That item you're holding, kid. What's that?
I don't know. It was an artifact that the quest gave me. But the system- you, I guess- said that the abilities are unknown.
That's because they are, kid. I've never seen an object remotely resembling that rock. Never.
What am I holding in my hand? Its presence felt so familiar, so warm to me. But the demon... he claims to know nothing about it.
"Hey Miko! Oh, hey Roan!"
Aruna's pleasant voice only made me more focused on the rock.
Why does it feel like her presence?
"What's that?"
I felt her looking over my shoulder, trying to see what I was so fixated on.
"It's a rock."
She laughed, pinching my arm. "A rock? Here I thought you'd found something interesting. I guess there was no reward then?"
I held the rock up to her. "This was the reward."
"Oh." As Aruna stared at the rock, her curiosity piqued, I saw Farvakhin walking into view. He was dragging behind quite a lot.
"Is Farvakhin doing better?"
Aruna pinched me hard. Ow! She crudely nodded her head over to Roan, silently saying don't talk about embarrassing things like sharing emotions in front of Roan, or I'll kill you!
"Yes."
Farvakhin caught sight of the rock, and now all 3 of us were staring at it. To no avail.
"I have no idea what that is!" We all said in unison.
Sighing, I put the rock into my inventory. As it disappeared, Farvakhin stared wide-eyed where it had just been.
"How did you do that?"
Confused, I asked, "Do what?"
Looking at me suspiciously, he said, "Make that rock disappear."
Chuckling to myself I said, "Oh, I just put it into my system's inventory."
"Inventory?" He said to himself, lost in thought. I guess he got his scientist curiosity back.
Hearing a clunk of metal, we all turned to see Roan walk past us. "We better get back home. Well, our temporary home."
With him taking the lead, we all followed behind him. Farvakhin and Aruna harassed me the entire trip home, taking turns to come up with some devious plot. Roan would scold them, they would apologize. Then I'm falling for the "Look, it's a dragon!" trick yet again.
Maybe everything would get better.
Hito Reda
I stared at my badge, its pristine medal shining so bright it illuminated not just my face but the entire forest. Rubbing my fingers across the professionally etched sigils, I recited each one's meaning in my mind.
Eagle- The Eagle oversees all. We honor the Eagle by continuing to guide the course of freedom, liberating the land from Evil.
Deer- The Deer often freezes in tense situations, leading to its death. We honor the Deer by heeding the warning shown through its mistakes. Even if brought to the face of Evil itself, we must never falter in our mission.
Owl- The Owl keeps watch over the night. We honor the Owl by staying ever vigilant, ready to vanquish Evil at any time of the day, no matter our condition.
Lion- The Lion protects its pride. We honor the Lion by defending our pride. The validity of our existence is dependent upon protecting our people and country from Evil.
The 4 sacred animals, their significance, and their story drilled into me every day at the academy.
Beaming with pride, I continued staring at the medal. All the pain was worth it, the 3 years of hard work. I would finally be able to go home to Mother, she would finally be proud of me! I earned these few months of rest before I joined the Shak' Ga's military. Well, maybe faster if the rumors I heard were correct.
War was coming.
I recited the lessons taught by the 4 sacred animals in wait for my glory.
Eagle, Deer, Owl, Lion.
I wondered who I would meet. Because I had graduated from a middle-of-the-road academy, I doubted I'd be a mere footsoldier. Of course, I had little chance to be a general or part of the royal guard. I was too weak to even join the Rok' academy, founded by the king to train the finest warriors in all 4 kingdoms. My skill with electrical annihilation magic wasn't nearly good enough to be accepted there. My only shot to become a royal guard would be to rise through the ranks.
Still, my academy was fairly decent. The Aisaran academy was probably the 10th best or so in the kingdoms. I should at least be able to earn a favorable spot in an elite division.
Mother's going to be so proud!
I was still an hour or so away from my village in the Fae' Ro kingdom. Though the current science regime hates violence, people like me were still encouraged to follow our warrior's path. They say it's to keep peaceful relationships with the other kingdoms, but I think they realize that we would be leaving their kingdom, taking our fighting nature with us. Leaving them in peace.
