Three knights trampled the delicate balance of flora and fauna in the vibrant green forest, bantering and laughing along the way.
A young man with a clean, almost pristine set of silver light armor spoke nervously, "Are we even sure this 'legendary knight' is out here?" He smacked away a fly in his face, hitting himself in the process.
"Put your helmet back on, Jullierd," barked a stoic man, whose face and body were hidden by his large, heavy armor.
A young woman with a sword larger than her body and heavy armor to match laughed heartily, smacking the young man on the back, "Come on Jullierd, don't try and back out now! You heard what the king said," she began feigning a male voice, "anyone who captures Red, the King of Crimson Blood will immediately be promoted two classes, and they will receive any reward of their choosing."
The stoic man tossed a stern look at the woman, quickly saying, "Do not mock our king, Ria!"
Ria rolled her eyes, "Oh please, Leon."
She ran in front of the group and turned to Jullierd, "Just imagine it, you get a purse filled with gold pieces and a shiny new title," she waved her hand in the air, "Commander Third Class. Just from one mission."
Jullierd, still examining their environment, barely met her eyes, "You'd become a Grand Officer, wouldn't you, Ria?"
She closed her eyes as a smile spread across her face. "Oh yes, Grand Officer Ria, one of six in the entire kingdom. And better than that, a noble. No more stale bread and no more musty barracks ever again. And you, Grand Officer Leon," she smiled as she turned to face him, "would become the kingdom's fifth ever Commander Grand Officer, right alongside—“
Leon suddenly stopped and looked around, with Ria and Jullierd doing the same.
"We won't find Red like this. We need to split up and cover more ground. I'm assuming you both read the mission reports on where we believe he's hiding and what he's capable of, right?”
"Yeah, I remember skimming through that, but I didn't see the part about why a legendary knight from Britannius was exiled to some random forest," Ria stated facetiously.
Leon shrugged his massive shoulders, his armor flexing and folding as he did so, "Who knows? Britannius is a cesspool. More than likely, as soon as he wasn't willing to fight or couldn't, they just got rid of him. However, this provides us with an excellent opportunity."
There was a slight pause and a mutual agreement on the information before Leon cut through it again, "So, Ria, you'll search north. I’ll keep heading east, and Jullierd, you'll search south. If one of you does find him, he will more than likely attack you on the spot, so just break open the seal on your recall scroll," he held up a small parchment of paper with an ornate brown wax seal stamped on it, "and we'll come running."
Jullierd and Ria both nodded and synchronously chanted, "Yes Grand Officer Leon."
"Good, then let's begin."
Jullierd made a sharp right and continued walking through the forest, analyzing the environment even more closely than before. Every animal that skittered by and every strong gust of wind caused him to nearly jump out of his armor. He finally put on his helmet, a rusted relic more akin to a mask that only covered the top half of his head. He walked for what seemed like forever; the terrain became repetitive; the animals turned into hulking monsters, bucking and taunting him. Even the plant life became hostile. It monitored him as he passed by it. Despite this, he continued looking behind him into the sky for his superiors' recall scrolls.
Just as Jullierd began to question whether or not there was anything in the forest other than gigantic plants, he spotted something. Through the thicket of large flora, man-sized glowing plants, and twisting trees that extended to the sky, in a spot where the sun rarely touched, a man sat in half a suit of armor, struggling to fight off sleep as he cleaned himself with a small amount of water held in the leaf of one of the plants. His armor and the area around him were completely covered with crimson-red blood as if it had been painted.
Jullierd was spotted by the man, his tired eyes opening slightly with relief. The man was rugged and world-weary, but still relatively youthful-looking. The man's vibrant red hair instantly gave away his identity. He spoke with a hushed but stern tone, "Excuse me, sir, do you think you could give me a hand? If you know any holy magic spells, that'd be a big help, although I wouldn't mind a healing tonic or two. I patched up my wounds, but I need to regain some energy."
Jullierd's eyes widened. He drew his spear from his back, held it in both hands and slowly crouched his way towards the man.
The man became exasperated, "Come on kid, don't tell me you're a highway robber. I can pay, just help me, please. Or if you want to get paid first, just go to the nearby guild hall and tell the master to come over here, she’ll pay you.”
Jullierd spoke robotically as if he'd recited these lines a thousand times, "Former Celeres Red, known as the King of Crimson Blood," As Jullierd sputtered out his rehearsed lines, the man's eyes—no, his entire expression began to change.
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as Jullierd continued, "You are under arrest by order of the King of Oldum. Please come peacefully, or I will have to use lethal force."
The man struggled to get his words out, "No, please! My name is Roalais, and I'm a member of the Daemon Hunters Adventurers' Guild; bring me to the guild master, Day Oathright, and she'll—"
"You won't fool me, Red!" Jullierd thought to himself, as he jumped forward and stabbed Red, striking at his head.
