-Back at Runeterra, two days after Malcolm Graves left-
Inside the deep darkness of the starlit night, a golden, meteor-like object soared in the air, illuminating its surroundings. The blinding radiance released by it, makes the stark contrast of the light and darkness appear clearly, as if the golden luminescence and pitch black night were devouring each other. The meteor flew upwards, following a high tower taller than the clouds.
Looking closer, it was a person wearing a full-bodied golden armor with a tinge of red here and there. In its back were a pair snow-white white wings dyed orange due to the golden ambient light mixed with red that was reflected by those milk-colored wings.
The golden, knight-like person rose in altitude using the reddish orange wings, circling around the tall tower. Once the knight reached the uppermost level, the highest room, the armored knight entered through an opened window and kneeled with one leg on the ground with the helmed head facing downwards. A gesture of respect.
"I came according to your wishes, High Counselor." An uncharacteristically feminine voice came from the masked helmet of the feathered knight. Though, the voice was rather deep since it echoed inside the helmet before reaching the ears of another person.
"Good." A shadow in the form of a man said with a voice devoid of any quality. An eerie voice which doesn't let you know the speaker's age nor gender. "You must have heard... Of the recent events in regards to the two of your fellow champions, I concur?" The silhouette spoke again.
"Yes." The winged knight affirmed solemnly. The wings on the back gently swayed in accordance to the flow of the cool breeze of the wind high up in the cloudless sky.
"Well then, as it has already been two full days(Remember, a day in real world is equal to four days inside the world of Royal Road) and the two is still nowhere in sight." An annoyed look flashed for a second in the shadow-like person's silhouette. As the person's face couldn't be identified, it wouldn't really appear visually, but if a normal person were to experience it, he or she would start convulsing violently and froth in their mouth in the face of such pressure. Luckily, his conversation partner wasn't such a 'common' person.
The situation persisted for a while until the shadow-like person broke the awkward silence and spoke again. The pressure emitted by the shadow dispersed and the atmosphere returned to how it was some time ago.
"Then, Judicator. Using the power bestowed to me by the title 'High Counselor', I order you to look for them, and bring them back using whatever means necessary. If possible, alive." Those words were said in a calm voice, but hidden within the speech were poisonous thorns. 'Kill them if you must'. Those words can be cruelly taken as such. Of course, the knight understood this and wouldn't think twice of taking a life if there was a need.
"Lead me into battle. For my blade is unsheathed only for the league for this millennia as per my oath." The knight answered, and bowed even deeper. The wings behind spread outwards and emanated a warm, but blinding golden light.
The shadow nodded in understanding. It snapped it's fingers and spoke again.
"Descend down to the foot of the tower, the [Summoners] that would transport you are waiting there. I am giving you a month to complete this mission. The sooner you finish it, the better." The shadow concluded it's explanation. Moments later, a gust of wind blew inside the room and took the shadow along. Silvery particles which shone beneath the moonlit sky scattered in the air as they were carried by the wind as the silhouette disappeared into thin air.
The knight stood up and turned around, and moments later, jumped off the window and descended at an astonishing speed. Before reaching the ground, the wings on the shoulder blades expanded, as if sprouting like a sapling, which in turn caused the knight's descent become like that of a leaf gently laying on the ground as it swayed in the tune of the warm summer breeze.
The knight turned back and walked without making a sound towards the gate of the tower. Some cowl-wearing people that encountered the knight bowed down in respect as the knight passed through and entered the tower's gate.
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"Are you alright, Vers?" I said in a voice only audible to Vers as we slowly moved through the queue for a few inches. This is gonna take a while...
"If ya say so..." I said, focusing on the task at hand. The line continued to move ever so slowly. Even a turtle would be faster if placed on an open field.
Finally after a long wait, it was my turn. I was stopped in front of the gates to inspect me and the items I brought in into the city.
Good thing I changed my appearance since it would probably cause a ruckus if I, a notorious person, were to show up. Well, the people I met always stared at me. The males especially. They started showing hostile looks and stared at me with rage, as if they finally found their sworn enemy. When I asked Vers why, she'd just turn crimson and start to ignore me.
The two gate guards didn't really bother with my appearance though. I'm really thankful for their professionalism. I really have to find out the reason of the people's reaction the sooner the better. Somehow, I never encountered anything that would allow reflection on my way here, something like rivers or such. For me whose selling point is luck, it was a strange thing.
Well, I've thought about using my Object Transformation to create a mirror, but I've forgotten about it some time ago.
"Alright, you may pass." The older guard of the two gatekeepers told me. I was quickly brought back from my thoughts by his deep voice. The other guardsman just finished checking my wagon from suspicious stuffs. Though, all they could find were normal carcasses of monsters, they probably thought I came to sell my goods due to the sheer amount of those corpses.
At first, the older guard looked at me suspiciously at our first meeting, he seems a rather experienced one with the way he analyzed me. Though, I was far more experienced in this regard. I changed my posture like those of a weak merchant that never held a blade for fighting purposes, I made my smile brighter like those of a professional trader. I also copied Sky's habits which I noted of back when we were still traveling.
Sky...
The chestnut haired girl which looked like a small animal. Our meeting was just brief but she left a mark in my mind and engraved her name in my heart. A cheerful peddler that hired me as a bodyguard, she is also secretly the adopted child of the prestigious Azure Family that literally owns the Azure City. My time with her was something I'd never forget... even if I wanted. In both sense of those words.
My hand clasped the pendant that was the memento of Sky. I changed the pendant's color into blood red in order to disguise it. Since this is a treasure of the Azure Family generations through generations, I thought that it would be bad if it was found out. As the transformation was rather simple, the mana cost was light, being a two mana points per minute. Even my mana regeneration was bigger than that. Though, it would still be preferable if I were to turn it off during combat.
