"It has been some calming time for us on this accursed island. When we arrived on this island, we were immediately attacked by the heathenness creatures born from the accursed god of monsters and chaos. We were thankfully able to fend them off with the combined power of the church and the combined powers of the kingdoms."
"There have been times in which I wish to return back home and see my mother and father again. But I cannot pass my duty to someone else to handle and see the same horrors that I have seen. See the same sights and atrocities that the creatures here cause to us!" A young man around the age of seventeen wrote down in a journal that had a bright brown leather cover. He was inside one of the many tents that they had set up on the island as a temporary shelter until they were done making the homes.
"You're still writing in that notebook of your Marsh" a voice said and the young man turned around and could see an old burly man standing in front of the tent entrance rubbing his chin while grinning at the young man.
"Of course, I am, after all I may die while serving on this island so I might as well" Marsh said as he closed the journal and placed it onto his sleeping bag. It had a couple of cotton inside of it as a way to make it more comfortable and warmer for the person, but it couldn't beat a regular bed's comfort.
"Don't be like that, after all you are still young and besides" the burly soon walked towards Marsh and leaned close to his ear, "you still have to confess your feelings to your crush after all."
Marsh soon blushed as he looked at the burly man with a look of anger "you read my journal!" The burly man looked at Marsh for a moment before laughing "of course I did, it is after all the only thing that helps me pass time."
The burly man soon led Marsh out of the tent "so who is the lucky gal that you have a crush on?" Marsh blushed a bit before muttering "her name is Maple; she is a childhood friend of mine."
"Oh, a childhood crush. That makes things more interesting" the burly man said as he grinned. Marsh and the burly man soon walked into one of the few buildings that was finished being constructed. The building was a bar of some sort and already had several people wearing armor inside drinking some beer and eating some small pieces of meat with bread and a sauce on the side.
Marsh and the burly man soon took a seat at one of the few tables that didn't have anyone sitting at it. "Hey, can we get a mug of ale and several bowls of that meat of yours" the burly man said to a nearby man who was serving as the waiter of the bar. The man nodded before walking away from the table.
"You know I don't like drinking alcohol" Marsh said as he looked at the burly man. "You say that, but you don't refuse the drink" the burly man said as the waiter came back and handed them their drink and meal. Marsh picked up the mug of ale and began to drink it.
After taking a couple of gulps of the drink Marsh placed the mug back onto the table, "that's because it is rude to refuse something that someone has offered you."
The burly man began to laugh as he grabbed his mug of ale "your family is a weird one I hope you know that." The burly man soon chugged the entire mug of ale down and slammed it onto the table. "How so" Marsh said as he grabbed the small pieces of cooked meat and plopped them into his mouth.
"Usually when you are offered food, one would be on guard in case the food was ever poisoned or drugged" the burly man said as he grabbed a handful of meat and put them into his mouth. "Can I get two more mugs of ale?" the burly man said to the waiter.
"You are a very gluttonous man I hope you know" Marsh said as he ate the food slowly, enjoying the taste of it unlike the man in front of him. "Of course, I am," the burly man said as the waiter stopped at their table and placed the two mugs of ale onto the table, "how else do you think I can keep these muscles in check?"
The burly man soon began to flex his right arm showing a giant hill covered by veins to appear. "Is that normal?" Marsh said, signaling at the pulsing veins on his arm. "Probably not, but who cares. It's not like a couple of bulging veins can kill me" the burly man said as he chugged down the mug and ate more meat.
"Burp*, now back to the topic at hand" the burly said as he looked at Marsh, "does she know that you like her?" Marsh soon spat out his drink as he looked at the burly man, "why are you asking that?"
"I'm just curious" the burly man said as he grabbed the second cup and began to drink it slowly unlike how he used to chug it down "so, does she know?" Marsh looked at his mug for a couple of seconds before answering the burly man's question "she does not know, or I think she does not know." The burly man took a sip of his ale "hmm, I see."
The burly man looked at the marsh for a couple seconds and opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted as the sound of a bell was heard outside. Marsh and the burly man soon stood up and ran outside. They could see many soldiers running towards nearby armories and others running to their posts.
The burly man grabbed the shoulders of one of the running soldiers. "What's going on" the burly man said as he looked at the face of the soldier covered in dirt. "Lady Meridia has called all the guards to be on high alert, she has said that she had sensed a high amount of mana reaching our location" the soldier said.
