The sun illuminates the morning sky, the early bird is on it's way to get the worm.
Our young adventurers just begin to wake up from their slumber.
"Yawn, that's enough sleep guys, let's start heading for city of beginnings" [Raizel]
"I'm not leaving without my mom, she's not here yet, something may have happened, we have to go check on her" [Ugo]
"But your mom said we should go, don't you trust your own mother's words?" [Raizel]
"I do but we can't just leave without making sure she's okay" [Ugo]
"Hey, let's not argue, I agree with Ugo though, we'll do a bit if recon and if we don't find anything, we'll assume she just went ahead instead"
"Fine" [Ugo/Raizel]
They begin to prepare for their recon, there's tension in the air. They know not what they are walking into, Sylene may be wounded or worse, but the terrain and smell of blood also adds to this paranoia.
They retrace the paths they took, but they only stumbled naught but a trail of blood, it was either Sylene or the enemy.
Either way, the person who left the trail behind was hurt and they weren't going to risk the possibility of it being Sylene.
They followed the trail to a dead end, it just vanished, and as anyone could imagine, It was a trap.
Shadows begin enveloping their surroundings, they can hear the crunching of leaves from being stepped on, they can hear movements, they aren't sure what to do, all shocked and in fear.
"Who are you? And what do you want?" [Raizel]
They soon begin hearing a menacing laughter emerge from their surroundings, however this quickly weirdly comical, the laughter seems to have lost composure. Soon we see them emerge from the shadows along with Sylene, she's safe, unharmed and happy.
"Mom, what happened?" [Ugo]
"Oh dear, this is the rookie initiation we do with all new recruits" [Sylene]
"WHAT?" [Raizel,Vin,Ugo]
"Yeah, it gives new comers an idea of what they could be going into, most just think it's all rainbows and sunshines" [Random Disguised Ascender]
"So none of that was real? How?" [Vin]
"It was all an illusion, there are ascenders with many specialties, we just had one with that specialty hook it up." [Other random disguised Ascender]
"Sooo, does this mean we're in?" [Raizel]
"Well, it means you're not scared to take the actual tests, most people don't get past the screening we just did" [other other random disguised ascender]
"So, shall we get going then?" [Sylene]
"Isn't the location still a bit farther?" [Ugo]
"No, we just use illusion magic to hide it in plain sight" [Sylene]
"Asher, open the barrier, i'm sure they need some rest" [Sylene]
"Yes ma'am!"
A large tree in the forest range begins to warp strangely, in a matter of seconds the tree turns into a gate, almost as a coat disguising it as a tree was placed over it. It begins emitting a blue light, a portal in the gate leading them to the holy land.
"So this is it huh, our journey begins as we walk through that gate" [Ugo]
"Yeah, let's go become Ascenders" [Raizel]
"Yeah!" [Vin]
"Are you guys ready?" [Asher]
They then walk through the gate, into the holy land. They are blinded by a bright light which then fades into the bright sky of the Holy land, its huge, people from all over the world can be seen passing by, some here for trade, ascenders in training or just the rich taking bask in their investments.
"It's so big" [Ugo]
"Well of course it is, they take in recruits from all over the world!" [Raizel]
"Still impressive" [Ugo]
"You two stop arguing" [Vin]
The Holy land, A place only accessible by portals, it's a location that has never been physically traversed to, some scholars believe it's not even in this dimension. However, it is rich in resources, so much so that it has its own trade. It used to be a land under the rule of a single country, but after the great war, and then the Coalition of Empires came to be, which led to a larger force Ascenders who pledge their allegiance to the Coalition. They together serve as the general form of order for these countries, completely unbiased in their justice.
— — —
"Man, I'm exhausted" [Vin]
"The, trial starts tomorrow, we better just eat and get some rest" [Raizel]
"Ever since my mom showed us our room and got us situated in, i've been restless, the exam ACTUALLY, starts tomorrow, we are going to be knowing our specialties tomorrow!" Ugo
"Heh, yeah, let's go check out the city later though, i don't wanna waste the day sleeping" [Vin]
"Sure, why not"[Raizel]
"Snoring…."[Ugo]
"He's out already? Sigh" [Raizel]
— — —
The sky shines a dark blue hue, it's evening now, and our young characters are walking around to do some sight seeing in the Holy land.
