Miya treaded through the dehydrated soil of the forest with her staff acting as a cane before looking back at the hooded figure with a slightly cautious expression.
(You..)
As the figure chatted away cheerfully with Cain and Van, with Dale following shortly after them with a stoic disposition, the events of the previous night continued to replay itself inside of the young lady's head causing a sense of wonder.
——
"I'm Here to Save Eternity!"
— The figure puffed out its chest and slammed a fist on it, accompanied by a large, gleeful smile.
...
"What." - Van muttered.
"The." - Cain continued.
"Hell." - Miya finished.
"..Idiots." - Dale quietly whispered.
An audible gust of wind blew through the campsite of the five as an atmosphere of silence began to settle amongst them for a few seconds.
"..." — The enigma tilted its head upon realizing the quietness that befell upon them, with an almost audibly confused expression, he squeaked. "Hm..?" — He stammered as he looked around, the four looking at him as if he just muttered the most ludicrous statement they've ever heard.
"Wha..What's Wrong..!?"
The girl with the crimson-colored staff gently caressed her forehead, and though her robe obscured most of her facial features, the air around her told the other three everything they needed to know;
"This guy is insane."
— To which, Van,
Dale,
And Cain
All nodded in unison.
"..Listen." — With a groan, Miya continued.
"You swam here correct?"
"Indeed!"
"And now.. this mission of yours.. or whatever you've been hitting.. Is to save..Eternity?"
— With a raised eyebrow and a visibly annoyed countenance, Miya looked up at the standing figure.
With a soft chuckle, the Figure's smile began to stretch all the way to his ears.
"Yessir!" — "What? Stunned by such a glorious task..? Mwahahahaha!" — With an overly exaggerated triumphant laugh, he puffed out his chest.
"Van.." — Miya whispered, to which the youthful man, with broad shoulders and unique-looking garments looked over to her, muttering out a 'hm'
Small sparkles of light began to crackle around her stationary staff, coalescing into the ruby embedded at the top, granting it a bright, fiery glow. Her similarly coloured irises began to gleam in the same fashion as the light continued to concentrate at her staff.
And with a large, somewhat angered smirk.
"I'M GONNA KILL THIS SIMPLETON."
"HIE-HIEEEK!!" — Van yelped.
From the obscured regions of the campsite where the darkness is prevalent, the raspy voice of a man entered the conversation.
"Oi Thief!" — It yelled. "She's not your friend you can freely mess with. Tell her the truth or you'll be joining the folks in her personal graveyard!" — It continued.
When all, from the source of the voice, who was revealed to be Dale leaning against a tree with a displeased look, to Miya smirking angrily while gripping her wooden staff as she continued to combust with magical energy, and the other two shrieking and sweating as they tried their best to derail the girl from what she's about to do, Entered the ears of the figure, the triumphant chuckles abruptly halted and was replaced by a solemn silence.
"I'm not lying."
— The figure calmly stated, with a hint of mysterious authority lingering inside of his words.
"Never once have I lied to the four of you.
and never will."
— Though his eyes were obscured by his crisp, slightly curly yellowish hair, one could tell that even the furthest stretches of the figure's soul were not uttering a single lie.
— Miya's furious expression were suddenly replaced by one of astonishment, as the combustion of magical energy resembling a raging flame around her suddenly disintegrated.
— The other two stared at the figure in a daze, while Dale focused his irises towards him, slightly squinted, doubt proliferating in his mind.
— An awkward atmosphere weighed down on the five, for each second that passed, the pressure intensified by a ten fold.
(....What the fuck is bro on about!?!?!?!?
.....)
— Cain's face gradually became a breeding ground of sweat.
(Great..No one's gonna be saving your ass once I'm done with you..)
— Dale scoffed.
(What in the name of the deepest darkest drudgiest dillon is this dickhead talking about.)
— Miya's thoughts didn't correlate with her surprised expression.
And the first to crack is...