The burly man and Marsh look at each other before running back to their tents.
***
On an almost finished wooden wall a woman could be seen looking at the outside lands. She had the aura of a leader that showed no form of fear and only determination. "Lady Meridia, all the men are at their posts" a soldier ran up to her and said as he caught his breath. He wore the same insignia as she did on his chest.
"Good, then let's prepare for this beast greeting" Lady Meridia said as she stared outside at the nearby wooden forest. People who weren't able to use mana could not feel what she felt, but at this time she could feel a huge wall of mana slowly crawling to her. She soon turned around and was about to walk back to the camp.
"Oh, are you not going to greet me?" a voice that was heard by all said. The voice made everyone stop in their tracks and freeze in place. Lady Meridia, one of the few people at the base who were able to resist this, turned around and could see someone walking out of the forest.
It was a man with black hair and red eyes, he was sort of bulky but not too bulky that it was obvious. He was covered in a brown armor that resembled that of roots and had several gray flowers poking out of it. His red eyes stared at Lady Meridia as if he was waiting for something to happen.
"What is your buis-" Lady Meridia was interrupted by the sound of yawning. Lady Meridia looked around and saw no one yawning and only concluded that it came from one person. "I'm bored, let's get to fighting" the man said as a spear appeared out of a crack in the air. The brown armor began to slither up the man's face until a helmet was formed. The helmet had one giant slit in the center of it that looked like a plus sign and had four bull-like horns piercing through the sides of it., all aligning with the slit plus sign.
A gray ball of light began to appear in front of the plus sign as it began to grow bigger and bigger. It soon grew as big as fist and was floating in front of the slit plus sign. Lady Meridia's eyes soon opened wide as she shouted, "everyone dodge."
Following her shout, a bright beam soon flew from the gray ball of light towards the wooden gate. The gray beam collided with the wooden gate, and everyone quickly got into a position to defend themselves from an explosion. After a couple seconds there was no expected explosion and the soldiers one by one stood up like normal.
"Haha, it was a dud," one of the soldiers said as they looked at the man on the other side of the gate. The soldier placed his hand onto the edge of the gate and suddenly felt numbness overcome his hand. The soldier looked down at his hand and saw that his once fleshy hand was slowly turning into stone. It wasn't only him as several other soldiers were also experiencing the same thing as him, except that it was on different parts of their body like their leg or head.
"Lady Meridia the gate" a soldier that was slowly turning into stone shouted as he pointed at the gate that was now turning gray and slowly crumbling away. Lady Meridia quickly jumped off the wooden wall as it slowly spread to the other parts of the wall.
Slowly the gate and those who were turning to stone began to slowly crumble away as if they were ashes against the wind until all that was left was a giant hole on the side of the wall and a man wearing brown armor looking through the hole. The man tapped his spear on the ground a couple of times before walking towards the base.
The man walked until he was stopped by several soldiers pointing spears and swords at him. "We shall not allow you to continue your attack on us" a soldier shouted as he and several others launched their weapons towards the man.
"Annoying."
Several gray root-like things formed on the brown armor and pierced through the soldier's armor as if it was a soggy paper. In a couple seconds the soldiers turned to dust and were blown away by the wind. The gray roots soon crumbled with the soldiers as the man soon continued walking towards the center of the base.
Every step the man took and every tap he made with his spear onto the ground sent the feeling of dread across everyone's body. The man finally stopped walking once he was at the center of the base and looked at everyone before speaking "if you have not realized yet, I am a monster that inhabits this island, and your arrival here does not really please me. So, I have been sent here to take care of you pests before you spread across the entire island, so no hard feelings" the man said before several holes appeared above the base and several beams of light glimmered as if they were stars in the night sky.
"Oh, and for some of you that survived this attack and returned back to the mainland. Tell your leaders that I, Noxferatus, the Demon of the forest and the servant of one of the eight sins, accepts your act of war and welcomes it with open arms."
Before anyone could respond to the response from Noxferatus, the bright stars soon crashed onto the lands and several shouts could be heard echoing across the island. Noxferatus, who was now walking away from the base that was now being pelted by beams of light, stared at the sky. "I hope this was enough to prove my servitude to you, original one" Noxferatus muttered before heading back to the council.