Zack: [NO NO NO NO! You guys are doing it all wrong!]
At the backyard of the Leviere castle, all the knights had gathered up for their monthly magic training held by their Paladin, Zack.
They were each formed together in a straight line with spaced-out sections in between each line. From an aerial view, they looked like a ton of silver two-dimensional squares.
Zack: [The Kanzaka stance requires you to channel all your mana throughout your body!]
Zack slipped his left arm behind his back and tightened his grip on his long practice sword. A bright blue, channeled aura formed around his body.
Zack: [Once you can do this, your power stats will rise to new levels! Anyone that gets it done, don't hesitate to step forward!]
Zack sat back and continued to watch the knights talk within themselves and struggle to get the stance figured out. Though his attention was on the knights, he had his eyes on the young prince that was also having a hard time pulling it off.
Zack: [Young Prince!]
He called him out and told him to step forward. The man that had been giving Faith food when she was being held in the dungeon looked at every other knight as they stopped talking.
Young Prince: [Please call me Alex, sir.]
Zack: [I had a brother with the same name, so I'd rather not.]
Alex lowered his head and tightened his grip on his sword.
Zack: [Now! I want you to show your war partners how to pull off this very simple stance.]
Alex: [I don't know how–.]
Zack groaned and looked up at the sky.
Zack: [IT'S LIKE YOU GUYS HAVEN'T EVEN MEDDLED WITH YOUR OWN MANA!]
Alex: [To be fair, we're all training to be knights. Normally, the class doesn't have any mana.]
Zack took a large sigh and looked back down at the knights all standing in formation.
Zack: [The Kanzaki stance is a custom-made battle stance created by the wizards of Leviere. Even the smallest ounce of mana withdrawn will be capable of doubling your stats. If you guys can't even manage to use it, we don't stand a chance against the demon lord's army.]
All of the knights removed and lowered their helmets to show they were sorry. Feeling really overwhelmed, Zack let them train for the remainder of the day and began to walk over to his office. On the way, he came across Princess Hilda, which was just standing by his door. Once their eyes met, Hilda ran to his side.
Hilda: [I wasn't expecting the training to end so quickly.]
Zack: [It isn't over, I'm just taking a break. What brings you to my office?]
Hilda: [Jime has a pretty good guess on where Hydra has been hiding for the past couple years. Turns out they're supposedly hiding in the late Roshan's castle, and that the ninja, Veo, was caught creeping around outside with some girl.]
Zack chuckling: [If he wants to have a girlfriend, let him be. No need to butt into his business.]
Zack opened his office and took a seat near a mini fan. Hilda ran in and took a seat on the other end of Zack's table, where a wheeled chair was.
Hilda overly excited: [You don't seem to understand the density around this topic!]
Zack unequipped his light armor and put on a royal guards t-shirt.
Hilda continued: [That means that now we can track them down, send scouts to keep track of their whereabouts!]
Zack: [Don't get me wrong, I'm impressed that Jime managed to find their hideout, but right now we've got bigger issues on our hands. A war with the demon king isn't a secondary problem.]
Hilda: [Mom and I had a conversation about that not too long ago. You and dad are kind of obsessing over the demon king rather than the minor issues.]
Zack gave her a weird stare, but just before he could say anything, the young prince charged into the room with sweat streaming down his face.
Alex: [Zack! We figured it out!]
Hilda asked why he busted in without any forewarning. She seemed to have gotten scared by his sudden interruption.
Alex: [The Kanzaki stance. The others and I managed to get it down!]
Hilda disappointed: [The Kanzaki stance? Isn't that really easy to master?]
Without saying a word, Zack stood up and walked passed Alex and over towards the backyard courtyard. Alex and his sister followed behind.
Once he pushed the doors to the castle courtyard, a bright blue light shined, forcing him to cover his eyes with his arm. Pushing the door, he saw every single one of the knights standing on the courtyard with a dim blue aura around them. Though their stance was weak, Zack smiled at their sudden succession and saw good things for the future of the kingdom.
