Lloyd could feel the brisk spring breeze weave and wick at the sweat and dirt accumulating on his skin. Faint smells of flowers and Magnolia surfed along the air currents. The surrounding forest softly creaked with the pressure of the wind. Taking a deep breath, Lloyd stepped forward, a stick cracking underneath. Lloyd tightened the grip on the pair of simple leather-wrapped hilt, iron shortswords in his hands. They were crafted by his adopted father, the Soulsmith in his town, specifically tailored to his soul. With more than fifteen years of training, the blades were an extension of himself. He would need that training now.

A loud, low cacophony of croaks shot out from the forest floor before him. Forty feet in front of Lloyd stood a wall of over a dozen foot-tall frogs. Their throat expanded as they emitted their battle cries. The oversized frogs came in all shades of colors. Some had large black spikes growing from their skin, while others appeared slimy and toxic. All of them varied except for one thing. Their eyes. They glowed a fiery red, telltale signs of a Corrupted.

"Triangle formation!" Regal yelled.

As well trained as Lloyd was with the swords, it was nothing compared to his brother. That brother, Regal, was running to the front of the group. Regal stood more than a head taller than Lloyd, with wide, broad shoulders that befit him as the warrior he was. Regal sported short black hair and deep dark brown eyes. His caramel skin was tough and made him a battling bulwark. Where most Altered people would take a swing from a sword and potentially lose a limb, Regal would come away with a small cut, if any damage at all. There was only one moment in his life that Lloyd had seen his brother get cut badly enough that he was genuinely concerned.

Looking left, Lloyd saw his friend Cassius take up a position behind Regal. Cassius was almost as tall as Regal but much thinner. Unlike Lloyd and his brother, Cassius didn't use any traditional weapons. Lloyd caught a glint of blue electricity cascade around Cassius' closed fists as he cracked his neck and flexed his muscles. Lloyd was extremely jealous of that. He wanted nothing more than to trade his swords in for powers. To be Altered. To be more like his brother or his friend.

Proving they were more than loud noises, the giant frogs began leaping toward the men. The frogs hopped along the forest floor, weaving through the trees and over branches and roots. A wave of the amphibians crashed against Regal while a half dozen rushed past, heading towards Cassius and Lloyd.

Lloyd squared up against his enemies, choosing to sheath his swords and draw his bow, which was slung on his back. One, a lime green frog with purple spots and black spikes jutting from the top of its head. The other one was slightly smaller, bright blue with green streaks. The same thing that Altered humans, Corrupted animals. Lloyd nocked and loosed an arrow at the smaller frog, its sharp point penetrating one of its eyes before it could dodge. The blue frog quickly collapsed onto the ground as its companion stopped its charge to look at it. The remaining foot-tall frog released a loud, low croak before crouching backward and hopping toward Lloyd. He tossed his bow onto the ground before unsheathing his swords.

Even though the amphibian started its leap from over eight feet away, Lloyd knew it would close the gap. The frog shot its tongue at Lloyd, which sported similar, smaller black spikes. He avoided the bulk of the frog by side-stepping but caught the tip of its tongue on his right shoulder. The brief brush didn't alter his movements much as he slashed his sword in an arc toward the beast. His swing was a little slow and only made contact with the beast's rear leg. A red slash appeared, and the frog landed into a limp upon hitting the ground, leg still attached. The frog took a moment to turn around, now sitting a dozen or so feet away. Twisting in place, Lloyd reacquired his target, sliding the sword into its sheath and shifting to his bow on his back. Arrow nocked, Lloyd released the arrow towards the frog. It attempted to hop out of the way but caught the arrow in the gut. Its momentum carried it toward Lloyd again, but he dodge-rolled out of the way this time. A sharp pain pierced his shoulder as he rolled on the ground. Wincing slightly, Lloyd re-equipped his swords and slashed towards the frog. It was ready for his slash and whipped its tongue to redirect the swing from his left sword. Lloyd took the chance to drive his other sword into one of its eyes, where it stayed lodged. Quickly backstepping, Lloyd took a moment to evaluate his enemy.

