Monday December 15th, 2212 ATE. Northern Arthurian Coast, The Emerald Key/Hibernia.
Ten years.
I defected from The COG and went off the radar for ten years. After five years and two nation-wide disasters, they stopped sending Special Ops groups after me. I knew all their tricks. They taught them to me first. I knew what gear and abilities they'd have. I knew how to avoid them.
So, I was alone. At sea. A lot of the time blurs into a simple memory of the seas. Rocking on a boat in a storm for endless miles upon endless hours.
I still see them sometimes. My team. Not as Monstrous conspirators but as the soldiers they were.
I should've been smarter. I should've ended Sgt Sayaad before his lips even touched the fluid. Then, maybe his soul would've rested comfortably with Senso Starve.
Now he's alone at sea. Following me around in the form of dreams and nightmares…. Like a ghost.
I never did get to figure out Faustian's motives. After I toppled Triton Mountain and buried the whole of my old life, I came for him.
But he was gone.
The Cog headquarters and everything associated with it was up in the air the moment I learned the truth it seemed. They tried for a while to erase me from the shadows before abruptly stopping.
The bureaucrat bastards belonging to the GME found a "mole" amidst their ranks. The Grand Magus of New Gloria apparently funded Faustian's "side project". He faced justice so fast I didn't even have time to react.
But I did have time to disagree.
One man— no matter how charismatic, couldn't have convinced all of The Cog to stray from their path in such a grotesque and inhuman way. We were too pragmatic— too focused. They placed their eggs in that deformed basket because their world view was skewed.
By many.
Maybe by all.
Id been tired for a long time. I still am. But I couldn't help but remember his words every time I entered the waters of our world.
"We're losing…"
"Desperate times…"
His final words echoed through my mind as I dove beneath the waves like a hunting bird in search of fatty fish.
Only I wasn't searching for fish.
At least not fat ones.
The second I was under the blue expanse I unsheathed Muramasa.
Maddening power ripped through my tired limbs. Giving my lightning a black bladed aura. Changing its physical properties. Changing me.
The waves spun and churned into a hurricane. The King Mosasaurs and Megalodons swarming me from the recently Open Tangent beneath the waves caught the current and toppled.
Suddenly their battleground was their coffin.
With a heavy blast of lightning that seared the waters I blasted myself towards the closest beast as it escaped the hurricane to reach me in the eye. Black skin riddled with barnacles. Two small beady eyes and a massive muscled body. Pure mass and hunger.
I dove into its mouth full of endless rows of teeth and eye watering grime.
Before it could bite down I was halfway down its throat, spinning with my cursed blade. Dark lightning spiraled off, trailing my movements like a whip.
It lashed and sawed through the creature in sizzling spirals until I came out the other side with nothing but a flayed clump of creature in my wake.
[+800 EXP]
In the eye of the hurricane I sank deeper. The deep ocean darkness had a pressure that strained my Aura. It felt like I was floating between two walls closing in.
I needed air.
"Ack!" I groaned as something struck me from below.
I didn't look down. It was obviously a sea beast. I swam for the surface only to get grabbed again.
I spun my blade and removed the barbed limb.
Again.
Again.
Sloppy.
It wrapped my leg. I caught the glimpse of a Tangent as I looked down into the depths.
A dozen tendrils spilled from the tear in reality as it glimmered like a deep sea jewel.
I dove, slicing away the barbed tails in bubbling slashes that opened up pockets of air for me to breathe. Not enough.
I grabbed the remaining tail and yanked myself into the Tangent below.
The transfer was felt more than seen. I was still beneath the waves. But they'd grown more chaotic. Even more than having Muramasa unsheathed. There was a constant push and pull that made the seas of the Tangent rock like an earthquake.
Frothy white bubbles and blood blinded me to the barb tailed creature that lusted for me.
I didn't need to see it. I utilized my skill, (Crescent Sear Slash). With my Muramasa blade the skill was exponentially more disastrous.
The slash silenced the oceans and split it in two for three hundred feet, sending a tsunami crashing in its wake as the blue waters felt the reverberations of my attack.
