There are tales of fantasy wherever one may go, camp stories to frighten the young, telling horror unimaginable. One of the famous tales was about a ghastly presence within the woods, a presence of death. They laugh, smirk, and some jump in response, but eventually, they'll cry for these tales aren't mere fantasies
"Graaaaah!!!" It stomps the ground causing everything within its vicinity to crumble in its power
Luke jumps on time where he leaps to the sky above before he feels an unprecedented collision made by Will. "That was a close one–"
"Don't think of escaping you prick!" The two spiraled where they roughly landed on the tree and avoided any life-threatening mishap
"Don't get too full of yourself," He lunges forth his head colliding with Wills and in that short moment he breaks off from his grip and locks him in place
"The fuck's wrong with you? I could kill you right here and now but I'm choosing not to. You can say im doing this to earn your trust but it isn't," He twisted his arms threatening him to snap if he refused to call off his flames beside his neck
"I don't know the situation you guys have… but I assure you if I were a Rogue I'd aim for someone of higher rank. Either im just naturally talented or im a rogue as you say. What will it be?" He halted from snapping his arm and waited for his answer and the result was the disappearance of the flames
"What made you believe me all of a sudden? Did I get through your head? Or maybe just maybe you care even a little–"
"You don't have a technique… normally a rogue would be given a technique the moment they joined," Will rose from the trees and bent his head as a sign of his understanding
"I can't have detected any power from you, just pure Order circulation. I'm sorry for misunderstanding your predicament. I guess you are talented–" Their chatter was put to hold after the towering undead bear reached their spot along with its army
"Watch out…" Like catches him and he leaps through the sky where they evaded its humongous jaws
"Fuck I shouldn't have wasted my Order… I can't fire anything at the moment. Hey, can you fight them while I recover my Order?"
Luke faces him whilst he lands on the trees and maneuvers from the countless undead on their tail. "I can but we need to change your position. I can't do a damn thing when carrying you with both of my arms. Do you want a piggyback?"
"Graaaahhhh!!!" The bear widens its mouth and shoots a fierce and ghastly flame burning in its pointed direction
"Oi, why are you picking that up?" Will repositioned himself and gripped his back whilst Luke seized the weapon of the undead
"Why not? A weapon is a weapon. We can't choose what weapon we'll use. It just comes down to your know-how," His veins reveal themselves and by concentrating his muscles on his back he manages to pull the enormous ax
"We're surrounded! I told you that things were worthless. What now? We're gonna die because of you!"
Luke sniggered at his worries and said. "How cute. You're telling me you're afraid of so little numbers? Step back and see for yourself. It'll be over in no time,"
Luke's boastful remarks weren't all talk amid battle nor was it his way of coping with stress. Although he had no clue where this boost of confidence derived he was certain of one thing. The moment he said it himself, whatever words he spoke, be it an unprecedented outcome he'll succeed
'Yes… this way of breathing. This is how it was before. Focus, refine, and repeat. Imagine the energy they call Order and let it run wild. This breathing is the way, it's what I need, and it's the path that's keeping me from the end,'
The undead vermins lunge together leaving no opening for him to escape but Like never thought of such a thing. A spark manifested from his feet and at his current spot he disappeared leaving a flash and the sound of a slash. His speed skyrocketed, eyes glowed to better see through the mist, and arms clenched with the handling of the axe
"This is it! This is what I've been trying to do all this time. I don't know what it is but it's helping…" After shredding a couple of corpses he lowered his head positioned his legs and prepared to sprint
"This feeling, wait hold– On!!!" Will notices the extreme concentration of Order in Luke's foot and he quickly tightens his grip
The two brute-force their way out and Luke swung the ax in their way shredding the undead that dared to jump he'd first. They escape the undead and with their max speed, they thought there wasn't a single that could match their speed. That belief of theirs was short-lived when they saw the towering grizzly bear was but a hair away from reaching their backs
"On your left," Luke manages to slide right in time where the bear swipes its paw to disrupt their momentum
