Everyone in the plaza cheered in a loud manner and unison.
After all, a Hero managed to emerge victorious in a threat posed by the enigmatic enemies in our celebration for the festival!
Events like these are extremely rare!
Ah, what a festive and loud atmosphere! The cheering of the people lasted for an hour before they realized that they needed to clean up the debris of the ground and the damage of the infrastructures from the clash earlier. With the commanding force of the Chief Rougestan as the head of the league, the crater from the center of the plaza was immediately mended alongside with the other casualties due to the jointed forces of the leaguesmen and staff. The festival continued for some odd reason when the evening came and people celebrated the ceremonies as if there was no accident that happened in the first place. Perhaps the bravery and rowdy spirit of everyone was rekindled and inspired due to the heroic display of my Pops in his battle with the Effese. Speaking of the enemies, the stoned body of the less fortunate cohort that was trapped due to the power of Granny was kept in the league's custody and was currently in a strict surveillance. After all, the hooded figure handled a sword too so the staff were extremely careful on guarding and handling the petrified body.
What was left for us however, well, let me just point out that this festival has got to be the memorable one as a lot of days leading up to it were eventful as well as the day proper! I took my sweet time up to the next hour amidst the loud celebration of the swordsfolk, to tend to my Pops and to my surprise, indeed, the sword healed him! He said that he was able to move freely thanks to the powers of my sword that resulted him on delivering the finishing blow to eliminate the trespassers. In the heat of the battle, the Grandseer was reported to be immobilized for some strange reason and was unable to act in the battle, much to her surprise.
When all of us finally calmed down, I was asked by my Pops to report in the league.
***
Back once again in the League.
After resting for a bit due to that festival accident, I hurriedly went out once again and made my way to the entrance of the League where unexpectedly, there were a lot of staff and league members that are currently not around. Huh, perhaps they are still manning the evening ceremonies for the festival and Chief had to dispatch a lot of them to ensure that the accident will not happened once again this time.
Most of the people from other region will probably wonder why we are still continuing the festivities when we just experienced an accident that posed a threat for each and every swordsfolk in the city. Well, the answer lies beneath the core values of the folks around here: they just love festivals and there is nothing that will stop it, nor them! Not the weather, not the monsters, and certainly not some shady villain no matter how many they are.
Yes, that is how sturdy and hard-headed these helpless idiots are.
I opened the door of the League and with a wooden creak on its sound, two familiar heads turned right away to meet my presence and immediately welcomed me with weird expressions: one is an expression of stillness and seriousness, and the other one is an expression of instant annoyance and disappointment.
Roy and Malthur faced me when I stood in front of them and sat beside the unoccupied bench parallel on their own.
"Hey… so uh, I am glad that both of you are safe…" I opened up the conversation when I sensed the looming presence of silence and awkwardness between the two.
The both of them just stared at me as I was about to wait for their reply.
Uhh… what is going on?
Out of the blue, I heard a ticking noise that was lucidly sensed by my ears since we are in a echoey building. If my ears were correct, I just heard someone click their own tongue.
"Argh. The annoying smitha is here." A faint yet aggressive voice followed in that click of a tongue.
After hearing that annoying yet gentle voice, I flashily remembered an event just hours ago.
Specifically, that annoying guffaw that rang into the plaza while I was hanging in the 200-feet high atmosphere.
Before I knew it, my annoyance took my left hand and it slammed itself in the wooden table where I was sitting and angrily protested:
"Hoi, you git! I still remember that instance where you laughed maniacally at me while I was in the verge of my imposing demise! How dare you pose an entertainment in front of me while I was practically inches away into my death!"
"Hah? That? Oh, I was just practically chuckling at the fact on how you squirmed like a worm while in the air! Yeah, that was a funny face… In fact, thinking it again…pffttt-…"
Malthur held back a small chortle while I was gritting my teeth.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Hey, the face- do it again! I would like to see that again! Ahahahaha!" he then exploded in a boisterous and annoying laughter.
"The sword…"
"Hah? The what…?"
"GIVE ME THAT RIDICULOUS WOODEN SWORD OF YOURS SO THAT I CAN SHOVE IT IN YOUR MOUTH!!!"
I cannot control my temper anymore.
I threw my whole body at this laughing git that stopped in his merry laughter when I asked him about his sword. In my explosive temper, I clinched a part of his face that was near to me and both of my fingers landed on his cheeks. I tightened the grip of my fingers so that they can deliver a well-deserved pain for him while moving my hands back and forth to shake his head.
