A few miles out on the outskirts of the city, the Sword Saint stands in an open plain. The winds blowing Northward, headed to the skylines of the metropolis. She squinted her eyes and could notice shadowy humanoids standing around the city.
Six Great Mages then lower themselves from the skies and approach her. With the voice of a middle aged man, the Great Mage speaks to her with a trembling applause of angels as his tone was power itself, his voice, the very reason of the world.
“You can see it too, don’t you? The Watchers…”
“It has been done Sword Saint. You may rest easy knowing that they won’t be a problem for a long time. Though the other guilds with modern weaponry might become a problem for the people of this strange land. Your vision did say only they would be the ones out for blood.”
“By that time they awaken, I shall have a great army that will take all of them on. For now, I must return to Breznick and report to the King. Watch over the other guilds. I’ll keep helping you mages but you must make sure the underground society of Dark World VR, with all its fancy tech doesn’t go overboard. Eldwood had not sent the signal for the Men of the Woods to make their move. We might’ve saved ourselves.”
“Of course, these kids and teenagers controlling tanks, destroyers and planes would make anyone fear them, most of all the unsuspecting people of this strange world we’re in. The Mage's Association will still put itself in Neutrality alongside the Shine Guards. We will not move until we’ve been forced to do so. Many more are teleporting in as we speak, much is needed to be done.”
“Do you think you're that smart? We know you’ve been tapping into our chats through the use of magic. The God of this World had spoken to me, showed its face, and touched me. Eldwood was to come at this day and time. The wheel of fortune has started, the time is nigh for the world.”
“Ehehehehe, such an interesting thing. A world where Gods truly and conclusively exist. This will make the Churches and the Kings of this land’s rule as true and divine. I wonder… how will we carve ourselves out to this foreign land?” The Great Mage in his great white robe didn’t show his face to the Sword Saint, merely speaking in a distance behind her. “In this world, our power, the wisdom and intelligence our avatars hold had become real, I am now far more mature than I could ever hope to be. I hope you made the right decision.”
“Humu. But since you already know the dirtiest part of the community, most of all the Men of the Woods and I assume you know about the League of Modern Guilds. They are as machined as the tanks and planes they’ve built. Unless the Signal was sent by Eldwood to start their siege of the Dark Continent. They won’t move. This should at least give them a chance to understand the world has changed. WE have changed.”
“Oh why of course we know about them… in truth, the Mage's Association is also in on them. The use of modern methods helps us a lot in experiments concerning the new game Metas and strats. But now, it's all for life and death. At this moment, I’ve sent my best and brightest to test out the Altars and how Respawn works.”
“Please, keep an eye out for them. This world, the Gods, and its many hands. It dragged us here for a specific and open reason. I have a call now.” She turns to the barren open plains as the ocean that was supposed to be at the City’s port has now changed to a large lake that leads to a river that enters the center of a scenic mountain valley. “It wants me to join a party, a party of chosen people.”
“Then, I wish you good luck, Sword Saint. This world is new to all of us, we’ve all set to fully grasp what happened to us. Some are scared, some celebrate, some accept the situation.” The Mages instantly teleported themselves out of the area. The Sword Saint turns around in her background, the frozen skyline of the city and the lake itself had turned into a perfect flat icy ground.
Turning around, a few thousand players from Breznick and Libertus, who were all ready to counterattack the city had found themselves in a strange place. The mountains that once protected the city’s far outskirts had changed. Though the plains were still there, the terrain had vastly modified itself. “Players! Do not panic! We’ve gotten ourselves into a problem. As we crossed the tunnel out of the city, we entered an entirely different world.”
Much of the players just looked confused, their differing uniforms and armor filling the greenery as a joint Knight parade from both Breznick and Libertus made their way through there respective armies and to the Sword Saint. “What in God’s name do you mean by this? Why does my body actually feel heavy?!”
At a cobblestone street, a crier was by the side of the road. “NEWS! Elven Emperor Dydares had changed his policy further on Humans! Citing the recent rearmament of the Kingdom of Vitas as a possibility of an end of the Era! Nobles of the Kingdom respond to keep calm and enjoy the Era of Peace!” Inside the massive city, walled by porcelain and gold.
