At the center of the world lies the castle tower known as Heaven's Vanguard. At the base of the tower, eight murals depicting the resurrection of humanity surround the coffin of Emperor Augustus Muir, first of the Six Heroes. 1000 years ago, when the world engulfed in darkness, six heroes rose from the ashes, pushing back the monsters and becoming the light of humanity. They battled the darkness across the nine continents, quelling the flames, purifying the land, and raising the cities from dust. Finally, they pushed the demons all the way to the center continent, where they'd first appeared. At the demon king's castle, which later became Heaven's Vanguard, the six heroes fought the demon king for seven days and seven nights. As the remnant energy from their battle reverberated around the world, the people prayed for their victory, and on the dawn of the eighth day, heaven answered their prayers. The demon king fell, and the Six Heroes sealed the passage to the demon realm amongst the stars. But the world doesn't know that unlike what the mural depicts, the weapon that pierced the heart of the demon king wasn't the golden claymore of Emperor Muir, but a much smaller, duller longsword wielded by a man whose name nobody knows. In that battle, there weren't six combatants fighting for humanity, but seven. Unlike the six heroes, the seventh warrior wasn't kind, charismatic, or smart. The only thing he knew how to do was kill. For one lifetime, one man and one blade swept through everything they came across, be it humans, beasts, monsters, devils, or gods. Those who knew him said that the blood which constantly ran down his sword was so thick it could never be cleaned. Alas, though he was the strongest of them all, while the Six Heroes founded the six great clans which became the pillars of humanity to this day, the seventh warrior vanished from, or perhaps was erased from history. But, though he was forgotten, his legacy lived on.
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It was a rare moment of peace in the forest that surrounded the city of Lanarium. A young man lay on the ground, asleep, his eyes closed, sunlight filtering through the trees as it landed softly on his face. He could be considered handsome, although not exceptionally so, with tanned skin and messy brown hair. Other than his clothes, his only other possession seemed to be the old sword that lay by his side. It was a weathered thing, chipped in several places and halfway covered in rust.
His eyes fluttered open as a gust of wind blew through the forest.
"Where...?" It occurred to him that not only could he not remember where this was, he also didn't know how he got here or, in fact, anything at all. All he knew was one thing: Your name is Rust, and you are where you should be. The thought came to him naturally, almost as soon as he woke up, and he felt strangely at ease as he picked up the sword next to him and started looking around, seeing if there was anything that could tell him more about his situation.
At that moment, a loud bang shattered the peaceful atmosphere, a trail of green smoke rising from a flare that was fired close to his left. From the same direction came a violent rustling, and Rust backed up to see what was coming, awkwardly holding the sword in front of him. A few seconds later, a man and woman burst into the clearing, wide-eyed and panting.
Spotting Rust, the man's eyes flashed in surprise, but he recovered quickly. "Kid!" he shouted. "Move back!" Rust scrambled out of the way as the woman planted her feet where he'd been standing, unstrapping the tower shield from her back and slamming it into the ground.
"Get ready, Troy! It's coming," she shouted, and the man turned his attention back to where they'd come from, gripping his axe tightly.
"Play it safe, Reina," he told her. "We just need to hold on until Solaar finishes up on his side. Try to bait it—" his words were cut off as a black bear shoved its way into the clearing, running straight toward them. Its fur was covered in red veins, and its eyes glinted with madness, a dark mist rising from its skin.
"Worry about yourself!" Reina grunted as light flashed around her shield. She took the blow head on, skidding back a couple feet before flinging the beast back with a roar. It crashed into a tree, shaking it fiercely, but didn't seem to be injured at all, as it once more charged toward the group.
Rust watched with horror as the bear clashed with Reina's shield again. Troy circled it from the side, looking for an opportunity to strike, but he was probably mostly hoping to scare it. The previous sense of comfort he'd felt had long since vanished. Where I should be, my ass! He thought to himself. Why the hell are there monsters here?! Still, even as part of him was panicking, information about the beast came unbidden to his mind. Mutated black bear. Corruption level.... about 15%. Overall danger level... between 0.21 and 0.44. Dangerous for your current self, but within an acceptable margin. The monster wasn't the only one that Rust was receiving subconscious info about. Troy and Reina came with their own assessments: apparently, they were both single flame warriors, with overall ratings of 0.11 to 0.28. Rust didn't quite understand what all of this meant, but he knew it wasn't very reassuring, considering their situation.
Sure enough, the next time the bear clashed with Reina, she was the one pushed back. Troy let out a shout of alarm as another swipe from the bear slammed into Reina's shield, sending it clattering to the ground as she lost her footing. Before the animal could press its advantage, Troy brought his axe down into its back, where the weapon lodged deep into its body. The bear bellowed in rage and pain, but just as a hint of triumph appeared in Troy's eyes, it whipped around toward him, and the axe, still embedded in its flesh, flew from the man's grip.