"Ack- Ah! OWWWW!!! Wattha… Staph! Ith hurts!!!" due to my swift and unpredictable assault, Malthur was caught-off guard and cried in an unmanly squeal.
"Hey, Tori! Stop that! He is just skinny compared to you and cannot withstand a furious barrage from you!" seeing the situation just got out of hand, Roy tried to stop my choleric attack to Malthur.
"Whath didh yu they, you sthupidh redhead?! I aem noth thath thlim!!!" Malthur said some unintelligible sound towards Roy.
"Yes, you are slim and skinny! So apologize, now! APOLOGIZE!" I kept my intense clenching attack when he almost reached his limit.
"OKAY- Okay, I apologize!" with his tomato-tinged face, Malthur gave up as he figuratively raised his own red flag.
I instinctively retracted my fingers of doom (as I would like to call the now) when I heard his sweet and fine voice of apology and continued:
"What are you apologizing for, huh?"
"BLECK- I apologize for laughing at you in the plaza even though it wasn't in the correct occasion. I knew I had it coming that you'd be infuriated so I tried to play it off and see your expression."
Malthur kept looking in our opposite direction as he apologized and went back to his cold and nonchalant voice once again.
That's better.
I am still irking in his way of apology since he said it in an insincere manner but, a sorry is a sorry.
The hostility between the both of us burned down and left us panting heavily that resulted on Malthur finally sitting back on his wooden chair. Looking at him right now, I have to agree in the physical assessment of Roy that indeed, he is a slender man. I might not have noticed it right away when we first met in the plaza, but now, I do concur- his physique is rather unmanly.
When the silent reigned once again, I filled yet another conversation:
"I was asked by Pops that I need to go here because he had to discuss some matters… I did not know that you, including that guy were also invited…"
I looked at Roy who just stared dumbfoundingly in our recent scrimmage when he flinched out of nowhere…
"Right. That is correct…" he replied at me with a profound deepness in his voice.
He then placed the both of his hands in my slim arms then faced me in a cold expression.
H-hey, wait a second- what do you think you're doing?!
"Hey, Tori… since when did you learn that a sword placed itself into you? How and when did it appear in your grasps? If you knew it already for a long time, why didn't I- a long and childhood friend of yours, hear anything about, huh? Did we just grow too distant with each other? Hah??? Answer me, Tori."
Alike to a child who sounded threatening and about to cry at the same time, Roy asked me an absurd question.
"H-Hoi, stop it! Stop shaking me like that! Actually, this sword just recently appeared at me and believe me, I tried my best to disown it, okay? It's just… this thing is apparently cursed…" I answered in a panicking manner.
Who wouldn't react the same way that I did when a boy is staring deep down on their faces?
"Haaah? If it already showed up in you, why didn't you inform me about it? Huh, is that it? We are just going to keep secrets from each other now? Are we really now that distant just because you have a sword in your custody? Huh, so you've grown to hate me…" with a voice that sounded painful and expressive, Roy asked me a drum-fire of questions.
"Oh nooo, Smitha. How cold of you to treat your childhood friend with a cold shoulder just like that! Shush… I will be crying if I am in Redhead's shoes!"
Oh right, this git is still with us.
Sitting with a dramatic face, Malthur blabbed out while Roy is still shaking me back and forth.
"S-Shut up! This idiot just misunderstood some things! Hey Roy, stop it, I am getting dizzy! Umm… hey, a little help here?"
The sound of our raspy and rowdy voices echoed in the building as we cried our own concerns into each other. Roy kept shaking me back and forth in hopes to get some substantial information for him, I on the other hand kept making sounds due to my incoming dizziness, and finally, Malthur's idiotic sound rang as his laughter ensued while watching the both of us quarreling.
The three of us seem to get along.
"OH? The three of you seem to get along already…"
A cold and chilly voice rang from afar.
The three of us reacted simultaneously in that voice as we stopped our own triple-quarrel and beheld the originator of the voice.
It was the Grandseer of Estocia.
Roy awkwardly retrieved his sweaty hands and held his head down while drooping in a manner that relates to someone who was found out that they just committed a crime. Malthur straightened his posture and sat in a perfect and stiff way alike to those trainees in the infantry. In my case, my expression turned into a further embarrassment and fear upon the entrances of Pops and the Chief.
"HAHAHA! I guess so! Hey, Roy. Do not do that into a girl, alright? That is rather unmanly!" Chief Rougestan laughed in a hearty manner as he chastised Roy.
"F-Father!!! I- um ah, yes! I will not do that ever again!" Roy jumped out as he stuttered in his words.
"Would you mind telling us the reason for that childish ruckus earlier, kid?" with a mild disappointment in his expression, Pops asked me.
