A.N: Hey guys, hope you enjoy, feedback is welcome, this is part 1, part 2 will be here soon too, probably.
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A world of white, as far as the eye could see. Not a single sound that the ears can hear, or the mortal voice speak, a silent, reassuring world of white.
And in this world of white, just out of reach of the eyes in all directions, lay a fully grown lion, his fur the colour of the purest gold, his mane that of the finest platinum and eyes as blue as the most valuable sapphires. He lay in his world of white, caring little for it, in front of him was the mangled corpse of a young lamb, resting in a pool of its own crimson blood, its warm blood still trickling, its neck shredded from the mighty lions jaws, and in its blood, the white reflection on its surface was dancing, telling a story, a story about two young Faery folk, a deal with the Devil and a quest for peace.
'It seems the Devil got a new toy,' thought the lion, eyeing the lambs blood with minute interest, 'I want to crush it with my own hands.'
The lion grew bored with the tale and began to lap up the lambs blood, sending ripples through the light shimmering on the surface, sending the dance into disarray with his tongue of ruby red.
***
The fire had long died out, Markl had just finished packing up his bedroll and placing the dirt back in the fire pit when Rani awoke.
"Morning." She said as she let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands, her long green hair having a mild case of bed head, random hairs sticking out in all directions.
"Morning to you too, sleeping beauty." Replied Markl, trying hard to conceal his grin, Rani blushed, her face getting redder by the second.
"Hmph!" She said as she faced any direction that Markl wasn't in, hiding her cheeks!
Markl chuckled at the young lady as she wallowed in embarrassment.
"We will leave in an hour or two when you wake up properly." Said Markl as he looked around the meadow covered in beautiful sunflowers, looking breathtaking in the mornings sun.
"Fine." Replied Rani, her cheeks still red.
Markl chuckled again as he walked around the meadow to look at the cool things that he could find. He had decided to start training his skills whenever he could, if he hopes to stand a chance against the followers of the gods of light, he needs to train as much as he can.
So Markl began by looking at flowers and bushes, noticing the different petals, stems and leaves as well as the berries that the bushes grew.
"Detail Perception."
Sunflower, a flower that is yellow like the sun.
'Oh, how helpful..' He thought sarcastically as he closed the message window. 'Hopefully it will be more helpful as it levels up.'
So he continued using Detail Perception on all of the things he could find.
But then something unexpected happened, as Markl was observing a thorny bush, it was rather large and hard dark green branches that were riddled with white thorns, the trees leaves swayed with the breeze and a glint from the morning sun caught his eye.
'What was that?' He thought intrigued, he started to part the bushes branches, the leather jacket protecting his arms and the leather gloves protecting his hands, he very rarely felt the sharp pain of a thorn stabbing him as he rummaged through the undergrowth in search of the item that piqued his interest.
After a few minutes and exactly fifteen thorns, he had managed to get a hold of what he was looking for, after he had escaped the mighty thorn bush, and sat down in the nice grass he had a better chance of looking at it.
Golden Dragon PendantType:Quest ItemDurability:10 / 10Quality:RareA golden pendant in the shape of a dragon.
Restrictions:
- Unknown
Effects:
- Unknown
'Interesting, but what quest is it a part of?' Markl thought to himself, more fascinated than before.
"Detail Perception."
Failed.
"Detail Perception."
Failed.
"Detail Perception."
Failed.
"Fuck." Said Markl as he yet again failed to discover what the pendant truly was, 'I'll just have to look once I've levelled up my skill some more.' He thought, still relatively angry.
Markl placed the golden pendants chain around his neck as he stood from the grassy ground, and even though he couldn't tell what secrets it hid, he couldn't help but wonder just a little.
"Are you ready?" Asked Markl as he approached Rani.
"Yes, let's go!" She cried enthusiastically, he green eyes shining as she remembered how much fun the Black Pool library was.
"What about you, Balboa?"
The black feather covered hand that was holding Balboa moved so that Balboa was facing them, his chalk face scrunched up into that familiar frown.
"Yes master, let us depart." He replied, his body clawing at the ground like a chicken searching for seed.
