Again and again, bare skin met wood and stone. Again and again, Liz and Eli beheld as he managed to utilize genius ideas with a seemingly idiosyncratic method. It could be called amazing: how one was so careful yet reckless, as if his very existence was a living contradiction.
Yet again and again, he continued and persevered. Eli soon related to Liz as at that point they both often left to do things and came back to Pheo continuously training again.
Though he seemed much more conscious of himself, as they observed, he seemed to have random yet very determined schedules for rest.
It was merely two weeks later when they came back to a truly marvelous sight. Pheo seemed to be flying through the air, smiling and laughing in pure ecstasy in spite of the scars and bruises covering his body.
As he reached his climax he nearly stopped in the air, as the sun nestled behind him, he turned and waved at Liz and Eli while yelling, "Hey guys! I think I got a hang of it!"
As the two were amazed by such an innocent and pure sight of grace, they couldn't help but smile widely. The sheer unadulterated joy that Pheo gave off could force a smile out of any individual as long as they didn't have a cold heart. He floated in front of the sun, as if he was some kind of symbol.
Soon he began to rapidly descend. However, he used a grab on a faraway tree pulling himself toward it at an angle, and then swung himself forward. This time he zoomed around at absolutely insane speeds, weaving his way through a countless amount of trees and rocks without trouble. Adrenaline rushed through his veins: rather than danger or fear, his head was filled with pure joy and thrill. A rush of endorphins allowed him to ignore injuries and dangers; rather, allowing him to ride heights, which were incomparable to anything he could have possibly imagined.
Having swung dangerously through the thick forest he directed himself back towards Eli and Liz, as he approached rapidly they braced themselves cautiously, in case he would accidentally slam into them. As he grew closer by the second, he yelled:
"I also figured out what the other spell was and practiced it a bit!" He announced excitedly, taking his sword from his hip and throwing it at Liz and Eli. Though they stood still as they knew it'd pass just over their heads; as it did, Pheo loudly yelled "Swap!"
Immediately, he and the sword swapped places: the sword lacking the momentum had fallen short and landed safely in front of Liz and Eli. They changed their focus to Pheo who did not consider his still exceptionally high momentum and winded up crashing roughly into the ground.
With a groan, Pheo slowly arose as he shook and wiped all the dust off as he grumbled under his breath "Ow…"
With a sigh he jumped up, his previous jovial attitude returning, as he turned around and did his signature smirk "Ta-da~", extending his arms. Liz and Eli giggled a bit as they clapped, and Liz rolled her eyes a bit. She smiled, walked up to Pheo and patted his shoulder.
"It's great to know you were able to adapt to magic quickly and even managed to figure out the swap spell. I didn't think I'd ever genuinely say this a few months ago, but now, I actually believe you can competently take care of yourself in the wild!" She exclaimed with glee as she clasped her hands together.
Pheo laughed awkwardly, "I know that was a compliment, but I feel a little insulted," He said jokingly with a small laugh.
"So, are we ready to finally set out?!" Pheo asked, unable to contain his excitement.
Liz shook her head, eliciting an immediate sigh of disappointment from Pheo before explaining:
"There is one last step. Don't worry, though, it's very simple and incredibly quick. Basically, you need to join the adventurers' guild."
Pheo's eyes lit up with excitement, "Ooh! An adventurers' guild! Wait, why though?" As much as Pheo was excited by the very familiar term of an adventurers' guild, as he began to consider his mission, he also started to question the point of enrolling in an adventurers' guild.
Liz groaned as she began to massage her temples, "This is the last thing I'm explaining for a while. There is a multitude of benefits: it's not like you'll die during the mission, yet it helps for the moment; it gives us very high discounts on everything travelling-related, like horses, carriages, storage, so-and-so. It also lessens entrance fees for most lodging and anything regarding weapons, magic, or potions. Of course, this will all add up, and you will have to pay taxes in a year, but it's fine."
Pheo sighed as he muttered under his breath, "Not even in fantasy can I escape taxes, I suppose the saying is true."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Pheo stretched with a yawn, "Welp, that does sound pretty beneficial, let's go then!"
Liz nodded and lead the way. It was odd for Pheo, he has been in this world for months, yet very little time was spent in the village, so it was still very alien to him, and just as fascinating as ever.
After a short walk, they arrived upon a large two-story wooden building with a large mark sign of a sword and shield. Liz turned her head to Pheo and nodded, "This is it, ready?"
Pheo nodded confidently as Liz slowly opened the door. A small bell jingled, indicating to everyone inside that the door has been opened. They walked in together as the door closed behind them, they were greeted by a large lobby area with bulletin boards to the right with all sorts of job listings. And to the left there was a bar. Scattered across the floor were wooden tables where adventurers of many types sat: the jovial party, the silent ironclad knight, the gruff foolhardy man. It was truly magnificent to see all types of people gathered in one place!