"WHA! - Pops! You are here! It is just… we happened to check each other if-…if we are doing okay from that accident…" seeing my Pops appear next to the Grandseer and Chief, it made me fluster and nervous for some reason.
"Well regardless, since the three of you are already here, it is time for the discussion of some topics more specifically, matters concerning on the three of you as Myrmidons." shrugging off our dead fight for now, Pops gave the agenda of the meeting of ours.
"Grandseer, if you would, please?" Chief looked at Granny's direction to start the discussion.
Granny grunted a bit, seemingly annoyed because she was just ordered by the Chief to speak but she cleared her throat and narrated seriously:
"As I have just announced in the plaza earlier, indeed- the three of you are chosen by the Heroes as their Myrmidons. If you are foreign about this term, the Myrmidons are distinguished swordsfolk that are chosen by the Heroes as their harbinger. They are the bringer of peace, justice, and order in the lands all over Ea, and for generations, a lot of prestigious swordsmen made a mark on their own in the history of not just Estocia, but for the whole continent."
I will be frank. Just because I experienced a ceaseless barrage of troublesome events upon receiving this sword, I haven't forgotten my main core and attitude about these objects: I still hold a grudge and unnatural hatred towards them! Even though I was surprised that I was 'selected' and 'distinguished' as a person in the community, hearing that I am a Myrmidon- a person who will deal a lot more times in these infernal objects, it makes me nauseous in my heart!
"Now to start off your paths as a distinguished and accomplished Myrmidon, starting from tomorrow, I order the three of you; as a messenger from the will of the Heroes, to offer your own powers, skills, and efforts for the betterment of Estocia!" Granny raised her voice as she spoke when she just reveled our newly-appointed purpose in life.
I will be frank once more… I just realized it as of now, but a lot of the elderly in this city tend to use vague words in order to overshadow the real meaning that they are trying to imply- the Grandseer of Estocia is not an exception.
So, in in my skeptic perception, those flashy and majestic words that were uttered by her really meant:
"Good luck in your life! You will be slaves of this society and will offer yourselves to it for the rest for your lives!!!"
Yes, just like that.
On no! Just imagining myself in a situation that I have to do a lot of services starting from tomorrow up until the rest of my life… it is rather vexing!
"Excuse me, oh Grandseer…"
Suddenly, a voice spoke up while the Grandseer was about to add something on her words.
It was Malthur.
"Forgive me for the absurdity of my question but, what will happen if the appointed Myrmidon is reluctant to perform their role, if not wanting to avoid it at all?" he raised his hand when he was allowed to speak and with a voice of earnest formality, he inquired.
"Hm? Then I assume that you do not want to perform your duties as a recently-proclaimed Myrmidon then, lad?"
Wah, scary and one-step ahead as always, Granny.
Also…
Whaaaa??! Are you trying to say that this son-of-the-Marquess does not want to be any part of this continental service as much as I do?! Where did that come from?
Although I have to admit, this guy and I did not immediately have the best first conversation to each other, I mean, we even fought ceaselessly on the way here… But! I will be a total pretender if I do not agree that he and I have one thing in common.
Specifically, in this situation, a somewhat reluctance and hatred to swords or responsibilities for that matter!
"Well… to be frank, Grandseer, I do not see any great compensation about doing all of this. I did not mean money or gold, or even riches in terms of compensation. I was just thinking, when you announced to everyone that we were proclaimed as Myrmidons and as I raised my own sword, I made a deep contemplation on myself about what can I get or acquire in agreeing for all of this…"
Uncharacteristically for him in this time, Malthur wore a gloomy expression as he was asking.
The Grandseer stared at him for a long second before responding:
"Well as for initial legacy, you will receive a one honor that a lot of people in this place rarely gets: a privilege to serve one's Mother Land…"
"…My Mother Land, huh…"
In a somber manner, Malthur uttered those four words with an apparent emptiness in his expression. He lowered his head after he spoke and the sadness in his eyes can be clearly seen.
What happened to this guy?
"Well! Thank you for answering me my preposterous question, Grandseer! I beg of you to just forget what I just asked and do not mind what I meant… I thank you so much!" with a sincere gratitude, Malthur stood up, and bowed.
Seriously, what is wrong with this guy?
Roy and I just stared at the sudden curve of his character that he was presenting and we just went baffled in his sincerity. Unlike his nonchalant and rude treatment that he was showing to us, he became an opposite of his recent nature at this point of the moment.
