As they neared the forest, Ezra tapped Michael's shoulder, asking to be put down. "Stay right there," Ezra said before Michael could try running off. He looked at their supplies before entering the Fairy Forest. Looking for materials to craft something for Michael, in case he got attacked, he could defend himself without killing the fairies. He grabbed a long thin stick from a tree and made a loop with it, then got three more, wove them through the loop and crafted a style racket. "Take this," Ezra said as he handed the makeshift racket to Michael. "We might need them later, so we don't want to kill them. Just swat them away." Ezra told Michael.
"I wasn't going to, but this will be safer for them than using my hand." Michael said. "Ezra, Miu?" he said, as if remembering something when he was sure he had the two's attention. "If you want to call me Gabriel anytime, you can, but when in a village or town, it's important to call me that name. I have a feeling that my real name will bring us trouble."
Ezra and Miu nodded their heads as Ezra finished checking supplies. "Well then, 'Gabriel', how do you like your sword?" Ezra said as he pointed at the blade strapped to Michael's back, trying to sound mocking when he said Michael's new name, but sounded bored like he always had.
Michael did not budge at the remark towards his chosen name. He only drew his 'holy' blade from its scabbard and said, "It's not too bad. I can feel the power radiating off of it. I wonder if we can enchant it and make it stronger or," Michael paused and his eyes went wide with excitement as if he had an idea that could revolutionize the world and said "Or we can get me-"
"An excessively dramatically, enormous sword that is so long that it could split a mountain in two. And I'll venture a guess that you want two for the sole purpose to dual-wield them because you think you'll look like a badass doing it." Ezra remarked, knowing exactly what Michael was considering. Michael nodded, his face displaying a range of emotions as he struggled to determine whether to be pleased or incensed that his friend could read him like a book. "This world had best pray that your dream doesn't come to pass." Ezra laughed, realizing what a terrifying sight a dual-wielding Michael would be.
Michael grinned, knowing the truth behind Ezra's words. But he began to wonder how much knowledge Ezra had about this realm and how much of it he was ready to share with him. "After this, tell me about the godlike creatures and stuff; I want to know as much about this world that I can so I don't die as soon as tomorrow." Michael stated.
Ezra simply nodded, neither agree nor disagreeing to tell him anything. He then left the supplies he had been carrying and went ahead to scout the area, telling Michael and Miu to set up camp and make it hidden.
When Ezra returned he saw nothing looking around, it seemed that the area had been untouched for generations. He swore this was the place he had left his two companions. The air began to refract, and a small clearing appeared from the unsettled air. Hidden between some trees were two tents covered in leaves. Michael and Miu sat between the tent with a tree stump between them. On the stump in front of Michael sat a deck of cards and an enormous pile of coins, while Miu had a much smaller one.
Being too focused on the cards in her hand, Miu had yet to notice Ezra's return, while Michael looked at Ezra with his cards face down on the stump and a small clockwork box in his hand. When Michael was sure Ezra was close enough, he flipped a switch on the box, which made the air around the clearing refract once again. This made everything outside it seemingly disappear, as if the only thing to exist was the clearing they sat in. Michael placed the small box on the ground and chuckled at the surprised expression Ezra had shown.
"Shut up!" Miu said in response to Michael's laughter. A grin spread across Miu's face as she slammed her Four-of-a-Kind down on the stump, thinking she had won. Michael then flipped his cards over, showing he had a Royal Flush, making Miu's triumphant demeanour disappear. Michael then collected the cards and put the coins back in the bag, tossing them back over to Ezra, knowing that the coins weren't meant for gambling and it was just for show.
"You shouldn't cheat." Ezra said to Michael. Michael then gave a look that seem to say 'what ever do you mean'. Ezra brushed it off, dismissing the peculiar layout of the campsite as just another anomaly in the long list of abnormal events they had encountered, and handed Michael a map of the trail and landmarks. "If you follow the trail, you can avoid the gnome village and coniferous hanging pixie vines. Granted, not all fairies will be nice and friendly, so this racket will help."
Michael just looked at the map, then at Ezra as if doing a double take. "Wait, hang on. THERE! ARE! GNOMES!?" Michael questioned loudly, making Miu cover her ears. He did not ask out of curiosity, only surprise. Miu nodded her head, confirming his question since Ezra didn't.
Ezra just continuing on with what to do. "Halfway through the trail, there will be a rather enormous flower on some bushes. Those are fairy shelters, and I can guarantee you that most of them will try to fight you, so if they try, don't kill them. Ok?" Michael nodded his head, knowing it was better to keep them as neutral components so they can make them into allies down the road.