Additionally, there were stairs that lead to a 2nd floor which could be seen from the forest with much the same layout except for the bar. The atmosphere was truly exalting, one could feel the spirits of every adventurer combining into one mass of determination.
Though as much as it made Pheo smile, it also intimidated him; As much as he related to this as to a story, it was not one… and he wasn't the main character. Everyone here had wills and ambitions just as great or even greater than his own. He wasn't inherently special for simply wanting to be a hero, rather he had to make himself special.
"Blood and ambition do not create heroes. Actions do." Pheo had muttered that too himself, unaware he had said it out loud. Though Eli had become preoccupied with the bar, Liz had heard it. At first, she was stunned to hear something so serious, but then smiled.
Attention turned to the right in front of them. At the other end of the building was a desk with a pleasant-looking woman dressed in a green dress with white long sleeves and stockings. Her smile was perhaps the brightest thing in the room, even ignoring the desk Pheo could immediately tell this was the staff, he could recognize a customer service smile anywhere.
Eli had also noticed the woman and immediately caught up with the group. They steadily approached her as she bowed and greeted them,
"Hello! Welcome to the adventurers' guild, my name is Belle. I assume you are here to register as an adventurer? And accompanied by two retired generals, my, my, look who's lucky."
Eli responded to her playful banter by resting an arm on Pheo's shoulder, "Yep, taught him myself." He remarked with a playful wink.
Belle simply giggled in response as Pheo began to blush in embarrassment. "Well, all I need you to do is sign these papers…" she reached under the desk and pulled out what seemed to be a few contracts and a pen. Pheo shrugged as he began to sign.
Everyone uses the adventurers' guild, why not.
She took the papers back and nodded, "Mhm, now I'll ask you to please put your hand on this…" This time using magic she created what appeared to be a blue monitor with a hand outline, "This will produce an ID for you that will contain all necessary information and additionally give you an estimated level of power."
Pheo nodded as he thought to himself,
'Judging by the way she said it and the fact it's an estimate, this probably doesn't have video game levelling up and stats, figures.'
Pheo placed his hand on the tablet as magic started to surge throughout his entire body, sending shivers down his spine. He still wasn't completely used to it. After a short minute, an ID card suddenly appeared next to him with his face and oddly enough… the name "Phoenix". Pheo gave it a few seconds of thought before he concluded that it must search your brain for what you currently identify as. Nice. It also included his gender and finally his level: 45.
Pheo smirked, "Hell yeah!"
Eli patted his back, congratulating him with a smile, "Good job dude, already 45? You're only almost halfway to my level."
Liz bonked him with her staff, "You're level compromising mostly out of speed and sword skill."
Eli huffed and rolled his eyes, firing back, "Says miss 'my only skill is magic and intelligence but I'm level 200!' "
Before their bickering could continue, a man would shout out behind them, "That's absolute bull!" Pheo groaned before turning around to see a man in his late thirties, hardly taller than Pheo, with long black hair in a black ninja-like outfit.
Pheo sighed, "Now, what the hell is your issue?"
The man walked forward getting face to face with Pheo, "My damn issue is your little 'head-start', is ridiculous!
Do you know how god-damn long I worked just to get to level 40 just for you to mosey on in here, clearly hardly knowing what's going on, and be level 40 god-damn 5?! All you've got are surface level scratches, you don't get those from years of hard battles, you get scratches like those from stumbling around in a forest like a fool! And accompanied by two generals? Kid, I don't know what kind of connections you've got, but I can assure you: you do not deserve HALF the damn stuff you have, you privileged a-"
As the man continued to berate and scream at Pheo, Liz and Eli observed as Pheo's face slowly changed expression. At first, it seemed to more of a bored and displeasure look, as he was more inconvenienced by this than anything. However, as the man began to talk of hard work and insinuate before finally outright saying Pheo is privileged, Pheo's face began to contort from simple annoyance to outright rage. He grabbed the man's neck with zero hesitation and threw him down to the ground with a large thud as his expression turned to disgust, and he simply remarked, "Shut the hell up."
Everyone gasped in shock as the entire building went quiet. The man stood up with fury plastered across his face, "You wanna fight, kid?!"
Pheo smirked, but this was not like his usual smirks of joy or confidence. That was a smirk of sadism: he was ready to hurt, he wanted to hurt. He scoffed as he answered with a simple, "Yeah, I do."
Liz was surprised by this sudden face turn of Pheo, but more concerned than anything. She gently put a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you sure about this? He's only five levels below you, and as much as I abhor what he said to you, the fact he has much more experience stands true. I know you're witty and quick on your feet, but are you really this witty?" She cautioned him, worried he'd dig a hole he can't escape.
