The Final Frontier
By:Arahito
Chapter 4
The sun was shining bright and Brach’s streets were filled with players and merchants. As Celeste neared the city’s main square the alleys and streets became more crowded. She was trying to get to the training hall where she expected Shendar to be. Unfortunately the training hall was on the other side of the city and the shortest way to get there was via the main square. So Celeste kept pushing through the crowd trying to get to the square’s other side.
As she was passing the fountain she heard a familiar voice followed by a loud laugh in which a high, clear and bell-like voice joined in. ‘Shendar.. and a..girl?’ Celeste frowned. She walked around the fountain to the other side where she had heard the voices coming from. The first thing that she noticed was that although the square was hopelessly crowded, people seemed to avoid a certain place. As she walked further she saw Shendar sitting on the fountain’s rim with a tall person. They were vociferously joking and fooling around, which was obviously the reason why they repelled the people around them.
Shendar’s companion was a handbreadth taller than him and had back long, red hair. The hair rested behind two pointy ears and fell straight back from there. The elf was wearing a beige-colored robe. Celeste approached them from the crowd and Shendar who had just looked up shouted out to her “Hey, Celeste, come here I want to introduce you to someone” The elf turned around and looked at Celeste. It was a man with a long and angular, but also pretty face. His eyes were green and his eyebrows were oddly shaped. They were thin and very long. That long, that they were sticking out to the sides from his face. His body fitted the appearance of his face. He was tall and slender. His limbs were also long and delicate.
“This is Karoril “ Shendar introduced the elf. “Hello, nice to meet you” Karoril said with the high voice she heard before. He wore a faint smile and shook Celeste’s hand. “The pleasure is mine. My name is Celeste.” Celeste answered him. “How did you meet?” she asked the two and then continued towards Shendar “I thought you were in the training hall.”
“Oh, I was in the training hall, but after a couple of hours I heard an incredibly loud bang. When I rushed out of the training hall I saw my friend Karoril here. He was running down the street that leads to the mages guild, and behind him was at least half of the mages guild. They were crazy, shooting all kinds of magical missiles at him. Long story short: Me and Baren intervened and knocked out quite a number of the crazy mages and helped Karoril escape from the rest.” Shendar finished with a grin.
“And why did they chase you?” Celeste now asked Karoril.
“I happened to ‘find’ a certain magical item, with which I accidently blew up the mage guild’s training hall.”
“You ‘happened to find’ a ‘magical item’, with which you blew up their whole training hall?!” Celeste stuttered flabbergasted “What kind of a ‘magical item’ is that and how did you ‘happen to find’ it?”
“Well, the item is a so called ‘mana orb’. It is a jewel that can save up mana and magical energy which can be used to amplify spells. And I found it in the archmage’s chamber.” Karoril replied with a calm voice.
“Wait! So you stole a personal artifact of Brach’s archmage and blew up half the guild with it?! Do you still have that mana orb?” Celeste responded with an increasingly louder voice.
“Yes, I do. But for now it is of no use. It’s power is depleted.” Karoril remained calm.
“Hey, Celeste, keep calm. It might sound a little bad, right now, but there isn’t…”
“Don’t tell me that there is no problem Shendar!” Celeste cut him off. “As good as every mage in this city wants to get you in their hands and you two relax in the middle of the town’s main square! Just what are you thinking?!”
“Well, we didn’t have any problems so far, but now that you put it that way..” Shendar indulged ruefully. “Actually we were planning to go eat something just now.” Karoril told Celeste. “As long as we go somewhere unobtrusive, I am fine.” Celeste said with a sigh.
**********
Shendar was hitting the scarecrow again. He had gotten used to fighting with two swords and had grown familiar with the different fighting styles Baren had taught him. One week had passed since he had saved Karoril from the mob of mages that were chasing him through Brach’s streets. After they had met Celeste on the main square, they had gone to a restaurant in a small alley, which was not frequented a lot. There they had talked for quite some time and formed a friendship. They had decided that Karoril would look in the library for a way to recharge the mana orb, while Celeste and Shendar would finish their training in the training hall, before they went hunting together.
The aftermath of that day was that the training hall instructor Baren was ostracized by the mage’s guild. He was prohibited from going near their guild and the archmage had sworn that he would do anything to get Baren out of the city. Although that sounded pretty bad in Shendar’s opinion, Baren didn’t seem to care very much. Yet, he seemed to enjoy the strife with the mages. Shendar on the other hand got away. Somehow nobody could remember what the person next to Baren had looked like, so Shendar was still free to move wherever he wanted.
