TEN YEARS AGO…
It was a very hot night when the final battle between Edgar Fencer and Apollo was fought. Apollo lay buried in a mountain, a huge being made of flame with the features of a man. Edgar Fencer stood leaning on his sword. He coughed violently and vomited blood.
"Damn you Fencer! For you a human to resist me for two years. Your ridiculous fortitude reminds me of another nuisance I once fought in the past. The accursed psychorage called Hieron. He also resisted me for two years but that was in another life when I was still one with Souryu" the being called Apollo admitted in a sinister voice.
"Hieron huh? I've heard of him. Whatever happened to him?" Fencer said with a wry chuckle.
He was on his last legs. If the being called Apollo decided to fight again, he didn't know for how long he could hold out.
"He goes by another name now. As formidable a psychorage as he was and now he goes by a name no different from naming a human 'human' or a beast 'beast'. Lately, he seems to have set his sights on some human brat who cannot even psychorage" Apollo said. "I suppose you aren't just going to give up and leave are you Fencer?" Apollo said with a sinister glare.
"We've been battling for two years now so what are you saying?" Fencer said adamantly while panting heavily.
"The human soul, a trait Souryu most despises and you have a particularly formidable one" Apollo said.
"Why don't you just quit and make things easier for the both of us Apollo?" Fencer said with a laugh.
"Two years we have fought and you choose now to grow a smart mouth" Apollo said.
"Reminds me of something a dear old friend used to say. I always laughed it off as a joke. It's really no laughing matter now Emma" Fencer laughed.
"Did you say something?" Apollo glared at Fencer.
They were watching each other closely…
"When two forces with infinite offence and defence clash, the one to lose is the one with less stamina" Fencer said with a determined look on his face.
…to see who'd be the first to fall.
"I suppose that's a declaration of your intention to keep fighting" Apollo said.
"I have just enough stamina left to channel one more unit of power into the coral gem. This time I will take you down Apollo" Fencer said with a very sinister smile.
"Take a look at your land mortal" Apollo said and pointed to the distance.
Fencer turned around to look briefly and saw trees growing in the distance.
"While I've been wasting two years fighting you. While all my intent was focused on crushing you, your land has slowly been regaining its fertility. I hate to admit it but I lost this time" Apollo said.
Fencer opened his eyes in surprise.
"You're just an insignificant mortal. One wave on the sea and yet I've been forced to learn a lesson from you. Some battles are won by crushing a foe…and some battles are won by holding out long enough till the adversity passes. Hieron once taught me this lesson but I had long forgotten. Making one mortal suffer while others recover from their suffering doesn't bode well with me. Now I see clearly that I can cause much more damage if I leave behind this small continent where you can resist me for a larger continent without much resistance" Apollo said as he rose from the mountain.
"Have your insignificant continent and your paltry victory. I have many more places to destroy. But do not make the mistake of thinking this is over boy. One day, we shall clash again and at that time I will crush you Fencer!" Apollo roared and flew into the skies.
Fencer grunted in pain and collapsed to the ground in an unconscious heap.
FIVE YEARS AGO…
It was night and a small village in the continent of Vung was celebrating its harvest festival. They celebrated and ate the food from their farms. They were blissfully unaware however of the animosity flying over them…of the evil that had just set its sights on their land.
In the sky, Apollo flew about, still lamenting his defeat at the hands of Edgar Fencer, a mere mortal in his sight who should not even have the power to stand up to the forces. Then his eyes caught sight of something in the distance. Something that interested him greatly.
"A dormant volcano, and the closest to the core of the earth I have ever seen" Apollo celebrated. "The perfect place to recover my strength" he said and flew right into the hollow mountain. He cracked the earth open and dug deep.
In the village in the distance, the people felt a tremor and then the tremors began to become worse and worse. They stopped celebrating and stared in the distance. The top of the mountain began to glow and very unpredictably and terribly, the mountain erupted with flames. The people fled their village for cover. Over the next few years, the continent began to burn with intense heat. Both the ground and the air were very hot and the plants began to die. Water bodies dried up leaving a few puddles here and there and even those began to dry up.
TWO WEEKS AGO…
The people of the village that had been destroyed by the volcano five years ago had returned to their village. For a while, they had lived the lives of nomads in search of water. Finding that there was barely any fertile land in the continent of Vung, they gave up hope and returned to their land.
"At the very least, we can die here, in the land we've always known" the chief of the people spoke to them one day at a gathering.