[+900 EXP]
I swam for the surface— guided by two lights. Like eyes. I hoped they were not. I wasn't in the mood for giants.
Finally, I rose to the surface, gasping for air. For life.
Above me the night sky stretched forever. No sign of the sun. It was so cold I could see my breath. My exhausted exhales.
Two moons on the east and west end of the Tangent hung in the sky. Forcing the ocean tides into chaos.
Finned creatures circled me. Their bodies weren't made for horizontal travel like the creatures of earthen seas. They'd been here a while. Long enough to evolve.
Long enough to meet me.
I took a short breath and dove back beneath the waves.
***
An hour later and I was back in my boat with a rare sea beast carcass. Along with a box of King Mosasaur teeth and Giant Manta Barbs.
I let the manta barbs hang off my boat, sending every sensory adept Shark fleeing the other direction. And killing whatever else got too close.
That's what it was to be in the sea. You had to become part of it.
Speaking of. I was nearing land. I grabbed my gear.
Killer Crab Shell Samurai armor. I used dead algae to give it a dark green coloring so I wasn't so easily seen at night. What wasn't pure shell, was reinforced with Elven Woods. I used its hollowed legs as a sheath for my swords. I was unrecognizable from my old self. Just a sword wielding brute….
Who happened to be the OceanLord.
As I neared the docs, fishermen rushed out to the seas past me, knowing the Oceans were as fit for safe hunting as they'd ever be.
Old Cog habits died hard. Before I could officially enter the docs, I dashed for land in a blur of movement and shuffle of armor.
There were no stares in awe or looks of veneration cast my way. In the Emerald Key I looked like every other hero.
Tired. Touched by the Ocean and the cold all the same.
I kept to myself and made sure my sack of kills was tight.
The coastal city of Bluway was quiet. It wasn't too advanced either. But it got by— it got the job done.
Where there wasn't endless valleys of green grass frosted over, cold deserts stretched under the shadows of dead pines. Icy rivers split the city and connected to the oceans like roadways.
As a result Heroes on payroll walked the river boarders with Rune-Written pikes and projectile weaponry. Beast Tamers with mounted Sharks swam routes up and down the cold blue as pedestrians casually walked by on land.
"Ika-Hoari! How are the waters out there?" One of the guardsmen yelled to me as I stepped up the stairs out of the docs and into the city.
"Cold." I responded.
None of them made any attempts at further conversation as I delved deeper into the city lined by small one story buildings and the odd clock tower.
The walk was no more than a mile. No more than a few minutes in the city before the first Guild HeadQuarters stood before me. The Scion's of The Emerald Guild HQ.
A basic brick high rise left to stand out by the placement of a massive emerald at its apex. Apparently it was a luck based gem granting good fortune to those inside.
I think my attendance made the gem useless.
I stepped inside, taking note of how much more crowded it was than usual.
That usually only happened before and after big Tangents were scheduled for completion.
As I looked around on my way to the front desk I noticed the anxiety in the air lacked intensity.
A Tangent was just completed.
"OceanLord." The front desk clerk gave a bow of respect.
"Ika-Hoari is sufficient." My new name. Sword-Fish in a language belonging to a land far from here.
"What do you have for us today?" The clerk questioned with a smile.
I pulled the sack off my shoulder and opened the bag.
As soon as the smell hit his nose he motioned to the doors along the walls behind him, "Please, all yours— sir."
I walked past the front desk and ventured into the door behind him.
The buildings architecture changed dramatically.
Suddenly I stood in a factory style enviroment fit with metal conveyor belts, suited men and women with scalpels and prongs and endless rows of Monster parts.
Extractors, Carcass Miners, Proofers. They had many names but ultimately served the same purpose.
Verification and extraction of important materials.
I received pay and verification of beast slaying. They received materials and chances for research. For medical and scientific breakthroughs. Many of them were young Tangent Biologists fresh out of college. Their excitement at the sight of Monsters made me sick.