The buzzling Kingdom was beyond one’s eyes could muster. Where the houses lay as far as the eye can see and with massive ornate concrete walls coloured in white and gold covering the outline of the city to keep it protected, the nearer you are to the center, where the gigantic white castle lay, the better the living status of the people while near the walls gates is where the more normal citizens stay, where the usual darb style of the medieval houses made from stone and wood is the norm.
The contrast can be seen when you have a birds eye view of the city. Though all of the houses were brightly painted, the ones near the center had more space and land, together with more rare metals on their roofs. But the ones in the Commoner’s areas didn’t let up the fight, having put colorful uniformed tiles on their houses alongside waving flags of the Noble families of the Kingdom or just their business.
In the downtown part, a famed Adventurers Guild lay. A building full of decorations inside and outside. From the various shields that lay plastered on the wall inside its main lobby to the large sign outside the three story building in a foreign language unknown to the players.
There, all sorts of colorful adventurers and people come and go, from Mages draped in colorful robes and staffs, to Archers and Swordsmen in chainmail or iron armor. It was bustling and not one moment passed when an interesting character wasn’t passing by. Oftentimes, there was no one there in leather armor except a handful who used high quality materials.
On the very corner of the building, a party of four is having a lively chat about taking quests. An average looking man in light armor with a very young voice is loudly speaking in the group. The natives of the land were flourishing and their overall atmosphere was very positive even though the Demon Lord of the land breathed upon the current peace.
A young man in light plate armor with chainmail underneath was standing up on the corner. With his hands up, he is animated and brimming with life as the people on the benches looked at him intently. “I say we go take quests about helping the folks out in the village, Pierence!” But a man wearing a gambeson and has a large Longbow strapped on his back interdicts. His voice is also very young, crass and youthful “I say we do, I like hunting Orcs out in the forest of Derval! This is also a chance for me to continue learning about their weaknesses! Grifvet, let’s go!”
A tall woman with long black hair, wearing a beautiful mage robe then steps in with a voice that could calm an angry giant standing up with her arms crossed. Shrugging her head. “I say we go to another Guild building and find better paying quests. The Capital wasn’t all it made it out to be. All of the best jobs are often taken.”
Sitting by the window, a girl with long sharp ears touches the glass as the rest of the houses on the entire street had none such luxuries, with the Adventurer's building being one of the only places in the district with something of that sort on their windows. “But Eattare, we’ll have to go through the city and head to the East gate.” The elf with short red hair in the table puts her hands down on the table, and with the voice of a youthful woman, she screams with great energy.
“I say we head to the East gate and get ourselves some more interesting quests than hunting Orcs in the open!” The group is silenced by her straightforward approach, Grifvet then stands up. “Well… Pierence and I wanted too-” Quickly, the Elf butted in his line of thought. “As someone who had lived far longer than any of you combined. We will never become someone if we keep hunting Orcs. Their weakness is apparent and easy to exploit. We need something else if we wish to become something.”
Hearing this, Grifvet starts to nod. “We heard the lady speak. Let’s go!” Pierence through just rested his cheek on his hand, sighing. “Miss Ingraine Il-Umen, you should get a job in the Kingdom’s political sector or something since you can sway our leader with no effort at all.” She just had a valiant smile on her face as they all started to get up and move out of the building.
“Ingraine, I believe it's better if we focus on a task that’s only a tinge higher than the previous.” As they walk to the door, the Elf nods to the Magic user of the group. Having her hand up her chin, slowly rubbing it. The girl looks down on the wooden floor. “Don’t worry. In the months that I’ve been traveling with the party. I’ve gotten a good idea of how far we can take things.”
As they were about to leave the building, a party of three Knights clad in intimidating enchanted armor stepped in loudly through the front door. Unlike everyone in the building, their armor was gilded to a level only Nobles could afford. Not one part of the metal wasn’t engraved and etched by iconography. With heavy steps in their thick plate armor, the trio looked as if they were prepared for a major war.
One of them, with metal horns on his helmet, opens his pouch and reveals the head of an Orc Commander in hand. The entire lobby stares at the huge Knights with visible blood on their expensive armor that covers them from head to toe, not a hint of skin visible as even underneath, their chainmail was tightly packed together and their gambeson had extra layering on top.
They looked at the lobby with an intense stare and slowly walked to the desk. The beautiful clerk was thoroughly shocked at the figure of three hulking Knights. Though distorted by the big helmets they’re wearing, the voice of a mature man is heard. “Is this the Guild house ma’am? I believe we could cash this in here?” The Clerk replies with a trembling voice. “Mhm, yes. This is the Guild house of West Gate.”