The frog stumbled-hopped like a drunkard coming out from the tavern at two in the morning and turned to Lloyd. The Corrupted opened its mouth and then promptly plopped onto the ground. Its tongue skidding out of its mouth.

Realizing the fight might be over for him, but not the rest of his group, Lloyd turned to take in the rest of the situation on the battlefield. Lloyd could hear Cassius was still fighting. The crackle of lightning coming off his fist must have connected with one of their opponents because Lloyd could smell the Corrupted creature cooking from where he stood. There was only one remaining enemy in front of Cassius, and Lloyd felt confident it would soon have lighting cascading through its soon-to-be Corrupted corpse. Lloyd looked toward his brother, who had the lion's share of the fight.

Regal was taking a literal tongue lashing from a bright blue frog with a yellow face behind him, although it seemed to inflict no damage. He was focused more on the rainbow-colored frog covered in warts. Lloyd nocked an arrow to shoot at his brother's backside opponent. Pulling back, the string sent shooting waves of pain through his shoulder. Fighting through it, without losing track of his target, Lloyed loosed the arrow. It found its mark a moment later, turning the frog towards him. He briefly looked at his shoulder and saw the slash where the previous attack must have hit. The cut was more profound than he thought, and it had already started turning red with green puss pushing out of it. Looking back, he saw that Regal had taken care of the frog he had tagged, and all the men had started to converge on one another.

"Woo hoo!" Cassius shouted as he stretched his neck and rolled out his back as he walked towards the other two. Lloyd could see that Cassius took a few hits. His exposed arms and legs were pot-marked with cuts and bruises. Without a healer's intervention, they would likely be healed in a few days. What he wouldn't give to be an Altered, Lloyd thought to himself as he briefly looked at his shoulder, which had now started to pulse with pain. Thin, flowing green streams of what Lloyd could only imagine was poison began to flow out from the confluence of the initial wound. It was spreading pretty quickly.

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"That was awesome. I can't freaking wait until tomorrow, man. Just imagine how many we will be able to take out then." Cassius continued, then quickly looked over his wounds. Lloyd noticed this and saw that

Cassius did seem to have the same poison affecting him, if only to a much lesser degree. That doesn't bode well for me, Lloyd thought.

"Haha, for sure. I'm certain your Ascension will be more exciting than mine, but that was a damn good fight. How many did you get?" Regal asked with his fist in the air, which Cassius swiftly met.

"Got four myself, you?" Cassius responded, his smile fading as he saw the carnage on Regal's side of the battlefield.

Regal pointed to his fallen foes one by one with his right hand, moving his fingers up and down on his left hand to keep count. Cassius rolled his eyes as Lloyd smiled. "Seems like seven to me, " he said with feigned shock.

"Well, six and a half. I put an arrow into that one behind you," Lloyd said with a chuckle that ended in a rough cough. He only killed two, and an assist on that one Regal killed, so maybe two and a half.

"Whoa, dude, you get clipped in the fight? Let me look." Regal asked as he went over to his brother. His face turned sour when he saw the wound. Regal turned his brother around and saw that his back was bare besides his quiver and bow.

"Wait, do you not have your pack with you?"

"I decided not to bring it today. I figured…" Lloyd began to say, with a grimace on his face. "I knew we would be close to town. No need to waste good potions." He knew it was a silly excuse, but it was a true one.

He didn't want to waste any of the materials right now before he needed to. The fight with the frogs wasn't that far from home. He knew they could get back in time if anything terrible happened. Well, at least he thought they could get back in time because, indeed, based on the state of his shoulder, something terrible did happen.

"We gotta get back quick, man. That thing looks nasty; it's already starting to ooze," Cassius said, confirming Lloyd's suspicions of how serious it might be. "It is even spreading in my body. Not sure how these damn beasts are getting so strong. Of course, golden boy over there is spotless." Cassius said as he motioned to Regal.

