of Kerning an hour ago! Where the hell could he be?”
Without a warning, the man appears before her as shadow melds into the form of a man. Startled, she steps back and screams, “I know you finally became a shadower, but you have to stop doing that. It's not cool.”
Standing before her was a man dressed in black overalls covering his torso along with his pauldron that has it scribed on, “Revenge has its faults.” Along with bloodied bandages covering his left eye and arm, a hallmark trade along with his black bandana. Without blinking an eye, he nods and points toward Perion as if asking if that's the destination.
Shaking her head, the girl says, “No, it's not towards Perion, but we're actually going to Lith Harbor. So pack up your stuff and we'll head out.”
Ace thumps his fist against his dagger that glows with a purple tint and starts walking toward Kerning City's exit toward Lith Harbor. Turning around, Ace looks back toward the girl and says, “Coming, Kushina?”
“Of all the things you say... You always say the minimum, don't you?” sighs Kushina as she checks her pack one more time. Shuffling through her bag, she checks to see that she's brought enough of her ilbies and steelies, “Hey... Wait a moment Ace. I need to go to New Leaf City to get some potions.”
“No need,” replies Ace as he takes out his bag and shows her the rows of Ginger Ales that he bought in preparation for this mission.
“Wow... Wait.... What? How did you even know we were going on a mission? When did this happen... Wait not even that. How did you get so much money! There's like 3000 ginger ales in there!” cries out Kushina as she sifts through Ace's bag of potions.
Ace then takes out a smaller pack and shows Kushina. In the pack, scrolls are neatly packed into a crevice along with checks that they had received in previous missions. As she looks into the pack, she notices that the scrolls are all white and glow with an enlightening spark. She whispers in a hushed voice, “Ace... Are those what I think they are...?”
Without responding, Ace closes his pack and puts them into his sheath while Kushina stares in awe. “White scrolls,” he mutters back as he stares into the street slowly losing his focus.
Kushina immediately sees Ace losing focus so she quickly smacks him on the arm and grabs him, “Ace! Snap out of it!”
“Snap out of it! Come on! Ace!”
“Ace!”
“Ace...”
Slowly her voice fades out as Ace is consumed by his past. “Ace, are you okay?”
Slowly Ace opens his eyes and sees his beloved, Aeris. “Aeris! I dreamt you were dead and that I was about to take revenge on our best friend, Avarice.”
A hand suddenly smacks Ace, “Hahaha, you kill me? Hahaha, what did I ever do to you?”
Coming up along him, an assassin garbed in plated light armor with a blue tinted claw sits next to him and Aeris. “I'm sorry, I just had the weirdest dream,” says Ace.
Turning towards his loved one, he leans in to kiss Aeris and says, “I'm fine and I'll always protect you.”
Just as he leans in, his loved one fades. He turns around to see his best friend grinning and then suddenly stabbing Aeris. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Aeris!”
As Ace begins to thrash around, Kushina grabs onto him tighter and shouts, “Ace!”
“No... NO! NO! NOOOOOOOO! Stop!” shouts Ace as he opens his eyes seeing nothing.
“Ace! Wake up! Come on! Snap out of it Ace!” shouts Kushina as Ace continues to thrash around, “Remember Ace! It's the present!”
Ace shuts his eyes and opens them again to find himself in Kushina's arms with an audience all around them. As he stops to realize where he's at, his master, Dark Lord comes running out of the bar to see Kushina and Ace sprawled out on the ground, “Alright, get out of here. Show's over!”
As the audience dispersed, the Dark Lord kneels down to their level and asks, “Ace, this can't go on. You need to rest and go see a priest.”
Shaking his head, Ace gets up and puts up one finger. Walking away, he goes to the nearest tree out of sight and pulls out his dagger and slams it into the tree. His dagger sinks in halfway with his anger slowly draining away at him. The attacks were coming and at a faster pace. He knew one day, it would eventually take him. Ace grabs at his shirt and tears it away to reveal a large gash extending from his right shoulder to his left abdomen. Moving his hand to touch it, he imagines the screams of Aeris and the laugh of Avarice. “He will die for his sins. I swear to you Aeris,” mutters Ace.