I brought the bag to the closest researcher as he scraped the decayed bone marrow out of a Skeleton Soldiers leg.
"Ooh! Sea creatures. Cool."
"Mhm."
The man clicked a series of buttons and yelled deeper into the factory area.
A few seconds later a woman jogged over to me and handed me a slip.
I left abruptly, taking the slip to the front desk worker.
"Pleasure doing business." He handed me a bag of coin.
"Yea."
I was about to leave.
And then I felt it.
Heat.
A great heat that evaporated the ocean droplets from my armor and gave me goosebumps.
I spun around, looking deeper into the guildhall for who had generated such a temperate blast so easily.
I marched over to the Quest Board at the end of the main floor.
A man stood alone looking it over.
He was a Knight. Classic medium steel armoring and leather replacements where he preferred. I scanned him for Guild brandings and found none.
Freelance— probably new. But older. Late Rebirth. Even still he was strong. I would've known that even if he didn't have an aura of fire hot enough to boil water.
He was smiling.
Untouched by the horrors of Tangent exploration.
Unscarred by the claw and fang of monstrosity.
He was….. different.
It made me uncomfortable. I preferred structure and what didn't fit could be cut down to size.
Speaking of size, the man was a titan. His shoulder guards and wrist bracers only accentuated his stature.
"What's your pick?" He asked. His accent was thick. A local. Maybe further north.
"None." I replied.
He shrugged, "More for me, I guess! Haha…."
His smile was beginning to irk me. It felt like a jab at my own existence.
"What is your name?" I asked.
The man's smile only faded slightly. Highlighting the smile lines in his face behind the thin layer of red beard hairs along his thick jaw, "Rory Legr—"
"I said your name, not what your parents thought sounded nice at birth."
Rory smirked as he looked upward in consideration, "That's…. Well, that's definitely a way to think about it. My…. True name, is Ashwalker. I'm new."
The main floor inside the Guildhall had gone deathly quiet.
I'm sure the bulk of heroes inside were questioning why the OceanLord was questioning a new leveler so intently.
The bulk of people were stupid as well. Senses dulled to the world in all its complex nuance.
If this titanous red haired knight ever stopped smiling he could vaporize the entire building and still have time for dinner….
Maybe that was an exaggeration. Maybe it wasn't. Id prefer to air on the side of caution when the person standing next to me could wield the heat of the sun.
"Why are you here, Ashwalker?"
"Looking for work….. a Guild— just like everybody. Rat race and all, you know. I just had my second son…. Time to kick it into high gear! Hell, you look strong….Would you have any recommendations? I'm quite good at killing Vampires." Ashwalker explained.
"My recommendation? Don't join anything. Don't trust anyone. Do it yourself. Make your own guild."
Ashwalker chuckled, "You say that like it's deadly easy…"
He had no idea.
He couldn't even comprehend how easy it would be for him.
It was human nature to seek the sun. To gather beneath its warmth.
I was like that once…
"My Wife would think you're hilarious, Mr Krab." Ashwalker said, finding a name for me since I never offered my own.
Such an arrogant small detail. I felt my pulse rise.
"Your wife would be insane, then." I said.
"That she is. Got some rage in her…. It gets me going it does HAHA! Speaking of it's her birthday."
Why was he so open to conversation?
"Which Tangent has the prettiest landscapes you think?"
I blinked in disbelief.
Date night in a hellscape…..
He was beyond arrogant.
Maybe that would bite him in the ass before he lost too much.
Before he lost everything.
I left abruptly.
Sometimes the sun could be so blinding.
Rory… The Ashwalker. I wondered how long before some Special Ops organization like The COG would come for him. He'd be too prideful— too arrogant to submit to being a weapon.
In a circular way that made him the perfect weapon in opposition to them…
But not now.
His laugh rang in my ears as the older more established Heroes explained to him who I was as I left.
"HAHAHAAAA! A Samurai OceanLord! He'll have to meet my wife. They can go over fish recipes."
By the time I was back to my boat I was positive the whole guildhall was just as rowdy as he was as they gathered around the sun.