We made our way over to the quest board. There seemed to be a lack of quests on the board with only a little bit of the massive board being covered.
Most of the quests were S rank.
[Quest - Kill Cahrles Agassi
Reward - 125 gold coins
Rank - S]
I wonder who Cahrles Agassi was?
I looked all over the board, searching for an easier mission.
Eventually, I saw a B ranked mission.
[Quest - Find and retrieve the Enfeoff Crystal
Reward - 7 gold coins
Rank - B]
I had no idea what this was, but beggars couldn't be choosers. I needed any source of income I could find.
I took the quest slip off the board and read the back, there were some more details.
[The crystal is a large rock looking item that protrudes magic power. The is likely someone using that power to make themselves stronger so be wary. A greater reward will be offered depending on the circumstances of completion.
Equipment included
- Tracking device (only tracks the Enfeoff Crystal)]
It didn't seem impossibly difficult, it looked like it was possible, even without fighting.
I walked over to Chloe, "What are your thoughts on this mission?"
"It looks pretty good."
Alright, I guess it's settled.
I made my way back over to the guild woman, she sorted out the logistics and passed me the tracking device.
"Don't die." She said.
I wasn't really expecting to die...?
Whatever, Chloe and I wandered out of the guild building and began following the tracking compass. It was refreshing to be out of the loud, humid environment back into the crisp fresh air.
We followed the compass which lead us a significant distance out of the city and into the farmland on the outskirts. It was a long walk, the two of us had no food and only a single bottle of water from the guild.
Eventually, everything around us was completely covered by fields upon fields of wheat, there seemed to be no buildings, trees or carriages. Only smudges of yellow with a crude winding road running through the centre, surrounded by a rotting wooden fence.
We were slowly getting closer to the Enfeoff crystal, the distance on the tracking device had gone from a snake to a small grain of rice.
This entire time, Chloe who was trudging along beside me did not make a single complaint or even ask how close we were. She was just walking, step by step, with me.
"We're nearly there."
"That's good."
After a while, we made it to the location on the tracking device. The only thing there was a small shack, no bigger than maybe a residential garage.
It was dilapidated and run-down, the wood was gradually peeling off, grass and other plants were growing out of the crevices and the windows were nearly completely covered by spider webs.
"I guess it's in here," I told Chloe.
The two of us walked over to the door.
I knocked it loudly.
"Anyone in here?"
No response.
Slowly, I pushed open the broken door which was barely connected to the hinge. There was no sign of anyone inside.
There was old, broken furniture scattered around the inside.
The tracking device had led exactly to this spot so it should've been in here.
The two of us looked around for a bit but we didn't see anything that looked like a crystal. Suddenly, Chloe noticed a plank of wood, sticking out slightly. I heaved the plank and it revealed a shining dark crystal from underneath.
Well, that was easy, the trip was pretty long but it wasn't all that bad.
"What do you think you're doing...?"
Suddenly I heard the voice of a relatively young man, maybe in his twenties. He was in a very aggressive posture, his hand was firmly gripped on a professional, red spear. He looked like someone of quite high esteem, he was wearing a long coat, similar to Reid and gloves on his hands.
"Um... we're just here for a quest..." I replied.
Without even bothering with another word, he boosted off his feet with some explosion and launched himself at me. His strength was extremely imposing, I felt as if I was going to die that instant.
Crap.
I could see the tip of his spear coming down at an angle straight towards my head.
I tried to step back as fast as I could but the slash managed to catch me, cutting a huge gash across my face. With a powerful step, he thrust himself towards me again.
"Ritsu!" Chloe called out to me.
"Stay back!" I replied.
This time I managed to barely read his attack and drew my sword parrying his stab with an inch of space to spare. He showed no signs of stopping his attack. Blood was dripping violently from my face, clouding my vision with a tint of red.
"Who are you?!" I asked desperately.
"I am one of Princess Lucia's guards." He stated.
Without a moment to spare he slashed at me with his spear. I tried to block it with my sword but his attack managed to connect with my hand drawing even more blood.