Not knowing what to do after reassuring the Dark Lord, Kushina had unknowingly followed Ace. As Ace began to take his dagger out from the tree, Kushina hid again, with her back to a tree and remembered the first time she met Ace, 5 years ago. He was digging out trash in her backyard. Kushina had approached him with bread and water. Through the days, this became the daily routine until she became his closest friend. Together they trained and went on missions til they became the classes they were now. “These attacks are getting worse,” she says to herself.
“They're enough to get me to where he is,” says Ace, startling Kushina, “Let's go.”
Kushina starts toward Ace as he turns to walk toward Lith Harbor, but she holds her hand back afraid to tell him what she felt. She turns around as her hair waves in the night, wondering when will the night wither away before it becomes day again.
In Lith Harbor, a kid saunters around as if looking for a familiar face, but as he keeps looking. He has yet to find the right person, screaming out in frustration, “Goddamnit! Where is he!?”
“You... called?” grinning his friend stepped out from behind a board.
Without responding, he struck an arrow and shot at his friend with intent to kill. Narrowly missing his friend's head, the shaft sticks into the board. Shaking his head, his friend looks at the arrow and board seeing that the arrow had stuck through the 'O' of the message. “Good likeness, very nice aim, Andy.”
Andy mutters, “I know right? It's a good thing it missed your head.”
“Haha, you're such a charming fellow, if it hit me. I'd be sure to die wouldn't I, now?” replies his friend with charm.
“Let's go, Erik...” mutters Andy annoyed as he whispers, “So I don't have to see your damn face any longer.”
“Hahaha, alright. I'm sorry though, I was buying a new axe. Check it out,” exclaims Erik as he shows his new axe off. Andy raises his right hand over the object and it displays the item's info.
Maple Dragon Axe +7
+13 Strength
+93 Weapon Attack
+34 Accuracy
+3 Weapon Defense
Surprised as Andy was, he managed to conceal behind a thick layer of sarcasm, “Boy... what a wonderful weapon. What'd you pay an arm and leg for it?”
“Hahaha, I still got my limbs here Andio-buddy,” replied Erik with humor.
“Remind me again, what you're becoming?” asked Andy as he looked at the two-handed axe.
“I'm going to be a Hero! The one who wields the axe of doom! The one who smites others into oblivion! The one who will save...” shouts Erik as if he's talking to an audience of admirers.
Before he could finish, a man harshly bumps into him knocking him onto the ground. “Savior eh? A hero? Don't try to act big when you're not son. You'll only get yourself killed.”
“Hey! That's bad manners!” yells Erik as he gets up to his feet, “I demand an apology!”
“An apology? Sure. Here's an apology!” replies the man as he throws a steely directly at Erik's face.
As the steely flew at Erik, Andy buffed himself with Inner Focus, which allowed him to see everything as if it was in slow motion. Within the split second, it allowed him to fire three arrows. With any luck, Andy hoped it was enough to deter the steely's movements before it pierced Erik. Two arrows were headed toward the steely itself and the third, towards the man as he walked away without a second glance. The first arrow was badly timed and the second was straight on, that it went through the hilt of the star and pinned it to the wall. As Andy turned to watch the third arrow, he was surprised to see that it had missed its target. But he was sure that he was spot on, until he noticed that the man had completely disappeared from his sight.
“Looking for this?”
Shocked, he quickly turns around to see the man appearing from thin air, but it was the menacing figure that he saw appearing. First he saw the arrow that he clung to with his. Then he saw the angry glare of a slash in a grin on his neck, his imposing plated, black as hell, armor, and then lastly he saw the amount of stars he wielded.
“You're pretty talented to be able to do that, son. I'm sure... we'll meet again,” says the man as he drops the arrow onto the ground. As it clatters to the ground, a man suddenly shouts, “AVARICE!”
Andy glances toward the voice and sees Erik clumped on the ground, still unmoving in shock at what happened. But more to the point, he sees a man and a woman glaring in disbelief at the man next to Andy.
“Ah, Ace. How nice of you to join us. As you see, I don't have to time to play around with you guys,” says Avarice with a menacing, playful tone.
“I'll kill you, damnit!” yells Ace as he rushes toward the man, Avarice.
“No! Wait! Ace!” yells the woman.
The man, Ace immediately dashed forward and then suddenly reappeared at the man's side with a purple tinted dagger and a shield that looked like a dagger itself, “DIE!”
