As slow as the tense final moments felt, the altercation had ended just as fast as it had started. There was a blinding flash, averting all eyes. And as it disappeared and vision returned, all that was left was Eli who had put down the now passed out man as Liz cradled a similarly passed out Pheo with a motherly look of concern. Eli glared at the man on the dirt and spit on the ground next to him. Liz gently motioned for him to stop as she sighed and muttered:
"C'mon, let's get out of here, don't waste time on someone so lowly."
Eli, visibly angered, huffed and looked at the crowd, "May this be a message to all of you out there, don't get cocky just because you worked hard. I don't care if you bare fist fought God! You are in no place to disrespect people simply out of your own personal jealousy, nor are you inherently superior to anyone." his glare intensified tenfold, as mana began to flow off of him, "Got it?"
The crowd awkwardly and timidly nodded, Liz sighed as she glowed with magic and a magic circle appeared under her and Eli, "As I said, we don't need to waste our time teaching, let's go." With that, the magic circle glowed a bright blue before teleporting the three of them away…
...
Every day that Pheo had been in this world, had been an absolute dream, wrapped up in an angelic fantasy and surrounded by such genuine people, and his nightly dreams reflected just that; even when passing out on cold hard dirt, every night was heavenly. However, this time he was confronted by a scarily familiar experience, a nightmare:
The first thing he saw after being knocked out mid-fight was horrifying. Alone on top of a pile of corpses sat Pheo, in black armor, coated almost beautifully by scarlet blood. In his right hand was a sword, its original color was silver, yet the blade was completely painted in red, he could hear the sound,
Drip, drip, drip,
As it slowly bathed his foot in another man's, no, many other men's vital fluid, the fluid of life… Stolen, and on display on his blade.
As horrified as he was, his body had no reaction. He could not move or yell, he could simply look: he was surrounded by a sea of lifeless bodies as a blazing forest encaged him in his own personal hell.
And so he stood, and he stared, unable to do anything. However, through everything: the sickening sight, the terrifying flame, his absolute helplessness; the scariest thing of all was the one action his body could muster, one he could not stop.
He simply could not stop smiling…
His senses snapped back to him as he quickly arose from his sleep. With no time to take in anything around him or make sense of his surroundings, his eyes were filled with tears. Yet through those tears, he easily identified Liz, who had a concerned motherly look sitting on his bed. With zero hesitation, he immediately wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her shoulder, as he then proceeded to sob violently without a word.
Liz was taken aback, however she had observed him as he tossed, turned, and sobbed in his sleep, so she was not too surprised. She soon adapted and wrapped her arms around him in kindness as she whispered gently, "Shhh~ it's okay, it was just a nightmare. We're all here for you, alright?"
As odd as it was, she reverted to her strategy for crying children, but this wasn't to say that she saw Pheo as a child; rather, when one was emotionally vulnerable, reminding them of such childish comforts was often the quickest way to calm them. Liz wasn't merely analytically smart, but emotionally as well.
Pheo let out a long sigh as rational thought began to return to him, he gave a somber smile, "I feel really dumb, immediately falling into someone's arms, crying, after a bad dream."
Liz only smiled softly in return, "It's fine, you already proved how tough of a warrior you are, so I know it must've been something horrible, and personal. You are under no obligation to explain, but feel free if it makes you feel better."
Pheo sniffled and wiped away his tears as he smiled, "Thanks, Liz." As the oldest child, he always had the responsibility of being the big man for others, so it was nice for once, to feel like the little brother, who needed protecting.
However, his memories of what happened earlier still haunted him, he cringed as he looked down, "I'm really sorry, I don't know what got into me, but for some reason when I saw the opening, I just wanted to…"
Liz cut him off with a finger to his lip, "Don't worry about it, I could tell, I don't condone it per se, but beating you up over something you never intended to do is pointless."