As the rest of the map was explained, Michael readied himself for the possibly thousands of fairies that could attack him. Michael may not know what creatures exist in this world, but if they are anything like the creatures of myth from his previous life, then his knowledge would only be rivaled by Ezra.
Fairies are the cousins to spirits, so they can be quite powerful. He thought as he turned to where he believed Ezra still sat, but he saw him with Miu in tow, entering the forest. He looked down at the ground, wonder how Ezra had grabbed the barrier box. "Not again." Michael groaned to himself.
Michael walked quickly and carefully along the invisible trail that Ezra mapped out for him. He swerved past trees with twisted trunks and moving limbs, stepping over mushroom houses and moving vines. Michael looked down at a mini village of mushrooms and thought of the little blue creatures with white hats he saw on TV once.
He waited for a bit longer than he should have, as he saw something finally open the door. Out came a wingless pixie, dust falling off that glimmered like rays of sunshine. Its clothes were made of leaves that were a tight fit for its small body.
Michael wondered what type of pixie it was, but he knew he didn't have time to study it, so he got up and left, seeing at the very least what he wanted to. The group struggled to make progress as they traveled, taking nearly ten minutes to reach the halfway point due to the seemingly endless array of tiny houses.
The bushes themselves seemed more sentient as the vines writhed around like they had no end. Michael kept his word and walked past the small houses, trying not to disturb the forest of fairies more than he already has. Michael looked up from the ground for a moment to see that Ezra and Miu had disappeared. He wrote it off as nothing and continued on.
It didn't take long for Michael to find where he needed to be and where Ezra and Miu were. Though Michael didn't know much about how this world's mana system worked, but he knew the place in front of him was radiating it. The living and non-living vines climbing up its walls. Nearly every stone brick had moss growing between them, and Michael could spot a few birds' nests on higher points. In a world of magic, beasts, myths, and legends, it was impossible to determine whether a human, an ancient race, or the very magic in the air itself crafted a place like this.
The mission said there was something valuable in here that belonged to them. I wonder how I get in..., Michael pondered the thought as he walked about the ruins. He went high and low, pulling torch holders to see if any were secret switches. It felt like hours had passed as they pulled torch holders and pushed stone into the wall, but it couldn't have been more than ten minutes.
Michael's eyes began to sting. After a few seconds, the pain went away and his eyes felt better and in the corner of his eye a notification said, 'Mana Sense' unlocked. He looked around and saw symbols lining the walls; wisps of magic coming from books, footsteps, and handprints all along the ruins.
"You see it, don't you?" Miu asked, walking up to Michael, who looked star struck as he spun in a circle.
"See what?" Michael asked, cocking his head, his dirty blonde hair flowing to one side.
"Magic itself," Miu said in a tone of wonder and amazement as she waved her hands around.
"I've seen magic before, like when I do this," Michael said, holding up his hand, proceeding to make a small flame appear in his palm.
"That is just what magic can make, not what it looks like." Miu said before explaining, "Everyone is born with the ability to sense magic, but by the time you are old enough to know what it is, you've become numb to it." She paused for a moment, then continued, "That's why it's so rare for people to even sense it, let alone for someone to even see it." She then waved her hand as if to say to look around.
Michael looked around, admiring the new vibrancy of the forest and stone before him. It didn't take long for him to spot a faint trail of magic that lead into another room. He followed it to a half buried library with a glowing yellow book at its center.
"What the hell?" Michael mumbled, barely over a whisper. He walked closer, his head began to hurt, and the magic in his eyes started to fade. It replaced the yellow glow of the book with one that had a purple spine, gold words, and a silver design. Michael grabbed the book to read the title, 'The Demise of the World Leviathan and Rise of its Son'. He read the title out loud, surprised he could read the work on the book's cover. He heard something shift in the ruins.
The surrounding bookshelves shifted and moved, revealing multiple stairwells, each having a different colour emanating from their depths. Looking around and down at each one, he found that one felt different from the others.
"Try reading the book. It could be-"
"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Michael shouted, startled by the fresh voice in the room. He spun quickly around, connecting the back of his hand with the owner of the voice, and saw a body go through the air being imbedded in the ceiling of the stairwell. Michael heard Miu chuckle at his reaction.
As he calmed down, he watched Ezra dislodge himself from the stairway ceiling, brushing himself off. "What a warm welcome. It's nice to see you too," Ezra said with a smart ass tone. "As I was saying, read the book. It could help you choose a path."
