The members of the guild listened to the numerous stories with keen attention, enjoying every bit of it as though they were there to experience it by themselves. They had to suffer the sweet pain of experiencing it vicariously through Grover, Shambala, and Krystal."Grover, how did you begin to make use of your second artifact?" one of the comrades asked suddenly. These were the kinds of questions that Grover had been asked all day.“Hmnnn.” Grover said it meditatively. “At first, There was no need for me to do much because it seemed quite easy to me. In fact, I did not have the dissonance that a lot of people face in trying to merge two artifacts because my first artifact spirit seemed to have accepted the Raven's Spirit. Though summoning the Raven at first was a problem, as the Raven is a proud creature, I would say it went fairly smoothly for me.”When Grover told them the details of how the Raven dealt with them while he struggled to summon it to defeat the last artifact beast b
By the time the others were done narrating their tale, they had rested enough to actually learn what they had set out to learn that morning, but at that time, it was almost noon.The trio had listened without the slightest hint that they knew about the scroll’s ability to re-ink itself. They simply engaged in the conversation and listened with rapt attention so that the others would have an opportunity to say something new as well.This also gave the whole group the opportunity to rest. Grover noticed a group of people join earlier on when they were sparring in pairs and realized that they were the last group of people to leave the banquet hall this morning. They came late, but they looked more tired than anyone else. ‘Alcohol’, Grover thought wryly.Krystal was the one who led the segment of illustrations of some of what they had learned on their journey with Shambala. They executed some moves, perfected some strategies, and practiced using certain aspects of aura and sensing. He had
It had been a week since the group had been back, and Shambala had disappeared. It looked like he was never going to come back again because one day had gradually turned into two days, three days, and now a whole week! These uncertainties contribute to the force that worked to drain the energy of the team.On the seventh day since Shambala’s departure, The guild was in a meeting with worried looks and deep frowns on their faces. It was Shambala, so they knew that he was safe and almost invincible, but they could not help but think that something could have gone wrong with holding their teacher from his charge.Dark circles were under Krystal, Grover, and Vladimir's eyes. They consistently felt like they had grains of sand in their eyes, as they could hardly recall when they last slept soundly through the night. They maintained their nightly dueling in the forest clearing they had discovered, but the cost of that commitment was beginning to become obvious. The other members had also
Grover finished cleaning up and joined Vladimir and Krystal in front of his room. They had been waiting for him so that they could go into the hall together. When they got to the hall, they found the place more sober than they had ever found it, though they found that almost everyone was already seated. There was only one explanation for this, and it was that everyone wanted answers. They sat at the long table in the middle of the hall just the way they had sat on the day they had gotten back from their journey. “Good evening, all.” Krystal greeted me sombrely. “Good evening.” Was the general answer that wafted around the table.“We are not here to eat this evening, and neither are we here for a celebration. Not just yet, at least. We will eat eventually, but there are certain issues that need to be settled first. I know you are all tired. We all are. And this tiredness is beyond what a single meal can cure. We are here to discuss the next step.And just as they were about to discus
When Vladimir heard Grover’s question, he was immediately interested in the answer, just like every other person on the table at that moment.They were done eating their meal and drinking their watered wine; they just wanted answers.He chuckled at the fact that Shambala had successfully prevented anyone from getting drunk that evening so they could both have a very important meeting tonight and be clearheaded for what tomorrow held.As Shambala looked around the whole table, looking into the eyes of each and every person, his breath caught in his throat as those piercing eyes rested on him briefly before moving on to the others.When he had looked at everyone, Shambala sighed, and he then began to talk. “When I left these three lads in a small village library, I went to consult other sources as to the current state of affairs. The news I heard was not pleasant at all. In summary, what is coming?“Even though we have not done anything to contribute to the war that is coming, we have
Before the group realized it, a week had gone by since their teacher returned. The new training that they had begun with their teacher, Shambala, was not as easy as they had thought it would be. The whole field they practiced on for that day was filled with grunts, sighs, and grappling as they produced pure, intense energy. The teacher had a habit of changing the training ground on some days to avoid letting them get used to fighting on only one terrain. They trained in the fields, the forests, the mountains and valleys around them, and even some parts of the village. He was determined that every warrior under his charge would be one worthy of the battle field. Every one of them.As a matter of fact, on the day they had started training, which was the very next day after Shambala’s return, he had called Grover, Vladimir, and Krystal and told them that their own training was going to be separate from the others and very different from what they were previously used to.He said that the
At the close of training that day, it was obvious that there were separate classes of students for Shambala to train. A few people had bonded with their artifacts, beginning to work on understanding the powers they possessed, while those who had already bonded with their artifacts had unlocked greater percentages of their powers. For Krystal, he had unlocked more abilities from his artifact, which were the powerful shadow abilities. He may have been at odds with his father, but he was definitely grateful for this artifact. It had looked very basic and unglamorous, but now that he had tasted what he could do, he marveled that his dad was willing to give it to him.Through consistent practice and inner-conscious meditation with his aura, he had learned to manifest his artifact’s powers in various ways. He had learned that he could create shadow clones of himself and others while giving each of those clones the ability to wield the power of artifacts he could conjure. He remembered when
Vladimir thought about Grover how he had practically become a bard by virtue of his artifact’s ability. He could sense people, sense their emotions, and even have access to their thoughts. The episode in the forest had been a little more than creepy because he had suddenly felt so vulnerable before Grover.He did not know how powerful Grover’s gift was until the day he awoke early by accident. Usually he made sure to get sufficient sleep by going to bed the same as the others and waking up with them since Shambala’s return. The teacher was back so his assistants could rest. Or so he thought.With time, he realized that he did not know when he last saw Grover sleep. He tried to ask Krystal, but he had not seen him sleep either. Usually Krystal was one of the last to sleep and one of the first ones up, but he could not recall when last he had gone to bed after Grover. and first thing in the morning, he discovered him not in his bed or anywhere in his room.That day before dawn, Vladimir