“I’d like to submit this Orc Commander’s head. The reward was Two thousand Aeralous coins. Am I correct? If you could, just hand me two hundred Gold coins.” He then reveals his Adventurer’s ID to the Clerk and the parchment for the request that was marked by an organization whose logo is a Sword Cross. “O-o-of course. Please take it.”
The Clerk then starts rummaging through her denominations, the hulking Knight just veering his sight to his left and right and could feel the weight of the stares from the people. With a sigh, the frail looking woman then hands him a coin pouch. “Tha-nk you for your service, Sir Knights.”
With his best tone, he bowed his head and merely replied with a slow “You're welcome.” This made her bow her head in return as well.
The Knight places the Orc Commander's head at the desk and collects the coins, using their teleportation magic to make it disappear. They then slowly walk outside and into the lively crowd in the street where they soon disappeared into.
After a few more seconds of silence, the building goes back to what it was doing. Though Grifvet couldn’t handle himself as he lifted his hands. “Man! They looked so cool! I wonder what Noble family they came from? Aw! The Dragons flying to the Tower was already enough to make the trip worthwhile but to see actual Knights!”
Eattre though had her hand up her cheek as she squinted her eyes. “I’ve never seen those Knights before. A lot of weird people have been popping up since the last few months. Not even my father would wear armor like that so freely in streets like these. Could they be from a Duke’s retinue? Such gilded and extravagant armor to be worn to kill an Orc Commander is not just a waste of it but a misuse in many such cases.”
Grifvet though just shrugged his head. “Who cares. That was so awesome! Did you see their swords? Even the scabbard was made of metal and it had etchings into it! Aw… how I’d love to one day own such things.”
Ingraine though had her long sharp ears twitch. “I’ve only heard rumors but when I first came to Dragovh to see the Kingdom of the Dragons. They said that strange people with armor never seen before started to flood regions. Some say they could just be the Kingdom building new armies.” Eattare nodded at her but she was still squinting her eyes.
“Though it is common knowledge that we live in an Era of Peace, in the last few decades though. All of the Kingdoms have been gifted with great Kings that birthed children that could carry the mantle to even further heights.”
“I suggest we stay away from those types. I don’t trust people wearing armor like that in public! As great as it was, I never saw anything like that myself like Eattare had said!” Though Pierence had supported the two girls, Grifvet’s face tells an entirely different story.
“Though I do not think there’s much wrong with them. They came in, submitted their quest item and even politely thanked the woman behind the counter.”
“Grif, Don’t you think it's weird that they don’t know that this is the Guild house if they were Nobles? And if they are foreigners, where are there troops and servants? I don’t know. I think it's best if we listen to the girls and stay away from their types.”
“I-I guess. Though they are a bit off, I didn’t really sense any harm in them. They felt more afraid than we were.”
“Maybe, but something still feels wrong about them. From how they look and show themselves. You know they’re on an entirely different level from us, and I’ve never heard that accent before. It's as if they only learned the language a few months ago.”
Eattare’s eyes opened wide as she nodded to Pierence. “That’s true. Those Knights seemed so lifeless, as if what they did was just a chore. But killing that Orc Commander meant they walked in a hardened and well defended cave and killed everyone inside it till the last floor with not a single dent on their armor.” Eattare and Pierence both then just stopped on their feet, as if to feel a slight tremble from what these trio had just accomplished and in such a manner.
“I swear I saw that quest up only yesterday, you must be a monster to be able to clear such a dangerous place overnight.”
“Yes exactly! So let’s try to avoid them if we can. Most of all, you Grifvet. These aren’t the heroic Knights you're looking for.”
Grifvet on the other hand just bowed and nodded his head. But then, proceeds to raise his hand. “I’ll try but I’d want to talk to them and ask how they reached such levels! They’re swordsmanship must be through the Gods!” they just shrugged their heads and sighed. “Pierence, please keep an eye out for him. I am already busy enough with Ingraine’s shenanigans.”
The party then drops the conversation and strolls outside into the crowd.
As they walk through the lively city, merchants selling various items from silk carpets to swords and magical items litter the streets. The colorful block is full of life and the masses are just as unique, from Commoners, Squires, the Clergy, and even the usual Patrol around the block was all together with the occasional wagon hauling goods from everywhere.
