CHAPTER 1
Where is he? He does not know where this is. All he can see are shining bits of light towering higher than the clouds. They're like trees somehow, some of them big while the others humungous. But they don't have leaves. They all seem to be encased in some sort of shining metal and concrete. Far away he could hear a weird animal roar. Then he hears metal clashing with metal but unlike the sound of sword clashing with sword. It was loud yet all he could make out of the sound was metal rubbing against metal; like a sword being unsheathed. "That must be one big sword then." He thought. Suddenly, out of no where, he hears a loud crash and he looks to see where it was from. Out from the spaces between two tree-like structures came a massive army of all of the races in the world: bangaa, nu-mou, viera, moogle and human. He hears a bang from the other side and something, a big metal bullet, crashed to where the front line of the army was. He sees a hole where the front line of the army used to be. The army then suddenly fights back shooting arrows and magic back at the source of the bullet. Multiple shouts roared from both ends and a large flying monster, as big as a whole town, come flying across the sky. From its jaws came a huge beam of blue light and the place where he stands suddenly is blazed in blue scorching flame.
"Kris! Kris!" He hears a familiar voice calling his name from somewhere. "Kris! Kris..." He hears it again and suddenly he opens his eyes and the place that was scorched in blue dazzling flame was gone. He was now looking at the posters of his idols: the mighty three. He realizes that he was back in his room and that the whole thing was just a dream. His room looked quite comfortable having only seen a war about to start a few seconds ago. He was still in bed in his pajamas that made him look quite silly as if he was still a child. A breeze was blowing inside through the window and it calmed him down a bit as he closed his eyes to collect his thoughts. "I'm in my room," he says to himself "and I'm not burning in blue flame nor am I in armor about to go into war. There is no huge monster flying on top of me and there are no people here but me."
"Krisss, you'd better wake up! The exam startsss in an hour!" says his uncle Meiyou who enters the room without even a knock. "Change your clothesss quick! There's no time for a bath!" His uncle was a bangaa—Ivalice's physically strongest race. The bangaa are a reptile-like folk that would attack you instantly for any lizard or reptile jokes that they hear from you. They are a proud race especially because of the fact that the second mightiest of the mighty three, Fenrir, was a bangaa. Fenrir wielded the avyuir sword called Fenrir and the coincidence, he says, that his name is the same as his sword was no coincidence at all.
Kris liked Fenrir the least though, he much preferred the human, Soma, who wielded the strongest avyuir of the fallen king Joseph. It was said that the fallen king gave rise to 500 swords that he called avyuir. How they all came to be and how he wielded them all was still a mystery only revealed to the court of the current king Moby. The fallen king's mightiest sword, Ultima, is now currently wielded by Soma. Each month, an avyuir is given to a chosen swordsman who triumphs after a long battle tournament. This month is the last and the 500th avyuir is the reward. It was said that this avyuir was the weakest of the 500 according to the royal mages of king Moby's court. It was wielded repeatedly though by the fallen king together with his 1st avyuir, Ultima. No one from the court could really explain why this is true so they merely explained that this was because of the fallen king's merciful heart.
"Uncle, was it today? I completely forgot!"
"Yesss, it isss today! Now go and change, I'll start the runner downstairsss for you."
As his uncle left the room, he got back into bed. He just couldn't help but feel confused with his dream. He left all of those people on the verge of war and there was even a great flying beast towering in between the two parties. He wonders if he could have done anything for them had he not woken up. Well he probably could, after today is complete, he thought. He knows completely in his heart that the final avyuir will be his. But then he hears the roaring of the magicite inside the runner and he quickly jumps to his feet to change.
He goes down the stairs and finds a piece of toast waiting for him in the kitchen. He grabs it, kisses his uncle on the cheek, (his uncle shows a slight disgust in this gesture by the way) jumps on the runner and drives it towards a towering castle. "The battle tournament..." he thought as he speeds past a couple of young moogles heading the same way. "I'll beat them all even if I die doing it!"