"Why do you need this crystal so much?!" I shouted at him.
"It's everything to me, I wouldn't be able to be Princess Lucia's guard without it."
He stepped back a little readying a thrust.
"Wait, if you're so strong already why do you need this crystal?!"
"You don't know anything about me!"
He thrust his spear towards my chest, it moved so fast I could barely see it. I only managed to block it with my left arm out of pure luck. The spear stabbed straight through my left arm and just barely missed my chest. Without any hesitation, he ripped the spear out of my arm again and adjusted his posture.
Instantly, he came in with another thrust. There was almost nothing I could do now.
I had to use one of the techniques.
"Fifth Form, Tranquil!"
My sword managed to guide away his spear, like a stream of flowing water, gently redirecting the direction of the force. He became unbalanced after the attack.
Suddenly I felt an intense crushing pain in my head.
I guess this was the side effect.
It was a serious pain. One like I've never felt before.
Not only that, but my mind was also crushed by a feeling of dread.
He kicked me with the bottom of his boot sending me crashing into the wall. There was nothing I could do to stop it. He kicked me again, sending blood spurting out of the gash on my face.
"I tried so hard, all my life, all I did was train to become one of her guards." I suddenly heard him speaking. "Yet no matter how powerful I became, I was never chosen. Every single time, even people who were weaker than me were chosen." He continued his monologue. "This crystal was the only thing that for some reason made me able to be one of her guards."
"You don't understand how it feels to be constantly held back, despite being more capable, despite being more talented, always held back, unfairly." He explained.
You don't understand how it feels.
You don't understand how it feels.
The pain in my head reached a turning point.
I could no longer control my body.
"No, you don't understand how it feels."
"Huh?"
"You cheat."
"What do you think you're saying, you piece of shit!" He screamed angrily. "This crystal was the one thing that pushed me over the line! You would never understand how it feels."
"Shut up."
The guard was fuming in anger. "I'll kill you right here, right now!"
"Universal Sword, Second Form, Arctic Blizzard."Before the guard could even process what was happening, a sudden gust of wind struck him, sending him crashing out of the shack. Ice then appeared in the path, creating a massive ice spike out of the ground. He was rolling around on the ground, covered in dirt and the remnants of wheat plants.
"You piece of shit!"
"Universal Sword, Sixth Form, Break."
With a single swing of the sword, a huge wave of water appeared, following the trajectory of the sword. The pressure crushed the ice, splattering it into tiny fragments, strewn all over the ground.
Several icicles managed to impale the guard, leaving him cringing in pain. He stabbed his spear into the ground, pulling himself up.
"You'll pay for this!"
He charged at me again.
"Royal Arts, Infinite Spearhead!"
The tip of the spear began glimmering a deep brown colour.
"Universal Sword, Seventh Form, Confluence."
My sword made a ringing noise like the boiling water in a kettle. Air swirled around the border of it. In one swift swing, the guard's body was split in two. Blood gently dripped from his body. His spear dropped out of his hands.
"You don't understand how it feels."
The formatting might be a bit off, I'm still getting used to this website.
Let me ask you a question.How does someone fall in love?We've all seen romanticisedlove at first sightall over the media.But that simply doesn't exist right?If I got you to walk down a long road with people standing on either side, would you suddenly fall in love with any of them?No, right?You can consider them pretty, you can consider them attractive, but in the end, that's just an appearance.There's no secret connection between two people who've never met.So how does someone fall in love?
It felt as if only a second had passed since the fight.It was always weird, how it feels when you pass out. The time between passing out and waking up is instant, but you never know how long it's been.I looked around the room. It was a shabby little room, the bed I was laying in was no larger than I was in length. There was no blanket on me, nor any covering, I was just laying there, still, in the clothes, I was in when I passed out.Oh yeah, I got sliced in the face.I touched the middle of my face, feeling what had become of the injury. There seemed to be some bandage or something. It stung a little when I touched it.No one's here?