The spear bounced off his head and snapped. Jullierd looked at Red in horror as his head was now covered in a lavish and opulent red helmet with black lines running down the sides. The helmet had small protrusions, like devil horns, on the forehead.
Red stood up, removing his helmet and dusting it off before Jullierd could even register what was happening. He placed the large and gaudy horned helmet back on his head. Jullierd jumped back quickly, maintaining his guard, and struggled to take his eyes off of it.
"You must be wondering about this, right?" Red snickered, “This used to be my ceremony helmet. I wore it to the balls and celebrations when they'd honor us…" He paused for a long while, turning his head to the sky, "when they'd honor the legendary knights.”
Jullierd closed the distance, faster now, ignoring Red. He switched the broken spear to one hand and held his other hand out, causing ancient runes, a language of symbols, to appear in mid-air glowing.
Red began to smile, even though his face was no longer visible, "A spellsword! They sent the elites after me this time! But hold on, young man, it isn't very honorable or fair if we fight without knowing each other's names, right? I thought the knights of Oldum always engaged in fair battles no matter what."
"The only fair fight is one that I win," Jullierd growled through gritted teeth. The runes began spinning more wildly, slowly contorting and twisting into a rampant orange flame, bursting forth in a violent torrent.
The flame reached Red in a second, but it never touched his body. Air gathered in front of him like a shield and deflected the flames onto the nearby trees and plants. Everything in the area was set ablaze, and the giant sentient plants seemed to scream out in pain. The forest turned from vibrant greens, browns, and purples into a smothering inferno, distorting even the air before them. Red laughed manically, pointed to his feet, and brought his finger up to his head. In an instant, with a flush of red, his mangled chest plate and rusted greaves transformed into ceremonial armor similar to his helmet. He stood much taller; his posture was entirely changed. The entirety of his new armor was lightly carved with magic runes similar to the ones Jullierd summoned, albeit more complex and numerous. It had spiked protrusions on nearly every part.
After the transformation was complete, Red spoke, but now his voice ripped through the air and shook the earth, and it became uncanny, as though multiple individuals spoke over each other, "They aren't teaching the spellswords correctly in Oldum. Arcana is living and breathing all around us, and magic is just our meager way of harnessing either the small amount inside of us, our mana, or the arcana around us…or both!”
In a single motion, he put his hand out and shot an icicle at Jullierd, hitting him in the shoulder and causing him to drop his spear.
Red continued, "Casting magic spells is a three-step process. You've got the conjuration and the visualization right, but when you use magic..." He held his hand out, and circles of runic symbols began to cover his arm like bracelets, spinning extremely slowly, but glowing brightly, "you need to declare to the arcana around you what your purpose is. It seems silly but you won’t get anywhere as a mage if you don’t say the name of your ability, especially at your talent level.”
The rune bracelets slowly transformed into water and continued to float just above his arms without touching him. “Once you train enough, you can start to mix and match arcana and mana freely. Unfortunately for anybody coming out of that country, you’ll be stuck using mana for your innate abilities only and arcana for everything else.”
Fumbling on the ground in front of him, Jullierd struggled to pick up his splintered spear as he yanked out the icicle lodged deep in his shoulder. It began to leak blood immediately, but he still managed to get back into his battle stance, holding the spear in both hands.
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Red looked down at the water bracelets for a long time, then back up at the young man, who was now coughing up blood and struggling to maintain consciousness in front of him. He shook his head, and in a new, clear and singular voice, shouted, "Thalassic Assault."
At the same moment, the water around Red's arms grew exponentially as it rushed towards Jullierd in a tsunami-like wave, sweeping him as well as the fire up and carrying it through the forest. The wave was uncontrolled as it moved, knocking down every tree and picking up any animals along the way, all the while still growing in size.
Red watched this with his hands behind his back, still surveying the forest for any other knights. While the wave spread wildly through the forest, it refused to touch Red at all, leaving a dry area where he stood.
____________________________________________________________
Elsewhere, Leon silently marched on through the forest and began to feel uneasy.
"Something sweet? No, firewood?" Leon thought to himself. The smell in the air had changed. There was something else as well, and Leon suddenly stopped in his tracks to decipher what it was.
It can't be, I told them to use the recall scroll...
His mind raced with numerous possibilities, but something started to bother him even more than that. He took his helmet off and forcefully stopped breathing as he listened closely.
Whoosh. Whoosh!
Leon thought to himself, "Rushing water? It's Red, it has to be!"