"So what are you saying? We're just going to give up hope and resign ourselves to death?" a boy of about seventeen spoke up.
The people all hung their heads in misery.
"So you've all given up" he said.
"You saw for yourself, there is no water in the land. We've searched the entire continent" the chief said with understanding eyes.
"Let's try digging a well or something!" the boy yelled.
"Don't you think we've tried that?! Over and over again! All we found was rock!" another villager yelled back in anguish.
The boy squeezed his fists tightly.
"I'm leaving" he said.
"Where to?" the chief asked.
"I'm leaving this village…to search for water. When I find enough for the village, I'll return" the boy said.
He headed home first to get ready. He packed enough food for himself. His little sister came out of her room to meet him. She was about twelve years of age.
"Where are you going Jason?" she asked him.
"To search for water Ivy. Stay here with the rest of the villagers. They'll take care of you till I come back" Jason said.
"Can't I come with you?" she asked.
"It's going to be a dangerous journey and I won't be able to concentrate if I have to worry about your survival. You have a better chance of surviving here" Jason said.
"Oh really? You're worried about me? I wonder what Carol's going to think" Ivy said.
Jason froze in fear. He had forgotten about his fiancée. She had only recently accepted him after years of trying to gain her attention.
"I…actually forgot. I've got to tell her first" he gulped.
That evening, he stood under a dead tree at the centre of town with his satchel. He looked around. He was waiting for Carol. She was depressed after hearing of his intention to leave the village in search of water at the meeting. He saw her approaching in the distance. She held her right elbow and had a sorrowful expression on her face.
"Good evening Carol. You came. I have something important to tell you" he said with a reassuring smile.
"I know, I heard you at the gathering. You are leaving the village to search for water" Carol said.
An expression of grief came over Jason's face. It hurt him to see how sad Carol was. He'd known her ever since they were kids but only at a distance. Only recently after she accepted him as her fiancé did she begin to open up to him.
"Take care of Ivy for me" he said.
She nodded.
"I'll be back once I've found water" he said.
She nodded but tears were beginning to well up in her eyes. Then suddenly breaking into tears, she hugged him.
"Can't I stop you from leaving? Won't anything I say change your mind?" she lamented.
"No, I'm sorry" Jason said sadly.
"You don't need to be. You're doing the right thing" she said.
"I will return" he promised.
She stood under the dead tree watching the road till he disappeared into the distance.
In the dead of night, he arrived at a dead forest. The ground was all covered in ash. Jason crouched and touched the ash. He sniffed it.
"It's volcanic ash. Probably from the eruption five years ago. I don't understand, the earth here should have been regaining its fertility by now. What is wrong with the ground? Though I must admit we haven't had rain in five years" Jason said.
"All of this began five years ago when the mountain erupted. The volcano has been dormant for centuries. Why did it awaken that night? Since then, the air and ground have been unbearably hot causing all moisture in the ground to evaporate. Is that why these trees are not recovering? Because of the heat in the ground and the lack of moisture?" Jason wondered. "I wish I had the power to breathe life into the earth" he said feeling a deep sorrow for the dead trees.
Meanwhile, in Imperium, Jo-lan heard his wish and smiled.
"I sense the birth of a new class of Jo-lan. I must journey to the continent of Vung and find the one who is to inherit this class" he said to himself.
He informed the king that he was going on a long journey and requested permission to leave. The king gave his permission.
"I have neither the power nor the right to keep you here. You've been aiding my family of your own volition. You have been a great comfort to us during the trying times we recently endured under Anubis' rule" the king said.
Jo-lan left the castle and headed into Imperium. He walked into an alley where no one could see him and removed a book of Jo-lan from his clothes. He opened it and disappeared into its pages. The book flew into the sky and headed for the continent of Vung.
In the continent of Vung, Jason stared at the mountain in the distance.
"Whatever is causing the heatwaves and the infertility of the soil must be related to the volcanic eruption that occurred five years ago" he thought.
He walked into the forest of dead trees and headed towards the volcano. As he walked onwards, a book fell to the ground before him, narrowly missing his head.
"Huh? What's this?" he wondered and picked up the book.
It was a heavy brown leather book with the emblems of a phoenix and a dragon on the cover. Jason picked up the book and undid the seal. Then he opened it up. In a flash of brilliant light, he was sucked into the pages of the book. Ancient symbols floated all around him and as he watched, Jo-lan descended from the heavens in the glory of the ancient spirit that he was.