High above, Grifvet and Ingraine both couldn’t waver their sights at the Dragons flying high above. With special struts and Dragonware. They have cargo crates hoisted below their bellies held by four extremely thick ropes, transporting to the gigantic towers on the outskirts of the city, just by the walls.
As the party moves through the rabble of the city, Eattare and Ingraine gets distracted by the wonderful new clothing that came from the North. While Grifvet and Pierence sat their eyes on some enchanted swords and bows. The party took longer than expected and it was afternoon when they reached the East gate’s Guild building. This one looks more like a normal two-story medieval building.
Though it still held glass windows, it's not as well maintained and the decorations weren't as extravagant as the other one.
The party moves inside and sees an old man at the desk, he smiles warmly and greets the party. “Welcome to the East gate Guild building! Please take a gander at our quest board next to me. It's not much but I hope you’ll be able to find one that’ll fit what you're looking for.”
They all respectfully bowed their heads while Ingraine was already at the board. She had to be dragged by Eattare and made her bow. “Again, this is a custom here. Respect the elders no matter where.” she just does as the Humans did and then proceeds back to the quest board.
It has minimal quests posted on the board but the party still checks and sees if there’s any interesting ones. Ingraine’s elven ears lift as she finds one with the logo of the Kingdom. “Everyone! Look at this one!”
The party looks to the bottom right of the board and sees a quest offering 300 Gold Aeralous Coins. This made them look at the paragraph immediately.
“I apologize for the parchment used but this had to be hastily done. Last seen, center of the Forest of Treuat, East of the Holy City in my region of Hartforc. An unknown Beast/Human/Demon capable of killing at an extremely high rate is devastating the local population of animals. Please proceed with Caution.
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I am willing to provide accommodation and a free spot at the Adventurer’s Building in the town nearest to it. Funded by my colleagues in the Ministry of Magic as their curious at what creature could cause such an outrageous kill count in such a short time.”
-The Ministry of Magic and Mages-
-Baron Teagnos of Hartforc-
Grifvet and Ingraine immediately sees the uncommon request, most of all, it coming from a Noble of all places. “A Baron… and three hundred gold coins and we can help the entire region?! Girls! I think I know what we’ll be doing next! Nice idea with us checking this place!”
Eattare then reads it closely with Ingraine. The two heavily scrutinized it from head to toe till the Magician of the group nodded. “Indeed this is genuine but... Hmmm… do you think we can take this on? This seems quite heavy for us.”
The party members look at one another, with competence brimming in their eyes. Pierence and Eattare see the confidence and with no questions asked, they both agree.
“Heh, I say we can. Let’s go and test ourselves!”
“Yea! Let’s go.”
The party immediately takes the paper and heads to the desk where they sign a contract taking the quest. The old but wise Clerk smiles at the teenagers, excited to go on an adventure.
“The Adamantium Party. What an ironic name, youngsters these days. Be careful now, they say a Demon from another world came down and started massacring the animals there.”
“Don’t worry sir, we’re all above Level Fifty! By the standards of the Church, we should be more than capable of handling a Demon! Lady Yuwah here is also from the Nobility, she can cast divine magic!”
Eattare then shows her Adventurer’s Card which the old man kindly takes a look at. Bowing his head respectfully before doing so.
Full name: Eattare Yuwah
Class/Type: Magician
Level: 62
Origin: Capital City of James. Inner District.
And on the bottom right was the stamp of the Holy See and the Kingdom of James overlapping each other’s seals with a third one, that of the Yuwah Family.
She flips it back and it shows the various skills she has collected over years of training and adventuring. The old man nodded at it and took the quest paper. Marking it as in progress with her name on the taker which was also specially marked. The trio on the other hand was already planning the logistics and route they must take to get there.
“Hmm… the forest of Treuat is a bit far. We might have to take a carriage there. Do we have enough supplies?”
“We do. If Ingraine doesn’t eat much of our rations on the way there.”
“Mhm-mhm! Let’s go!’
In a good mood, the party heads to the huge gate of the city, they show their Adventurer Cards at the Guards which lets them through. Outside of the gate is a station, full of carriages headed to different parts of the continent. Some have trips lasting 2 weeks to months without delay on their signboards, recommending people to pack as much food as possible.