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"Thanks." I bowed lightly to gesture my gratitude. They also returned my greeting with a slight nod of their own. The older guard's wrinkles appeared to fade for an instant and looked youthful as he smiled. The younger one looked at his senior, then to me and then bowed deeply. Once he raised his head, he made a dumb look thinking about what he just did.
I continued on my way in the paved path of the entrance of the city.
After passing through the city walls, the atmosphere completely changed. Merchants brandishing their merchandises, customers haggling away, artisans doing their own craft and some adventurers here and there donning blades, bows or even staves.
I was stunned still for a while, gazing at the lively ambience of the town. Afterwards, I continued my way and looked for a place to park my wagon. After traveling for a few meters, though it took some time due to the crowdedness of the place, I finally found a good place.
I locked the wagon and took the materials I gathered from my hunt. I placed them all into a backpack I took from Sky's belongings. It was a merchant's rucksack that allows a huge amount of object stored in the minimum possible weight. I placed meats, leathers, horns, and other monster drops inside the bag. I carried it which became significantly heavier and walked again.
When I passed through the crowd, people kept staring at me for some reason. Keeping my smile was quite difficult in the face of such gazes. Though, as an expert with fabricating emotions, I managed to pull through.
I continued my way towards a shop. It was a general store that buys and sells everything with a set amount of price. Though, I could probably get far more if I had sold my materials to specialized store or those that needed it like tailors for leathers and cooks for the meat, I just want to clear out my inventory as soon as possible.
Even so, with my skill at bargaining and the ability of reading and telling lies, I was able to get a significant sum from the materials I sold. I looked at the shop's merchandises but nothing took my attention in particular. Well, I also bought a cowled hood which I wore immediately and a smiling white mask which I would use later. A way of reducing the curious eyes that watched me is always welcome.
The hood I bought were plain in appearance, though more tattered if anything. It was a simple brown cloth robe. Or possibly previously colored white before, but became brown over time.
The mask, on the other hand, was made with metal. It had a creepy smiling face like those cliched things in theaters. It was snow white in color and it seemed to be a perfect fit for my face, though somehow, an eerie feeling could be felt from the mask.
After finishing my transaction, I went outside the shop to look for a place to hit the hay. I was overly-conscious that someone would find me suspicious with the way I am dressed, but as I looked around, there were also other hood wearing people here and there so I fitted in rather well.
I walked some time towards the direction of the center of the city. The density of the crowed lightened on the way to the town center but it becomes crowded again the deeper you are inside, though, as the plaza in the eye of the town takes up a rather large space, it was quite spacious no matter the amount of people inside. I am rather thankful of that as it gives me some breathing space.
In the middle of the town was a fountain, it was a large one with some sort of statue spouting up the water. Guards could also be seen here and there. They are probably there to inspect the public order, to stop some skirmishes or capture criminals like pickpockets.
A thought came to my mind as I walked to the fountain. A lot of people was using the fountain, be it resting or filling their canteens. Some idiot also tried jumping into the water but was forcefully suppressed by the armed sentinels.
As I reached the fountain I peered at the crystal clear water, and there I finally understood the reason of those stares. Looking at my own reflection, I saw a blonde, handsome young man, that is in no way, could be me. The smiling man with dignified atmosphere surrounding him is completely different from my cynical self. I can't believe how much appearance and gestures could change someone's impression almost completely...
Partner that with my rather tall height, I would become the perfect example of a noble high elf... if I had pointed ears. Well, I tried out using body transformation to create the elvish ears, and the result was... let's just say, dangerous. I almost lost my path there. Vers who peeked her head out of my pocket saw me and started bleeding through her nose, but I'd rather not go into details.
After sating my curiosity, I continued walking, feeling oddly satisfied. I asked the guards who just concluded another incident for directions. They pointed me towards the eastern side of the town where a good inn that has rooms for a cheap price could be found. It wasn't as if I particularly care about the price as I had a load of gold, but being thrifty isn't bad, is it?
When I reached the place, it was rather neat in appearance, completely different from the run down inn I had in mind. I rented a room for a few silver after giving some pleasantries with the owner.
I went upstairs to my room and immediately went to bed, Vers came out and flew around cheerfully. My eyelids felt heavy as I was tired with my traveling. I felt my tummy grumble, but I decided to take care of it in the morning. Slowly, my eyes closed as my breathing became calmer. Vers' cheerful voice became fainter and fainter until I couldn't hear anything anymore.
Thus, I comfortably slept like a log.
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Author's Note(Grumblings):
Finally! Volume 1 finished! I introduced another LoL champion, The Judicator, Kayle!
I tried changing my writing style by putting more level of detail on this one. I'm trying to improve the quality and speed of my works with this FF before I start with another original story. My first story I made some time back was quite lacking in the quality department, as well as the speed. Some parts felt too forced.
If you haven't noticed, Vers also felt sick when Graves entered the Versailles continent directly. Coincidence?
Anyways, like always, thanks for reading. Please put your comments, etc, etc, here before I lock it, or just put it in the discussion page if the chapter is already locked.
Note: I never played using any of the characters I use in this fan fiction, so forgive any mistakes I were to make. Add me in LoL if you want, BBeLiN, a level 25 summoner. Though since Philippine's LoL is managed by garena, I'm not too sure about being able to connect with another server...
My roles:
AP Carry: Karthus/Katarina/Teemo/Veigar/Malzahar
AD Carry: Master Yi/Rengar
Tank: Amumu/Warwick
ADR: Ashe
Support: Soraka
See ya!
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