Mark took a deep breath as he gripped Arthur Caliburn with both hands with a calm poker face while in front of him was Zion holding Lancelot in it’s greatsword mode with a rather cocky look on his face, not helping is the fact that there was a massive height difference between them.
They were standing in the middle of the main deck of the Airship, which according to Merlin is named Prydwen, around them was Shinobu, Ernest and Elysia which were just watching them all unfold and Merlin on the other hand was in the lower decks trying to bring the ship to life.
“Now!” Ernest said and Zion let out a shout as he charged at Mark who kept a calm look on his face, he took a step to the left as Zion swung Lancelot in a wide horizontal arc as he took two steps back and then three steps forward as he slashed Arthur Caliburn in an upwards vertical arc causing sparks to fly from the impact of the two as Mark closed the gap between them but Zion realized what was going to happen as he quickly pulled out Lancelot Arondight and Lancelot Seure with the former being used to parry Arthur Caliburn.
“Nice try Dirus, you’re fast but I’m stronger.” Zion told Mark as they locked blades. “Why don’t you show the true form of Arthur.”
“Sorry I’m too small to be wielding it.” Mark replied with a smile on his face, truth be told he is able to wield all of them with a few issues due to his small frame but he chose to not show all of them to avoid being figured out and exposed any potential weaknesses.
“Well that’s no fun!” Zion said as he pushed Mark back causing him to hit the deck and Zion swung both of his swords on the ground to which Mark rolled to the side and avoided and then do an upwards slash this time the move was effective enough to point his sword just above Zion’s chin causing him to drop both of his swords and raised his hands in surrender.
“You’re now both tied,” Elysia said taking a sip off her thermos while Ernest and Shinobu handed the two of them some water to drink.
“Man for someone who’s smaller and less fit than me you sure know how to put up a good fight,” Zion said giving Mark a friendly slap on the back as Mark smiled at the gesture. A month had passed and the five of them have been training, each one of them learning to master their respective weapons and getting to know along the way.
And as they were trying to get stronger and learn how to wield their weapons, Merlin would spend his days trying to reactivate the engines of the Airship so they can head to a new site for them to pursue phase two of the operation. However the problem is that each time they would press Merlin for it, he would just stare at them and remain quiet.
"I'm heading back to my room," Mark said as he walked off while placing Arthur Caliburn into his scabbard, meanwhile the rest did their usual routine as they went about the ship.
As soon as Mark entered his room he let out a sigh as he went to his desk and pulled out a notebook, it was an unused Captain's Log and since Mark left behind his holo-phone, as part of Merlin’s agreement into going after him, he had taken the time to write his thoughts like a diary of sorts but all of them are addressed to a single person, as though someone was reading them.
It's been a month or since I met them, Mark wrote with a pencil. And between the sparring matches, hunts and the occasional Svadraugr defenses we'd managed to get to know more as the time goes on, one could say we were a family of sorts.
But I haven't forgotten my family back home, I haven't forgotten about Joshua and Mary my Parents, I haven't forgotten my twin sister Miriam or Miria as she started calling herself, my little Sister Mirabel or Mira as I call her. Mark continued to write with a wistful smile on his face. He may have been distant towards them leading to a rather cold relationship but he was very fond of them that he began to miss them. But who I miss the most is—
Knock! Knock!
Mark paused in writing his Diary to head towards the door, upon opening revealed to be Shinobu with a small smile on her face.
"It's dinnertime." She smiled "Better get up there before Elysia eats it all."
"Alright I'll head there." Mark smiled back, out fo the five he had ended up with he got along most with Shinobu. In sparring she was the one who can keep up with Mark's rather unpredictable borderline berserker movements with his Arthur Caliburn while she and her Mordred Clarent have a more high speed movement often making the most with her swings, and when they're working together they have a high synchronization rate due to both of them being swordsmen.
They were the Twin Blades of the Knights as Zion and Merlin would call them.
They arrived to find the others already eating their share of the food while Merlin was nowhere to be found as usual.
“That was fast,” Zion said with a cheeky smile on his face only to be elbowed by Elysia who earned a confused look from the Twin Blades who was subjected into a handful of teases by the older boy, it didn’t help that they spent the most time together.
“Here I managed to save some for both of you,” Ernest said handing them both two plates of food to which Shinobu smiled at him while Mark nodded as they both took the plates.
“So anyways, Merlin is definitely not human.” Zion said with a confident tone.