The morning sun shone over the meadow, spreading its warmth, the cool morning breeze blew and sent Rani' long green hair and blue dress fluttering about, as well as pushing the sunflowers back and forth with it.
Markl conjured two Alpaca Snake' and allowed Rani to sit on one as well as taking one for himself, shortly after mounting, the two were on their way along with Balboa.
Rani spent her time patting Alpaca Snake and Balboa' body, much to Balboa' dismay, where as Markl was training his Detail Perception on everything that he saw on the side of the road, even if it were just a twig, he didn't care, he just kept going non-stop.
'I hope that I can level this up fast,' he thought, imagining the pendant that he still knew nothing about, 'if not, I'll die of curiosity.'
Markl continued with his training whilst Rani continued to pat Balboa' body, before too long, they had arrived at the first town on their way to Black Pool.
Markl had already relieved the two Alpaca snakes of their service before they had reached the tree line, and unfortunately Balboa' body too, 'No need to draw attention,' he thought.
Rani and Markl entered the beautiful village, the buildings were all beautifully crafted out out of heavy looking smooth white stone with thatched roofing that was positioned into honeycombing alleyways, the only place that was open was the village square, a square bustling with players, NPC's and merchants trying to sell their wares.
"Fresh fruit for sale!"
"Come to me for all of your weaponry and armouring needs!"
"How much for a new sword?"
"Depends what you're buying, kiddo."
Everywhere that you look there was someone trading for something, amongst the voices were the sounds of leather boots thudding on the stone ground as people ran from one merchant to another.
"What is this town called?" Markl asked Rani as he stood admiring the lively square.
"This is Ballymena, a small trading town on the way to Black Pool." She replied, giggling at Markl.
"It's nice," Markl replied, "let's go get supplies for our journey, we need fresh food."
So Markl and Rani walked through the square, selling rabbit pelts and buying fresh vegetables and meat, Markl didn't have any money left once he had finished shopping, the empty feeling of his coin purse left him saddened, Rani giggled at his reaction, 'he truly is entertaining,' she thought as she watched the droopy shouldered Faery.
Once all of the shopping was complete, there was no reason to stay in Ballymena, so Markl and Rani headed out of the front gate that lead to a large mountain range, a landscape of contrasting greys as the mountains stabbed the sky, the blue was hidden by dark grey clouds, the suns warmth hidden behind the stone sky.
Markl shivered just thinking about it, then he thought about how Rani must be feeling, all she had was a blue dress!
Markl took off his leather jacket and handed it to her, his cheeks red.
"Take it." He said as he turned his head whilst stretching his arm out to her, offering the jacket.
Rani was surprised, her face also began to redden as she slowly extended her arm, took the leather jacket and put it on.
".... Thank you." She said in a small voice, tears of happiness welling up in her soft green eyes.
Markl walked on ahead, after a few seconds, Rani spread her wings and flew to his side.
The two had tried to traverse the mountainous terrain but it proved too rough, there were too many loose rocks to walk safely, even for his conjured creations, so Markl had to do what he had feared.
"Rani, we won't be able to walk, we'll have to fly." He told her, spreading his four long, thin translucent dragonfly wings.
"Good thing there aren't any trees here." Replied Rani with a giggle.
Markl went red at her words, 'I may never live that down.' He thought as he turned his head away from the grinning young lady.
Markl and Rani had been flying for over an hour, the cold grey mountains were still towering on all sides, the cold grey clouds still spread thick on the sky.
"Let's take a break," said Markl, the area where the wings connected to his back aching, 'so many new muscles put to work.' he thought.
"No problem." Replied Rani, smiling at the exhausted Faery.
"To land, just think about flying towards the ground and when you get close, just think about slowing down and landing on your feet."
"That sounds rather easy actually." Replied Markl, happy that the game mechanic wasn't overly difficult.
He imagined himself descending towards the stone riddled ground below, he started to descend instantly, the wind rushed by his face making his brown hair flutter, and then as he closed the distance with the grey rock below, he imagined landing softly on his feet, and much to Markl' surprise, he did!
"I actually landed!" He cried in victory as his soft leather boots landed with a slight thud.
