"WE HAVE TO RETREAT, WE DO NOT STAND A CHANCE AGAINST THAT MONSTER!" A man clad in bloodied armor screamed. His eyes completely focused on the back of a young man who could barely kneel. If not for the sword that supported him, he would be flat on the ground.
"We have to… Defeat him… If we retreat… Everything will be lost…" The young man could barely respond, every breath made it feel like his lungs would burst. Each word sent an excruciating shock throughout his body. Despite that, he mustered the strength to lift his head slightly. His eyes, filled with life, glared at the monstrous figure that stood across the bloody battlefield they shared. A 6 armed crimson demon was that monstrous figure, its entire body was littered with cuts and gashes. But none of that remotely affected it, it stood tall, each arm casually carrying hulking swords. The grin that was ground on its face sent chills down the spines of the 4 man party who opposed it.
"EVERYTHING WILL BE DESTROYED EVEN IF WE STAYED HERE! DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND THAT?! WE HAVE TO RETREAT TO KEEP OURSELVES ALIVE!" The man's voice began to break, his eyes scanned the battlefield. Countless corpses of humans, demi-humans, monsters and demons littered the ground. The blood of each body, mixed into the ground, staining the ground that was once green, a crimson color.
"We have to… retreat… It's our only shot to avenge those… who we lost…" His voice was naught but a whisper, his eyes which have seen so many monstrosities began to tear up. "Lucian… Ple-"
A bellowing laugh shook the ear drums of the two men and the 2 demi-humans who accompanied them. An intense shiver struck their spines the instant it was heard. "RETREAT?! That'll only delay your deaths!" The demon's hideous voice took over the battlefield. "You've lost what, a few hundred thousand worthless human lives in this battle? By the time you gather your strength, humanity will be no more."
"Shut up…"
"Oh? It looks like you still have some fight in you…"
The young man who was called Lucian attempted to muster what strength he had in his battered body, barely managing to stand on his two legs. The determination in his eyes shone brightly as his glare became sharper. "WE WILL DEFEAT YOU HERE AND NOW!" His voice, void of any emotion aside from hatred, echoed.
"That determination in your eyes… It'll be delicious to squash." The demon said while licking its lips. Without another word, it reeled one of its arms back. Instantly, that one arm shot out like a whip, causing a crimson arc to fly out.
Sparks flew around as the attack struck Lucian's sword, the sound of metal being scraped reverberated around the battlefield.
"LUCIAN MO-"
Metal shards flew every which way, a cold feeling swept through Lucian's insides as the arc cleaved him in two. It disappeared just after hitting its target.
"Ve…"
"What…?" He could only say as his torse slid from his lower half. No pain could be felt due to the adrenaline that coursed through his body, but he could feel his strength rapidly leaving his body.
"LUCIAN! LUCIAN NO!" A beautiful white haired demi-human shouted as she scrambled to his side. "PLEASE STAY WITH ME LUCIAN!" Her cries could barely be heard by him. Everything around him became muffled. Regret panged his heart as he stared at the tearfilled eyes of the woman he loved.
'I'm so sorry… Fei.' He wanted to apologize to her for the false promise he had made, but the taste of iron in his mouth nearly kept from breathing. Instead, his arm slowly rose to touch her cheek.
"Lucian…?" She muttered his name. The hand that touched her cheek felt so cold. Never in her life had she felt something this cold.
'Please… live on.' Lucian wished as his lips curled into a soft small.
"Lucian…? No, no! Don't close your eyes!"
"Haru, take Fei and leave. I'll buy you two some time."
"Are you sure?" The second demi-human woman asked."
"Fei, we need to get away from here now."
"We need to leave now!"
"NO IM NOT-"
At that moment, everything went dark. The cold feeling, the muffled shouts. Everything just turned to nothing, a weightlessness overtook Lucian's body.
"Lucian…"
"Lucian… Wake up."
An audible sigh rang out, then a freezing sensation pressed against his cheek. A jolt shot through his body.