After some searching, the night begins to hover above them, the gleam of the city walls was dimmed but the lights instead replaced it and the party finds a carriage being pulled by four horses headed to the Kingdom of Leylua which Ingraine’s eyes caught. “Wait! This one should be able to take us there!” Upon closer inspection on the placard by its driver, it also says they’ll be stopping near Treuat before going to Leylua. “I knew it! I’ve been there before!”
The party rummages through the crowd of people and talks to the driver. The coach man’s rough tone is heavy and apparent but understandable.
“Yer headin’ to Leylua, Wood Elf gal? I haven’t seen much fer your kin’ round’ ‘ere. I heard ye Elves have a big floatin’ city.”
“Ah! That’s Elvennur, sir in the Empire. We’re headed to the forest of Treuat! And I am a Wood Elf! Not a High Elf! I know know of the Great Tree!”
“Yer. Hop in when yer ready. It’ll cost ya’ a fraction since it ain’t even halfway.”
Grifvet obviously sees through this but doesn’t interdict as Eattare steps in.
“What about Two Fourths instead? Treuat is not that far by carriage. Even a fraction would take us to the next two regions over.” The Driver, upon seeing the tall beautiful mage in her purple magic robe is left in silence. “Errrr, she seems like she’s from a Noble family.” After some thinking, the carriage driver lays a new price.
“A’ight, a’ight. Forty Aeralous bronze coins.”
“Thank you.”
The party enters the carriage and it leaves after a few minutes. As the Moon and its little friend fly over the sky, the swaying lanterns placed on the wagon’s sides is all that gives light to the dark forest.
The group then passes through an immense open plain, where the small leaves follow the blowing of the wind and the Moon’s figure lights it up at night. The beautiful landscape still captivates the young adventurers as the carriage moves through the dirt road at pace with the Capital city’s wonderful skyline leaving them for good at the behind.
After a few hours, Ingraine and Grifvet had completely fallen asleep even on the bumpy ride, with their heads resting on their hands. Eattare and Pierence though were both still awake, sitting next to one another, Pierence had gulped his saliva and turned to her. “Did you find anything good in the shopping district?” With his messy black hair, the Magician of the group couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his unkempt look.
“Nothing much, though the fluffy clothing from the North seemed like something I could use to not only keep myself warm but also as a sleeping cushion.”
“Well… you know I came from the South. I am sure its pelt must be made from a rare beast of sorts. No wonder it requires that kind of currency. The feeling of it must’ve been great and the quality, far beyond what we hunt in our village.”
“Oh! I did hear that up Northeast, a frozen city has become a place of resting for Demon Beasts. Something is attracting them to it and the Kingdom of Meilurious is sending letters to Adventurers from everywhere to come and remove it.”
“Ugh, not those of all things. We almost all got killed when we fought a Magrave Wolf. I’ve only fought normal Wolves before so that was surprising. To think that was only a bit of Demonic mutation. What more if it was actual Demon beasts? Not even my arrows could do anything to that.”
“But the thing that got the Mage's association riled up is that they say it's a strange looking city, with structures that looked like stacked boxes that’s even higher than the Castle of Saviours. It's just rumors though, but if I get a chance to go back home. I might be able to land us a better job and raise our reputation even higher than before.” She then starts twiddling with her fingers as she looks out to the dark forest, there was nothing lingering in its shrouded shade as the carriage pushes on to the countryside.
“That’s impossible, it took the Kingdom of James almost a decade to complete that castle, right? Stacking them like boxes could be a great feat of engineering. And it's in Meilurious. A trip there could take us three to four months… more if winter caughts up with us on the way there.”
“It's true though, and something Evil is within that city they say. As Demon Beasts flock it like a Stronghold. As if an ore of pure mana is underneath it, bringing them together to rest on its lands.”
“I guess it has the same smell of the Demon Lord's army. That should be the only explanation unless these people make Demons themselves. From what I’ve learned so far, Demons love a place where the dead roam. That place must’ve had a great number of undead to draw them there.”
“Let’s hope not. An army of undead sleeping under a frozen city is the least we need. Though there are great people living in our age, there’s only a handful of them from the billions that live and breathe daily on this planet.”
Silence then falls again and a bit curious about what Eattare thinks, Pierence once again starts a conversation.
“There’s been a lot of strange figures lately. I’ve even heard a Sword Saint has appeared from nowhere.”