Suddenly his swords stopped midair and several message windows popped up.
Strength has increased by 1!
Agility has increased by 1!
Vitality has increased by 1!
Fame has increased by 20!
Health has increased by 100!
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‘Finally’ Shendar thought to himself. Celeste had finished her training two days ago. Although he had trained more than her she had finished the training earlier, which was really odd in his opinion. But probably it had to do something with the fact that Celeste was not practicing the sword but had been training with a bow. ‘Anyways’ he thought and walked up to Baren and Celeste who were casually chatting at the training hall’s entrance. Since she had finished her training she was always watching him during his training. She obviously didn’t feel like increasing her skill proficiencies anymore, but was rather waiting to get out of the city and hunt some monsters.
“Baren I finished my training. I want to thank you for your help and instructions.”
“Oh, you are done?” Baren acted surprised “It took you some time, but at last you also finished” he continued teasing him. Then he grinned “Wait here, I have something for you” and he left for a small room where no one except Baren was allowed. After a minute he returned with an iron sword and handed it to Shendar. “That is the gift I am allowed to make to all of those who finished the Basic Training Hall with a sword.”
Hard Iron Sword
Durability: 54/54
Damage: 10-14
Awarded to those who completed the Basic Training Program.
This widely-used long sword is better than basic type weapons that are available in a blacksmith’s workshop.
Equip:
+10 STR
Limits:
STR 40+
VIT 35+
“Wow, thank you very much Baren. But could you help me with a few things? Can you help me walk the path of a swordsman as you offered Celeste the path of an archer?”
“Ah, I am glad to hear that Shendar” Baren said happily.
Class Change!If you accept it, you can use exclusive skills related to the nature of the class. Do you want to convert now?
'Yes'
Status WindowCharacter NameShendarAlignmentNeutralLevel1ProfessionSwordsmanTitleNoneFame20Health760Mana260Strength50+5Agility50+5Vitality40+5Wisdom13+5Intelligence10+5Endurance7+5Fighting Spirit16+5Luck10+5Attack9Defense0Magic ResistanceNone+ 5 points added to all Stats
+ Enables you to equip certain items specialized for the class
+ Increases Attack Power when equipped with a sword
+ Increases Attack Speed when equipped with a sword
+ Decreases Mana Consumption for Sword related techniques
+ Increases Fame gain for achieving notable deeds
“Can I help you with anything else?”
“Actually, yes. Where can I get scimitars and is there a master who can teach me the proper use of dual wielded scimitars?”
“Oh, you are an eccentric one, huh? You can ask any blacksmith in Brach and if he has a little skill he should be able to create customized scimitars for you. As for the master: that is a little more complicated. Hardly anyone uses scimitars, much less dual wield them. But I heard that there are nomads far to the east who use scimitars. There might be someone who can teach you what you are looking for.”
“Thank you very much Baren. Well, then, we bid farewell. Don’t let the mages get the best of you.”
“You bet they won’t! Have a good and adventurous journey you two.”
“Bye, Baren. Thank you for your teachings. I’ll miss you.” Celeste waved as they left the training hall. “So where are we going now?” Celeste asked Shendar as they had left the training hall.
“We will look for a capable blacksmith to forge me a pair of weapons. Do you need anything before we leave?”
“I have everything I need for a fight, but we might need some supplies.”
“Then why don’t you go buy supplies, while I am looking for a blacksmith and we meet up with Karoril in the library when we are done?” “Okay. See you later.” They kissed and Celeste walked towards the main square, while Shendar continued his way to the craftsman district, where most of Brach’s smiths had their workshops. On his way he sent Karoril a whisper asking how much he had progressed. A few seconds later he got an answer: “I think I am hot on the trail. I’ll let you know if I know more.”
**********
Noah finally saw a small city on the horizon. A week ago he had left Brach to the east. A girl had asked him at the hospital whether he wanted to join her questing und hunting monsters. She was cute, and she was definitely flirting with him, but he had greater plans than simply raising his level, doing small quests and drooling over a pretty face. Last week he had finished his preparations and his training. Now the time had come to spread the word and to change the world. And the small city on the horizon would be were his journey would begin...
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