Eronous took a step backwards, now afraid of the man before him. For good measure and because it felt safer, he drew his dagger. Riritsu only smiled, rushing at him with nothing but his hands. Riritsu's speed was great, though Eronous had been training with Rein, so he was still able to read the moves, even if he weren't able to react quite fast enough. He was able to parry Riritsu's punch rather easily, but he was surprised that his dagger did not draw blood. Riritsu's fist seemed to be made of something stronger than skin. "Why are you doing this!?" Eronous yelled, making a lunge of his own. With Riritsu's speed, Eronous' blade missed.
"Because the world would be better off without you." Riritsu stated it simply, as if it were an obvious solution to a larger problem. This was a lie, though Eronous didn't have time to register that fact as Riritsu again advanced, stepping up his speed. Faster than last time, he successfully landed a punch on Eronous' solar plexus.
Eronous stumbled backwards, falling hard on his rump. His opponent heavily outclassed him. Riritsu stood still, an aloof smile on his face, as if he were enjoying himself. Eronous brought himself again to his feet as soon as he could, lunging again at Riritsu.
Riritsu grabbed Eronous' hand, avoiding the dagger altogether, and squeezed it tightly, causing the dagger to clatter to the ground before he pushed Eronous back once more. Following through before Eronous had a chance to recover, he ducked under Eronous' small form, doing an uppercut punch that sent Eronous flying up and backwards. As he landed, the wind was knocked out of him, he felt as if he could not move at all. There was nothing that he could do. He was going to be killed.
He felt Riritsu standing above him, probably preparing for a final strike. He cracked his eyes open to see a spear that was made of the cobblestone from the ground. With him immobile, he knew this blow would finish him off. Just as he was fading, finally accepting his fate, his vision went completely black. Or was it the environment? Everything around him had vanished, and he pushed himself up slowly, trying hard to catch his breath. "Am I dead?" He asked the darkness, helpless as he knew he was alone.
"Not quite yet. It is not yet your time." A calm, feminine voice riddled with years sounded behind him. He vaguely recognized this voice, where had he heard it before? He turned slowly to the voice that sounded behind him. A figure like his great grandmother stood there.
"...Nonna? Is that you?" Eronous asked hopefully.
"Not quite, young one. But I know her. A lovely lady, and she was much like you. Tell me...do you want to live, right now? Do you like your life?" The shade responded.
"What kind of question is that!?" Eronous practically yelled back at his great-grandma impersonator. "Of course I want to live! Of course my life was good! Before..."
"Before what?" his Nonna's voice cut him off. "Before you left the farm? Before you were called on an adventure? Before you were chosen?"
Defeated, Eronous hung his head, tears dropping like heavy rain. All he could do was nod, then he shook his head. "Yes...and no." he said, his body shaking, making speaking difficult. "They...made a mistake. I can't do anything. I'm just a child!"
"Yes; and that means that you are mold-able. That you can learn. That you can be great. That you could be a savior...or that you could be a dooming force. Who are you? Just a farm boy? No, you can be so much more. But you will have many choices to make to decide who you really want to be." Her voice had the tone of finality, one that left no room for argument. The figure approached him, holding up a hand as she approached, as if to try to be calming and comforting.
"Just...send me back to die. I can't do anything..." Eronous whispered.
"You will not die, young one. While you do have a choice, you must receive my gift to you. I pray you use it well." As his Nonna's old, shaky hand touched his forehead, and one hand touched his heart, he felt his soul flare up, felt something change within him. he couldn't die. Not yet.
He could not let himself die today. He blinked. Not a moment had passed by, and he felt some strength returning to his limbs. Just in the nick of time, he was able to roll out of the way as the stone spear shattered on the floor beneath him. Oh yeah, definitely not deadly! He rolled more, using the momentum to help him to his feet again. He did not have time to grab his dagger, but if he could knock Riritsu off balance, he might be able to stand a chance. He rushed at Riritsu, who seemed to be caught off guard, and Eronous landed a punch directly to Riritsu's floating ribs on his left side. Riritsu cried out, stumbling sideways without falling. In that moment, Eronous felt something slightly different. As his punch made contact with Riritsu, he felt a small tingling feeling. A power exchange? Or had he just punched that hard? He must not know his own strength.
Taking Riritsu's moment of stumbling, he reached to the ground to pick up his dagger. When he touched it, it elongated into a sword; It was completely comfortable in his grip, yet lightweight enough for him to use one-handed. He rushed at Riritsu, crying out to give his swing more power.