"OH! If that is the thing that has been bugging on your mind, you can get a huge sum of reward from the capital if you did your feats skillfully and impressively! Seriously, what a practical lad! Are you sure that you are the son of Gilcram? He is unlike you!"
Chief butted in with a loud laughter and reassured Malthur in his worries.
"HOI, Arsonstel. Do not spout such nonsense in these children that may defile their original purpose as a Myrmidon!" annoyed, Granny shot up and lectured Chief.
"Well if you think about it, the capital does indeed reward you from all of your impressive feats as a Myrmidon…" Pops blankly mumbled in himself.
"See? What did I tell you, kid? Our finest swordsmith here has garnered a lot of rewards from the capital that he is probably the richest person in this city at this point!"
Chief spoke jokingly as he patted my Pops.
"That is not true!!!" 2x
Pops and I stood up while shouted our expression of disagreement on the words of Chief.
According to Chief with the additional information coming from Pops, there are several Myrmidons that are appointed in the following places around the continent of Ea. Sure, it might be a wide continent, but the proclamation rites of being a Myrmidon vary from each places. In total, there are five provinces in all of Ea so that means, we are about to face different swordmasters per each place. Pops pointed out that the Myrmidons coming from a particular province can register their appointed names in the capital and from there, they can render their services either for the capital per se, or in any of the available places in Ea according on their choice. For every deeds of the Myrmidons completed by them such as defeating criminals, hunting dangerous monsters, stopping a major catastrophe, or just even helping the swordsfolk in their everyday lives, the capital shall provide them the compensation of that said deed.
"Hehehehehe… the three of you, just imagine! If you are competent enough, you can receive a lot of rewards and one of them is Evees! A LOT OF THEM!!!" Chief screamed in excitement as he took the discussion.
Oh, right. Evees refers to the currency of Ea. A name coming from the characters related in our folklore.
"E-Evees?! A lot of them?!"
Malthur stood up in his chair and repeated the last five words uttered by the Chief while he was shaking- his eyes got incredibly large.
Hoi… What happened on that recent statement of yours?
"What is more, they say that the princess of the capital is somehow in a munificent-side of the society, so she will gladly give what you ask for if you did your duties in flying colors!"
Wait a second-
A-anything? Did I hear that right?
This changes everything.
"I WILL GIVE MY BEST!!!" 2x
The sound of my voice and Malthur's rang in an excited manner.
I do not mind the reason on why Malthur just gave in instantaneously, but in my side, when I hear a mechanic in life that bestows you on just about anything that you may wish for, I have this primordial instinct that I should embrace it with open arms! I do not care how hard nor troublesome this Myrmidon status may be as long as I will get my long-deserved wish!
What may it be? Plain and simple:
A life of peace and tranquility. A stature in which, I do not have to deal with these infernal swords!
If that generous princess can grant me the life I've been longing for even if I will use this sword in a long run, I guess I can suck up my pride and take up the challenge!
In the loudness of our cheery answer, Roy remained sited in his chair while staring us.
Chief just guffawed merrily as he both watched our reactions when he was hit from his back.
*STONK*
"Yaaaaaaww!!!"
"I am stopping this nonsense now, Arsonstel. You are definitely not helping in making these three youths understand the true essentiality of being a Myrmidon. Well on the other hand, you did make them understand the merits of being one for the city so I will let you get away with this for the time being…" with a cold voice, Granny said her words of annoyance as she hit the Chief of Estocia with her sword-staff.
"Yargh… I haven't received that blow in a long time huh, Grandseer? It takes me back!" Chief said while scratching his back.
To get back on track, Pops turned in and discussed another matter concerning our specific roles as Myrmidons. He said that our foremost role now is to investigate the matters regarding that unwelcomed assault done by the enigmatic figures in the plaza.
Regarding that matter…
"Huh? So you have interrogated the fallen companion of the group? What did it say?" Roy asked with curiosity.
"Indeed. We managed to let some information flow out from their cohort, which was a girl… about the same age as you, Tori, and gave us an intel regarding the enemy that I had faced just hours ago…" Pops narrated seriously.
Eh? So the cohort that was left for us was a girl? Seriously, what decent girl in the world would join a shady-looking group such as those? Is she in the right condition?
"… And to answer your question Roy, yes, she did say something that I did not accepted as a fact… at first."
The Effese- the enigmatic figure that fought my Pops in a skillful manner, a being that named itself "nothingness", is still alive.
"B-But how could this be? Everyone in the plaza saw that you buried it on the ground!" Roy said while panicking.