"Wha?!" He screamed as he shot up from the bed he laid upon. He turned to the source of the freezing sensation, the same white haired demi-human sat there, her lips twisted into a worried frown. "Why did you do that?!" He asked in a loud voice. Her hand retracted quickly just from his loud voice, a white glow could be seen on the tip of her fingers. "Fei, why did you do that?" He asked again, this time his tone was softer.
"You, you were moving around and mumbling in your sleep…" She responded, her ocean blue eyes that held a tinge of purple looked towards the bed they both slept on. "Sorry… I thought you were having a bad dream…" Her fox-like ears lowered as if she was afraid he would do something.
"It's fine!"
'She really needs to worry less…' He internally commented.
Rays of morning sunshine illuminated their small room, a dresser stood at the far corner. Due to their financial situation, they could only afford to rent a tiny home that only had one bedroom. And due to Fei's stubbornness, they slept on the same bed.
"Oh right!" Lucian suddenly shouted as his brain finally registered what day it was. "We should get ready!"
Practically jumping off the bed, he then rushed to the closet. 'Finally! We were able to save up enough!' His excited thoughts bundled up into a coherent thought as he rummaged through the small amount of clothes he owned.
"I'll meet you outside!"
As soon as he disappeared into the cramped hallway, he changed into a plain old grey shirt and pants. The freezing morning air struck his skin as he took a step outside, but that didn't dampen his excitement, evident by his gigantic smile.
A few minutes had passed, and Lucian had already walked in a circle a numerous amount of times. The door to their home had opened, Fei now in a white dress, which she wore a light blue long sleeved shirt over the top. She wore brown boots that stopped just past her calves.
"You ready?" Lucian asked as soon as she took one step out the door.
"Yes."
"Alright!"
Instantly the two set off, Lucian was in the lead, while Fei followed not far behind. Countless glances were shot at the duo, many were filled with disgust and hatred, while some just glanced over. These did not bother Lucian as he had gotten used to them. For Fei's case she kept her eyes glued to the ground and as she felt each glare, her hands clenched tighter.
As they got closer to their destination, she tried to leave a bigger gap between them, but Lucian slowed his strides.
"Just ignore them, okay?" He whispered to her as they walked shoulder to shoulder. Seeing Fei's head nod he smiled. But, he knew it would be nearly impossible for her to ignore them.
15 minutes later, they stopped in front of an incredibly old building. Just above the entrance there was a sign that had an anvil being struck by a hammer engraved onto it. Just under that, the word 'Open' was scratched onto another sign.
Turning his head to his right, he could see that Fei was incredibly nervous, her lips were distorted into a frown. "C'mon, don't be nervous, everything will be alright! We're just buying equipment, it'll be quick!"
"Alright…" Fei hesitantly responded.
"Ay! Welcome to my shop!" A booming voice welcomed the two as Lucian opened the front door. A stout man stood behind a counter that was furthest from the door. Countless miscellaneous items and a few weapons littered the counter. The stout man held his arm up high as if to wave at them. "Oh it's y- Ahem, I mean if ya need help with anything, just come to me!"
"Thank you!" Lucian returned the man's wave. 'Thankfully he caught himself.' He thought with a stiff smile that replaced his grin. 'Looks like she wasn't paying attention, though.'
Fei's eyes were completely focused on the countless armors that stood in line to their right, which slowly panned to their left many weapons ranging from great swords to small daggers, even bows were hidden amongst them.
"Let's go check what he has over there." Lucian said to her. Fei couldn't help but feel something was off when she looked at the expression Lucian had.
"Okay." She responded hesitantly.
'He's definitely looking for something…' Fei thought as she followed Lucian like a lost puppy. He slowly crept along the wall while "looking" at the weapons.
Suddenly they both stopped in front of a rather dull looking staff. The handle was carved out of birch wood and a clear yet cloudy crystal was melded to the tip.
'That's so pretty…'
Her mind completely switched gears as Lucian grasped the handle.