Without a second thought, he grabbed his recall scroll and tossed it into the air. The wax stamp broke on its own, and the paper revealed a blinding light that rivaled the sun. After confirming it was successful, he put two fingers up in front of him, and his hand began to glow. He put his fingers up to his head and chanted out, "Sanctuary!"
A dense wind barrier formed around his body, forming a sphere. The whistling of the raging wind couldn't mask the humongous water wave that was approaching; it towered over the trees and slammed on top of Leon's defense. The force from the water nearly caused Leon's spell to fail instantly, and he used all of his strength just to keep the spell maintained. The wave, now a body of water in its own right, carried the majority of the forest and its inhabitants and crashed through what remained.
Damn, this spell is taking too much out of me! I'm about to run out of mana and faint. I'm going to have to use THAT. Even though…
Leon quickly shook away any doubts in his head and reached into his pouch along his belt, pulling out another scroll. He quickly broke the seal on it, but with the river now tossing him around more violently, he dropped it and immediately threw up blood. With his waning strength, he fell to the ground as he reached over and attempted to grab the scroll, but he fell just short. The sanctuary began to lose intensity, and water seeped in. Leon reached over again, grabbing it this time and shouting, "Warp!"
His surroundings exploded into an aura of purple plasma, blinding him. When he opened his eyes, he was in an open field of green, the area right outside of the forest. Puddles of water surrounded him and he coughed up blood, still face down on the ground. As he slowly got up, he looked over to the forest and noticed the wave of water seemed to slow as it reached the ends of the forest.
Something was still amiss. He shaped his hand into a circle and put it up to his eye. Quietly mumbling, "Outrider," the view through his hand changed to a plain, greenish display, with various numbers scattered. He whispered to himself, "Scan for vital signs," and his eyesight changed, showing him a new display with various pieces of information about the environment. He looked around for any signatures that stood out, but besides a few drowned animals, there was nothing.
He put his hand down and sighed, then brought it back up and whispered, "Scan for mana readings," this query changed his heads-up display to a blinding shade of blue.
That's not supposed to…
Leon's voice trailed off as he finally figured out what was going on. Red was no longer masking his mana, and the sheer scale of it completely clouded Leon's ability. Even looking in the opposite direction of the forest, a menacing red aura stayed on Leon's HUD, like a cloud of smoke.
I can't look for the others like this.
Just as Leon began to think he was hopeless, Ria's oversized curved sword drifted meekly out into the muddy field. He looked at it unflinchingly for what felt like forever. Leon fell to his knees and planted his hands into the ground, his gritted teeth clearly displayed his feelings of agitation.
Picking up the sword and hoisting it over his shoulder, Leon stood up quickly and rushed headlong into the forest, fighting back tears when thinking about the fate of his comrades.
Most of the trees are knocked down, so it should be easy to find him.
For the most part, the water had subsided, leaving only broken trees and dead animals in its wake. The ground had turned into a soupy mud that was nearly impossible to traverse through. Leon ambled, analyzing the environment, until a scream punctured the air. Rushing to where the sound was, he attempted to cast a spell, to no avail. He fell to one knee and winced.
This is going to be tough. I’m beyond drained, I can barely move my body! I don’t know if I can fight him.
Leon picked his head up and turned toward the source of the sound. His jaw dropped in horror as he finally discovered what it was.
Red, still in his ceremonial armor, stood near a gigantic tree with roots exposed above the ground, one of the only trees unaffected by the water that rushed through. On that tree, Ria lay motionless. She was pinned, no, crucified to it, bound by innumerable spears, each one stabbing through a vital area. The sight of these unholy spears nearly caused Leon to vomit. They were all a sickly shade of crimson red, and they were more liquid than solid.
Red slowly turned his head to Leon, then turned back to the tree and waved near it, causing all of the spears to disappear except one lodged in her hand. He pulled it out carelessly, and Ria’s body fell to the ground with a thud. He examined the spear closely while moving toward Leon slowly. Red bent down in front of him and held the spear out to him, but Leon didn't react. He was still on his knees, his eyes on the ground.
"This is the power your people are so afraid of," Red said, motioning with his spear, "But they've seen nothing of it yet. I’m going to use this power to change the world.”
Leon followed Red with his eyes he began to pace around, “I won’t be a slave to Britannius or Oldum’s tyranny anymore. Britannius and Oldum are two sides to the same coin. The Royal Family of Oldum and the Ruling Party of Britannius..." His voice drifted off, and he slowly took off his helmet, "They're the same dictatorship, just with a different coat of paint. I'll put a stop to both countries, and I'll install a just and fair leader in their place." Red turned to Leon, who was now watching him intently and smiled.
"That sounds like a real childish dream, doesn't it? Even if I kill everyone in power, who's to say someone just and fair will take their place? Even if I install the person, who's to say they won't turn the country into their dictatorship when I turn my head?" Red laughed to himself, "Well, soldier, that's nothing you need to worry about. I commend you for making it this far, and I truly resent that your king has sent you to die like so many others before you."