"That thing is huge! Do you have any plans up there? I'm getting tired as it is. There's no way we can shake that off,"
"By the looks of it, the undead has gone through its mutation. It's equivalent to a 2nd-grade Keeper, that's far above our grade. We only amount to apprentices but…"
"Spill it! I can't keep doing this. I'm starting to slow down. I think I'm reaching my limit. So what if it's stronger? Do you think we'll live if we don't take the risk?" Luke jumps after their view in the front lightens signaling them with another breath from the bear
The ghastly flames nearly struck them behind luckily young Grimes managed to leap through the sky above. If he chose to jump from his side it would've been the end of the two young Keepers who recently knew the truth. The range of its breath widens than before and just the mere temperature burned the wood in its entirety
"Okay… you make a very good point. I can't believe I'm saying this but charge at the damn thing. It's the only way," Luke glanced for a second in disbelief and he quickly followed his instruction and stopped in his tracks
"You better be right…" He turns and faces the beast who stops in its chase where it views its targeted next course of action
Luke threw the ax which flew to target the bear's skull but was easily blocked by its humongous paw. Although it never struck, his goal was to hide in the woods and escape its view whilst gradually closing the gap. He made sure they weren't found by the roaming minions that scattered throughout the misty woods
"Never let them see you… it's just a guess but they may share their vision with that great grizzly over there. Our plan will fail once we've been found in our tracks,"
Luke moves slowly to not make a sound after they find themselves centered by not one but four undead. What luck might have it the animals they stumbled upon had most of their faces reduced to skulls. Their sense of smell was no longer in play and they managed to reach the back of the enormous bear
"Now jump…" As to Will's plans, he jumped from the trees and Will focused his all on his palms conjuring what may be his greatest attack
"Eternal flare technique, Medium spark Scorch…" Their attack was about to connect but with Luke's heightened eyes he saw what entirely ensured their failure
"Is that an owl?" He saw a glowing figure from a mile away from their point and the bear turned and widened its jaws to counter their attack
"Graaaaah!!!" Everything went blank he never knew what happened next, he found himself in a place with nothing but white
"What the– Urghhh! What is this?" The seemingly white space suddenly added color until a clear image of two figures was visible
"Argh! This is so hard! Why can't I do it? Gramps already told me everything I need. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why!!?" The voice of a frustrated child invaded his ears until he could hardly tell whether he was dead or alive
"Hahaha! My grandson sure is as fickle as ever. Why can't you be patient? You're always trying to do it quickly," The voice of the child disappears and is then replaced by the husky voice of an elderly where it pats the child's head
"Gramps, why can't I do it? Isn't breathing natural for living beings? Why can't I do it? Ughhh why is this so frustrating!!?" The child rolled around the ground and remained quite lively while the elderly was taken aback
"Listen here, my dear grandson. Breathing such as the thing I've thought you can't be easily learned. Even this pair of rusty O'l bones had trouble learning this sort of stuff,"
"You're lying just as always. How could someone as strong as you have a hard time? Nothing but lies, for once, can't you tell me the truth?"
The elderly paused and then patted the child firmly with his hand and said. "Just breathe. That's all there is to it. Don't breathe because you want to. Breathe because you live. It's not by command but by a natural Order,"
The image began to blur itself out and he found himself plummeting to the ground alongside Will. He quickly grabs a hold of his body and breathes, they land quite fiercely, however, not a single bone is damaged. Luke found himself absorbed by what he heard, he breathed with not a single thought in mind
"Breathe… not by command, but by the natural Order. Never think of anything, just breathe. Everything after follows,"
For a moment something inside him cracked, Luke managed to strengthen his body to resist falling to his end. Although he was bewildered by what occurred he knew one thing for certain: they'd die if he didn't move. Although his flesh was burnt and his heart racing at its highest he naturally breathed and controlled his body