A bit of a light hearted chapter, to set up more of the future story. Don’t worry for those of you who like dark tragedies. I have the tag for a reason. Also, I'm kind of sick, so maybe another chapter today. Idk.
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General Landon Kai of the 3rd army of The Aclaster Empire was unhappy. No, unhappiness would not begin to describe how he felt at that moment. More like deep dissatisfaction. Due to his dedication to his country and an indomitable will, he quickly climbed up the ranks even as a half demon. His mother was a war prisoner, and his father a soldier who fell for her. When his mother was released, they officially married, and had a child with black hair, black eyes, and a single twisting horn growing from his right temple. Now 35 years from then, the mother died of sickness, and his father was killed in the line of duty. Throughout his life, his father showed great devotion to the nation’s cause, motivating the young boy to take up arms and fight. However even with all his accomplishments and patriotic deeds, he was sent to patrol the wastelands to the north, and not the battlefield.
‘It really did turn into a wasteland. I guess it’s now the Great Yoell Desert?’ Landon thought as he surveyed the flat, cracking land.
“You guys set up camp. I’m going to go look around. I’ll be back for Dinner!” Landon told the soldiers following him, setting down his pack for the others to unload.
“Ditching work and leaving it to us recruits? I wouldn’t have signed up for this if I knew I’d get such a lazy commander!.” Playfully voiced a soldier
“Leave it to us! Although I don’t see why you’re bothering. It’s a fuckin desert without a plant in sight.” Said another.
“Yeah, well there could still be monsters roaming around. And it will help us get a head start in the morning.” Landon conveyed his thoughts, and was met by approving and grateful nods from the 30 some people in front of him.
Turning around, he began walking away from the Moon.
‘What kind of monsters does it take to level the largest forest in the continent? No, more like what kind of monster was the Black Dragon? I don’t know the details, but the rumor is it’s power was great enough to mobilize the 6 most powerful humans… No, not humans. You can’t call them humans anymore. They are monsters… Well, anyways, their greed was brought to the surface by the mere existence of that dragon. Enough so that they unified despite being mortal enemies.’
Landon soon became lost in his thoughts. Thoughts about what magic could cause such destruction, or how the Six Warriors attained their insurmountable power. Coming back to reality, he was greeted by wooden planks and shredded tree matter haphazardly strewn about. Landon had felt the shockwave when he was in the middle of a city patrol. That was many miles away. He figured the sight in front of him were the remnants of a small village in the middle of Yoell, blown away by the force of the wave.
Looking upwards, the moon had moved, and was now facing him.
‘I knew I had a habit of spacing out, but this is ridiculous. I guess I’ll take this from the top tomorrow morning.’
Landon gingerly picked up a broken plank, before tossing it with an overhead throw. The plank spun a few times, before landing to the ground.
*Clonk!*
‘That didn’t sound quite right. A hollow sound?’ Landon thought, hesitating for only a moment before walking in the direction of the plank.
Looking downwards, he found a cheap wooden chest with a small [cold] enchantment on it. It was wide enough to fit a full set of armor with room to spare. The chest brought a nostalgic feeling in Landon’s heart, as he remembered his mother storing home brewed potions in a box much like it, to keep it from expiring as quickly.
The chest actually seemed relatively unharmed. It became apparent that there was something in it when Landon grabbed it with both hands. Landon estimated about 50 kilograms of goods were locked in the chest.
Setting it down, he opened the box from the top, peeking in to reveal the contents inside.
And was met with a foot. Planted firmly in his face.
Landon jumped back, but the damage had been done. His nose was bleeding, and he was sure he bit his tongue or his lips. It was too numb to tell which though.
He swiftly moved his hand to the hilt of his blade, a movement so practiced he could do it in a split second without warning.
However, what came from the opened chest was not what he expected. A small girl with brown hair, dark black eyes, and a slender figure climbed out. She had tears in her eyes, mud on her clothes and body, and scuffs and scratches, probably from the rough sides of the box. Although her arms were held out and her hands balled into fists, her expression and white knuckles betrayed her true emotions. She had a tattoo of a serpent spiraling from her middle arm area all the way to the tip of her shoulder.
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Landon instinctively loosened his grip on the blade. A bad move.
The girl ran up to him and punched again, this time at his chest.
Landon quickly realized she had strong physical capabilities.
Her fist crashed into his chest. A large crack could be heard, and her fist retracted, bleeding.
“Honestly, what did expect would happen when you punched a solid metal chestplate?”
The girl looked at him again. Tears streamed down her face, before she struck him again.
Landon raised his gauntlet to protect his face, and the girl’s fist once again made a cracking noise, showering landon in tiny specks of blood.
The girl hit his gauntlet again and again until Landon grabbed her and halted her movements. By this time, her hand was covered in blood, the skin around her knuckles raw, and her wrist purple.
“Calm down! What the hell are you doing?! You’re hurting yourself!” He shouted.
To which her reply was “Why would an evil kidnapping raping bandit like you care about if I hurt myself? Don’t want to damage the goods, you fucker?!”
Temporarily taken aback by her foul mouth, Landon just stood there looking shocked. This was without a doubt the first time he had been called something like that. And from someone young enough to be his daughter no less.
But she wasn’t finished. “Push me down and I’ll rip your ----- into pieces and shove it up your ---! If you want a -------, I’ll bite your fuckin ---- off!” She shouted, making Landon cringe from the image.
(Censored so us males don’t cry ;-;)
It was Landon’s turn. “I’m not a bandit! I am a proud general of the Aclaster Empire! I show worry for you, and you reply with such horrible words?! Not even my men talk in such a foul way! And they spend years fighting with pent up frusturation!”
“... Aclaster? what the hell is that?”
“Don’t tell me… you don’t know? One of the most powerful empires on the continent?”
“Oh yeah, Mom told me about those.”
“The Empires?”
“Continents.”
“Oh holy mother of god…”
“Anyways, if you’re not a bandit, and not my enemy, what are you? And can you please let go of my hand?” the girl asked.
“I’m your ally. Unless you choose to do those things you mentioned…” He replied, slackening his grip before letting go of her wrist completely.
“Well if you’re an ally, then I don’t see a reason to do that. What’s your name?
“I’m Landon Kai. One of the strongest genera-”
“Yeah yeah ok. Gotcha. and by the way, why did you give me this tattoo?” The girl said, pointing towards the serpentine dragon tattoo that swirled around her arm.
Landon was displeased at being cut off, but quickly turned his attention to her shoulder. “Gave you? Like I could just ‘give’ you a tattoo without you realizing it.” Landon said, raising an eyebrow.
“Strange… Ok, Cool. Anyways, nice to meet you Lanny. I’m Ouriel. Ouriel Farren.” Ouriel said.
“Lanny?? wait wait, no. What was this about the tattoo?”
“Well, it just appeared. I didn’t have it this morning.”
“How is that possible… No, nevermind, we’ll talk about that later. How about we go back to camp? You can tell me your story there.” Landon nodded to his own words, before beckoning her to come with him.
“And I can trust you because…?”
“I didn’t attack you, I didn’t rape you, and I’m the only person here.” Was his reply.
“....” Ouriel pondered for awhile, before agreeing, “Fair enough. Lead the way…”