Merlin couldn’t wait so the moment Mark told him that yes he will come with him, according to him had Mark delayed it further he would have kidnapped him. Turns out, Merlin is sent by Hashira Enterprises many years ago to gather all the selected wielders of the Camelot Arms this is due to the fact that the Camelot Arms is designed to go hand in hand with another project. Why is this project relevant? Cause this could easily tip the scales in the Cold War between the Continent of Neogea and the continent of Vakaria as it is still ongoing, meaning the war had never ended in the first place. Mark couldn’t help but smile, if a war could break out then that means he can easily find ways to assert himself into power, he just needed to wait for the right time.
But there were some good news and bad news, the bad news is that before they can arrive to their base of Operations, they would first need to make a quick detour as Merlin had just found the last one needed to complete the Camelot Arms Set, which was CA-13 Mordred. The good news is that the last wielder of the Camelot Arms is located within the Archipelagic region of Hokda which was located East of Samtara. Where Samtara is a cold mountainous region, Hokda is a cold Archipelagic region. It's considered good news is because the their training site is located within the region.
And so Mark and Merlin are walking through the ice getting to the last known location of the wielder of Mordred where according to Merlin the Mordred is a powerful electric sword that is capable of decimating armies. To which Mark regrets not finding the sword first.
"Can you tell me more about the place where you're supposed to take us?" Mark said looking around and saw miles and miles of ice. One of the key features of the Hokda is the Frozen Sea, where to traverse is through specialized shoes or through sleds.
"You'll have to see for yourself soon enough," Merlin said with a smile. "It's quite a sight to see."
"Be that way, keep your secrets." Mark said slightly annoyed, truth be told compared to Sandra, Merlin is an awful travel companion as he's mostly silent for most of the trip and spends most of the time muttering things something about end of the road.
Truly he is an eccentric being. Mark thought to himself as they entered a desolate and abandoned costal town. He spotted a nearby sign in Hokdan that implied to be the welcome sign, as he was about to ask about their whereabouts Mark tensed up and sensed something incoming and quickly switched to Pridwen and blocked a lightning bolt causing the ice around him to shatter meanwhile Merlin sprinted to the side and pulled out a quarterstaff.
"Beware strangers from a faraway land," the two of them looked up to find a young girl walking towards them holding on a sword that crackled with electricity, it was a single edged sword that glowed bright purple with electricity.
"You thread in the private property," She said as she raised the sword once more and prepared to strike at them. She wore a set of intricate armor that was several sizes larger than her and a hooded coat that came with it.
"That's the Mordred?" Mark asked as he swapped the Pridwen into the Caliburn and assumed a fighting a stance. "That's correct, this means she's the one we're looking for." Merlin said as the three of them were in a tense stand off with both of them getting ready to face off.
But Mark was the first one to make a move charging first head on, it was reckless yes but Mark wanted to test this swordswoman and see if she has the conviction to take a life, something that Mark admits that he has no hesitation not helping was the fact that he was no longer around his family so they don’t have to worry about him wondering how he had learned to fight like that.
The Girl took a step back and swung in a horizontal arc causing a wave of magnetic energy sending him back by causing the nanites within Arthur to destabilize.
“You foolish outsider,” The Girl said as she Mark grinned excitedly as he switched once more to Pridwen and then charged at her and for a moment the shield absorbed the electricity and but then he threw the shield back at her but she redirected the electricity at the shield sending it away.
Disarming me huh? Not bad, Mark smirked once more and ran towards her and kneed her in the stomach causing her to crumple to the ground and causing her to drop Mordred to the ground.
“Where did you learn to fight like that?” Merlin asked looking over the unconscious girl before them. “Gladiatorial battles.” Mark said, which was true as sometime in his life as Marchosias he had spent a career becoming a gladiator, not for the money but to fulfill his sadistic desire to hurt people.
“Take the girl while I take this, while you were fighting a spotted a small shelter nearby let’s go there,” Mordred while Mark carried the girl who was surprisingly light implying that she hadn’t eaten in a while. Taking the hood off the girl revealed to be the three years older than he was, with short violet hair that was done in a short braid.