...
*PLOMP*
The figure's head collapsed on the floor, his forehead kissing the grassy patch.
"SORRY!"
— "i'm being insufferable again!!"
"Um.." — Filled with uncertainty, Van, the young man with the silver spaulders and gauntlets reached out his hand towards the kowtowing enigma.
*SLAM*
— The figure slammed its forehead again. Generating a sound enough to make the four Jump.
"Woa..Woah!"
*SLAM*
— The figure gritted its teeth as it continued.
"Hey..!"
"Sorry! It was too weak right!?"
*Fwoosh*
— The figure raised its head upwards and faced the sky, making a reversed "c" letter with his spine.
*Inhales*
With great speeds, the figure released its head like a catapult, launching his head towards a direct collision course with the grassy ground.
"Begone! My cringey side!"
*BOOM*
— The impact was enough to cause a small earthquake and launch thousands of dust particles to the air, enshrouding the enigma in a thick brown smoke.
*Cough* *Cough* "..Ah Damn..! Are you insane..!" — Miya yelled.
"He..Hee..Hieee..!" — Cain trembled as he gazed at the direction of the enigma, still shrouded in the smoke.
"What? Stop stuttering and speak clearly you musclehead!" — With a mildly annoyed tone, he glanced over to the shaky Cain.
"He's..HE'S DEAD..!" — Cain exclaimed.
Dale shot them a quick glance,
"Oh is he?"
— With a face devoid of any emotion, Miya looked towards the enigma's location.
— As the smoke began to dissipate.. What greeted the eyes of the horrified Cain and the apathetic Miya was..
The grass beneath the figure's head was imploded. But in between his forehead and the shattered ground, lied a few set of armoured fingers from a silvery gauntlet.
The silvery spaulders gleamed consistently, reflecting the irises of its wielder.
— "Whew..!" • With a slight smirk and visibly pained expression, Van spoke. "Almost too late..!" — Followed by a lighthearted chuckle.
The figure remained stationary, faceplanting Van's palm and not daring to move an inch.
—
...
"He..He's not moving..!" — Cain yelled.
"So he was dead..!" — Cain gripped his hair.
"God..! We murdered a child! We killed a youngster! How will we take responsibility for this?? My niece is still studying! She is barely Upper Apprentice Level! I can't afford to get arrested..! There won—!!!"
*Slap.*
— A slap, from Miya not only imploded Dale's cheek but also launched him in the air, causing him to crash to a nearby tree and fall semi-unconscious.
"Ow.."
"wha..? Dale.. I didn't even.." — With a raised eyebrow, a sense of unfiltered confusion ensued on Miya's face as she flailed the hand that sent Dale flying.
*Sniff* "Miya..! You..!" — Dale caressed the area of impact.
"Tha—..That wasn't even enough force to kill a mosquito..!" — Miya responded.
"No excuses..! That was deliberate..!" — Cain pushed.
"But..! Um..! Well—!" Miya sighed and facepalmed, before shaking her head and focusing her attention on the kneeling Van and the seemingly unconscious figure. "...Cut the joke..please." — Miya uttered.
Van looked up to her with widened eyes and muttered, "Joke..?" — Before redirecting his gaze towards the frozen enigma.
"..."
"..He..He's not dead right..?" — Van questioned.
"Maybe just unconscious..? Ahahaha.."
— After a few more moments of eerie silence.
"ahahahahahah... so he's dead.." — Van smiled, a hint of discomfort visible on its curve.
"no..I..I refuse to believe that!"
"Hey!!" — Van tapped the figure with his other gauntlet.
"Mister No name!"
"Mister not dead!"
"Brother Eternity interesting!!" — With each nickname he yelled, his taps became more and more erratic.
"Mr..!"
"Don't go into the light..!"
"Please..!"
But to no avail..
Until.
— "You were gonna save Eternity right!?"
...
"..You.."
