Two months passed since the arrival of the King Slime. The battle had been won, largely thanks to Inigo's intervention, but not without damages to the town, or injuries to certain civilians. Thanks to Natura, it wasn't anything too serious, but repairs did take quite a bit of effort from those who could harness the Earth element.
The people who had gotten engulfed by the Slime, however, needed to be healed, and though Inigo had some low-strength healing magic in his repertoire, he really did need to leave this one to the professionals. So after playing his part, he had decided to depart from the town for now, almost forgetting about his pawn shop money in the process.
Every now and then, though, he would return to the town, mostly to check up on it and see if repairs were going well, or if there was another King Slime attack that needed his help. That, and there was one thing that drew him towards this grey little settlement.
"Ah, Inigo! Good morning!"
The Java Hole. One of the people trapped within the King Slime was a worker there, as shown by his apron, black, with the words "Java Hole" printed in a striking red. Eternally grateful for being saved by Inigo, he'd offered him a one-time discount at the Hole, and though Inigo had never intended to stick around, he figured it couldn't hurt to try.
There, he discovered that he couldn't stand coffee. Espresso was a torture device. Americano was a masochist's paradise. Lattes and cappuccinos were more tolerable, but even sweetened, he just couldn't acquire the taste. When he switched over to tea, he found his stays at the Hole much more enjoyable.
"Hey, Adrian."
This little shop was a very quaint little hole, and it nearly made one forget that the rest of the town was a literal dump. It had a warm and loving atmosphere, and made anyone feel at home. There were dark pink walls with pale pink, diamond shaped patterns all over them, and tables, made of an orangey-brown wood, different from the darker brown floor, and cut into circles and rectangles of various sizes - you need a table for two, so you and your nonexistent partner can spend some time together, or a place to sit down on your own, and lament your loneliness? They had it all.
The beautiful scent of cinnamon, cake and coffee filled one's nostrils as they spent any amount of time in here. Yes, this was the Java Hole, easily the finest establishment in all of Arc.
As Inigo addressed the cashier, Adrian, he offered a small wave that was returned. Standing in front of the short queue, he examined the man, who seemed at least ten years his senior. His build was somewhat sturdy, and his face had some stubble on it, but any hair he may have had was covered by a white bandanna that he always wore. His skin was a mildly tanned colour, bringing out the blue in his eyes. Adrian gave him a friendly, welcoming smile as he looked down at him.
"So, how's it going?" he asked. "It's been two months since you arrived here. I hope you're enjoying the town!"
"Well, it's a town, I guess." Inigo replied, giving Adrian a very slight smile. He wasn't a smiley sort, so he kept this one 'slight' to avoid having it be awkward. "I guess the people here aren't unbearable. Usually."
"Haha, I guess they're an acquired taste." Adrian said, chuckling at his own joke while Inigo just stared blankly. "As long as you're enjoying yourself."
"I am, thanks to a certain tea shop." Inigo replied.
"Hey, we're officially a coffee shop, in case you forgot!"
"Potato, potahto."
The two exchanged a playful rolling of eyes, before Adrian shook his head. "So, what can I get you?"
"Medium tea, four sugars." Inigo said, ignoring Adrian's eyes narrowing. He did this every time, so why would it be a problem? "And an apple turnover - with cream."
"Of course, of course..." Adrian nodded slowly. "That'll be six-hundred and forty varia."
At that, Adrian held out a card reader, with the exact figure of 640V on it, and Inigo reached into his pocket, pulling out a blank white card and pressing it onto it. In a flash of purple light, the transaction was completed, and the two of them put their respective objects away as Adrian began jotting down the order.
"Oh, by the way," Inigo began, before leaning in a little closer and lowering his voice. "Have you found anyone who...knows me yet?"
Adrian glanced up at him before shaking his head regrettably. Inigo sighed at that, nodding in understanding before stepping away, taking his receipt and reading the items on it as well as his order number, 001. How convenient. Moving over to a wooden table by the wall, he sat on the similarly-coloured wooden stool, waiting for his meal and reciting his lessons in peace and silence.
.........
"There are three types of Natura wielder in our world. The most common, the Natural, is the default setting."
As he allowed this to replay in his mind, he looked around, observing the Hole and its patrons. He had become something of a regular, himself, so he was able to identify the faces of others who regularly patronised the shop.