“She’s too young to be wielding such a weapon.” Mark commented as he followed after Merlin as they walked through the streets of the town, which was even more desolate as they further made their way to the shelter.
“You’re the same age as she is,” Merlin pointed out as they entered the small shelter and he pulled out rope and walked towards them. Mark relented since it they didn’t know what she is capable of, but he laid her down in a cot while Merlin proceeded to tie her hands and feet.
This isn’t the first time Mark had done this, but for some reason it felt wrong tying her up like that.
To say she woke up in a bad mood was an understatement, her violet eyes were glaring at them as she sat up from her seat on the bed but said nothing as though she was trying on figure out what to do next. Not helping was the fact that they were holding her sword.
“Don’t worry we didn’t touch you inappropriately,” Mark said walking towards her and then removed the binding around her arms and wrist, but the first thing she had done was punch him in the face but Mark easily dodged the punch and walked back to Merlin who was still holding the Mordred to which he handed it back to her.
“What...do you want from me?” She asked as she reluctantly took the sword back and inspected it, Mark turned to Merlin who was busy filling a bowl with food from the supplies that they had brought, something that he had rarely see him do such a thing in the past, and handed it to her.
“We need your cooperation, the sword had chosen you and therefore you must join us.” Merlin said as she reluctantly took it as she was obviously famished.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“What makes you think I’ll work with you people?” She asked between bites.
“Because this is a matter of life and death,” Mark said in a low voice causing both of them to look at him as he stood up in front of her. “You’ve heard of the Great Neogean-Vakarian War twelve years ago right? That war is still ongoing, and it’s up to us to stop that war. To prevent tragedy from repeating itself.”
Merlin was silent, Mark was telling the truth but that wasn’t the reason why he was off to join Merlin. He just wanted to become stronger and find ways to exploit the system. But he figured that if he told her a sob story then maybe he can win her over, Children can be easy to manipulate if he played his cards right.
“And we can’t move further without your help, only you can wield the Mordred and it’s important that you join us.” Mark said offering his hand to her. “To forge a new future where tragedies will never happen.”
“...alright I’ll join you, but I follow my own set of rules.” She said standing up not taking his hand. “I have my own reason to join into this fight.”
“Works for me,” Mark said turning to Merlin who was watching this all unfold, in the dim light he resembled that of a statute.
“Very well, but you need to know that there are things that you must follow.” He said standing up and walking towards the two of them, he looked outside to find that a blizzard had already set in. “I’ll explain everything while we wait for the storm to pass.”
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[The Second Advent]
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Turns out the Girl, Shinobu Zekken, was sole survivor of the small nation of Zekken which was an attempt to colonize the frozen archipelago of Hokda but it was attacked by raiders from Vakaria. This caused Mark to conclude that she also has a bone to pick against Vakarians, it was possible that the Vakarians had killed her parents or they were present during the war.
Either way this opened up a new avenue for him to exploit.
“So where’s this test site we’re heading?” Shinobu asked as they walked through the Ice with her at the center while Mark was at the rear. “You’ll see.” Merlin responded as he peeked through his Holo-Tablet every once in a while checking if they were on course or not.
“Is he always this elusive?” Shinobu asked turning towards Mark who was looking at the distance for any Svadraugr which were also native in the region. “Yeah he’s not much of a chatterbox, he just tell us to do this and that.” Mark answered recalling his early days of wandering with him, eventually they saw him standing atop a cliff where.
“Come see, it’s quite a sight to behold.” Merlin said causing the two of them to sprint towards the cliff as well and they were greeted with the sight of a massive metallic airship stuck in the Ice causing the two of them to squint and noticed that there are already a trio of people outside sparring with one another. One carried a massive shield, one was wielding a pair of swords and another was carrying what appears to be a large rifle.
So they’re all Camelot Arms wielders? Mark thought as they walked down a slope that leads to the ship and found all three of them fooling around with the dual wielder was sparring with the shield user all the while the one with a cannon was relaxing with a book in hand. And they’re all children? This could be easy.
“Hey Merlin let’s spar again these two are hardly interesting.” the Duelist said waving his two swords together like they’re a pair of sticks. He was visibly the oldest as he had dark violet hair that is done in a ponytail all the while emanating the air of that of someone who acts that they are superior over the others.