Took you long enough to realize it, Mark thought dryly, after meeting Shinobu he was completely confident that Merin isn’t human. His first hint is that he never eats and the second one is that he lets out an air of something inhuman, Ernest coins the term as Uncanny, especially when he smiles. They would have asked about it but the problem is that he would always turn quiet when pressed, as though he wasn’t obligated to answer that question. They tried to pry the answers out of him but he had easily overpowered them with his own skill thus the only thing they can do is trust him and follow his path.
“Well that’s unexpected,” Elysia said as they all turned to find Merlin entering the room covered in oil stains across his clothes.
“Hello Knights,” He said with a smile on his face as he walked towards them and placed a map of the Hokda Region on the table where all of them were eating at. Ever since the five of them started living together, Merlin had started calling them Knights this was because in Merlin’s eyes they were successors of the Knights they were based at. If that were the case Mark found it comedic that he a former tyrant and yet he’s declared as the successor of a famous King of Knights.
“We have good news,” Merlin said ignoring their comments pointing out that this is basically a suicide mission. “The Airship is fully operational, so please take a seat and prepare for launch.”
And with that he left the room leaving them with mixed emotions.
Airships, they once soared through the skies of Neogea often as transport ships and in extreme cases warships, in fact many of these ships were active long before the Collision. But after the Great War and the Cold War that followed many of these airships were lost and were repurposed until the governments of Neogea can mass produce them with the resources on hand. And the Prydwen II as Merlin dubs them, was a first generation Airship that had been built during the apex of the world before the collision.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
To man an airship you would need only a captain, two helmsmen, a gunnery officer, a communications officer and a navigator, a total of six people. And it just so happens that all of them fit that sum of people. They all took a seat within the Bridge, each one of them being given a designated role. Merlin being the one that holds them together is given the role of Captain, Zion and Ernest were given the role of helmsmen, Elysia was the gunnery officer, Shinobu is the Communications officer and Mark was given the role of Navigator.
It was honestly fortunate that there was enough people to fill the role of an Airship Crew.
And so all of them were seated in their respective positions as Merlin took his seat on the captain’s chair as he looked at the two helmsmen. Since they were here longer than Mark was, they were both given a lesson on how to pilot an Airship, all of which in preparation for the first maiden voyage of the Prydwen II.
“Are you all ready for your first flight?” Merlin asked them.
“Will things change if we say no?” Ernest said causing everyone present to let out a chuckle.
“I’m afraid not.” Merlin said as the two sighed as they first turned on the engines and slowly the airship rose.
Mark felt the ground below him shake as they heard the sounds of Ice breaking from the movement of the Prydwen II, eventually he felt the calloused hands of Shinobu who smiled at him reassuringly as the Prydwen II climbed and gained speed until finally they broke off from the Ice and were slowly flying upwards. It was on that exact moment Mark realized his hands were shaking from the tension and fear as it was the first time in years he had soared through the air.
“I’ll be fine,” Mark told Shinobu as he pointed towards the panel on where they were focusing on to which she giggled and focused her attention to the controls that she was on which was just next to him as the Airship finally took off.
“So where are we heading?” Mark asked as they were now in the air.
Following Merlin’s orders, Mark placed the coordinates towards within the Navigation panel as they flew per Merlin’s instructions. According to him they were heading at the largest island within the Hokda Archipelago, which is the island of Kamina where the Vault of the Hokda branch of the Hashira Industries is based.
Or what’s left of it.
Mark and the others stepped out of the Prydwen II all dressed in arctic clothes as they made their way towards Vault Honshu and every now and then they’d see a wandering Frostfang Wolf or a Kitsuyuki fox wandering about watching their movement.
Despite being the youngest, Mark was at the last end watching Merlin and Zion at the front discussing about the Vault, eventually they came across the aforementioned vault. Much like the Northern Vault back in Samtara, the Honshu Vault is a multi story building built alongside the mountainside but unlike the Northern Vault the Honshu Vault is more built outside the mountain.
Mark took a deep breath enjoying the cold arctic wind as Merlin walked towards a set of massive doors. He watched as Merlin pulled out a key card and swiped something by the door causing it to open the doors with a massively loud creaking noise as it opened up.
“Everyone inside,” Merlin said walking into the vast open darkness heading inside.
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[The Second Advent]
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Gray let out a sigh as walked around the weapons store trying to look for a decent weapon. After a long talk with Leah Strauss it was time for her to browse for Trick Weapons, mostly for her to learn and master them at such a young age. Normally she would have jumped at the thought of finally getting her hands on a trick weapon but after losing contact with Mark a few months ago, she was in a bit of a gloomy situation. It was the first time she had not been in contact with him for a long time.