Riritsu caught the blade in his hand, and the blade returned to it's normal form. "Yep, I thought so." He said, smiling kindly, lowering his arms. "Well done. That was much faster than expected."
Eronous was seething, tears coming from his eyes with frantic gasps for air. Even when he had an advantage, it was taken from him. No matter what he did, he couldn't beat Riritsu...but did he need to? "Wait...you aren't going to kill me?" Eronous asked slowly, confused. He still had the blade pointed towards Riritsu, expecting another attack, though he couldn't do much with Riritsu's iron grip on it.
"No. I had to do my best to make you feel as if you were about to lose your life. Otherwise, you would never be able to discover your true power. I can see paths to the future, I know these things. I mean, we could have gone diving off of the backs of dragons but...that's a much less controlled environment." Riritsu stated, holding his hand out to shake. "Congratulations, you are a copier."
"What is a copier?" Asked Eronous, furrowing his brow as he sheathed his dagger.
"A mimic, if you will. You can copy the abilities of any creature you come across - you must touch them physically, first. You copied mine just barely, when you changed your dagger into a sword. Once you have copied it, the ability is yours, though. It never goes away. I suppose I should teach you what it is I can do, eh?"
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The group had finally reached Giant territory. While there were giants standing guard, they bowed to the party. "Well met." One giant said to the party.
"Well met. We have come looking for an abducted party member." Rysdan stated, bowing himself to the giant guards, his party looking discouraged at these action.
"Yes, he waiting in with Chief. Chief helping him." The giant pointed. "Bublon show you way."
Bublon was a smaller giant, looking still like a child. He only stood three normal people tall. "This way to Cheif." He stated, giving the party a smile.
"How do we know this ain't a trap?" Dalor spoke out suspiciously. "Lure us into the center of the camp to kill us."
"We were going to get to the chief's room eventually, why make it harder than it needs to be, Dalor?" Ember chided, walking past the dwarf to follow Rysdan and Rein, who had already started walking. "Besides, if worst comes to worst, do you think you can't take on a group of giants?"
"It ain't tha'!" Dalor stated angrily, running after the rest of the group to catch up. His accent seemed to thicken as he got angrier. "Never can trust a giant! Easier teh fight are way in than out!"
"And giant rarely trust dwarf." Bublon stated as a matter-of-fact. "Only reason let you in because chief want see you when done speaking with boy." He said, leading everyone into the encampment, past many large buildings that were obviously built for giant kind. The group stared in wonder, all except Rysdan and Dalor. Rysdan appeared as if he had seen it before, Dalor was simply watching for ambushes or traps. After what seemed to be an eternity of walking, they reached the central building, which was much larger than the rest of the encampment. Bublon opened the front doors, letting the party in, entering and shutting the doors behind him. "Chief chamber not far. You wait in hall until he call." He stated, leading them next to the door.
They didn't need to wait long. They heard a laugh escape Eronous as Riritsu had the door opened, and let the party in. He still sat in his chair, smiling. "Well met, adventurers. I am sorry to inconvenience you, but I see we had no choice but to enter into a fight. You can take him back now... OR you can stay for the feast! Of course, with a Giant's feast, there will be more than enough for all of us."
Rysdan furrowed his brow. "Riri? You are chief of the giants?"
Riritsu looked up, giving a large grin as he saw Rysdan. "Rysdan! It's been years! Yup! Surprising, isn't it? I understand their kind. They are very misunderstood. They accepted me once I defeated their strongest warrior. Though, your comrade will definitely be able to do greater things than even me."
"You know him?" Alden asked, raising an eyebrow to Rysdan. "And you are friends?"
"Stories to be told over the time of feast or around a campfire." Rysdan commented. "I would call us more...acquaintances. We were able to help each other on our own quests."
"Aww! You're no fun! I considered you a friend!" Riritsu responded, faking a pout. "Though I've grown up a lot since then."
"You certainly have." Rysdan stated, chuckling only slightly. "But only in your mind."
Eronous looked between the two as they exchanged words and looks, and he felt left out. "Umm...What are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing important, Eron." Rysdan said quickly before Riritsu could respond. Riritsu, though, walked forward, approaching Rysdan, whispering something in his ear. Rysdan's eyes went wide as his gaze snapped over to Eronous. "That certainly is amazing." He stated, his voice indicating he was impressed.
Riritsu then returned to the throne. "That's it, then. Let the feast begin!" He stated. Everyone was ushered out of the chamber room, outside to where many tables full of food were set up. The company sat together, though the same members were fairly quiet.