“That’s because you keep beating us each time so what’s the point?” The Shielder said in a lethargic tone, he had light pink hair that covered his eyes and he looked about Shinobu's age.
“Not to mention if we said no you’d pout like a little child.” The Riflewoman said as she was taking a sip of her thermos, unlike the other two she was a girl with blonde hair that reached up to her waist and green eyes that seem to glow all the while she looked around the same age as the Shielder.
"So who are these two?" The Shielder said turning towards Mark and Shinobu who froze on the spot due to way the trio were looking at them.
"They're your new teammates," Merlin said standing between them with a smile on his face. "From now on they'll be your allies so please get along with them."
"Works for me," The Duelist said walking towards them and extended his hand to Shinobu ignoring Mark much to his irritation.
"My name is Zion Ainsworth seventeen years old and wielder of the CA-09 Lancelot! And your de-facto leader." He Continued as he shook Shinobu’s hand and pulled out the swords that he was using earlier, a pair of single edged swords with one appearing to be a white and gold sword named Seure and another is a black and purple sword named Arondight and then he smiled as he combined them together forming a double edged greatsword that he rested over his shoulder.
"Who died and made you Leader?" Mark spoke up, he wasn’t making fun of him in fact he was hoping to provoke him and try to assert his dominance to be a leader. Which itself was already a disadvantage for him due to the fact he’s both a newcomer and younger than him but one thing he learned about is that both compulsory education and Prison are the same with how both of them having a dog eat dog slash only the strongest will survive mentality.
Shinobu’s eyes widened in surprise from Mark who didn’t expect him to do such a thing while the Zion’s two companions had a look of surprise as well all the while Zion scoffed as he started walking towards him.
“It’s my call since I’m the oldest,” Zion said sizing him up. “Shorty.”
That comment irked Mark, it was bad enough that within Broken Horn he was the shortest with both Gaige and Miriam being taller than him and later Anya as well. But he decided to keep his calm as he this would mean falling into his emotional trap.
“What are you gonna do about it shorty,” he said bumping him in the chest but fortunately he kept his ground.
“I’ll—”
“Nobody agreed that you’re our leader Zion,” The Riflewoman said as she and Shinobu started getting in between them hoping they don’t come to blows and then offered her hand at both him and Shinobu.
“My name is Elysia Skye I wield the CA-07 Gawain which is this interesting High Implosion Solar Energy Recharger Rifle or a HISER Rifle,” she said pulling out a rifle that seems to have the ability to fold into a compact rectangular case.
“And my name is Ernest Ortega,” The Shielder said walking towards as both Zion and Elysia started talking to Merlin who started asking him about Mark and Shinobu all the while Ernesto lugged a massive tower shield while pressing a few buttons the same way Mark did with Arthur and this caused the shield to retract for a bit into a lantern shield.“And I wield the CA-05 Galahad.”
I know, I know all about them. Mark thought to himself as he slowly realized what they were wielding.
The Gawain is basically one solar powered energy rifle that has three modes depending on one’s preference, if one wanted more accuracy but at the cost of power output then it becomes a beam sniper rifle, but if one wanted more power over accuracy and then it becomes a beam shotgun, but if you really wanted to go all out then there’s a third mode that forsakes stability and accuracy as it becomes a beam bazooka.
The Lancelot on the other hand is a specialized blades, the black and purple Arondight is a vibroblade implying through high speed vibrations while the white and gold Seure is a heated blade. Both of which are designed to cut through any known material like they were nothing and when combined to form Lancelot they are a powerful set of blades, just so long as the wielder remembers not to turn them on when resting it over their shoulder.
Though he honestly wants to see Zion mess up and accidentally cut himself with it.
The Galahad meanwhile is a transforming nanomachine shield, though unlike Arthur and his multi forms, the Galahad only has two forms the Tower Shield itself and a more compact Lantern Shield mode which is not only a buckler but also a sword and a gauntlet. However while it lacks the features unlike the Lancelot or the Gawain, it makes up for it’s durability as the Tower Shield is the impervious to most attacks.
“Well I’ll get used to them eventually,” Mark told Ernest as he smiled as the three of them looked at Merlin who was still explaining things to the two.