Hilda and Alex ran up to him and smiled as they looked around. When the knight army caught a glimpse of Zack, they began to celebrate as he walked up front.
Putting his hands behind his back and standing tall, Zack took a large breath. The courtyard fell silent as the knights watched Zack standing in front of them all.
Zack: [THE DEMON LORD IS GOING DOWN!]
The knights cheered once again as the queen watched from inside the castle.
She was standing on the balcony right outside the royal bedroom while her husband read a couple of papers on top of their enormous bed. She giggled to herself and turned to her husband.
Queen: [They seem to be overjoyed about learning one of the more basic skills.]
King searching through his papers: [How they managed to pull off a magic spell is fascinating on its own.]
The queen turned to her elderly husband and continued to giggle. He raised his head and furrowed a brow.
King chuckling: [What? They're knights, not magicians.]
Walking her way towards him, she took a seat beside him.
Queen: [These are the special classes. Mixed breeds from Wizards and Knights.]
King: [Oh, they're the ones from Aveay. Didn't expect them to be of much use, I'll be honest.]
The Queen was surprised to hear him say that, but didn't want to say anything.
King: [Apart from you, I haven't met a fully functional mix-breed.]
The queen blushed and rested her head on the king's beefy shoulders,
Queen laughing: [Shut up.]
King: [It's true. Not only are you smart, but you're absolutely stunning.]
Queen: [You think I'm smart?]
The king nodded. Raising her head from his shoulder, she looked right into his dark brown eyes.
Queen: [I think you're exhausting yourself over the Demon Lord. Maybe it's time for you to focus on a current issue.]
He looked at her bright blue eyes and laughed.
King: [Forgot that you're also funny! Good one.]
He placed his hand on her head while he continued to laugh. She wasn't amused or happy by his reaction, which caused him to stop and clear his throat.
King: [What other issue could be so important that we put the demon lord aside?]
Queen: [Oh, I don't know, PROBABLY THE HOMICIDE GROUP THAT RECENTLY TOOK OUT AN ENTIRE KINGDOM!]
The king sighed and fell onto his back. The queen crawled over his body and looked down at him from above with a frown.
King: [Hydra?]
The Queen enthusiastically nodded her head. The king turned his head
King mumbling: [Yeah, they're a problem, but a super simple fix for another kingdom.]
Queen: [Honey, don't you think that they have already done enough?!]
The king groaned a little.
Queen: [Even though they're only 3 people, they have killed millions on their own! We're the only ones that can stop them.]
King: [Yeah, and in the process we'll lose thousands of our own men, putting us at a huge disadvantage against the demon lord!]
Queen: [We have millions of knights, and the help of the entire North-Eastern alliance. They won't help us with a personal threat, but Hydra is a threat to the entire planet.]
Speechless, the king muttered to himself and groaned. The queen sat on his crotch and crossed her arms.
Queen: [We have to take care of the minor things.]
The king took a heavy breath before looking at his wife in the eye with a smile.
King: [Fine, I'll speak with Sir Zack to see what the most appropriate response is.]
*
Meanwhile, at the Leviere Gates.
Ruby stood looking up at the gates with a wide smile.
Ruby cheerfully: [This place is beautiful!]
Vijan coldly: [Yeah, for now.]
Ruby cautiously looked at Vijan as he walked into the kingdom.
Ruby: [What are we doing here again?]
Vijan: [We're supposed to look around. I guess get a good look at how they live, or something.]
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Ruby walked beside Vijan as she was awed by the animal people roaming freely. She kept herself from touching the fur of a cat person walking by, which was hard for her to do.
Vijan: [Try not to get lost.]
Ruby: [Kind of hard considering the size of this place. You can't blame me if I get lost in a crowd.]
Vijan's chuckle made Ruby giggle a little.
Ruby: [You didn't happen to bring any money, did you?]
Vijan: [Money?]
He checked his inventory and noticed an emerald in his balance. (A single emerald is roughly equivalent to 50,000 USD)
Vijan: [Those four in the forest were stacked!]
