Me and Uyoku (who was still on my shoulder) left my hut with a bag full of clothes and food. I decided to change into my white shirt as I felt more comfortable in it.
"Food..." I could see Uyoku drooling.
"Hey, that's for later!" As a warning, I glared at him.
"Kaw, fine. Where are we going?" A stupid smile plastered over my face as Uyoku asked me.
"The land of warriors, Ironhaven!" Uyoku froze after I shouted.
"What's wrong?" I asked it, feeling confused.
"KAW, don't you know how dagerous it is there, red-haired boy!?" Uyoku fluted his wings.
Dangerous? I thought it wasn't that bad. From what I heard, yes, the citizens were strong, but I didn't know they were hostile.
"Oh, right! I didn't tell you my name! From now on, can you call me Shin?"
"It doesn't matter if we're going to a town that we can die in, KAW!" The raven pecked my head.
"Hm... Let's go and see then!" I started walking down the road that led out of town. Uyoku immediately flew off my shoulder and landed in front of me.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into! We should go to some other town!" Having enough of this, I patted the raven's head.
"Listen, it does sound scary—going into a town full of warriors, but you don't have to worry. If you don't want to go, you don't have to. I want to go there."
It's fine. I didn't expect much from this. It's just a raven, not a human.
There were a few moments of silence before Uyoku spoke up.
"KAW, to hell with everything. Fine, I'm coming with you, kaw." Uyoku flew back onto my shoulder. I was taken aback.
"Why?"
"You have my share of food. I have to make sure you don't eat it all, kaw." The raven grumbled, and I laughed a bit.
"Alright, we're off then!" We started making our way out of town.
After we got out, we walked through the forest for 5 hours, until the sun set. When we were finished with setting up the camp, I started practicing my magic.
I was trying to concentrate on my magic while Uyoku was eating by the campfire.
Send the sound wave towards the rock.
Holding out my hands, I try my hardest to focus on the nearby rock.
And... Now!
A rush of energy coursed through my arm and flew out of my palm in the form of a sound blast. As I didn't know how to control it, the sound blast went in every direction.
OH NO! Will it hit the camp!?
I turned around to see that the sound blast didn't even reach the tree that was three meters behind me. My spirit fell weak, and I dropped to the ground, devastated.
Am I that weak?
"Kaw, why are you lying on the ground?" The raven looked at me from afar.
"It's nothing. I don't want to talk about it." Different ideas on how I could have improved rushed through my head.
I really should have learned how to fight!
With little energy left, we decided to go to sleep.
As the sun rose, we were already finished with our breakfast, and I packed my stuff.
"Ready to go?" I turned towards the sleepy raven.
It said "Kaw." and then dozed off.
Guess I'll just carry him.
Since I packed up everything, I placed Uyoku on top of the giant bag that I was carrying and started walking towards the nearby village.
When I got close to the entrance of the village, I saw a sign that read "Xen." As soon as I read the name, my jaw dropped.
"XEN?! LIKE IN, XEN, THE MASSACRE VILLAGE?!"
There was a rumor about this village on this continent that everybody knew. It said that there was a crazy man who entered this village fifty years ago. He was researching the 'fourth magic' theory (which is a taboo), so the townspeople tried to kick him out. The man was conducting an experiment when the townspeople found him, and he got angry at them. He drank the substance he was working on; his hair turned white, his eyes turned red, and his skin turned black. He was no longer human. The townspeople ran away as fast as they could, but it was hopeless as the creature appeared in front of them in a blink of an eye. It started killing them, one by one. The guild scouts that were later sent to investigate found all of the townspeople dead, and the man was nowhere to be found. It is said that it still waits here for it's next victim.
I ran away as fast as I could, but I soon bumped into an invisible barrier.
"NO! No way! You've got to be kidding!" My heart raced.
That's just a legend! It can't be real!
A piece of paper appeared in front of me.
"I'm coming!"
"WAH! SOMEBODY, ANYONE, PLEASE HELP US!" Panic overtook me.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the abandoned village.
"HE'S COMING!" Tears were rolling down my cheeks.
The sound of footsteps got louder. A dark figure appeared at the end of the street.
I... have to fight him.
With my newfound courage, I took a deep breath and left my giant bag behind me.
How in the world is that raven still sleeping?! Anyway, I have to defeat him...
The dark figure was now in front of me. My legs were shaking in fear, but I tried to keep a straight face.
"Hello there. Welcome to my humble abode!" The creature spoke in a calm maner. It looked like the legend described it.
White hair, red eyes and black skin. There's no mistaking it.
"What do you want?" I asked it calmly.
"Oh, straight to the point. Well, you came to my territory, and I have a rule here. Nobody. Can. Escape." It's neck twisted and turned in directions it wasn't supposed to. That made me sick.
"Well, I can't let you do that." With the little courage I had, I got into a fighting stance.
"HEHEHEHEHEHEHE! This will be fun!" The creature drew out a sword.
Unfair!
Before I could think any further, the creature disappeared before my eyes.
Where the hell did he go?!
Out of nowhere, a sword pierced through my leg.
"AGH!" I jumped away, with the sword still in my leg.