With a quick motion from Avarice, he sidesteps from the falling dagger and aims a kick at Ace, who dodges it by making a backflip. Once Ace lands, he quickly charges again slashing through the air at Avarice. For a moment, it looks like Avarice crumpled to the blade, but smoke pops up and Ace notices that his dagger sunk into a hard material instead of flesh.
“No! Ace! Watch out!” screams the woman as she jumps forward.
Avarice materializes beside him and smiles, ready to plunge his steely into Ace's throat. In that split second, Erik regains his composure and rushes at Avarice with his axe. The axe comes between Avarice and Ace, just in the nick of time to hold off the steely from sinking into Ace's throat. Andy jumps away and fires four arrows at the man, Avarice, while the woman nicely times the steelies with the barrage. Once again, disappearing into smoke, Avarice appears on top of one of the buildings. “You were saved this time, Ace. But next time I see you. You will die.”
Ace, losing his composure sinks to the ground on his knees, his dagger and shield laying beside him. “I had him. I had him. He was going to kill me. I had him.. I was too weak.. I HAD HIM!”
Slamming his fists on the ground, he keeps repeating, “I had him!”
Kushina, unable to watch as Ace continued to berate himself for his weakness, turned around to thank Erik and Andy for saving Ace and helping them out.
“Thank you so...” started out Kushina as she tried to thank them both.
“It was no...” replied Andy before being completely cut off by Erik, “It was no problem ma'am. He had it coming to him when he became so ill-mannered and attacked me! But I mean, I wouldn't have been here if my bud, Andy didn't save me.”
As Erik slings his arm around Andy and cradles him close like a buddy, Andy embarrassed and annoyed, shrugged him off and asked the question on his mind, “Who was that guy?”
“His name is Avarice,” replied Ace as he sat on the floor.
“Yeah. No. I got that part,” mutters Andy as he lamely stares at Ace.
“He's the one that made my life a living hell.”
“It was years ago..” says Ace as he slowly began to dig through his deep, locked secrets, “Avarice lived next to me since we've been 5.”
“5? Holy crap... you're how old?” asked Erik.
“I'm 22,” answered Ace as his eyes glazed over with thoughts, “Avarice lived with his parents, but they had an out 9 years later at the age of 14. He was abandoned in the streets for not living up to his father's expectations. We were friends and he would always come over to train with me. We practiced our skills as rogues until we respectively became bandit and assassin. He was always a fast learner and hard worker, but he was very troubled with the world. I always thought it was troubles with his family so I never addressed the issue. Later on, I came to find out that he was actually stealing and conning people of Kerning to survive. For all the times, we've been together, he never asked for help nor did I offer it. Maybe it was because of his pride or his stubbornness. Then when we were 18, two special people came into our lives. Their name were Nina and Aeris. Nina was the one that changed Avarice. She showed him what was wrong and how to survive.”
“Nina? That sounds really familiar...” mutters Andy.
“Shhhh!” shushes Erik as he sits listening intently.
All the while, Kushina is stands there watching Ace pour out his deepest, darkest secrets. Kushina never expected to hear Ace talk so much nonetheless confide in two complete strangers. She never thought she'd see the day that he would share and talk about the things he's been through.
Continuing on as if he hadn't been interrupted, Ace says, “Aeris... Aeris was a strawberry blonde... with a very stuck-up attitude. She was arrogant and had an ego that could rival those that had finished the mission, DDA. But... man was she something special. She had eyes that sparkled in the moonlight, lips that were smooth and perky, and her hands that craved attention wanted by no other. She was always positive, outspoken, and had the charm of a model. She was...”
“We get it, we get it. She was amazing. Did you love her?” asked Andy.
Two hands came out of nowhere and smacked Andy on the head. As Andy turns, he sees Kushina glaring at him while Erik has an intense 'What the fuck' look on his face.
“Why the hell did you guys do that for?” yelled Andy snapping Ace out of his reverie.
“Anyways, he's not someone that's to be trusted,” said Ace as he stands up and brushes dirt off his pants.
“Wait! That's it?” complained Erik as he gets up as well.
Andy mutters, “Finally.”
Immediately Andy begins to walk away, but then he hears Erik say, “Oh yeah. I'm Erik, a fighter and that is Andy, a ranger. What are your names?”