Red bent back down in front of Leon, this time leaving nearly no space between them. "I'll give you an honorable death, so tell me you and your squad-mate’s names."
Leon looked at him for a long time as he tried to discern his own emotions. He couldn't tell if he was angry, sad, in disbelief, or in awe. Moving to sit on his knees and removing his armor, Leon began to speak, "My name is Grand Officer Leon Burgess of Oldum.”
Red got to eye level with him, “That girl was quite strong. Her name?”
“The woman you crucified on the tree was Commander Ria of Oldum.”
“And the young man?”
A tear streamed down Leon’s face, “Ah, yes. The young man. That was Jullierd of Oldum. Knight Third Class. Will you formally introduce yourself as well?"
Red backed up and bowed before him, "Of course, Grand Officer Leon. My name is Roalais Estremores, but I've also been known by a title you may be more familiar with. Red, the King of Crimson Blood."
Red paused for a long time before going to say something but stopped himself.
Red lifted his head and reached out his hand, grabbing at nothing in particular. Seemingly from nowhere, a crimson red dagger formed in the gap of his hand, and he handed it to Leon. While Leon dropped the curved sword and began to aim the dagger toward his stomach, Red bent down to grab Ria's sword. He examined the ornate carvings on it and got into a ready stance with it. Leon simply let his head hang down. Resigned to his fate, Leon stabbed himself as Red heaved with the giant sword and cut his head off.
“I hope you all can rest in the afterlife. I’ll make sure the next generation will be born into a world without this bloodshed,” Red thought to himself.
Not a second later, Red fell on his back, gasping for air. The more he tried to breathe, the more air escaped his lungs. Without a conscious thought, his breathing turned to wheezing. Red's ears began ringing, like a tuning fork in his head.
What the hell? Is this because of that spell I used?
The ringing became louder and louder until it was deafening. The ringing was so loud that his vision became completely blurred, and his teeth chattered. Red fell to his knees, covered his ears and screamed out in one shrill burst. As he attempted to open his eyes, still trembling on the ground, a voice pierced the air and reached his ears through his hands. Even though the words were incomprehensible, the sound of the voice gave Red a nostalgic feeling, like it instantly transported him to his childhood. He felt a warmness around his body. A blanket of euphoric joy covered him.
"How long will you sit there, Redhead?" A young man taunted him.
Red rubbed his eyes and slowly blinked them open. He was no longer in the forest; instead, he sat in a white void that stretched out infinitely, while a young man with short red hair stood over him, clad in leather armor.
Red struggled to meet the boy's eyes as he spoke, "I can't be here. I know who you are,” Red scooted away from the boy as the boy moved closer, smirking.
"I'm your subconscious, Red. Are you really scared of your subconscious?" The boy laughed heartily as Red finally stopped scooting. Red slowly stood up, a puzzled look sprawling over his face. He stood over the boy, his confusion turning to anger.
"My subconscious? You're like a demon in my head, always whispering about killing and destruction."
The boy continued to smile, looking deeply into Red's eyes and shaking his head, "Red, I am your subconscious," he emphasized every word, "If your subconscious is suggesting that you do something, doesn't that just mean you secretly want to do it?"
Red turned his head quickly and bit into his knuckle. He was skeptical of the boy's claims, but he struggled to find a rebuttal. He completely turned away from the boy.
The boy crossed his arms, and his smile began to fade. "I heard what you told that knight, about saving the kingdom and reforming it. How long do you plan on lying to yourself and everyone else? How long do you think they'll believe you?"
Red turned back to him, biting his knuckle even deeper and beginning to draw blood.
"Redhead. Be honest with me. With yourself. You don't care about saving the kingdom, do you? You just like the wanton destruction, don't you? Is seeing everything burn really that satisfying?"
Red lashed out, yelling right into the boy's face, "You're wrong!"
The boy stood unfazed, "You'll figure it out sooner rather than later. With the path you're on, you'll sooner become a god of chaos before you become a hero of the kingdom again. That's okay though," The boy started to pace around, practically skipping in the white void, “It's up to you to choose the correct path for yourself. But just know, when you do make that decision, I'll be right here and I'll show you something to help you along. So keep going through the motions, and I'll show you the last step."
"The last-" Before Red could finish his thought, he awoke in the forest, still covering his ears with his hands. The early dawn had turned into pitch black, and the bodies of the knights near him lay lifeless, their eyes glazed over.
Red stood up, and the world seemed to spin around him as he did. Red placed a hand on his head and winced. He slowly began to walk towards the end of the forest, following the sunlight that peaked through the leaves.