Michael looked at Ezra with concern but brushed it away. 'He's immortal, he'll heal.' Michael thought to himself. He opened the book and then looked back up at Ezra. "You know damn well I can't read this shit." Michael flicking the book at Ezra.
"Oh yeah, you can't read this world's languages." Ezra stated as he read through the page. "Okay, how should I put this? Um..." he flipped through the pages until he came across a picture of a familiar-looking symbol. "How about we find this pentagram on one of the stairways?"
"Ok all wise one that should know what to do." Michael said sarcastically as he bowed. Michael and Ezra looked around at the multiple doors before choosing one that had this crimson glow at the bottom.
"How intriguing." Ezra mumbled as he walked down, leaving Michael to hurry with him in confusion.
"Yo dude, the hell are you doing?" Michael asked, looking around as they entered a room full of unique books and scrolls. "What the hell is this?"
Ezra looked around them to a pedestal of a black book with dark silver raise bands across the spine and silver lining the cover. The fore edge of the book was a reddish grey, as it reflected the light. Ezra so badly wanted to touch it, open it and see what was inside.
Michael, on the other hand, was looking around at what he could only describe as a room of demonic origin. With pentagrams and an unknown language across walls. He tried to focus his eyes, hoping his eyes would change again, showing him the secrets of the room. He concentrated enough and changed his eyes, and what he saw horrified him.
The walls of the room were covered with layers of writing and images, with the impression of eyes watching him from within. He saw shadows moving around the room; he saw the scrolls had a spine curling black glow on them. The pentagrams turned into the eyes of a predator that cried blood. He heard chanting and whispers from all around.
Voices, high and low, talked and chanted. All of it is about one thing.
"Grab the book! Grab the book!"
"We need it! YOU need it!"
"Free us! And serve him as well!"
"Don't listen to the voices Michael." Ezra said, forcing the souls to stop talking. "They've been trapped here for centuries, all serving a demon lord."
"Well, no duh Sherlock." Michael said as he looked at Ezra, who he found reading the book. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" He screamed, wondering why he would do that after what they just said.
"They want us to grab it, to take it off the pedestal." Ezra replied calmly, as he flipped the page. "I'm not doing that."
"He's been given eternal knowledge!"
"How dare he mock us!"
"He's made us a fool!"
"KILL HIM!"
Michael saw the shadows go to Ezra's body and stab him in all directions. Ezra only responded with a yawn, followed by a coughing of blood as he continued to flip the pages of the cursed book.
"Michael, do me a favour and grab as many of these books as possible. I'll get the others from the other stairs when I finish reading this. If you get trapped, I'm sure your strength is enough to get out." Ezra didn't seem too worried about Michael getting hurt, and the ruins did seem rather fragile.
"And you're gonna read this book the whole time?" Michael was curious yet concerned. These demonic books emanating such an aura shouldn't be taken lightly, and they most certainly weren't put here for no reason. "How do we know if these books are even safe?" Michael was in a need-to-know attitude.
"These books are of demonic origin. Otherwise, this book I'm reading wouldn't be stopping them from getting out of hell. And based on what I'm reading, the other books are just here for priests and baptists. It helps cleanse the place of the demons." Ezra looked at the book in a very curious state now.
Michael sighed in relief, happy to know the books won't try to kill him. "'Kay then, I'm just gonna go look around, though. You can pick up your own books. Also, the scrolls are NOT to be touched. They have some type of aura around them that just gives me the hibbie jibbies." Ezra nodded as he was once again fixated on the book.
Michael left the room and began looking around the ruins, just for an uneasy presence to replace his pleasant one. He looked around the temple for the presence and began to work his way towards Ezra when an entity appeared before him.
This entity was a shadowy figure with blood-red eyes. Michael looked at it in speculation as he tilted his head to the side. As he did, the figure mirrored his movement. He tilted the other way as the figure followed.
Michael started to ask a question, but was interrupted when the figure delivered a blow directly to his chest, propelling him through the walls of the ruins into Fairy Forest. "Fuckin' hell that hurt!" He got up ready to head back to fight but was met by the figure grabbing his neck and lifting him up.
Michael let out a smile, "Harder Daddy." he said in a perverted tone, as he always had when he was in a fight he could not win. The hand wrapped around Michael's neck, squeezing hard and lifting him off the ground. In the blink of an eye, he was flung at blinding speed through the trunk of a sturdy tree, and then hurled through the air like a rag-doll.
Air time, I need to think of something. It's fast and strong and doesn't give me time to recover. What should I do?