Pheo shrugged as he still looked rather shameful, "Even so… I can't say that man was necessarily wron-"
Before even allowing Pheo to finish, Eli abruptly made his presence apparent as he was the next to cut Pheo off, "Nope, not taking it! Listen, kid, maybe that man did work his ass off day and night training, maybe he was a true bold warrior. But you were not the one to spit in the face of his progress, he was. The moment he began to use his own hard work and pain as an excuse to belittle others is when he himself disgraced everything he had worked for. You may be privileged, but it's not your fault, as long as you realize your fortune and don't abuse it."
As Pheo watched Eli reprimanding him so sternly, yet in a such supportive sense, he couldn't help but replace that somber frown with a bright expression. He nodded happily, "Yeah, thanks, Eli."
Eli smirked as he gave a thumbs up, "No problem bud. You're like a little bro to me! Probably to Liz as well." He gave an expectant look to Liz, in response she simply rolled her eyes with a bashful smile.
Pheo finally got off of the bed he had lying on, and stretched. He looked around and realized he was in the same inn from earlier; the bare wooden floors and walls are oddly nostalgic, in spite of the relatively short time since he had last been here. Pheo yawned and looked back at the two, "Well, if everything's ready, shall we get going?"
Liz shrugs, "More or less, but we won't go directly to the dragons, as no one knows where their residing place is. Our best chance to find out is to head to the Fairies kingdom, as we, humans, used to be allies with fairies, and they know more of dragons than everyone else. There is also one last thing, but I'll tell you more later. We've already rented a horse-drawn wagon, let us talk there." Pheo smiled and nodded, "Horse drawn wagon? Hell yeah!"
Eli and Liz snickered a little at Pheo's excitement over such a seemingly small thing. Though horse-drawn wagons exist in Pheo's world as well, of course, he's never been on one. He's only ever met a horse once, and it accidentally bit his finger as he fed it kale. Despite this, he actually still loves horses, and the horse-drawn wagon feels like a cherry on the top to his fantasy adventure.
They said their goodbyes to the kind lady who ran the inn and walked out. Outside the inn was a horse-drawn wagon awaiting them. Eli hopped onto the driver 'coach box' and commented:
"No way I'm trusting another man with a high secret, incredibly important mission, luckily I got my horse rider license at 15."
Liz silently climbed into the wagon while Pheo attempted to run and jump in. Instead, he tripped over a rock and fell forward slamming his chin on the wagon, which elicited a loud gasp from Liz until Pheo stood back up with a thumbs up, "I'm fine, it's all good." He was more embarrassed than hurt as he jumped in.
Inside the wagon was a small box of a large sack of food, gold, clothes, and a few water canteens. Pheo felt reassured by Liz's preparation as he nodded, "You really are reliable, Liz." Liz gave a proud smile and placed her hands confidently on her hips. It was hard to tell whether she was imitating Pheo and Eli, or maybe she was often like that when relaxed.
Soon the carriage began to move, Pheo and Liz chatted about their favorite animals and colors, including all kinds of small talk. However, after an hour into the forest, Liz sighed as she looked around a little and then back to Pheo:
"As you know, this is an incredibly dangerous mission, we risk contacting with high ranking enemies, small armies, and even kings. Now, if all goes as planned, that shouldn't happen. But still, I can't help but be cautious. Eli and I are experts in such situations. But as much training as you've gone through against such dangerous situations, you'd be as good as dead… Even with your cleverness and skill.
Which is why I want to give you something. You see, I used to have an adventure team. We went through it all, through thick and thin, we were unstoppable to the point, we forgot we were mortal… that was our downfall.
We took on the challenge of the most dangerous dungeon known to man, hell on earth: Tartarus. Many floors of burning and cursed dungeons with hundreds upon hundreds of high-level demons. It was only halfway through when we realized, we picked off more than we could chew. One by one we fell, we did not simply lose numbers, but friends, lovers, and good connections, all thrown away by one mistake. But alas, we were too far down to back down. So there we were… The final floor, it was just me, and my best friend, the only one left alive, Arthur Penndragon… In front of us stood a chest, however between us and that chest were one thousand, two hundred, and thirty-eight high-level demons, fifty of which were ranked beyond S tier. Yet behind us were the revived demons from all the floors previously, so we had only one option…
Eh, that sight is burnt into my memory…
Blood dripping from every inch of my body, the slow liquid crimson falls slowly down my face as my eyes are stuck open in absolute shock. It is so hot, sweat and blood are mixed into a disgusting concoction that covers my body, yet I am trembling and shaking. I have no control of my body, I can hardly see ahead of me. All I can see is thousands and thousands of red glaring eyes, violating my body with their devilish gaze that would corrupt the very essence of my soul. The sound of the growls and hisses of bloodthirsty monsters slither into my ears as I can feel the dark demonic intents of the horde of darkness that stand before me.