"Hello Jason" he said with a warm smile.
Jason opened his eyes in surprise.
"Who are you?" he wondered.
"I am Jo-lan, the source of all Jo-lan abilities in existence" Jo-lan greeted him.
"I've heard of you. The tales…so they were all true? I thought they were just stories the elders made up to scare naughty children" Jason confessed.
"And yet here I am before your very eyes" Jo-lan said.
"Why are you here?" Jason asked.
"You called to me…with your soul. I heard your wish. You desired to become a force that could breathe life into the earth" Jo-lan said.
Jason opened his eyes wide. It was his deepest wish; a wish he had never shared with anyone. It had always existed within him as a child but when the volcano erupted and the misfortune began, it became more than a wish, it became a conviction and one strong enough to reach Jo-lan.
"Are you here to grant my wish?" Jason asked.
"Yes I am, but first I need you to learn the reason behind your wish and why I have come to grant it" Jo-lan said as he showed Jason the Common History Of Jo-lan.
After Jason saw what Jo-lan had showed him, he felt slight fear and awe. As Jason watched, the sword, the staff and the shield materialized before him. Jo-lan explained the three dominant classes of Jo-lan to him.
"I have no interest in becoming a warrior and I have no interest in the power to influence fate. The closest thing to what I want is the defender class but it is not what I desire. All I want to do is breathe life back into the earth so that my people can have enough food to eat and enough water to drink" Jason said.
"You desire to heal the earth. Your desire resounds with your very identity. So you too reject all three classes of Jo-lan and forge one of your own making…just like Harry Bane" Jo-lan said.
"Who is Harry Bane?" Jason asked.
"Someone you will encounter very soon" Jo-lan said as the items representing the three classes of Jo-lan shattered. In their place stood a firm tree with a very broad stem.
"Your will has forged this class. An ancient Jo-lan class that has long been forgotten by all. The class of Dryad, the guardians of the forest" Jo-lan said.
Jason reached out and touched the image of the tree. He felt calm and cool as though a breeze was blowing all around him.
In the next instant, he found himself in the forest of dead trees. The moon was out and its silvery light illuminated the forest. As Jason looked out over the distance, he saw a silver light approach him slowly. As he watched, it began to take form transforming into a white elk and as the elk approached him, he noticed grasses begin to sprout out of the ash wherever it treaded. Jason was amazed at the sight and approached it. It was a magnificent creature. As Jason watched, the elk opened its mouth and spoke calmly in a gentle voice.
"I am the psychorage Silas, one of the protectors of the forest. Now, we are bound by a common destiny Jason" the elk said.
"What do I do?" Jason asked.
"I can bring life to the earth wherever I tread but the enemy causing the infertility of the land is much stronger than I can imagine. Its flame is lodged deep in the bowels of the earth. To heal the earth, we must journey into the bowels of the earth and quench its flame" the elk said.
"Lead the way" Jason said.
The elk led Jason deep into the forest towards a cave that led deep into the bowels of the earth.
PRESENTLY…
Josec stared into the distance, out over the sea. They were currently on a ship heading for the continent of Vung. They were in the company of other ships loaded with food which Estelle's family had organized for the people of Vung.
"Is this the 'Eye Of Heart?'" Josec wondered.
Buern walked up to him. Harry was throwing up into the sea as a result of sea sickness and Estelle was trying to cheer him up.
Josec looked intently into the distance.
"Josec, what are you staring at?" Buern asked.
"Ten years ago, Master Fencer defeated Apollo. Since then, Apollo had been roaming the skies seeking out a place to recover his strength. Five years ago, he found the perfect place. A dormant volcano in the continent of Vung which's depth reached deep into the bowels of the earth. There, he lodged his flames deep into the earth and began to starve the continent of life" Josec said.
"What are you saying Josec? And how do you know this? You've never even been to Vung" Buern said.
"You're right, I haven't…but I can see it all" Josec said.
"What else can you see?" Buern asked.
"Somewhere deep in the bowels of the earth, for two weeks on end, a boy and a white elk…have been fighting to reclaim the life of the land" Josec said.
"Then we've got to hurry" Master Fencer said from behind them.
Josec turned to look at Buern. She had a surprised look in her eyes.
"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Josec asked.
"Your eyes…! They've changed!" Buern exclaimed in surprise.
Josec's eyes had assumed the likeness of the phoenix.