A smell began filling my nose. Burning.
"Hashu, you chump! I told ya to give up cooking!" Chuckling, I continued, "Guess your food is going to retain that burnt-to-a-crisp pristine quality only you could muster."
Anishu, his brother, would probably cook up a fine delicacy though. His cooking was truly splendid. Even if he claimed earlier that our praise only existed because we never tasted foods from other chefs, that claim would no longer work. I had 3 years of eating fine cuisines from many top-of-the-line chefs.
Still, I hungered for Anishu's food. My mouth began to water at just the thought of his Gekos steak. The finest piece of meat from a Ceryneian hind, just my memory recreated the juicy taste. A tiny piece of fat perfectly accentuated the herbs expertly selected by Anishu, joining with the perfect meat to culminate into an ultimate flavor.
I laughed as my stomach rumbled. Well, I won't have to wait long at least, I should be close to my village.
As the smell grew more vibrant, my appetite disappeared.
I stared at my burning village, inhaling the fumes of my burning friends.
Mother!
I ran through the forests, leaping past roots, ducking branches, ignoring predators lurking in the darkness.
Then I felt true evil.
An unbearable pressure forced me to stop in my tracks.
Deer! Deer!
I recited the sigil over and over in my head.
The Deer often freezes in tense situations, leading to its death.
Move!
The Deer often freezes in tense situations, leading to its death.
Move! Maybe Mother survived!
The Deer often freezes in tense situations, leading to its death.
"The boy wasn't here. What do we tell Vakash?"
Fear instilled itself into every part of my body as I heard those words. Boy? Do they mean...
Did they burn down my village looking for me?
Knowing the voice came from the right, I hid behind a tree so that they wouldn't be able to see me.
With fidgeting hands, I pulled the medal from my pocket, whispering the sigils under my breath. Why am I making noise?!
Clasping the medal to my chest, I tried to slow my breathing. 1,2,3,4... With each number I counted, I slowly calmed myself down.
"The appearance of that worm is troubling. I'm afraid that boy may be getting strong too fast."
"I'm afraid you worry too much, dear friend. The boy is nothing. He couldn't even save some stupid villages."
I squeezed my eyes shut, crying at their laughs. Don't cry! You trained for this!
Looking down at the medallion, I recited the 4 sigils once again.
We honor the Owl by staying ever vigilant, ready to vanquish Evil at any time of the day, no matter our condition.
We honor the Lion by defending our pride. The validity of our existence is dependent upon protecting our people and country from Evil.
We honor the Eagle by continuing to guide the course of freedom, liberating the land from Evil.
We honor the Deer by heeding the warning shown through its mistakes. Even if brought to the face of Evil itself, we must never falter in our mission.
I slid the medallion into my pocket, ready to fight.
Coming to my feet as quietly as possible, I began preparing my body to use magic. By opening your mind to the imagination, by opening your soul to the beyond, you use magic. Magic is a miracle surpassing all other miracles except my life.
Turning to fight, I was met with a devil.
His form was... indescribable. Dark. He looked almost human. If it wasn't for his needlessly malicious smile and demonic markings tattooed across his face, he could have passed as one of my comrades from the academy.
But I knew him for what he was.
Marked by a demon.
A voice behind him said, "Kill him and be done. Vakash will want to hear about our report. Neither he nor the master will be happy, so I don't want to have to tell them that we wasted time with food."
With a fury I raised all the magic I could, sending a paralyzing blast of electricity at the demons.
As I fell to the ground in exhaustion, I saw him wipe blood from his mouth. That's all the damage I could do.
He killed my people, and that's all I could do.
As he raised me from the ground and pinned me to the tree, I accepted my death. My dreams of the royal guard were foolish. I wasn't even a footsoldier.
"Sorry, the boss wants you killed quickly. You won't get the same torture those other ants got."
The- ants? My people.
As I slid into unconsciousness, the other voice said, "Stop. On second thought, that was a decent display of magic. Brand him instead."