Before I know it, tears had flooded my eyes, no longer can I stand as I drop to my knees in utter despair. And with the only strength I have left, I emit a guttural scream, a scream of anguish, terror, pain. I scream, and wouldn't stop, I can't. The only thing audible to me besides my own screaming is my racing heart that pounds frantically against my chest.
I slowly feel myself lose consciousness, as the darkness overtake my vision… Until suddenly, the darkness of my heart is pierced, and torn to pieces, by a bright golden light. My pupils dilated, as in front of me stands Arthur, like a golden angel of absolute heroism.
He smiles, that damned smile, the smile that I fell in love with, that shines brighter than the sun, and even in this hellhole, illuminates overbearing darkness. He takes my hand in his own as he keeps a positive and confident look and pulls me up. 'Hey, Liz, hold on for me. Ok?' Those golden words ring through my ears, as if completely cleansing them. My heart returns to normal. I stare in awe at the hero that stands so close, yet feels so beyond me. He unsheathes Excalibur as he turns to the demon horde.
'Stay behind me and focus only on support, don't get yourself hurt, okay? I want you to, no matter what, go and grab that treasure, and teleport out of here using its magical energy. Make this all worthwhile, and no matter what, just remember, I love you, Lizatina…'
With that, he charges forward, and I behold what true heroism meant…"
Liz let out a long sigh as they looked down sadly, "I suppose you can guess what happened next, point is, you remind me a lot of Arthur, and yes, I did get the treasure, it was as legend told; unimaginable riches, thousands of spells, and additionally a suit of armor, a sword, and a shield: The Devil Slayer Set."
As she said that, that very set of armor, shield, and sword materialized on the floor. The armor had obsidian black scales covering it, and under the scales was flaming energy. By looking inside you could tell the inner layer was a black steel-like mineral. The shield shared a similar black scale and steel design. The smooth black sword and the intricately designed handle with red glowing lines of flame engraved in it.
Liz waited for Pheo to finish observing it before she continued, "I will trust you with this. I really don't trust this in anyone other than a close friend's hands. And you remind me of Arthur, he too was oddly intelligent, yet completely clueless at the same time. This is also important for a last case scenario I have planned…"
Pheo nodded as he understood exactly how serious of a choice this was, he touched the armor, and suddenly, it glowed red, teleported and morphed onto his body. He is suddenly encompassed by a warm and comfortable aura. It was as if he felt the very souls of everyone who died for this armor, all by his side, supporting him.
Liz smiled softly, "I suppose it deemed you worthy as well."
Pheo nodded and smiled as he picked up both the shield and sword, they were heavier than his typical weapons, but nothing he couldn't handle. Liz added on one more tip:
"Remember, you're not invincible! This set may help make up for the large statistical differences between elite guards and kings and such, but only in terms of defense and attack. Even in a battle between two equal warriors, it only takes a single decisive strike. Keep on your feet, be careful, and don't get cocky."
Pheo rolled his eyes with a reassuring smile: "Ok, mom!" he said sarcastically.
Liz flustered quickly, "Eh?!"
Pheo realized that no one will get this joke in the new world and laughed hysterically, covering his forehead: "Oh, it's nothing."
Liz chuckled for a second and then quietly turned looked out into the forest, thinking to herself, "Even with my help… Arthur fell… will this truly be ok? Arthur… Please guide Pheo's blade, for I can no longer even see the path ahead of me…"
Uncertainty
An incurable illness
Complimented by
A terrifying stillness
As the black birds fly
And the snakes do crawl
Yet here I stand
Scared of it all
I can not see
Inadvertently
I can't stop at all