“It's strange. Though the Kingdom has said it's a blessing from the Gods, there has never been an Era where so many great people are alive together.” Pierence the tilted his head, making Eattare breathe in as she gathered her thoughts. “In the books of history, it's usually only one Hero or one Sword Saint. Only in the First Era was there multiple Heroes, led by Deus Vrax. The only time this happened again was when the Vampire Queen tried to take over the world but that was long ago and the date is often disputed and if they were all truly even together.”
“A-ah yes! I still remember that story from my Grandfather. The only time when a Hero and a Sword Saint existed.”
“Exactly, so what’s happening right now that requires so much Heroes and Saints? What requires the help of these foreign people whose origins we do not know?”
The Carriage rattles a bit from the rocky dirt road as it enters a dense forest. The beautiful Moon and its orbiting friend is suddenly engulfed by the huge trees and thick jungle. “But hey, I heard the Sword Saint’s an absolute beauty! Clad in Golden armor with a Sword that could be seen from miles with its shine!” Eattare shushes the excited Pierence as their sleeping friends are calmly resting.
“Oops.”
“Now, I’ve also heard rumors when I was out shopping.”
“Hm? Of what?”
“Four legged Dragons, they say that in Geraldia. The Knights of Gareth fought one and brought it down.”
“Four legged Dragons? Weren’t there only a handful left? Why would one fight Gareth who respects the Dragon Kingdom greatly?”
“Indeed, but there’s just so much happening right now. As if the world itself imploded for a day or two and we received a great deal of problems from nowhere that’s been balling up for the last few months.”
“Man, the last few months have been hectic. So many new people and things to see. It’s never been like this… I even heard there was a movement of foreigners going against the sale of Servants. I remember that they said even the Elves helped the Humans in thwarting that effort.”
“I think something big is happening, it has been the Fourth Era and this has been the longest time that the Kingdom of Vitas haven't made a move.”
“Do you think?”
“I hope not… but if so, we must be ready.”
Soon, Pierence falls asleep and Eattare looks at him with a smile, to acknowledge his attempt to break the silence of the trip. After a few minutes, she also succumbs to the night and sleeps.
After what seems to be hours, the carriage comes to a sudden halt in the middle of the dense jungle. The driver hops down from his seat and knocks on the door of the carriage.
“C’MON! WAKE UP YER YOUNGSTERS!”
The party slowly wakes up from the loud screaming of the driver. They hastily pick up their items and head out the carriage in a messy manner, Grifvet almost missing the step and directly hitting the dirt road face first. Eattare who’re already ready to go, immediately walke up to the driver and a pouch was thrown at his hand.
“Here’s your payment. Thank you.”
“Yer. Be careful now. They say somethin’ lurks’ in these parts. Wagons from Leylua say of a great Evil has come from another.”
“Don’t worry!” Ingraine wobbles a bit, but she again regains her stance. “We know what we’re doing!”
Pierence and Grifvet, still a bit aloof from waking up, pick up their packs and they head off West, into the forest. Eattare and Ingraine cast light magic and ten small balls of light hover around the party as they navigate the dense forest in the early morning.
As they walked through the darkened path, they could hear all sorts of creatures, from Wolves howling to roaring far away from their location.
The party then approaches a small river with calm water flowing through it. The forest gives them enough space to place their individual tents and call it a night. Everyone was so tired from it all that they did as they were due and went and rested as soon as possible.
The next morning, the calming flow of the river and the chirping birds give them a warm rise of the foreign sun. The sounds of the forest calm their nerves and they head out of their tents where they perform some exercises and ready their clothes.
The party gathers around the Campfire they made that morning and Ingraine starts the conversation with a happy and upbeat aura. “Okay! First deal of the day is to find any evidence of what this creature might be!”
The party seemed to then shift into a more serious tone, with Grifvet deep in thought. He then opens up. “The best thing we can do is find remains or carcasses. I’m sure we can find some with this savage.” With a thumbs up, the Elf lady smiled at the would-be Swordsman. “Mhm-mhm! I like that idea!”
But then, Eattare then speaks up with her usual respectful tone. “And if it's a powerful mage using magic. We’ll be able to sense it and most of all, me and Ingraine should immediately feel the shift in the Mana if an attack were to come.” Knowing the dangers of a quest like this, Pierence fires up. Skillfully sipping his knives as he tips his head. “I’ll scout ahead, I haven’t jumped through trees for a few days now!”
The party unanimously agrees to each of their suggestions and heads off into the forest. Using simple telekinetic magic, the party members communicate to each other.