— a small, muffled, pained voice echoed from below causing all the group members to collectively release a sigh of relief, apart from Van, whom got even more emotional as he heard it.
"I knew it..! You were alive..!" — Van weeped. *sniff*..And.. you? you mean thank you? No need to thank me..!"
"You.." — The figure muttered once more
"*Sniff* its alright..! but if you insist.. ahaha.."
— Van rubbed the back of his head.
"..you.."
"Hm?"
"YOU SON OF A DECEASED RHINOZEROS WYVERN!!"
— The figure quickly straightened his posture and faced the four, with tears streaming down from his obscured eyes accompanied by his clenched lips.
"Oh there we go."
"Uncle is saved..."
"Unlucky..!"
Van stood there, dumbfounded.
— Though his crisp, yellow hair covered his upper face, the area on his forehead penetrated the curly thickness and gradually transitioned to a deep crimson color.
—
"..Wha..?"
"Why did you interfere..!? arghhh."
"You—.. you were gonna slam your head towards the ground..!"
"You should've just let me..! What was I gonna slam my head to..!?"
"..Wha..Oh! Th—The ground of course..!"
"What is the ground made out of..?"
"..Erm..Floor..?"
"..No..!"
"Be specific..!"
"..." — "Whatelementwastheareaofimpactofwhichmyforeheadwould'veslammedtoaccompaniedbyaforceinfluencedbyakineticenergycomparabletotwoexplosionmagicspells?"
"Eh?"
"What?"
(The fuck?)
"Soil!" — Van exclaimed, with a bright grin on his face.
The other three focused their widened eyes on the carefree Van.
"Good..! And what is your gauntlet made out of?"
"Finest Silver! Enchanted with Unbreaking!"
"Compare the.. hardness of the two.."
"hm?"
Van looked at the imploded soil.
— "hm."
Then to his gauntlet, with a hint of a reddish pigment on its palm.
— "hm..!"
"Aha..! Ahahahahahahha..." — Van released a nervous chuckle.
"No!" He then slammed a fist on the left side of his chest. "THE PAST IS THE PAST! TO BE A GOOD WARRIOR, ONE MUST FOCUS FORWARD..!
— MY MASTER.. EIGHT YEARS AGO..!"
"Ohhhhh....!" — The enigma gazed in awe.
Van then smiled cheerfully.
"How was it? Wise eh? We shouldn't notice our mistakes! We should go improve our actions instead..!"
"wat..?" — The awe on his face disintegrated into oblivion. (..At least he tried.) *sigh*
*Splurt!* *Splaaat!*
The reddish regions of the enigma's hair began to turn into a deeper, more dark red color, with some reddish liquid squirting from it.
"Hm..." — The figure pondered.
*Splurt..!*
— The other three who stood there frozen, continued to remain still.
"What a good piece of wisdom indeed.."
— The figure nodded.
*Splaaaat..!!*
"Yes!" Van agreed.
"So!"
— The figure stood up.
*Splack..!!!!*
"..!" — Van noticed the liquid sipping from his hair. "Mister Eternity Dude..! blo-blood! from your hair..!"
"Hmph. Nonsense! No pain is present! Therefore it is unlikely! Fix your gaze!"
— The figure turned around.
*Splurt..Splurt..!!*
"We move forward then..!"
— The figure began walking away.
"Ehehe..Dreamm..Twinkle Twinkle..! little—"
*Thud.*
The figure. Collapsed.
"ETERNITY!" — With a final yell, the three rushed to his aid. Apart from Dale who was quietly giggling for some reason.
——————— RECORD 3 FINISHED
Name : Miya
Occupation : Upper Sorcerer
Age : ???
Name : Cain
Occupation : Armoured Knight
Age : ??
Name : Dale
Occupation : Swordsman
Age : ??
Name : Van
Occupation : Martial Artist
Age : ?
Name : [Úñkøwn]
Occupation : Error
Age : ???
(Enigma)