I made my way inside the big farmhouse."Who are you?" Asked a short girl with her hair tied up in two fluffy pigtails."Um, I'm a visitor?"She thought for a little while. Suddenly, she seemed to have come to a revelation."Are you here for Lily?"Not this again..."No... I mean, I guess, kind of?""Oh, but I don't see any other reason for Master to take in another boy.""What?""Never mind."
Three years ago.Over four hundred people were slaughtered in a small village.The perpetrator? Reid Lichter-Seibert, the Knight of the Sword.*"Everyone, get the children away from here!"Huh?A young Lily rushed over to her mother who embraced Lily and her sister in her arms. Her father had left the house a few moments prior and had not been seen since."Lily, if they come into the house, protect your sister."Tears were rolling down her mother's cheek as she pulled herself away from the two of them."I'm going to look for your dad."Lily held her sister as tightly as she could, her sister was around two years younger than her. The three of them were all crying as her mother left the house."No! Mom!"She didn't turn back.Her mother had left so that Lily and her sister could have a better chance of surviving.If nothing else, she would
The fight had lasted no longer than ten minutes up to this point. "So you want to kill Lucia." "Precisely." "Well, I'm afraid I can't let you do that." * "Devil Sword, Fifteenth Form, Tehillim!" Reid's sword strikes were becoming exponentially more powerful. The strike was push Fourier off of where he was standing. Fourier's cape fluttered from the wind of the blow. "Hey now, if you don't start trying soon, you may just die." Reid swung his sword around in front of him a few times. Neither of them had been injured, the two of them had little patches of dirt and smoke on their clothing, but no injuries on their bodies. "Devil Sword, Sixteenth Form, Mishlei!" Reid forced his sword down towards Fourier's neck. The power of the attack had nearly doubled from the last one. Fourier positioned his sword perpendicular to Reid's and held his hand of the blade. The two swords clashed with each other and sent a gust of wind shooting off in every direction. Fourier was struggling a littl
I was awoken the next morning by the sounds of boisterous clambering outside. The mentor was standing outside waiting for us. Everyone quickly got changed and made their way out of their rooms. I was sharing a room with the other two boys and we quickly got out. A little while later, the girls also came out and joined us. I couldn't help but notice the other boys kept glancing awkwardly at the girls. "Alright everyone, one of the Royal Guards has kindly decided to help us, all of you better show them respect and I will warn you, the training is likely going to be very intense." The mentor announced. In the distance, a person wearing a green chequered duster coat with an oversized scythe rode towards us on a horse. "Hello everyone!" He was a very flamboyant person. Everything from his appearance to his manner of speech just screamed exuberant. "Hi." There was a light grunt between us, none of us were really at his energy level. The mentor walked over and began speaking to him.
Muichiro stayed the night with us after the training session. In the morning, a horse carriage was waiting for us at the front of the farmhouse. I wonder why Lily wanted me to come along? It was pretty convenient though, I needed to go to the capital and find Lucia anyways. Muichiro, Lily and I gathered at the front of the farmhouse. "Stay safe, Lily!" "I'll miss you, Miti." "I'll miss you too." "Come back soon." There was no saying how long the three of us were going to stay in the capital. After saying our goodbyes to the people I've been staying with for the past few days, we got into the carriage and began heading towards the capital. It was nearly identical to the carriage from before. The subtle farm animal smell was enough to make sure I wasn't too comfortable. With a few bumps and shakes, the carriage moved towards the capital at a steady speed. "Lily." "Yes?" She looked straight into my eyes. "So, I was wondering why you wanted me to come with you." Muichiro was
It was around 5:45 am. I was awoken by the blaring sound of my alarm. Just a little longer. I reach across my bed, feeling all around the bedside table, covering my hand with dust and other residues on it. Eventually, my hand reaches the phone, vibrating erratically and I tap my finger all over, eventually hitting the snooze button. The phone alarm begins blaring again. Really, already? This time I grab my phone and open it, flooding my eyes with a wave of burning light. 6:00 am. I drag myself out of bed and walk over to the clothes that I had pulled out the night before. It had almost been a month since I last wore my long comforting soccer socks. I put on my clothes, strapping the shin guards to my shins. Fourth year's the charm... I felt an immense feeling of despair as soon as I remember what had happened the prior year. I slowly began feeling literally sick, I felt like throwing up and my stomach tensed so hard I thought that there might've been a bird flying around ins