"According to the girl, the being that I fought is an empty vessel. Sure, it has the figure and feel of a human being but realistically, that figure is nothing. The only thing that makes it half-alive is the sword. So in other words, the girl stated that when there is a concentrated feeling or emotion of malice and change, the Effese can take that body of something and use it for itself. Yes, be it an object or a human."
Effese…nothingness…
Ah, I can see now. It has been bothering me for a while once I heard its name but thinking about it, it all makes sense!
This enemy is nothing. It is a being that was formed out of nothingness and if the words of the girl are correct, that being will resurface once again in nothingness!
Also… malice? A feeling of change? What an odd and troublesome factors for its resurrection!
So to simply put, the three of us are tasked to find where this being might form again and prevent it from resurrecting while extinguishing it in the process!
Argh. Sounds troublesome, but I will take it!
"So, as the Chief of Estocia with the virtue of its Grandseer, I shall then entrust the task to the three of you, the three newly-appointed Myrmidons of Estocia!"
Chief stood up proudly and with a fiery expression from his words, he gave us our first work as city-slaves.
"Can I have the response of the Myrmidons?" Granny inquired coldly.
We paused and looked at each other's faces for a brief moment and said:
"We will do what we can!!!"
The three of us answered in a swift attentiveness and unison. Uncannily, I felt chills when I heard our same answers.
"Hm-hm. Very well then, follow me."
The Grandseer then started walking and the three of us followed along with her footsteps. Alongside the sound of her sword-staff, she led us in the main lobby of the League where a lot of Leaguesmen will usually meet and stopped in a strange-looking rock formation.
It was a cubic boulder of an unknown kind that stands in 3 feet with 4.2 feet in wideness. The boulder is slick and smooth as it glitters in the lights of the building. Situated in its center, is a deep hole where something is supposed to be inputted into it.
The Grandseer pointed the stone with her staff-sword as she spoke:
"This is a Balãni stone. It is a pioneered and important object in the city and as Myrmidons, it is extremely a must for you to benchmark your innate talents with this stone."
Benchmark? Innate talents? What does all of these mean?
"Since you are a worker here boy, I will let you go first so that the other two will understand the purpose of this rock." the Grandseer said as she pointed at Roy.
"R-Right, Grandseer!"
Roy stepped forward and unsheathed his Flamberge to his personal scabbard and proceeded to impale his sword to the hole of the Balãni stone. Suddenly, the said stone bursted in a whitish glow momentarily and in seconds, various figures and symbols appeared in the body of the smooth stone. Each symbols were tinged in crimson red as the majority of them mimicked the behavior of flames.
I gingerly read the symbols and what are their meanings:
Classification: Espada
Core: Enchanted Phoenixite
Core type: Burst type --- ---
Affinity: Fire, ???, ???
Essence: Above average
Previous User: Apoybla "Pacifico" Arsonstel
So it says…
Huh, no matter how many times I stare at it, I just do not know what these values imply!
Well, except the first one…
Roy smiled regarding the information provided by the stone and gingerly retrieved his sword.
"Ack- Ahem!"
"What is the matter, Father?"
After getting his Flamberge back, Roy asked Chief as he just proceeded to clear his throat.
"N-Nothing, son! Arh, I just got something… now, Gilcram's son, it is your turn, lad!" Chief coughed as he pushed Malthur forward.
While sighing, it was Malthur's turn to see the classification of his sword.
Well, sorry- his wooden sword.
I will be honest, even I, a girl with hatred in swords, is somehow curious about the secrets of his own stick.
When Malthur inserted the wooden stick in the hole, the familiar burst of white light shone once again and the various symbols danced in the stone- this time, the symbols are tinged in green.
Classification: Espada
Core: Ethereal Etherium
Core type: Burst type Enhance type ---
Affinity: Ground and Ether
Essence: High
Previous User: Nameless
Whoa… Okay! That was indeed interesting to see.
Plastering an annoying smug in his face, Malthur happily retrieved his sword.
Well! It has been fun just to sit there and watch, but it is my turn now.
Now then, let us see the nature of this sword of mine!
I slowly and carefully moved towards the stone while breathing calmly and finally, I inserted it.
Alright! Do not disappoint me, stick!
…
…
…
Huh?
Hmm… what's wrong?
I know I just impaled the thing, but unlike the swift reading for the two recent swords, why is mine apparently slow?
Perhaps this sword is a piece of trash after all-
Oh, there we go!
The stone glowed momentarily in a different shade of color and while I watched the symbols dance in a frolicking manner, I heard the collective gasps of the people in front of me as I returned in their direction to face its contents.
Everyone stared dumbfounded in the Balãni stone as the symbols wore the color of that familiar-looking azure…