He saw the figure getting closer as he fell through the air. Then he remembered what he did to the drake. He clasped his hands together and lifted them above his head and dove headfirst, swinging down when he got close enough to the figure. When his fist made contact, the figure seemed to both shatter like glass and fade away like a cloud.
"Hey Michael, I got the treasure we needed. You ready to... go?" Ezra looked around at the forest in a curious tone that was mostly made of confusion. "The hell happened here, and to you?"
Michael took a second to catch his breath. "Sha… dow... fig… ure" he said between breaths of air. The statement made Ezra look uneasy.
"Let's hurry up with the other three missions." Ezra said quickly, rushing past Michael to the little camp they set up.
When Michael got back, he saw the campfire had been set and numerous books were stacked in numerous piles on the ground around Ezra. Most of the books were plain covered with little design, while others seem like they were made to entertain people just by existing.
"Like your new books?" Michael asked rhetorically. Ezra lifted his head from the book and smiled.
"You need help with any new powers?" This question felt all too enthusiastically.
Michael backed up a bit before responding. "Can you teach me anything elemental? Like fire, ice, water, things like that? And my speed is subpar at best, so if I can have something minor like blink or short range teleportation, that would be amazing."
Ezra had a look of curiosity, then nodded his head. "I don't know why, but I feel good about being able to teach you something." Ezra got up and stepped away from his books. "Now, what element are you most acquainted with, then give me your birth month?"
Michael looked at him, dumbstruck. "Dude, we've known each other since HIGH SCHOOL! How do you not know?"
Ezra just shrugged. "I guess it never interested me." He then put on a more serious face. "Now tell me."
Michael stood there for a few seconds, then decided to speak. "I'm strongest with Earth currently, and I was born in February. Why does this matter?" Michael had a voice full of curiosity as he rolled his eyes.
"Because what you're best associated with won't always be what comes the easiest." Ezra began, as he reached into his bag and pulled out a scroll. "The month of February is most assertive with the air and water element, which are the complete opposite of what you're most comfortable with." Ezra rolled open the scroll as he mouthed some of the words.
"Why do you have a scroll? I thought I told you that they were-" Michael was cut off.
"Satanic? Not all of them." Ezra finished. He handed the scroll to Michael, who was at first reluctant to take it.
"Dude, if I get cursed or something, I'm gonna test the limits of that immortality of yours." Michael said to only received a laugh from Ezra.
"You can try as many times as you want," Ezra said as he pulled out a book from the pile. "Here, you'll start to learn wind by reading about it and practising some of its motions." He handed Michael three books and began to grab a book for himself.
"Aren't you gonna help me learn this?" Michael was at a loss. Ezra wanted to help him, but now he's making Michael do it himself.
Ezra sighed while putting the book down. "I am, but I assume you don't need help to read these things." Ezra said in a mentally exhausted way.
Michael threw the book he was given that had strange symbols and characters at Ezra and began to yell. "THIS ISN'T MY FUCKING LANGUAGE DIPSHIT! UNLESS YOU CAN GIVE ME THE ABILITY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGES OF THIS WORLD I CAN'T READ IT!"
Ezra picked up the book and turned the pages. "OH YEAH! Sorry, I forgot that you didn't know Elvish." He picked up the other two and looked at the language. "Or the holy tongue, or even... is this supposed to be the ancient dragon tongue? It looks more modern."
This struck Michael's attention. "Wait, did you say DRAGON tongue?"
Ezra nodded, reading the book. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, there's about seven thousand four hundred languages." Ezra was silent for a bit before adding one more thing. "That's just an estimated amount."
Michael was now annoyed that Ezra hadn't thought about his inability to not understand fictional languages he never thought would really exist. "You can teach me how to use my magic AND help me with different languages." Michael suggested, hoping to learn a bit of dragon.
"Yeah, sure, let's see if you can keep up with the lessons, though." Ezra remarked. Closing the book. "Let's start with defensive techniques, in the dragon tongue mainly since they're mostly there."
Michael lit up. "DRAGON TONGUE HELL YEAH!" Michael quickly grabbed a book and looked at the unknown symbols. "Ok, how will we do this?"
"After the missions, when we get free time." Ezra began to walk to the forest with the mission slip. "We have three missions left, remember?"
Michael sighed heavily and dramatically. "Why though? Can't they just wait?"
"No, this isn't a video game, there are actual due dates and other people who want the prize money." Ezra walked back into the forest, only looking back to make sure Michael was following him. "Come on, we don't have time to waste."