"Huh? Where am I?" "Alister." In the bright blue open space, Alister sat, facing a goddess of the after world. "What is this place?" "This is the afterlife." "Wait, I'm dead?" "Yes." The memories of his death sudden flushed back into his head. After a moment of despair, his mind was swiftly cleared and replaced with the unyielding apathy that plagued all of the outcomes. "I assumed you've just remembered." She said. "Yes." "Now, you know Rin Takamiya correct?" "Yes, I know him relatively well." "You will be reincarnated in this new world where he is also staying, however, he doesn't have his memories, unlike you." The outcome are known for embracing change. "I see." "Just follow along with his mission and support him as well as you can." "Is that all?" "For the most part." After a little more explanation about the situation and circumstances with Freya, the portal was opened, leading to the new world. "Please do well and support him as much as you can, I'm counting
He gestured for me to make the first move. I decided to take some of my learnings from earlier. I rushed straight towards him, getting up close and personal. Then I dropped my shoulder, baiting out his swing. I managed to see the tiny movement of his arm and deciphered the movement of the blade. In the tiny amount of time I had in between, I began unleashing my form. "Universal Sword, First Form, Unstable Curre-" Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. What happened? I was carefully observing all of his movements, he couldn't have possibly hit me. I fell back a few steps and regained my composure. "Don't forget that the opponent will also have abilities just like you, don't rush in unless you know what they are." Ah, that made sense. I had completely forgotten that Alfonso had powers. Based on what I saw, it seemed that first of all, his power was able to deal blunt force damaged to my stomach. It didn't look like it needed and arm or body movements and it was able to be ac
We trained until late into the night. "Honestly, you're improving much faster than I expected." "Thanks, I guess." "Still, I can't rid the image of Rin from my head when I look at you." "I wish I knew what I was like back then, from the way you talk about him, he sounds like some really cool dude." "Really cool dude doesn't even cut it, you were the greatest human to ever roam the earth." "Come to think of it, how did I even die if I was so great, did I die of old age or something?" "I honestly don't know, but I did hear news of your death when I was only seventeen, so something very drastic must have happened." "Oh." It was getting rather dark. The blistering sounds of crickets in the ground was intensifying, the number of mosquitoes and other annoying insects were also increasing. This was a pretty evocative signal that the training session was about to near its end. "We'll train again tomorrow morning. I'm going to have to make you into a decent fighting force before Reid
"What do you mean you have a plan?" I asked. "Our mission is to protect the princess, correct?" "Yes...?" "Reid's mission is to kill the princess, right?" "Yes...?" "The missions aren't very specific." "I suppose." "First of all, I'm pretty sure the mission is to kill the person named 'Lucia Ourania', this means her status as princess is irrelevant. Second of all, I've deduced that Reid does not know what she looks like, from observing him, there is a good chance that Reid's mission is worded differently from ours." "Wait, so you're saying that their might be a way for us both to complete our missions?" "Not exactly, I'm basing it off the idea that neither of our sides know what the reward is, meaning, all we need to do is make it seem like Reid has completed his side of the mission." "How do we do that? Are we going to have someone pretend to be the princess?" "Based off his actions, I'm assuming his mission is not as straight forward as 'kill Princess Lucia'. He's been her