“Dang it, this type of shrubbery is bad for my armor’s joints!”
“Grif, that’s still way better than being up here in the branches,
“No signs yet of anything. Two of you in the front, stay vigilant.”
Ingraine, deep in her element, swerves through ahead of Grifvet and Eattare.
“Follow me, I’m sensing something North of us. It's powerful, very powerful.”
Ingraine jog towards where she’s feeling an intense amount of Mana.
“This isn’t normal…”
“What about it?” The Elf then turns around, her usual upbeat expression was gone as she looked at them right in the eyes. “The Mana, it’s not flowing outward like usually it does when a creature or human is using magic. It’s actually going into it…” she then turns around once again, looking down to the forest. “Are we truly sure about this?”
The party continues moving as Eattare questions if this thing was truly worth it. All of them use telekinetic magic to communicate in hopes of staying silent and not spooking the creature.
“We’ve made worse decisions and made it through alive. Just keep going for now.”
Continuing their walk, the most armored of the group couldn’t help but put his finger on this phenomenon. It was only when he saw the skull of a dead cow did he jump. “This is bad. Everyone!” Grifvet runs to Ingraine and stops her jogging by holding her arm. “O-o-ouch! That’s hurting me!” He let go of her and looked at the rest of the party. “Let’s all gather together right now.”
Following his order, they made a small circle with Ingraine still visibly angry and pouting at Grifvet for suddenly pulling her back. “What is it? You seem like you just met a dead relative.”
“I remember this kind of mana flow. From the old books about great Knights slaying Ancient Dragons, Dedatorus Demons, Gods, and even the presence of Heroes. Do you guys know the tale of Sir Caine the Knight of the Stars?”
“I do, my father has a lot of books in our library and that’s about the founder of the Silver Knights of Leylua.”
“And do you know what it says in the book, before he got fought and got killed by the great Red Ancient Dragon? Or when he met someone trying to revive the corpse of Mors Letum? This person strong enough to be considered a Demigod?”
“If I remember correctly, the Mana was flowing into the Volcanic Cave at the rate of speed that was unforeseen before and even Wyverns wouldn’t go near the Volcano.”
“EXACTLY. So don’t you guys think this is an extremely bad idea to continue forward?”
Ingraine still annoyed steps up. She points her finger at Grifvet who is visibly disturbed by what is happening. “Then how about this, we just see what it is, for all we know, this might be a new creature created by the Demon Lord to mess with us. Stories of the old are famous throughout the continents and I’m sure he’s trying to use this to mess with us.”
“I don’t know… what if this was some ancient Demon of sorts? Or a super huge Dragon? Were useless against something like that. Heck, I think it might sense us miles before we even sense it.”
“C’mon guys, are we really gonna let his pass? An opportunity to meet something from the old tales? We even joked around back then that it's impossible for those stories to be real. But now, we have a real chance to prove it as real. We will never become someone if we pull out from an opportunity like this.”
“Yea, but we would be inside the belly of an undefeatable Demon or burnt to a crisp by a huge Dragon that even the continent's most powerful Knights would be unable to take down.”
“Don’t kill the quest now Grifvet! We came all this way just to give up like this?”
“Well I apologize for thinking about everyone’s safety. All of us still have parents to return to, you know.”
As the two were about to have an argument, Eattare and Pierence stepped in to break the two.
“Look, okay guys, let’s meet halfway. Let’s return to the Kingdom, report this to the Ministry and let them deal with this okay?”
“You guys do that. As an Elf, I cannot let this pass. My people have suffered long and hard from Earth and Volcanic Dragons. I must see this myself!”
Obviously stressed, Pierence gives in to Ingraine’s demands to calm her down. “Okay, okay, how about we go to it. But the moment we see trouble, we’ll run okay?”
“This is crazy! You're gonna get us all killed!”
“You know how Ingraine is, the moment she makes up her mind, she’s gonna complete it no matter what. We have no choice.” Pierence looks at Ingraine straight at her eyes.
“Just so you know, I hope you're prepared to carry our corpses back to the Kingdom. We’ll go with you since we’re friends, but I hope you can carry the responsibility of endangering us all for your selfish curiosity.”
Grifvet unsheathes his short sword and puts his shield up while Pierence pulls out his special tipped arrows. Eattare opens her spellbook and prepares stun and speed spells and Ingraine just hastily walks forward, determined to find out what’s been doing the killings.