After some time of strolling and gawking at the innovations of the city, the young trio make their way to a food stall, where they, you know, stuff their faces with food?
"Can you guys stop eating for a sec? The city is so beautiful, where should we go next?" [Raizel]
"Burp, that hit the spot! I'm sleepy again so let's head back to our dorm"[Vin]
"Honestly, i want to explore a little more too" [Ugo]
"Curse you hyperactive balls of energy!" [Vin]
"Where are you guys going? Who's gonna pay for this!" [Food server]
They begin walking away from the stall, unbeknownst to them, they have not paid. Vin seems to be the only one aware they had forgotten but he just rushes their exit instead of alerting them, because he's always been naturally lazy and a cheapskate.
"Hey, watch it! Why are you in such a hurry?" [Raizel]
"Just move you red haired donkey!" [Vin]
Ugo was not opposed to hurrying, not because he's aware that Vin is trying to rip off the man because he wants to see other areas of the city. However, Raizel is more concerned and wants to understand why they are in a hurry, probably because she knows how Vin is, or maybe she just hates him, one could never be truly sure (she does).
"Can we just go? He's catching up" [Vin]
"No, and who's catching up?" [Raizel]
"Yeah Vin, are we running from someone?" [Ugo]
"There you are, you think you can just leave without paying for your meal?" [Food server]
(Ugh, this is such a pain, we probably should've paid but the idea of free food compelled me, i blame gluttony.) [Vin]
(I will be using brackets to illustrate thoughts of people, sorry for saying this late)
"Hehe, it seems Sylene's recommendations are in a bit of trouble, perfect time to see what they're made of no?" [Mysterious figure 1]
"Why yes of course, off looks alone, they don't look like much, i bet you could take them alone" [Mysterious figure 2]
Back to the Trio, Vin tries to convince the man that he's mistaken while trying to distract Ugo and Raizel, it's not working, and it's causing a scene. All of a sudden a smoke engulfs the area, a smoke bomb. The makn question was, who threw it? It wasn't Vin, he's not the type to go out of his way for these things, he's a pretty lazy person at first glance. Whatever it was, Vin used the opportunity to drag Raizel and Ugo to escape into an alleyway.
While running they are stopped in their tracks, Swoosh! A blade flies across the wind, straight for Vin's head, he notices it at point blank range, probably because it's dark, however due to training with Ugo and Sylene and Raizel over the years, he is able to react swiftly and dodge it. However the blade continues as it was only evaded. Now it's heading for Ugo who is able to swiftly disarm it with a sharp kick which sends it flying into a wall.
"Where did that come from?" [Ugo?]
"Or rather, who threw it at us?" [Raizel]
They both look at Vin, suspiciously, well because he is the cause of most of their problems.
"Hey, this one's not on me this time!….I think…" [Vin]
"Haha, they're so funny, but it actually looks like they do have some skill, the way the Pale one dodged and the dark one reacted"[Mysterious Figure 1]
They see a 2 Figures in the distance covered in the darkness of night, upon closer inspection we can see a more feminine figure, pretty tall and a shorter more average height masculine figure beside the other. They begin stepping into the moonlight, and a dark skin girl with long white hair and deep piercing red eyes emerge, along with a boy, who has long brown flowy hair, tied into a pony tail.
"Cool entrance and all, but who are you guys? And why are you throwing weapons at us? Or is that a greeting in your custom?" [Raizel]
"Oh she's got jokes, i'll handle her" [Mysterious Figure 2]
"My name is Simon, and hers is Dahlia and we're just particularly curious to see what THE Sylene Lunaria's recommendations are made of." [Simon]
"I'm not that interested, he just asked me to come so he doesn't look like a creep." [Dahlia]
"Shut up Dahlia!" [Simon]
"Well i am Ugo, Ugo lunaria and i don't particularly like people attacking me or my friends." [Ugo]
"That's right, so apologise or come get your ass kicked, whichever is fine with you." [Vin]
"Hoho! You're Lunaria's Kid? That makes this a whole lot more interesting!"
They all assume battle stances in preparation for the bout.
However this will continue in the next chapter!