Pheo simply smiled "Oh he's skilled alright, but I know what kind of person he is, I know exactly what he'll do, and exactly how he'll act."
Liz was perplexed by this response, but reminded herself of how Pheo dealt with Eli's flash step.
And in truth, it was the same situation. The way Pheo saw it, this was simply the exact character trope he despised. However, it wasn't just a character, but a real person. Because of this, he could gather from both real life and fiction, though usually he'd be reminded of how real this was and would then cloud his own judgement, he was oddly confident. Why?
Simple. He hated this man so much, that he deemed it impossible to lose.
The man sneered hatefully at Pheo, who smiled back with an aura of superiority. The man got up and begun to walk out, "Meet me at the back" Pheo nodded as he followed, along with many others who wished to witness such an event.
They all walked out of the building and around to a small field expressly for training at the back. Pheo went face to face with the man before each took ten paces backward. He readied his sword and stared down his opponent with a deathly glare that would shoot through the soul of anyone any less battle-hardened than the man in front of him.
Pheo twirled his sword with a sigh, "You're predictable, annoying, and all-around not interesting, I've already figured you out, you know." His glare intensified, "I will hurt you."
The man glared in fury as he crouched down into his battle-ready stance in a way that allowed him to leap forward with maximum speed, "Young and co-"
Pheo interrupted him, "Shut up and fight."
This only acted to further enrage the man. He dashed forward at god-like speed. Though he was hardly perceptible, Pheo saw the man's body leaning left, a fake-out of course, anyone could see that.
He'll fake me out and make sure I see him lean left, so of course, he's actually heading to the right, and then behind me
Pheo didn't make a single step, even as the man suddenly appeared behind him with a short sword ready to thrust through Pheo's spine. However, just before the man appeared, Pheo discretely tossed his sword into the air. As the man was mere inches away from ending Pheo with a single strike, he suddenly lost his footing and fell, only to realize that Pheo had attached a 'Grab' magic rope to his ankle. The rope was connected to Pheo's own right ankle, as Pheo tugged it forward with all his strength, the man was dragged along with and ended up under Pheo's foot.
The man, however, stayed oddly calm, as his body turned to smoke, revealing a log. It was a diversion!
Though, Pheo knew that;
Naturally, after I repeatedly told him over and over with such confidence I knew his attacks, no matter how much he wanted to assume I was weak, he could not ignore it. So he'd do the most predictable thing possible as a diversion.
Pheo was correct, only a fool would ignore one who claims to know them without a hint of lie. However, this man's fatal error was underestimating just to what extent.
As his plan was in action, the man was cautious but confident. He must have thought: 'Pheonix may very well have figured me out, but that must be through special magic or thanks to his friends. I already know he isn't experienced, so no matter how much prior knowledge he has, even the simplest fake out should trick him'
Sadly, this was….
Wrong.
Suddenly the man appeared to the left of Pheo attacking from the air aiming to plunge his short sword into Pheo's neck as a smile of absolute sadism spread across his face, this did not go unnoticed:
Sickening…
The man thrust forward with lightning speed and as his blade connected with Pheo's neck, blood seemed to have been almost drawn, yet alas, Pheo suddenly disappeared leaving only his sword in place…
The man's confusion lasted a mere second yet felt endlessly long before he made an absolutely dreadful yet deceivingly simple realization:
'His sword wasn't on him before he disappeared!'
The man's heartbeat quickened to an unbearable extent. Though it was merely for a second, it felt as if his heart was pounding against his chest for an eternity, like a prisoner begging and pleading to be free from the now realized imminent pain.
Though the man's movements were nigh imperceptible to everyone except Eli and Liz, it felt as if every second he took to move his head up was another thousand years, waiting… waiting… and waiting… for an inevitable sight.
And there it was: directly above him, Pheo with shield in hand and the eyes of the devil, whose gaze touched his very essence with a malevolent kiss.
Pheo drew his shield back as he prepared to slam it into the man, who was absolutely helpless, midair and mid-movement, he had no time.
This man was a silent man. He spoke to no one unless he found it necessary or was incredibly angry. Very few people have heard his voice, and even fewer have heard him talk in a normal tone of voice.
However, today everyone heard the same thing, a noise of absolute misery, a plea from the broken; trembling, and shaken, his voice rang out, out of sheer fear for his own life.
"Help!"
Death,
Some find it a relief,
Some find it a fear,
Some wonder what it's like all the way up there,
Some are destined down below,
Some are welcomed above,
And some would gladly perish for their love,
But, no matter the need, the want, or reason
Death is and always will be a treason.