This was perhaps a reason why Leah took her out weapons shopping. The very weapons store that they were inside was filled with people trying to be a mercenary or getting ready to become a Scout Ranger. As she went about looking at various trick weapons none of them appear to be able to impress her. Mostly since most of the weapons featured aren’t even part of her expertise, she let out a bored sigh as she continued to look around. She was about to tell Leah that she wasn’t interested in anything her eyes landed on a young girl the same age as she was, with black hair in a braided bun while wearing a pair of goggles that show a pair of blue eyes that sparkle as she was holding an automatic crossbow. The next thing Gray knew she was already walking towards the girl with a curious look on her weapon.
“Good choice of firearms, silent and easy to reload on account with that magazine built under the barrel.” Gray commented pointing at the Crossbow’s under the barrel magazine.
“Thanks a friend of mine suggested this.” The girl said with a smile on her face. "Since then I've been using it for combat."
"I see I've been thinking of grabbing a weapon myself but I haven't decided it." Gray said as she had glanced towards a nearby Halberd that was positioned on a shelf.
"You could always commission a weapon but I hear those are expensive," The Girl said as a Saleman went and started inspecting it for potential upgrades or damages. From the look of things, she was only here to get her automatic crossbow repaired and if possible upgraded.
"Customized huh," Gray smiled as she placed a hand on her chin and thought about it. It would make more sense to get a customized weapon rather but the downside is getting ot repaired was a potential pain. She shook her head and turned to the girl again.
"I'm sorry but I haven't gotten your name," She extended her hand to the girl. "That's right it would be a bit rude to not tell you mine as well." The girl smiled back shaking her hand.
"My name is Gray Archiman."
"My name is Anya Sokolov."
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[The Second Advent]
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Mark woke up in a white bed in a sterile white room that morning. It was September 14, PC176 been days since the Knights have entered the Honshu Vault but for now they were placed in sterile rooms to test them whether or not they pose a threat to their health, as it turns out the people of the Honshu Vault have been inside the vault for over a hundred years and thus worried that the bacteria outside might get them sick, and so all of them especially Merlin were placed on quarantine rooms.
His room comprised of a simple bed and a table, the walls appear to be mode of some form of high tech glass that can go from clear to opaque to give them some form of privacy. Mark heard the door on his room open with a hiss revealing a person in a heavy hazmat suit, and at a glance a handful of other people in hazmat suits that appear to be upset or in dismay.
“Hello there outsider,” The Scientist in a hazmat suit said as they took off the helmet causing the other hazmat suit wearing people panic as Mark discovers a woman in her thirties with brown skin, dark brown eyes that twinkle in excitement and her blonde hair was done in a pair of pigtails. “My name is Professor Sara Sugimoto but you can just call me Professor.”
Mark was just silent, it was the first time he had interacted with people taking care of them and throughout the whole time they were mostly afraid or weary of the five of the so it comes as suspicious that one of their scientists is now opening up to him.
They clearly have an ulterior motive on hand.
“Skip the formalities Professor,” Mark said standing up on his seat. “You held us at gunpoint and herded us into these sterile rooms. What do you want with us?”
“That was the formalities actually,” Professor Sara said sheepishly as she was scratching her cheek all the while Mark scoffed from her response. “Everyone is always tense when Merlin brings home some outsiders, us who grew up in the Vault are suffering from a bit of mass mysophobia so yeah…”
“But we’ve been in this place for days, and we spend a good chunk of our daily life being decontaminated isn’t that enough, we’re bored?” Mark replied as he stood up and pressed a few buttons on the walls to reveal the rest of the knights in their rooms all of which are busy doing their own way of passing time. Shinobu was busy practicing her stances, Elysia is throwing a ball on the ceiling then catching it, Zion was doing push ups, and Ernest is meditating.
“Actually why are you talking to me and not at say Zion?” Mark asked, the rooms are generally soundproof as he set the walls back to opaque.
“Merlin told me to talk to you since you seem to be the least weary of us.” Professor Sara said handing a tablet revealing the evaluation of all five of them. “Why is it you seem to be the least on guard, the others have no problem in fighting us truth be told.”
“I have my reasons,” Mark shrugged and then smiled as he leaned against the wall. “But still it’s quite amusing that you considered the youngest of the group to be the leader and not the eldest.”
Sara was about to explain further but the door to his room opened with a hiss once more and another person in a hazmat suit entered the room and tried to whisper something to her. Professor Sara then frowned and then sighed as she turned to Mark with a disappointed look on her face.
“I’m sorry but we’ll have to cut our conversation short, for now sit tight we’re still processing some things the next few years here a lot smoother.” Professor Sara said waving at him with a smile as she and the other scientist walk away.
“What’s gonna happen to us?”
“You’ll see.” Professor Sara smiled at him.