“My name is Kushina, a Nightlord and my partner here is Ace, a Shadower,” explains Kushina as she shakes Erik's hand, “By the way, thanks for that. Really.”
“Like I said, no problem,” says Erik as he shrugs off the thanks, “We were attacked first and we weren't going to see someone die in front of us. Even if you guys were complete strangers.”
Andy turns around and hollers at Erik, “Hey it's time to go talk to Teo. We need to meet up for the mission.”
“Oh right yea! I'm coming!”
“Wait... Teo?” asked Kushina puzzled.
“Yeah..? What's it to you?” mutters Andy.
Kushina answers still in a puzzled tone, “Teo has a mission for us too.. We're supposed to meet him here in Lith Harbor.”
Excited, Erik bounces up and down, “Oh! Oh! Oh! Maybe it's a coordinated mission!”
“Maybe. We'll see,” says Andy.
Without another word, the four of them travel towards the pier where Teo had designated the meeting place. All along the way, Erik and Kushina are talking about their past missions and how many people they've met while Andy and Ace remained quiet all the way to Teo's place. But before even making it to the pier completely, they were stopped before a crowd. As they looked up, they saw that it wasn't only them that had been requested a mission. There were hundreds, if not thousands of adventurers crowded around the pier.
“Hey, what's going on?”
“Is this the meeting place?”
“Man, where the fuck is Teo?”
“Did he lie to us?”
“Oi! Get off of me, you fat ass!”
“Who are you calling a fatass?”
The ruckus between each adventurer got louder and louder as they all clamored to get the mission first. At last, Teo climbs onto a box and yells out, “EVERYONE SHUT UP AND CALM DOWN!”
As everyone began to calm down and quiet down, someone piped up arrogantly, “Hahaha, maybe you should calm down, old man. Or you're bound to pop a gasket.”
Teo looks down at the crowd and sees a group of warriors bundled together. Outraged he asked, “Who are you? State your name and class, you arrogant, piece of...”
“Alright, since you want it that way. Better to get it out there, who everyone's dealing with. My name is Flux. I'm going to trash everyone here for this mission. I'm a renowned Dark Knight of Perion. Better believe it!”
“Ha! That's nothing!” says someone near the harbor, “I'm Mars.”
The crowd gasped and moved back from the man claiming to be Mars. It was said that Mars was the first mage to complete the mission DDA and able to get back in one piece. (The mission DDA was to defeat one of the dark dragons that came once a year to cause damage to the world. The mission was to have whoever took on the mission as a solo would need to have an aether from the dragon's underbelly) He moved into view wielding an Elemental Staff 8 as it glowed with a lightning aura. “You think you're all that? Just because you're renowned in Perion? Sit your ass back down and shut up so Teo can let us know what is going on!”
Unable to retaliate, Flux sits back down glaring at Mars. All the while, Ace, Kushina, Erik, and Andy are now on the steps of the City Hall watching everything. Kushina and Erik are arguing on why people would be gathered here from all of the major cities while Ace stared at Teo. Teo starts to describe the mission that everyone here was able to participate in, but instead of a mission, it was a bounty placed on someone. As Teo begins to unfurl the wanted poster, Kushina gasps behind Ace. Erik and Andy turn around to stare at Ace.
The wanted poster was of Avarice for the reward of 2 billion mesos. Dead or Alive.
“Wait... what?”
“Whose Avarice?”
“That was so vague...”
“Okay, I'm out of here...”
“Dude! That's 2 billion mesos though!”
“2.. billion...?!”
“Where that nigga at!?”
All at once, everyone began clamoring an uproar until someone stood up and shouted, “Everyone shut the hell up! The fact is that someone is being hunted down, the reward is 2 billion mesos! I'm sorry Teo, but that information you gave us is too vague. I'd like a full explanation.”
Teo stuttered as he tried to explain as hordes of adventurers started pushing toward him, “Well.. You... You know it's a tad.. bit complicated.”
“That's enough, Teo. I'll explain it,” said someone as he steps out from the shadow of the crate.
Bowing and retreating from the person, Teo says, “My apologies, Kalyb.”
As Kalyb stepped out from the shadow, his appearance gave off a feeling of an elegant, distinguished man. Dressed in black overalls and a cloak that sparked lightning, he stood out. Even among the adventurers that were dressed with crazy assortment of armor.