"Helps when you have tough skin and choose to dodge occasionally. Plus, you know the King mentioned the Corrupted are getting stronger every day." Regal said as he playfully shoved Cassius.

Lloyd wanted to protest, but the pain had started to intensify, and he could feel the poison beginning to do its work. "Sounds like a plan," Lloyd said with a wince and another cough. Lloyd looked and saw the dawdling stream of poison was beginning to turn into a flowing river, expanding in width and length.

The three men forwent the usual looting of their kills and quickened their pace as they headed back to town. Usually, they would have wanted to harvest the creatures for any materials they thought the Alchemist could have used, but they needed to get Lloyd back. They could always come back later.

Cassius led the group, his eyes peeled for any extra enemies. His fingers were flexing as arcs of lightning jumped off of them. Regal stayed at the rear, keeping an eye on the forest they now trudged through and his brother. The men quickly reached the forest's edge, spearing through the treeline into an open grassy field. The field leads to their town, Breakwater. Before the Cataclysm, Breakwater was a simple fisherman's bay. The citizens would catch and harvest fish and sell them to cities nearby. Nowadays, there is no fishing. The seas became too dangerous. The once easy food source now had the capability and desire to fight back. Lloyd heard tales of the early days after the Cataclysm of the fishermen on their boats being besieged by red eyes from under the surface of the water. He might have heard too many of those tales growing up and often had nightmares of being pulled below the waves. He still enjoyed sitting at the water's edge but never had any desire to jump in. Outside of short trips into the woods to fight off the beasts, Lloyd had never left Breakwater. He was told they were towns within a few days' walk, but they were too dangerous to attempt to go to.

That would all change in two days when he would finally leave Breakwater. He would leave a town he loved, that held people he loved, for the great unknown. For something greater. He would go with his brother Regal and their friend Cassius. If I can only get to the gates of Breakwater first, he thought, as his breath became labored, his legs became more wobbly, and his vision blurred. He once again glanced over at his shoulder and saw rushing rivers of green everywhere. They expanded well down his arm and into his chest. Shit, that's not good, he thought. Regal must have noticed his deteriorating status because he put one of Lloyd's arms over his shoulder and helped him walk.

Looking up, Lloyd could see they were now within a hundred yards of the gate and the briar bulwark surrounding the town. A thick and thorny briar bush stood ten feet tall and surrounded the entirety of Breakwater. Its vines wove and interlocked with each other so tightly that vision into the town was basically nill. Doubling as a peeping tom protector, it served as a fantastic barrier between the Corrupted and the vulnerable citizens. Like the surrounding walls, the large gates were also made of wood. Mighty cedar trees were grown and harvested to create the entryways into town. Regal and Lloyd's mother, Tera, created the entire thing. Well, Regal's mother, at least. She was Lloyd's adoptive mother, or whatever you called the woman who had a baby dropped off at her doorstep, and she decided to raise. In Lloyd's mind, Tera was his mom, but many things he encountered daily reminded him that she wasn't his blood. Tera was the town's mayor and also a Florist or some called her a Grower. She could manipulate nature to grow trees, flowers, and fruits. Lloyd was told that without his adoptive mother, the town would have never survived.

They passed rows of dozens of trees and plants outside the main entrance. The flora ranged from small apple trees, to blackberry bushes, to willows and oaks. The gate loomed over them, but not as looming as the massive willow tree behind it in the town center. Tera also created this tree, serving as their home and watchtower. The gates swung inward as the two guards effortfully shoved the gates inwards. The concerned look on their faces was mirrored by the people who stood within the town on the dirt road before them. Lloyd was barely able to stand, even with his brother's help. His vision was all but gone, and the sweat pooled on his face as it flowed from his head. He could hear the door open and assumed it must be the healer's house. He was swiftly set down on a bed as his consciousness faded away.