The party collects itself and the young Elven girl once again follows the trail. After walking for about ten minutes with Grifvet’s noisy light metal armor clanking, they started smelling rotten flesh and the air became heavier and the mana flow became even more aggressive.
The party then enters a small open area in the woods. In the middle is a huge pileup of carcasses, mostly Wolves, Orcs, Cows, Deers and even Demon Beasts.
Everyone was in absolute shock, but they sensed as if whatever was far away, they stepped out to check if it's the source of the disturbance in the Mana flow. It's known that places where a lot of dead rest becomes areas possible for the birthing of a Demon.
Suddenly, a strong wind hits the party members and Pierence is thrown off of the tree he’s on. The party collects itself and out of nowhere, they’ve been immobilized, unable to move an inch. To their front, large steps are heard with low roaring.
As the steps come closer, the ground seems to shake from the sheer weight of the beast. Grifvet being the Knight was in front of the group when they’re about to check the carcasses. He sees gigantic two golden glowing eyes nearing him, as it moves, the large trees that could be Three hundred fifty feet tall easily fall like weightless blocks.
The party members start panicking while Ingraine is deep in thought on what she could do. After seconds of grueling panic, the gigantic head of a jet black dragon pops out. Its armored scales gleaming as the morning star shines on its skin. Grifvet, only being 5 '10 tall, looks like an ant to the gigantic dragon head that could easily be One hundred fifty feet in height.
The entire party is absolutely shocked at the gigantic Dragon and out of nowhere, the voice of a motherly woman with a calming but commanding tone speaks to them, to their shock, the sound wasn’t coming from the forest, but through their heads like their current method of speaking.
“Humans, why hath thee wandered into thy forest?”
Suddenly, they’ve been able to move their mouths and speak. Ingraine was quickly filled with dread. Speaking up to save her friends.
“WE WERE SENT HERE TO INVESTIGATE THE KILLINGS OF ANIMALS! PLEASE LET US GO!”
The gigantic black dragon leans forwards to speak to Ingraine, though its mouth is not moving. The ancient winged reptilian beast instead continues to use magic to convene with the mere mortals chatting it up.
“Ah, I’ve been careless. I apologize. It’s been so long since I fed on something that isn’t undead or corrupted. I apologize if my words aren’t as clear, I am still very new to this language. I’ve only learned from those daring enough to walk to my frozen lair.”
Grifvet though was still very astonished by it all started asking questions instead of running. “Why are you here? Did the Demon Lord send you?”
“Oh my, what a strong child. I can feel your fear. It's overflowing your body yet you stand before me and ask me these questions. Nay, the stand before no man or creature… I am Bahamut! The Dragon God of the Abyss! One that sleeps in the Void, my breath is death, my wings are calamity itself, my tail more swift than the mightiest whip and my scales, impregnable even by swords that have been folded for thousands of times.”
Eattare and Pierence on the other hand are visibly scared, thinking of multiple ways to escape the giant Dragon’s presence.
“P-Please, don’t kill us.”
“THIS IS CRAZY! WE HAVE TO GO!”
Seeing them act in such a way, the Dragon then lowers its head down to the soil. Letting its chin rest on the ground as she just breathed out.
“Don’t fear, I shalt not do that. Someone whom I care about would be angry if I did. Though please bear in mind I’m still of the Dragonkin. A proud race of ancient beasts that’s feared throughout the lands. I mean you no harm. Master… he would not like it if I were to harm his fellow men without due reason.”
The party’s been released from their immobilized state. Eattare, Ingraine and Pierence immediately fall to the ground from sheer terror of the magnificent beast in front of them. Grifvet, with his legs locked, was unable to run, though he wanted to.
“Poor children. Here, let me calm thy nerves.”
Out of nowhere, the party’s members suddenly calmed down. Though they’re still afraid of the gigantic dragon in front of them, they no longer feel the urgency to run or fight.
“Such magic… wha-what did you do?”
“Huh?! What?”
“I’m one of the greatest Dragon Gods, titled as the Queen of the Red and Black Dragons. It is only natural for me to know magic beyond human or demon comprehension. This magic was made even before Men and Elf could record their history. Before valleys were formed.”
The massive Dragon leans even more forward to the small man.
“Child, do not worry. I do not know of my kind here, I only know of my kind from another place. Far from here.”
“You're a-a-a-a…. Dragon God, right?”