What really happened three years ago? Was the perpetrator really Reid? Or was it someone else? Who else was there at the time? * "Lily!" A loud voice came from the distance. "No way..." She muttered. She could not believe what she saw. A middle-aged man, running towards them. "I don't understand..." Eventually, he made his way over and stood in front of her. His dirtied formal clothes and caring demeanour. Lily couldn't understand any of it. "Dad, why are you still alive?" "Lily, believe me when I say this, I truly wished for the best for all of you." He was so narrow-minded at the time that he hadn't even noticed that Reid was standing right next to them. As soon as he saw Reid, his expression darkened. After the awkward, confusing reunion between them, Reid finally decided to drop some exposition. "Here's the person who killed your entire village." He said. "What...?" Lily was in utter confusion. Suddenly, Ferren drew his sword and rushed towards Reid, trying to kill
Lily raised her sword and prepared to face the opponent in front of her. She braced herself for a quick decisive victory. He was merely one of Reid's peons after all. However, he had other plans "You better not think of me as second fry, you'll regret it." * Finn stood firmly in the ground, showing no sign of attacking. Somewhat hurried, Lily quickly drew her sword and dashed towards him. "Royal Arts, Blitzing Orchid!" Her sword gleamed with a tint of white as it swung towards Finn. It was her fastest attack, as the sword travelled towards Finn, it suddenly sped up, supposed to catch him off-guard. "Calm down won't you? We're in no rush here." He was already in a defensive position so deflecting the attack was easily, it was all fully within his expectations. "Light Sword, Third Form, Full-Colour Spectrum." Rays of vibrant multi-coloured light was scattered all throughout the area as he swiped Lily's sword to the ground. Her sword smashed into the ground with a clang and
Reid drew one of his swords, the devil sword. He was up against Muichiro and Mal. Lily had confronted Finn, who was the owner of the light sword. The desperate battle would commence. * "Devil Sword, First Sword, Bereshit." Reid thrusted his sword towards Muichiro who was forced to react with extremely minimal time. Reid's attack was extremely fast, the likes of which Muichiro had practically never seen before. He unleashed his Royal Art as fast as he could. "Royal Arts, Itto Raikiri!" He swung his scythe as fast as he could, forming a gigantic cloud of dust, circling the area. However, it was still not swift enough to completely block Reid's attack, receiving cuts on his wrist and arm. Reid advanced upon Muichiro but then was forced to block an attack from Mal. "Royal Arts, Explode." The attack managed to connect with Reid, however, despite how strong it was, it still did minimal damage, doing nothing more than simply soiling Reid's clothing and giving him a slight irritation
"Here they come." Muichiro, Mal and Lily were the last line of defence, the various other guards and soldiers they had at their disposal would serve nothing more than a simple distraction when Reid finally made his way here. They had maybe sixty personnel in total, all armed with a myriad of different weapons and of all different levels of skill. The three strongest drew their swords, every second they bought was another second in which Ritsu and Lucia would be able to make their escape. Everyone in the surrounding area braced for what was about to come next. It all began when a few of Reid's soldier's streamed in, reaching the outer fence of the mansion. They were instantly confronted by the garrison, holding onto the outer fence. Brutal fighting took place, swords were swung, explosions and blood seethed all across the battlefield. The first group of around twenty soldiers who seemed to have mostly consisted of scouts, were quickly wiped out. However, the second wave would prove a
"Musical Sword, First Form, Triplet Rhythm." Powerful shockwaves were sprayed towards Ferren, they came in three waves, crashing into him as he blocked with his sword. His technique was still as clean as ever, rediverting the force of the attacks, cracking the ground beneath him. On his way to find his 'daughter' Lily, he suddenly found himself in a skirmish with one of Reid's soldiers. They were a quite powerful one at that, having access to a unique magical sword. He had just gotten away from Ritsu, who had embarrassed him, defeating him with relative ease after using his advanced forms. Stabilising on the rough ground, Ferren got into an attacking posture. "Musical Sword, Forth Form, Dissonance Score." Suddenly a painful, disorienting sounds protruded from the soldier's blade. This caused Ferren to somewhat lose his balance, almost falling to the ground. Still continuing the attack, the soldier rushed towards him, raising his sword above his head. Just as it looked like Ferre