"Lucian we can't buy this!" She cried out as she tried with all her might to yank his arm he was about to raise. Of course, she was tempted to buy it, but she knew it would take most of what they had saved.
"Fei, we're buying this."
"I don't need one, I ca-"
"Hey, how much would this cost?" Lucian asked loudly while raising the staff high into the air, causing Fei, who had latched onto his arm to stand on the tips of her toes.
"Lucian, stop, I don't need it!" Fei exclaimed. Her final attempt to stop him failed as he just scurried from her grasps.
"Ah, that ol' thing? You can buy it for 50 copper."
Perfectly into their budget! They had brought 70 copper with them, of course that'd leave them with next to nothing, but Lucian was willing to spend it all if needed.
"Lucian… I don't need it, I can just…" Her voice went quiet after seeing the smug expression on Lucian's face, no matter what she would say, he wouldn't listen.
"Now… Time to find myself a weapon…" He muttered.
Scanning the wall of weapons once more, he found a rather basic dagger, one that a blacksmith could easily make. Which was fine with him, his main focus wasn't him.
"Can we buy these?" He said as he laid both weapons on the counter.
"Hm… These'll cost ya 60 copper."
Without a second thought, Lucian pulled a small brown sack from his pants pocket. Then, he fished for 6 copper coins. The size of the coin correlates to its value, each coin that Lucian brought out snugly sat on his thumb. Meaning each coin was worth 10 copper.
"Alright, they're all yours! Pleasure doing business with ya." The shopkeeper said while extending his hand for a handshake.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
As soon as Lucian returned the handshake, his entire body was yanked towards the shopkeeper.
After a moment of intense whispers entering his ear, the shopkeeper released his arm and sent Lucian tumbling back.
"Now, get yer arses out of here!"
Quickly, Lucian gathered their newly acquired items and ushered Fei to the entrance. What the heck did he do? Was the only question could think of, she could hear what was said but she was unable to process what Lucian did. 'It's weird, the shopkeeper was nice and friendly but suddenly shooed us away… Could it be because of me..?'
"Here…" Lucian said, his arm was outstretched with her new staff in his grasp. Sweat drenched his face. 'I hope she didn't hear what he said…'
"Thank you… Although I don't need it…" Fei thanked him while taking the staff. A warm feeling entered her chest as she looked at it. "I could jus-"
"Fei… I could tell you wanted it, and you'll need it once we work with other people."
"...Alright…"
'It looks like she's happy with it!'
On the outside Fei had a disinterested look on her face, but Lucian could see right through it. Seeing her happy, he couldn't help but copy the joy she felt. "Ready to go?"
"Yes, I am."
Once again, they set off to their next destination. But this journey was different, the looks that were directed to them bounced off of them as Fei was mesmerized by the staff in her hands. Halfway there, Fei almost tripped over her feet.
"Maybe you should pay attention to where you're going…" Lucian commented while chuckling to himself. 'She really does like it…'
His words caused her face to turn slightly red.
Thus, their journey has ended after 30 minutes of trudging through their town. They firmly stood in front of an extravagant building that towered over them. Cut above the entrance the words "Adventurer's guild." stood. Nervousness and excitement engulfed them.
As Lucian's fingers firmly gripped the handles to the door, it felt as if something tightly grabbed Fei's heart.
'I'm just going to hold him back…' She thought. For years, Lucian had talked her ears off to become adventurers, she had agreed to become one with him… But now the day has come, she could only feel nervous and fearful for the future. She couldn't back out now as he had already bought her a staff. '...He'll abandon me after… Seeing how useless I am.' This thought plagued her mind for so long.
A deafening creak came from the door as Lucian pushed with all his might. Many eyes snapped to the source. Their gazes held annoyance in them as countless conversations were cut short due to his actions.
'We can finally become adventurers!' Lucian looked towards his companion, someone he had known for nearly his entire life. She had always supported him, and had been there many times when things had gone wrong. He wouldn't be here if it weren't for her, the immense excitement and joy he is currently feeling couldn't be expressed through actions nor words.
With one step, they both walked towards their future.