“First of all, I'd like to introduce myself. I come from the guild Nobles. Along with myself, there are 5 others that are in that guild. We are not adventurers like you guys. We are of pure blood and all come from nobility. We stand on the side to judge what's good for the world and what must be wiped out,” said Kalyb as many adventurers stared on.
“This mission or on-the-hunt is described as dangerous among that of death. I would like to say this. This mission is not for the weak nor is it to those are of little faith. This will be harder than the mission DDA,” explained Kalyb.
At this moment, many adventurers gasped, but because of the lure of the reward money, they stayed and fought against their instinct to run.
“This man, Avarice, is seeking to recruit many into the dark guild, Nox Aeterna. They threaten to overthrow the world and plunge it into chaos. We, the Nobles, have sought adventurers to undergo this task and defeat Avarice and bring an end to his plots. Now, will you help us?” asked Kalyb as he spreads his arms out.
Ace stands up and in one moment, all eyes are locked onto him. He asks the obvious question that's bothering everyone, “Is he the only person we need to worry about?”
Kalyb looks straight at Ace, “No. There are much more.”
Understanding Ace looks at Kalyb, about to ask another question when he suddenly hears in his thoughts, Now is not the time to ask a question, Ace. Go forth on this journey and find Avarice.
Startled, Ace sees Kalyb smile as he says, “So, who will undertake this quest?”
All at once, every adventurer stood up with a fired-up look and as a group said, “We shall undertake this quest!”
“Excellent,” says Kalyb, but gets interrupted by someone.
Mars walks towards the middle and smirks, “Well.. Let's start the fun, Moris.”
“Haha, gladly,” replies the man that had stood up before.
As Ace glances toward the man, he realizes it was Moris, the crusader that he had fought in the past. Sensing the danger that was to come, he quickly turned around and shoved Kushina, Erik, and Andy down and attempted to cover them.
Kushina sputtered out, “What... What are you doing, Ace?”
No sooner than a second later, a dark cloud formed right above the man, Mars and Moris. Glancing behind him, Ace saw that Moris and Mars were covered in blood red aura that seemed to leak out from them. As he watches for that split second, Mars and Moris butt their firsts together.
“Let's roll.”
The sky splits and giant shards of ice rain down upon the adventurers. Screams filled the air as the shards crashed down on top of them. But amidst the chaos, Ace looks toward Moris, startled to find Moris staring straight at him. Moris grins and charges. Without a second thought, Ace bounds up and charges at the hero, while drawing up his blade and shield. Upon meeting blade with sword, a resounding sound is met with a sonic boom purely caused by the charge of both Moris and Ace.
“We meet again, Ace,” smirks Moris.
“This time you will die,” snarls Ace.
“We shall see about that. Mars now!” yells Moris as he leaps backwards.
Mars steps in and fires an arrow of ice towards Ace. Dodging it, Ace also leaps backward only to see Moris above him with a charge on his sword.
“PANIC!” shouts Moris as he slams downward at Ace.
Unable to do anything in mid-air, Ace raises his shield to block the incoming attack. The moment the sword and shield made contact, sparks flew as gravity pulls Ace towards the earth with Moris bearing down on him yelling, “DIE!”
With his back to the ground and his shield occupied, Ace immediately unclips his shield and shoves on it, surprising Moris as he pulls out another blade from the same sheath as his dagger. The moment his shield is unclipped, he lands on the ground and leaps upward at Moris again, this time with the intent to be on the offensive.
Spinning in mid-air, Ace spins like a deadly tornado aimed towards Moris. Without having the time to react completely, Moris is left to attempt to block the incoming attack by twisting his sword through the air. For a moment, it looks as if Moris is going to succeed but then with a slight twitch, Ace buries his dagger into Moris's left forearm. Catching onto that moment, Ace stops and slams his other hand down towards Moris's face. Left with no other option, Moris raises his right forearm and catches the hilt of the dagger. Locked in a deadly fight for each others' lives. They landed deadlocked with no other option than to press on with their strength.
At this time, Kushina looks on as Moris and Ace fights on with their lives on the line. Not knowing the ordeal that conspired between those two, she notices that the entire time, she was hesitating to go to Ace's aid. As she watches, she sees the archmage, Mars move to get a clean shot. Without another moment of hesitation, she steps toward Mars determined to stop him.