"Naturals are able to harness up to three elemental abilities, the third of which is linked to one of the others in some way. Darkness, Wood and Poison, for instance, is a valid Natural combination. How's that for a default setting?"
And some of them were here today. Of particular note was a bespectacled girl with grey eyes and a yellowish complexion, who seemed to order the same breakfast of a stack of pancakes and a carrot smoothie at the exact same time every morning. A little variation couldn't hurt, he thought, but he wasn't on speaking terms with any of them, so whatever.
"Next is the Adept, and I personally find these ones interesting. An Adept has Natura in their brains as well as around their bodies! They get a comparatively weaker Natura shield, and only two elements...plus a secret third thing. Usually, but not always psychic in nature."
Adept. That's what he was sure he was. Through his training, he'd discovered one of his elements - water, fittingly - and his ability to use some kind of psychokinesis. That bit about having a weaker shield did make him cautious, though.
"And the last, but CERTAINLY not the least, we have the Prime! Now, this one's an oddity, for Primes don't have any elements at all. But don't think any less of them for it. Primes are strong. The Natura within their bodies augments them far more - they're real juggernauts. And their shields are stronger, too!"
Inigo, pretty sure he had gotten that right, looked around once again, basking in the atmosphere that the cafe provided. He almost felt at home here. Perfect for his revision.
"Order #001! Order #001!"
But, right as he was just about to start up another lecture, he heard one of the waiters calling. Remembering his number was 001, he grabbed his receipt and headed over to the counter to collect his food.
.........
Inigo's breakfast, being fairly light, did not take too long to complete. Being very sweet, he had a lot of fun consuming it. After he had finished his meal, he left, heading out of the restaurant and looking around at the town. One thing he had noticed during his visits was that, despite the town's obvious filth and graffiti, there wasn't any litter whatsoever. Which was odd, and just made him think the town's authorities simply didn't have their priorities straight.
After allowing himself to get lost in his thoughts for a little while, he took a deep breath and looked up to the sky. The weather was pretty cool today, with a blue sky and white clouds, so he wore similar clothing to his usual attire; a black polo shirt and blue trousers under an open purple jacket and scarf - no way was he abandoning that. Most of his clothing was pretty similar, and it was rather shabby off-brand stuff. Even now, he didn't find himself caring too much about fashion.
At that, he walked, making his way around the houses - choosing not to parkour today - and headed out of the town, first picking up a newspaper to check the headlines. There, he saw on the front page something that had him raising an eyebrow:
"Libera strikes again! Claims 3,000,000V from Luster Street!"
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
The mob named 'Libera'. He couldn't claim to know what they were up to, but they certainly did seem to show up in a lot of these stories. At least he hadn't encountered anyone like that. He'd been mostly trying to keep his head down, after all, and hadn't done anything newsworthy. The newspaper had some more things like a couple of missing person cases and a murder. It was riveting, he thought.
At the western exit from Arc Town laid a forest; a rather large one, filled up with lush green trees contrasting against the dark brown of the trunks and the slightly grassy but mostly muddy and stony ground. This was where Inigo headed. He'd always appreciated forests like this one - climb high enough, and he had a cosy nap spot, free from anything like monsters or bandits.
But he wasn't here for a nap. He wanted to see what was on the other end of the forest - maybe there were people there, or maybe there was a route to a nearby settlement. He didn't know where to find a map, and he was no cartographer.
As he entered the forest, he took in a breath of the fresh air and listened to the sounds of nature. The sounds of birds chirping, the breeze blowing - and how if you listened very closely, you might pick up a faint twinkling noise carried in the wind. The sounds of slimes just squelching about and minding their own business - apparently, they were the dominant form of life in this forest. The sounds of...fire and light, and steel clashing against steel. The fuck?
He'd been in his fair share of forests, so he could say firsthand that those were not ambient forest sounds. Between that and the very humanlike grunting, battle cries, and the odd bit of conversation, he could tell that for whatever reason, there were people fighting in this place. So, why not check it out? He'd have to sneak around and follow the noise to see what was going on - maybe get a small look before going on his way.