Rani landed beside him, her bare feet making no sound, she giggled at the excited Faery.
"Congratulations." She said with a grin.
Markl and Rani were sitting on the cold stone as they took a break from all of the strenuous flying, Markl watched Rani as she shivered in the cold, although a greatly appreciated gesture, his leather jacket must not have been very warm.
"In the next town, I'm going to buy you some clothes." Said Markl as he conjured two Pigbodies, commanding them to hunt as much game as they can and return.
Rani was greatly surprised for the second time today, "that's not necessary." She replied with a smile, after regaining her composure of course.
"You have nothing more than a blue dress made for warm climates, I should have thought of this sooner, you don't even have shoes to protect your feet." Said Markl as he stared at her dirt stained bare feet, and then finally, he took off his own boots and gave them to her too.
"I can handle the cold, you take these, it might stop the shivering a little." He told her as he placed his boots in front of her.
Rani smiled and stood up from where she was sitting, the fits of shivering gone, this simple gesture more than enough to warm her whole, she walked over to Markl, her bare feet silent on the cold grey stone, and then she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.
"Thank you." She said before she took her arms away, returning to her sitting spot where she put on Markl' boots.
Markl Didn't know how to respond, so he didn't, he surveyed the area whilst blushing instead.
And it's a good thing he did, because if he hadn't been looking, he wouldn't have noticed the rock golem peaking it's head around the corner of a large boulder twenty feet away, it's cold grey face and hollow, emotionless, black eye holes almost blending in with the surrounding rock scape completely, if it weren't for the fact that it had moved, he wouldn't have known at all.
Markl relieved Pigbodies of their service for the time being, he needed all the man power that he could get.
"Rani, fly high into the air and if I die, go back to Ballymena, I'll meet you there." He shouted as he equipped his sword and summoned three Mamba'.
"Please don't die!" Rani cried in a scream that sent shivers up his spine.
"I said IF I die," shouted Markl, "I sure as hell don't plan on it."
And once Rani had been convinced that he would be fine and was high in the air, out of danger, the battle began.
"Attack!" Roared Markl, holding his black blade high, the three Mamba' shot like bullets from the barrel of a gun and made contact soon after, small shards of cold, grey rock flew in all directions, but the rock golem didn't even seem to notice.
-6 HP
'Oh dear god...' Thought Markl as he realised that he was probably going to experience death for the first time here.
The golem looked down at it's torso, that was missing about three handfuls of stone in the centre of it's body where the Mamba' had targeted their coordinate strike and then looked back at Markl, uncomprehending, like a young child that had its hand slapped for the crime of his sibling.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
And at that moment, everything went bad.
The rock golem glared at Markl, it's hollow and empty eyes sizing him up from head to toe, all four and a half feet of him.
The rock golem took a step forward, getting ready to attack the small Faery, but as he stepped forward the rock golems foot landed on Mamba' tail, Mamba hissed at the golem and started making its way up the golems leg, and once the full length of its slender black body was wrapped around the rock giants leg it began to constrict, thanks to Mamba' Anaconda muscle build, it was able to put in a a devastating amount of crushing force into its constriction.
The other two Mamba' took the lead of the first and started to slither up the golems body, the second Mamba began to crush its right arm, and the third Mamba attempted to enter the golems left eye as it constricted its neck.
-70 HP
By now, the rock golem had, had enough. It slammed its right arm into its face and crushed the head of Mamba three and divided Mamba two, into two, how ironic, and then it slammed its left hand into it's right leg, killing Mamba one.
Reverting its gaze back to Markl it glared, only to realize that Markl was no longer there.
Markl was sitting behind a large rock that he had found, he came here as soon as he saw the first two Mamba' get eliminated.
'Come on, you didn't spend your childhood playing Pokemon for nothing, it's a rock golem, what beats rock?!' He thought frantically as he searched his memory.
'Was it grass? God dammit!' He thought angrily, 'I'll just try it.'
He started to imagine every little detail about his newest work of art, making sure that everything was thought through thoroughly.
"Dark Birth."