Luckily, Reina had recovered at this point, slamming her shield into the bear's side just as it was about to disembowel Troy. The two of them went back and forth a couple times, but despite Reina's best efforts, she was still losing ground. Troy hovered around behind the bear, clearly looking for a way to help her, but without a weapon, it wasn't clear what he'd be able to do. In another few hits, Reina would probably lose her shield, and then they would all die.
I have to help. Rust's heart pounded, but his body knew what to do. Energy, — aura —, his mind supplied automatically, erupted around his body, and he could feel himself becoming lighter on his feet, every sense heightened. His mind froze, dumbfounded, but his feet carried him forward regardless. The bear swiped at him, but he instinctively turned his body just enough to avoid the blow, before converting the movement into a jump. As he sailed over the beast's head, more aura flowed from his body, collecting on the edge of his blade. When he swung the sword, it was an action which he must have done thousands of times, even if he had no memory of it. The rusted sword traced out a perfect arc, without a single movement or drop of aura wasted. Time seemed to slow, as if to appreciate a fine work of art. Then it was over. The sword cleaved clean through the bear's neck, sending its head tumbling to the ground with a dull thud. Until now, Rust's body had been moving automatically, but as his wits returned to him, the preternatural grace which propelled him this far seemed to leave as quickly as it had come.
He stumbled forward, gasping. The sword fell from his grasp, clattering to the ground as a sudden sense of weakness overtook him. Pitching forward, he fell to one knee, clutching his chest, his whole body on fire.
"Wow kid, I didn't know you could use aura! That was awesome!" Troy ran up to him, wrapping him up in a tight hug. If Rust could speak, he would have told him not to do it, but instead, he just focused on breathing. Further away, Reina wrenched Troy's axe out of the bear's back, dumping it at his feet. She didn't say anything, but her eyes regarded Rust with appreciation. "You have to teach me how you did that," Troy continued, still hugging Rust. "I swung my axe with all my strength, but I only managed to scratch it! And I've already ignited my First Flame, whereas you have none! How did you cut its whole head off?" He released the hug as he looked at Rust expectantly.
Without Troy's weight on him anymore, Rust regained his breath shortly afterward. He was about to tell Troy that he didn't really know how he did the last attack, when an acute sense of foreboding made his breath catch in his throat. "Wait," Rust rasped out, struggling to his feet as he grabbed his sword again. "There's... more." He could feel them, even if he couldn't see them yet.
"From our right."
"What?" Troy whirled his head to the side, confusion setting into his face. "I don't see—" And then he saw them. Two pairs of glowing red eyes glared at them from the shadows. "Shit. Shit!" Troy cursed as the two bears slowly padded into view. He pulled Rust to his feet and together they started running, Reina following closely behind, but there was no way they would be faster than the monsters. The two beasts charged forward, quickly catching up to them. Reina readied her shield again, sweat collecting on her forehead as aura once more flared to life around her. The few seconds of reprieve Rust had bought them previously clearly weren't enough, however. She was still exhausted from the previous battle, and the aura covering her shield was so thin that Rust could barely even see it.
As the beasts approached, he tried to summon the strength from before, but the only thing that happened was a dull aching that spread through his entire body. Even the automatic calculations and evaluations from before had ceased. There was nothing he could do as each swipe of the bears' claws sent Reina stumbling until a strong blow from one of them sent a chunk of the shield flying away. With the structure compromised, the next blow wrenched the remains of the shield straight out of her grip.
"Reina!" Troy shouted as he ran to her side, dropping Rust. "I'll distract them. Run away, kid!" The man threw himself in front of Reina, spreading his arms out to shield her, even though he must have known that the bears would cleave through him with ease. I can't believe I'm about to die without even knowing where I am, Rust thought to himself, clenching his fists, pushing himself so that he could point his sword toward the monsters, against the protests of his burning muscles. Given how fast the bears were, it wouldn't make a difference if he tried to run, so instead he would at least die with dignity, sword in hand.
He heard what came next before he saw it. From behind him, there came a low whistle accompanied by a violent rustling. In front of Rust, one bear was about to bring down its outstretched claws in a blow which would surely kill Troy and Reina both, when it too heard the sound, its claw halting in the air for the shortest of moments as its eyes turned in surprise toward the source. In the next instant, a white spear had blown a hole through the bear's throat. It continued, barely slowed, completely shattering the second bear's head before embedding itself halfway into a tree.
Blood and brain matter spilled across the ground as the bears fell with twin thuds, while Troy, Reina, and Rust tried to process what had just happened. Footfalls followed the spear, and a few seconds later, a handsome blond-haired youth appeared before the three of them, dressed in light leather armor. When Rust's eyes landed on the newcomer, instantly the hairs on his body seemed to all stand up. A chill ran through him as his grip on the sword tightened reactively. His sensing ability must have returned, at least in some measure, because without a doubt, he knew down to his bones that this was a person who could kill him effortlessly.