He looked at Ruby with a smile.
Vijan: [I don't think shopping is the best thing to do right now.]
Ruby: [So you're broke?]
Vijan nervously chuckled to himself.
Ruby: [It's alright,]
She giggled a little,
Ruby: [It's just, shopping is a good way to get a good idea of your surroundings.]
The two of them walked about without saying another word until Vijan caught a glimpse of a little kid wearing baggy, sandpaper clothing.
Vijan: [Choose a letter. I or L?]
It was a rather odd request, but Ruby took it on anyway.
She took a moment to answer,
Ruby: [L, why?]
Vijan: [Alright, we're going the legal way. Follow me.]
They walked around the kingdom asking people for information on where they can find the best bar or pub. Vijan would quietly ask the civilians to prevent Ruby from knowing where he was going to take her.
When he received the info from enough people, he went straight for the slums of the kingdom.
The transfer from the middle class area to the ghettos was drastic yet slow. While walking down the street, the houses would gradually degrade in quality until they were made of nothing but hardened clay.
Ruby: [Where are we going? I thought we were supposed to be getting information from the city.]
Vijan chuckled and looked at her.
Vijan: [It's like you've never been information gathering before.]
She averted her eyes from him.
Vijan: [Best place to look when going for gossip around a civilization, are the ghettos.]
Ruby: [Isn't there a safer option?]
Vijan: [I'm afraid not. If you're really scared, I can create a shield around us. But, that will require you to-]
Vijan looked at the nervous Ruby and stopped talking. He quickly turned his head when Ruby looked at him.
Ruby: [What will I have to do?]
Vijan started blushing and shook his head.
Vijan bashfully and with a voice crack: [Forget about it!]
He cleared his throat.
Vijan: [We're nearly at the pub. Come inside with me.]
Ruby nodded her head.
Vijan lead Ruby to a quirky brown brick building that seemed rundown. The windows were shattered to pieces and the wooden door into the building was almost falling out of place. On the rusty brown door was a paper sign with the words [Open] highlighted in a bright red. Ruby spotted a huge brown roach to the left side of the building and squealed.
Vijan: [There's nothing to be scared of, Crys- Ruby.] Vijan chuckled. [We really should have taught you how to fight before bringing you out here.]
Ruby shaking: [I was told we were going sightseeing!]
Vijan walked up to the pub door and pushed it open. The door made a loud squeaking sound as it slowly opened up.
On the other side were men ranging from forty to sixty, sitting on crusty wooden chairs beside tables of the same texture. Each man had been holding a soggy wooden cup that contained a purple liquid seeping through tiny holes all around the cup. Next to the men were young waitresses, they all seemed to be around Ruby's age, probably a little younger. On the opposite side of the exit was a wooden table with a bartender standing on the other side. Telling the customers from the staff apart was simple. They had been wearing formal clothing for their jobs— considering the state the rest of the building was in.
No one gave Vijan nor Ruby any attention until they walked up to the bartender. With a narrow glare, Vijan rested his elbow on the bar counter and gave the bartender an eagle stare.
Fidelle: [How may I be of service]
An inventory opened up in front of Vijan, giving him several options.
Give me a nice cold drink >
Take me to your manager! >
Tell me about Leviere's current situation. >
Vijan: [That isn't very well hidden.]
He selected the last option and began to hear seats being pulled out behind him. Without turning around, he had a good idea of what was about to happen.
Fidelle's smile faded: [Rumors have it that Leviere is currently preparing for the war against the demon lord. Countless soldiers were seen the other day heading towards the castle. Hopefully nothing bad is going on.]
More options showed up.
What problem does Leviere have with the demon lord? >
What about the situation with Hydra and Penn? >
Leviere should be fine, right? >
Vijan looked at Ruby before selecting an option. He didn't want her to find out the truth just yet, so he quickly chose the first option.
Fidelle: [What he wants is between the demon lord and the royals of the kingdom. From what we've heard from an info broker, however, states that the demon lord wants to take over Leviere for land on the overworld. It's all rumors though, we aren't completely sure.]