"So, we know much about many of our company, but there are three that are still mostly a mystery." Rysdan stated, mostly looking to Rin and Liast. "What are your stories?"
Rin glanced around at the party, letting out a sigh. "I was raised in an orphanage. I met Near as my time there was coming to an end, as a cub. He grew very quickly, but we became best friends. Most of our profit went to the orphanage where I grew up, helping them with food or money, until I was contracted by Prince Aenid to try to find a Genie, though he would prefer if it were the Legendary genie." He explained. "I did not win the genie, one of the other prince's followers got to it first, and the quest was a failure. I came fairly close though, it is difficult when you have three opposing groups who find it. I did find an even greater treasure, which I will keep to myself. Then I crossed the ocean to make a new start." Rin, after finishing his short story, returned to nuzzle Near, who was working on a rather large piece of meat.
Liast glanced to Rin, smiling only slightly. "I was a Warrior for a long time. Though most of you wouldn't know the name, we were contracted by a being named Ave'Ior to travel and drive back darkness that consumes worlds. When me and my group were successful, we had to find a place to settle down. I chose this world. Then I got bored, so I decided it would be fun to start adventuring." He shrugged. "I'm not particularly reserved, I just don't have much to say. Get me in battle, I'll pulverize my opponent. That's about it."
Rein spoke up after Liast did, with a half-chuckle. "We should spar, sometime, then. It would be good to know the abilities of all my comrades. We could all make each other better warriors, including young Eronous here."
"While that is a good idea, I'll only fight after I've assessed your strengths and weaknesses. I don't want to accidentally hurt you for going all-out and realize that you can't handle it." Liast responded confidently.
"Worry not of me, Liast, I'm more than capable of taking your worst shot." Rein responded, as if to challenge him.
Liast simply nodded, looking to Susurri. He had mentioned three that had been mostly quiet, and he was pretty sure the third had only spoken a couple times, and never about himself. "What of you, Susurri? You and Ember seem fairly close."
"We were warriors on the same team." Susurri whispered, though the words seemed clear in everyone's ears. "On a quest to find the pieces of a magic book. One of us was to take the place of the Wizard of the Khovalum kingdom. We did not fail our mission, but neither of us had the desire to take the place of the wizard. It was a sad parting." He said, returning to his food after only a moment.
"Susu doesn't like to talk about himself. He has kind of a dark past." Ember stated, smiling slightly at the hostile look Susurri gave her. "He also hates it when we shorten his name. I still do it because his reaction is priceless." Ember giggled slightly, noting that Susurri rolled his eyes at her in a frustrated manner.
Rysdan nodded. The group was fairly diverse, and that made him happy. "Well, now that we are all together in a relaxed environment; Eronous, would you like to share what you have discovered about yourself?"
"Not really...I am not really sure I understand it, or how it works." Eronous responded, quickly stuffing his mouth with food again.
"Eronous here has the ability to copy those around him." Rysdan stated flatly. "That is, any of their 'Special abilities.'" Rysdan said, much of the group gasped and looked over to Eronous.
"For how long can he copy them?" Dalor asked.
"I'm uncertain, though he has already copied Riritsu's abilities, which is an amazing feat in and of itself." Rysdan stated, glancing at Eronous.
"Yes, but how does it work? Do I have to touch them, or...? Do I have to understand how their abilities work? Riritsu said that the copy is permanent..." Eronous questioned, as he was fairly new to this.
"No, you do not need to understand how the ability works, though this is cause for caution. If you unintentionally use something you don't understand, there is an element of danger. You do need a form of physical contact with the person. Riritsu had the power to change the nature of matter. For example, he could touch a dead log, and it would change into a canoe or a sandwich, whichever he needed at the time. It didn't work on animals or humans, though he did change his body structure a bit once."
Eronous swallowed his food, nodding. "That makes sense, a powerful gift to have." He stated. "I guess that's why my dagger changed to a sword..."
"Yes!" Riritsu spoke up, approaching the group from another building and nodding emphatically. "Though, it was more an unconscious thing for you this time. You needed something longer than a dagger, so it changed to a sword. One of the favorites you have seen in the past, and perfectly suited to what you needed."
"Uh...okay. It's almost...scary." Eronous stuttered, hesitant in his ability.
"It's always scary for when you discover it. I remember when I discovered that I could control plants, I tried to kill myself, for I believed myself a monster. But your gift is truly astounding." Rysdan was nonchalant about his suicide attempt, but seemed truly impressed by the boy.