So, that was what he did, making sure to watch his step and not hit any dead twigs as he slowly came closer to the sound, using the trees to cover himself just in case. As he drew near, he began to hear the greasy sounds of slimes squelching near him. Remaining silent, he looked around to see a colony of green, jelly-like mounds in the distance, minding their own business and mostly just vibing on the spot. Though some of them seemed to be moving nearer, they seemed like they were going to leave him alone - which relieved him, and made him feel comfortable in moving onwards. So onwards, he moved, winding around the trees and even forgoing his habit of humming as he walked. Even if he had other things to be doing, he simply couldn't leave his curiosity unsatisfied.
.........
Deep within the forest, there was a clearing. One where the trees just seemed to naturally stop, allowing sunlight to shine into this wide, circular patch of blooming green grass. Those trees stood strong and tall, like guardians watching over this sacred blessing of nature - a true sight for sore eyes.
The perfect site for a duel, no?
Fast-paced movements, with intense grunts and the rumble of elemental energy filling the air. A spear, clashing again and again with a dancing sword. As the two combatants fought, even the forest's slimes left them alone. Being made of elemental energy, they could sense how strong these two were, and knew not to disturb.
The two clashed for a little longer before mutually drawing back, weapons in hand as their eyes met, each prepared to fight back at a moment's notice.
On one hand, a young man, seemingly fresh into his adult years. His skin was a light brown, and his orange eyes were gentle, only now with a noticeable anger in them. His hair, scruffy and short, was a distinctive silver colour. He wore a formal white suit with black dress shoes and an orange tie, and clasped tightly in his right hand was an orange naginata with a silver blade.
On the other, a woman, who seemed roughly the same age, with fair skin, long blonde hair, and friendly pink eyes, her features graced with a playful smile. Her attire was revealing, wearing a red crop-top, hip scarf and shoes with a black pair of shorts underneath. In her hand, she held a cutlass, its blade made from a crimson metal.
The two of them stared one another down, panting from the fight, and the man was the first to speak, pointing his spear at her and straightening his stance as he said, "So, this is what Libera's got to offer. I can see how you've thrived for this long."
"Aww, I'm flattered, really!" the girl grinned, seemingly sincerely, at his words. "You're not too bad yourself, Dawnspear."
Narrowing his eyes, the man shook his head. "Is that what you call me over there?" he asked, scowling slightly. "Please, call me Makoto."
The girl shrugged a little. "Here at Libera, everyone gets a nickname! Even I've got one!" she exclaimed. "But hey, since we're using names here, might as well give you mine. I'm Scarlett! Nice to beat you, Makoto!"
"Very funny." Makoto rolled his eyes. "But mark my words - I'll be the one doing the beating today!"
"Oh, I'm sure you're very experienced with that." Scarlett winked playfully in response, causing Makoto to stammer a little in shock as he realised what she was getting at.
"Y-You be quiet!" he said, twirling his naginata and preparing to advance towards her again.
"Heh, what's the matter?" she taunted, smirking a little. "You seem stressed."
"Enough of this prattle! Aren't you here to capture me?" he growled. Someone had to take this seriously, and it clearly wasn't going to be her, even if she was the aggressor.
"Perhaps, but I don't see why that means we can't chat a bit."
"Well, I do!" Makoto exclaimed, rushing forth and jabbing at her with a quick spear thrust, empowered by his conviction and narrowly dodged. "I swear on my honour, I won't allow any of you to lay a finger on me!"
At that, his spear became shrouded in a bright white light, and he twirled it around before unleashing a sudden flurry of rapid jabs. The move was fast, but Scarlett was able to dance her way around the blows, avoiding the attack in a series of graceful rotations. In the midst of the strikes, she swung her sword in his direction, unleashing a wave of embers that he tried and failed to defend himself from.
Scarlett giggled quietly, holding her cutlass in reverse grip and giving Makoto another infuriatingly badgering smile. "Why so aggressive? Do you wanna ram your spear into me that badly?"
"Will you STOP?"
As the battle continued, this time with Scarlett going on the offensive with a swift waltz while Makoto struggled to defend himself, Inigo watched from behind the trees, never daring to enter the clearing itself. Slowly and carefully, he tried to make his way through unseen and unheard.
He did his best to keep everything in check - his emotions, his actions, even his breathing. While Makoto and Scarlett moved about wildly, trying to land hits on one another, Inigo was a still body of water, utterly neutral and undisturbed, nor disturbing anyone himself. Simply watching, slowly and carefully shifting from tree to tree.