Vijan: [From what Omar told me, that's sort of accurate.]
More options showed up, but before he could read, he heard his name quietly be called from behind him. Turning around, he saw Ruby, shaking from head to toe, surrounded by dozens of huge, hairy barbarians.
Vijan quickly reached for the blade on his back, but the second he pulled it out of it's sheath, a barbarian brought out a huge pirate sword and put it against Ruby's neck. Tears began to form in her eyes.
Armed Barbarian: [Veo, the hydra ninja. Drop your weapon, or she gets decapitated.]
Vijan clenched his teeth and released his sword. The other barbarians laughed in the back.
Vijan growling: [Let her go, or lose your life.]
After a chuckle, the Barbarian threw Ruby over to another Barbarian, which pissed Vijan off more.
Barbarian: [Take her to the castle.]
With a grunt, three other barbarians joined the Barbarian holding Ruby while five barbarians stayed back with Vijan. They all looked like they were drunk to the bone— tripping over themselves and hiccuping left and right.
Barbarian: [We got news from the king that you would be coming sometime!]
Vijan: [So that makes you guys royal guards.]
They chuckled as long steel swords magically appeared in each of their hands.
Vijan: [I had my suspicions.]
Guard: [Where are your buddies?]
Vijan: [Buddies? They're nothing but snakes. I don't need them.]
One of the guards pulled out their sword and charged at Vijan with their blade in the air.
Suddenly, his speed took a drastic decline, going from a couple miles per hour to an inch a second. Vijan, which could move around like nothing happened, reached back for his sword and lifted it up by the grip.
He took very small steps towards the guard, and like the guard wasn't moving at all, Vijan stared at him with a smirk.
Everyone seemed to have been affected by the slow motion but Vijan. He took his sleek, slim, steel blade, and pushed it into the guards lower left abdomen, piercing through his appendix and his blood steadily flowing on the blade.
The speed of motion returned to its original state, forcing the guard to release his blade and have it go through the wooden planks beneath them. Once Vijan noticed everything went back to normal, he continued to pull the blade up, cutting through the guard's entire body from his stomach to the top of his head.
He cut the guards skull with a simple pull of his blade.
The guards in the back watched while trembling. Once the guard collapsed, Vijan gave the other guards the look of despair. Blood got all over the floorboards as the murdered guard remained twitching for a small moment.
Vijan: [If you don't want to be like your leader,]
A pitch black aura formed around Vijan, it resembled an almighty flame, shining in the dark, regardless of being nothing but darkness. The aura started to form pitch black armor around him from head to toe.
Around his mouth formed a shadow-like mask that looked like it was flowing— like a flame. The mask was attached to a long scarf that wrapped around his neck and reached to his ankle. On his forehead, a bandana of the same material, flowing with a mysterious wind. A minority of the guards seemed a bit dazed while the rest held their position.
The dark armor continued to form around his body. A pitch black bodysuit made of the same material, wrapped around him like paper towels that loosely counted onto him, revealing a bit of the red clothing he had on underneath. Along with the bodysuit came a pitch black katana hanging from his back.
Vijan with a deep tone: [bring her back without a scratch.]
A majority of the guards began to laugh.
Guard: [You honestly think you can-]
The heads of all the guards slipped off from their necks, colliding with the ground and gushing blood from every hole. Without another peep, Vijan walked out the bar leaving Fidelle alive and scared for life.
*
Moments earlier
Guard: [Head Officer Zack!]
A guard threw his hand in the air mid-training after reading a message he received in his inbox. Zack turned to the guard and walked up to him with his hands behind his back.
Head Officer Zack calmly: [How may I help you?]
Guard: [I've received word that Veo, the hydra ninja, was spotted in a bar.]
Zack's eyes widened. He felt as if a tiny dagger stabbed his shoulder.
Guard: [He was with a young girl with blonde hair talking to the bartender.]