Markl' shadow began to come alive as it slowly took a form, four strong, well muscled legs, a large barrel body with a tail, and last, but definitely not least, the head of a hammerhead shark.
In the end, what stood in front of Markl were three large bull with a hammerhead sharks head, covered in a jet black bone plate that added unmatched hardness to its head and instead of having fur it was growing jet black leaves and thorns.
"Attack!" Markl roared once more, and on his command the three Hammerhead Bulls were thrown into action, they weren't nearly as fast as the Mamba', but they were fast enough, they ran full pelt, making the ground vibrate violently as they slammed down their iron hooves and kicked up stones.
Before the rock golem even had time to react, the Hammerhead Bulls were a mere ten feet away, and in a matter of seconds.
*SLAM!!!*
The three Hammerhead Bulls hit their target with a devastating blow.
-110 HP
Right after the Hammerhead Bulls landed their hit, Markl shot through the dust that had been thrown with the attack and swung with all his might at the golems head, but the golem had already began to swing its right arm in a wide arc to the left.
-37 HP
The golem slammed its fist into Markl' left side, sending him flying.
"Markl!" Rani cried in fear.
The golem roared with victory, an ear splitting cry that even the deaf would cringe at in disgust, so Markl decided to roar back, he stood from where he had been thrown and wiped the blood from his forehead.
"Devils Cry."
Markl cried with all of his might, a low, yet high guttural scream that would freeze the blood of even a fire giant, he poured in every ounce of his willpower and continued to scream the same blood chilling scream, the golem, now frozen in fear was ready for the next phase.
"Attack!" Roared Markl in that same guttural scream, and soon after, the three Hammerhead Bulls could be heard sprinting at full speed, closing in on the golem.
And then the second slam could be heard.
*SLAMCRACK!!!*
-110 HP
The sounds of cracking stone could be heard as the golem crumbled to dust on the cold grey stone, Markl was panting hard when Rani came down to help him.
"Are you ok?" She asked, clearly distressed.
Markl chuckled and regretted it as he coughed blood, "I'm fine, I just need to walk it off," he said with a grin, "no need to worry over me."
Rani didn't believe Markl one bit, so she forced him to take a rest.
So Markl and Rani sat on the cold stone once more, resting after the battle, Markl made sure that the system remembered Hammerhead Bull and looked at the message windows.
You have levelled up!
You have levelled up!
You have levelled up!
'Wow...' Thought Markl as he checked his messages.
"Status Screen."
Status WindowName:MarklAlignment:NeutralLevel:9Class:Dark DesignerRace:FaeryGender:MaleTitlesDevils KnightFame:0Infamy:0-Health:250 / 250Health Regen:1 / SecDemonic Energy:400 / 400Demonic Energy Regen:1 / SecStamina:350 / 350Stamina Regen:1 / Sec-Strength:22Speed:15Power:10Dexterity:10Intelligence:13Wisdom:10Leadership:10Luck:10-Attack:50-65Defense:40Physical ResistancesSlashing:-Piercing:-Crushing:-Elemental ResistancesFire:-Water:-Wind:-Earth:-Light:-100%Darkness:100%Status Points:15
'Not too bad at all,' he thought, grinning at his status screen, 'I'll put five in strength, intelligence and wisdom.'
Status WindowName:MarklAlignment:NeutralLevel:9Class:Dark DesignerRace:FaeryGender:MaleTitlesDevils KnightFame:0Infamy:0-Health:250 / 250Health Regen:1 / SecDemonic Energy:400 / 400Demonic Energy Regen:1 / SecStamina:350 / 350Stamina Regen:1 / Sec-Strength:27Speed:15Power:10Dexterity:10Intelligence:18Wisdom:15Leadership:10Luck:10-Attack:50-65Defense:40Physical ResistancesSlashing:-Piercing:-Crushing:-Elemental ResistancesFire:-Water:-Wind:-Earth:-Light:-100%Darkness:100%Status Points:0
"Much better." Said Markl with a grin.
"What is?" Asked Rani, curious to as why he was so happy all of a sudden.
"I'm getting stronger." He replied, smiling warmly.
"So you say." Said Rani, poking out her tongue and letting out her trademark giggle.