He arrives and as he goes down from the runner, a large slap hits him on the head. "Why the hell are you late?!" cries a voice from behind him. "The tournament is almost starting; I hope you haven't forgotten your promise of us on a hunt together!"
"I haven't, I haven't! C'mon Fran, you could've spared me the damage and just kissed me for good luck." When Fran heard this, she suddenly went berserk and argued with Kris for a while. Fran was a childhood friend of Kris. She was a viera—Ivalice's race of strong females. The viera are a race of female warriors with tall ears that allow them to hear exceptionally and this consequently gives them an edge during missions and hunting. Fran is also the 460th winner of the battle tournament and in her possession is the avyuir called Zanmato. Ever since she won the battle tournament, Kris never stopped training to become a better swordsman than he was before. He never really admitted it but he envied Fran for being so strong and powerful; sometimes he even wished that he was a viera or a bangaa or a nu-mou. At least then, he thought, he would have the special characteristics of each race.
They both stopped arguing when they heard the first bell ring signaling that there was only a short time left for registration. After a breathless sprint towards the registration area, Kris was finally registered and asked to suit up in the waiting room. Fran winked at him as he left and it felt to him as if a sea of nervousness just came rising up to greet him at the waiting room area. "If I don't die winning this tournament, she'd definitely kill me if I lose." He thought.
As he entered the waiting room, he only saw a handful of people. It was weird, he thought, since there were definitely more people last month when he failed his attempt the first time. While he was changing into his battle armor, thinking whether to wear a chain mail or a brigandine, a moogle came up to him. "Hello, kupo!" the moogle spoke. "Have you heard about the rumor this year, kupo?"
"No, I haven't. Is it related to why there are only a few people here?"
"You got that right, kupo. They say that Julius is here to get himself another avyuir, kupo!"
"JULIUS? THE SAME JULIUS WHO WON THE 230th AVYUIR?"
"Yes, kupo, that Julius; Julius the mog knight."
At hearing this, Kris heart sank and saw that the final avyuir was farther away from him than it was before. Why would Julius even want another avyuir? He doesn't even need one more, he thought. Julius was, much like Kris' new friend, a moogle—the mechanics of Ivalice. The moogle race is a race of small cute but sometimes frightfully deadly warriors. They specialize at making the best gadgets and weapons and their inventions can turn the tables to their favor in tight situations. A mog knight is a moogle class that specializes in using the weapons that the moogle race makes for battle. They are a strong and proud race and should always never be underestimated.
"Well, good luck with everything, kupo! I'm leaving now since I don't want to face Julius" said the moogle beside Kris who didn't really notice that Kris looked pale and shocked.
"Okay, thanks." Kris replies barely "I'll see you again, I hope. The name's Kris by the way."
"I'm Montblanc, well, see ya next time kupo!"
And with that, Montblanc leaves Kris shaking in the armor that he put on clumsily. He never realized how much of value this last avyuir is until now. Even if it was rumored the weakest, the last avyuir would still be a weapon that can be unmatched by any of the best weapons out there. He shakes the fear out of his head and remains calm but then, much like the incoming wave from the sea, the fear comes back to him stronger than ever. "1st match will be of Pallanza the bangaa and Kris the human, get ready!" says the announcer in the arena. Kris shivers in his knees and the fear starts tearing him apart. He could still run, he thought, but this was the last and 500th avyuir; he couldn't run now!
Kris stands up, slowly, and walks into the open door as the bright light from the sun blinds him and robs him of his senses. "What am I doing?" he thought, "I could die here if the rumors are true about Julian." But as he thought of this, the crowd roared wildly as he entered the arena. He looked up, hoping to see Fran but she was no where in sight; probably hidden between the tumultuous audiences that seemed to have waited for this battle for over a century.
It was starting and from where he was standing, he thought that this was the end of it all.