Zack: [He's holding someone captive? There are no females in Hydra, unless this is a new recruit.]
He held onto the guards shoulder,
Zack Outloud: [tell them to somehow get the young lady away from him!] The guard nodded and left the area.
Zack: [If this is a new recruit, we can't have two deadly forces with one another.]
Zack to all the guards: [Training today is canceled! We have a greater problem in our hands!]
All the guards got riled up, started panicking and pushing one another over.
Hilda to Alex: [What do you think is going on?]
Alex: [I don't know. This has never happened before.]
Zack ordered the guards to calm down and wait for him as he walked into the castle and made his way to the king's bedroom.
The king and queen had been sitting apart, the king on a small chair searching through his inventory while the queen stood next to a mirror, trying out several different ear rings. The ones she had in hand had a sapphire gem and silver ring.
The king was surprised to see Zack make such a rude entrance, but put that aside,
Queen: [Zackary, has the training ended already?]
King smiling and closing his inventory: [If so, I have something to tell you.]
Zack: [So do I, your highness.]
The king's smile faded.
Zack: [It's urgent.]
The Queen slowly made her way out the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
The atmosphere in the room dropped entirely.
King: [Demon king?]
Zack: [Worse.]
The king's heart dropped the moment Zack uttered the word. He began to nervously sweat under his compact clothing.
Zack: [We received word that a member of Hydra has infiltrated the kingdom.]
The king clenched onto his clothes and stood up.
King: [You have any idea which member it is?]
Zack told the king everything he knew.
King: [He could've done anything by this point!]
He clenched his teeth.
Zack: [You have to remain calm, sir. You currently stand as the embodiment of the kingdom. You need to make sure to never look horrified.]
The king took a deep breath and looked Zack in the eyes.
Zack: [We need to make sure that the guards know not to act inappropriately if they come into contact with him. Any bad moves could be really bad.]
King: [Who told you about Vijan's sudden appearance?]
Zack: [A magi-knight randomly brought it up during the training. It could be possible that they were using their communication interface with a guard.]
They disregarded the fact that a guard or knight could have been skipping out on the manditory monthly training and focused on the bigger issue at hand.
The king walked up to the balcony and looked down at the nervous magi-knights wandering aimlessly, along with his two kids staring up at him.
King off the top of his lungs: [Attention, Magi-Knights!]
Hearing the voice of their king made them feel as if everything was going to be okay. Most of the guards stopped trampling over. Zack walked up behind the king which got the attention of the remaining wandering magi-knights.
King: [A hydra ninja has infiltrated the kingdom! But don't worry, we will make sure that he doesn't get what he wants!]
The guards and magi-knights all cheered as the king finished his speech. After hearing this, Hilda gave Alex a worried glare as he cheered with the crowd. She knows things are about to get bloody, and her older brother might fall victim to all of this. Was it her influence on Zack, or did her mother make a move with the king? Even though she wanted Leviere to fight back against Hydra, she couldn't help herself but to quake in fear.
Making his way outside the slums with his body covered in the mysterious dark cloth and blood stains all over, Vijan had one goal in mind. He had to retrieve Ruby, no matter who or what got in his way.
-
Aboard a crimson dragon, the black haired dragon tamer sensed the dense demonic aura coming from Leviere. While wind was pushing against him, he managed to smirk and laugh after saying,
Heirloom: [Everything is going according to plan. Now,]
Erma flew through a pile of clouds, completely covering Heirloom from head to toe until he got through. On the other side were tall rigid mountains that reached higher than Erma could fly and to the point the Heirloom couldn't see the very top. Down on the surface of the mountains was densely covered in fog. Seeing anything from down there would be near impossible.
While flying about, the cry of an enormous reptile, like a bird's cry mixed in with a polar bear's growl, nearly busted Heirloom's eardrums. If it weren't for his quick reflex to muffle his ears, he would've gone deaf.
Heirloom, excited: [Hydra!]
From within the mist, three dragon heads covered in pearl white scaled rose and growled.
Heirloom: [We found you!]