He saw Scarlett performing a twirling leap as she lunged towards Makoto, striking him with a surprising slash. At his next stop, he saw Makoto shoving Scarlett away before angrily slashing at her. At one stop, he saw her launching a fireball at him that was narrowly dodged, before he countered with a cross-shaped beam of light. Said fireball ended up going wide, and Inigo held his breath as he took cover behind the tree to avoid being hurt. And later, he saw her shrouded in dancing flames taking the form of a peacock, while Makoto sprouted a dove's wings made of light and took to the sky, before the two of them charged at one another, clashing noisily as their elemental energies collided.
It wasn't often that Inigo saw someone who, if he were to get into a fight with them, would actually give him a true challenge - so naturally, he would've hated for either of these two to target him as a bandit. Thus, he knew he couldn't stick around. That Scarlett girl was one of those criminals calling themselves 'Libera', and if people like her were among their ranks, he really ought to stay out of their lane. But who was this 'Makoto', then, strong enough to fight her on even ground?
As such, he planned to slightly quicken his movement, only to find his leg felt strange - a light weight, and a strange goo. Immediately identifying this as a slime, he narrowed his eyes and moved away, looking down at the green gelatinous blob of magic slime with narrowed eyes. But it did not let up, instead following him as he tried to increase the distance.
"No, bad slime!" he whispered, shaking his head in annoyance as he continued trying to ward it off. He didn't wish to use his magic, knowing that would make noise, but he also wanted to be left alone. Though he moved from tree to tree, managing to be quiet, he still had to stay away from the slime. With three objectives - silence, solitude and escape, he couldn't keep up forever, and ended up treading on a mass of dry, fallen twigs, which made a rather noticeable crunching noise.
Cringing at that, he glanced at the momentarily startled slime before turning his attention towards the combatants, who seemed to have noticed as well. Both of them looked at him, pausing their clash as they examined this newcomer, both seeming interested. And, seeing their gaze turn to that direction, the slime took that as its cue to flee, further annoying Inigo.
Now, it was just the three of them, standing alone in silence as Inigo examined them closely, finding their choices of attire weird. A business suit? Really? And, wasn't Scarlett cold? Or did the use of the fire element help with that? Food for thought. He took in a deep breath as he watched them closely, though when his eyes met Makoto's, the two of them couldn't help feeling a great intensity that left Makoto shocked. In the silver-haired youth's mind, he heard the empty sound of a heart beating as vivid events played out in his mind.
"U-Uh...hey!" Scarlett was the first to break the silence, addressing the strange albino among the trees. "What's up?"
"The, uh, sky, I think." Inigo replied, looking up to examine the white clouds. "Yep. Still there."
He looked back down, clearing his throat as he played with a lock of his hair and averted eye contact, clearly feeling awkward even despite his stoic expression. "Look, you two are clearly in the middle of something, so I'll be on my way." he said, beginning to step towards his original destination. "Sorry for interrupting."
"It's fine, no hard feelings!" Scarlett waved at him, watching him as he stepped through unburdened and left them alone. Smiling, she looked back at Makoto, who still seemed more than a little shaken. With a concerned frown, she stepped away from him. "Hey, uh...Dawnspear? Everything okay there, buddy?"
Hearing her voice, Makoto quickly snapped out of it, and Scarlett quickly noticed a vacant look in his eyes. "That...that was him. It had to be." he murmured, tightening his grip on his spear "I'd recognise those eyes from anywhere..."
"That guy from just now, you know him?"
"Know him? No, I can't say I know him..." Makoto shook his head, entering an offensive stance as he looked in the direction Inigo had disappeared into. "But I'd never forget him."
He was about to run off, only to be stopped by the faster Scarlett grabbing onto his arm and refusing to let go. Looking back at her, emptiness turned to rage as he tried to wrestle her off him. "I don't know what your business with that guy is," she began. "But right now, your opponent is me! I'm not returning to Kotoba empty-handed!"
"And I won't let you capture me until my work is done!" Makoto growled, the two of them beginning to brandish their weapons as they stared into each other's eyes, counting to three in their heads before Makoto made the first strike. Recognising a mutual disagreement, the two of them simply needed that first strike before they continued the dance, lunging at one another to finish what had been started.