"Do you see that you don't have any chance of beating me?" The voice of the creature echoed.
Dammit, what magic is it using?
I got the sword out of my leg and stood still, waiting for an attack to come.
"Why so quiet?"
Wait, I can hear it's footsteps. That only means...
Turning towards the sound of footsteps, I aimed my hand in front of me.
"Sound Blast!" The sound blast this time went where I wanted and revealed the creature. It got knocked down.
"GAH! You're a sound magic user!? YOU LITTLE-" The creature raised his hands and created ice arrows.
It can use ice too?
I narrowly dodged the arrows it threw at me, and I sent another sound blast towards it. It got struck by the blast and laid a hand over his head.
The creature is bleeding?
"Damn you, brat. It looks like I'll have to deal with you later." It vanished again, and the sound of footsteps went by me.
Don't tell me...
As soon as I realized this, I started running back towards the bag.
"COME BACK AND FIGHT ME FAIR AND SQUARE!" There was no response to my shout.
Damn him. Why was I afraid of this bastard?! I need to do something before he gets Uyoku. Anything. I want to save him!
A huge amount of energy coursed through my body.
With this amount of energy...
"Sound Blast!" I sound blasted in front of me, revealing and knocking down the creature.
"GAH! You annoying-" I grabbed it around it's waist and ran away from the bag.
I can defeat him.
"Let go of me!" It kicked and puched me, but I didn't budge.
"It's over." I let the energy course through my entire body.
"Wha-"
"SOUND BOMB!" An enormous sound blast went from my body, and the creature screamed in pain.
After a few seconds, the sound blast died down, and the creature collapsed. Not too soon, I collapsed too, due to exhaustion.
"Hey! You okay?" I could hear distant voices in the darkness.
I slowly opened my eyes.
"W-Where am I?"
Taking a look around, I am lying on a bed in someone's bedroom. A white-haired girl is sitting in the chair next to my bed. The blue dress she wears is filled with holes. She looks like she is around my age.
"You're in my bedroom." She looked away from me.
"Wait, you rescued me?"
"Yeah, when I found you, a raven was pecking your head." My eyes widened as she mentioned Uyoku.
"Where is that raven now?"
"It's outside the house, oh, and I brought your bag with me." The girl turned towards me with confusion written over her face.
"Thank you!" I got up and ran outside the bedroom.
"Hey! You should rest!" She ran after me.
Running through the front door of the house, Uyoku was sitting on the handrail.
"Uyoku!" The raven turned towards me.
"Kaw! Red-haired boy!" It flew onto my shoulder.
"Hey! I have a name! It's Shin!" I grumbled.
"Hey!" The girl ran at me but tripped over the broken baseboard. Instinctively, I grabbed her by the shoulders before she could fall.
"Hey, you alright?" I asked her. When she looked up at me, her face turned red.
"What do you think you are doing?!" She yelled at me before straightening herself.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to fall." I was a little confused.
What is the problem? Did she want to fall?
"Oh yeah! I didn't ask for your name." For some reason, the girl was now nervous about something.
"I'm Satow Masumi." She averted her eyes.
"Ah, that name fits you. Nice to meet you, Satow." I gave her a natural smile.
"W-What are you saying?!" Satow's face was red again.
"Oh, I just imagined that if you had a nice, clean dress, that you would look pretty, as your name implies (in Japanesse, Masumi means beauty or purity)." She kicked me after I finished speaking.
"What are you thinking about, you moron?!" I was starting to get annoyed by her.
"What's your problem?!"
"Kaw, could you stop, red-haired boy?" The raven on my shoulder pecked my cheek.
Both of you are getting on my nerves.
"Alright! Stop it, you two!" Satow and Uyoku froze at my shout.
"First, I want to know what happened with the creature." I looked towards Satow, demanding an answer. She seemed to calm down after a few moments.
"You know the story of the man who came to Xen? Well, it's partially true. He did come here, but he was looking for a way to cure the people who tried the 'forth magic' theory. When he discovered the cure, he gathered all of the townspeople. As he was going to explain what was the cure, a huge army of those creatures came from the forest and started attacking everybody. Most of the townspeople tried to run out of the village, but a barrier showed up, trapping all of them. My grandmother and grandfather barely survived the attack, as they ran towards the nearest shelter and locked themselve in. It took ten days to eliminate most of the army, and what was left of it hid around the village. We've been trapped inside this barrier for fifty years with those creatures, and we still don't know how to deactivate it." Satow finished her story.
"How did you all survive?" I asked her.
"We were known for having large farms, so most of our food came from our farms. There is even a river that is barely inside the barrier." Hearing all of this made me feel bad for the townspeople.
"Didn't the scouts spot you?" My anxiety rose as I asked the question.
"What scouts? From what I have heard, there weren't any scouts in the village." Her confused face confirmed my fear.
I'm sure of it now. The guild that "sent their scouts" was behind this. That means that the legend of Xen was altered.
"It looks like we're trapped, Uyoku." I looked at the rave on my shoulder.
"Kaw, it sure does." It nodded it's head.
There is no other option then.
"It looks like we will have to beat up those things and break this barrier." I smiled, as I turned towards Satow.