Chapter 1: The Mist Valley

In planet Ivalice, one of the most fascinating landscapes is the Mist Valley. As seen from above, Mist Valley is a flat grassy land surrounded by tall mountains. Within this circular grassy plain, there are two notable locations, the village of Mist and an ancient zigurrat known as the Temple of Scion.

"Hurry up bro! They are waiting for us at the temple." Biggs called his twin brother. Today is their sixteenth birthday, and it is a tradition in Mist to bestow summoning powers to young people on their sixteenth birthday by having them pass through the trial in the Temple of Scion. Mist is known as a village of summoners even though summoners only constitute one-fifth of its total population, the rest are not summoners. These people include migrants from another city or town, people who failed the trial, and people who simply chose not to become summoners. "You are too eager to leave while you are still unequipped." His twin brother, Wedge said as he goes down the stairs of their home. He carries two short swords with him, one on each hand. He approached Biggs and gave one of the swords to him. "Ah yes! He he he! Sorry Wedge. I'm so excited."

As twin brothers, Biggs Baron and Wedge Baron look similar, with notable difference only when it comes to their hair. Biggs has a short clean-cut green hair while Wedge has a long straight black hair. They also dressed-up in a different manner. Biggs is wearing a long red robe made of silk, red pants and silver metallic boots. A breastplate is visible from the front opening of his robe. On the other hand, Wedge is also wearing a red robe similar to Biggs except that it is made of thick wool. Instead of breastplate, he wears two more layers of smaller robes, with blue robe being the innermost and green robe between the red and the blue ones. He wears blue pants, brown leather boots and a medallion with rune symbols that hangs freely in front of his chest. His hair is being held on his back as ponytail.

The twins walk along the main road of the city heading to the East Gate. Along they way, they decided to buy some items from an item shop. "Goodmorning Biggs and Wedge, how may I serve you today?" The woman at the back of the counter greeted them while arranging the crates containing her wares. "Hi! Please give us 10 potions, 3 phoenix downs and 1 tent. That's all." Biggs said while counting how much gil he got in his coin purse. "Maybe we should add some antidote. Some monsters in the temple can inflict poison." Wedge said while leaning on the wall. "Oh! Please add six vials of antidote." Wedge said to the vendor.

The vendor prepared all their items and put it in Bigg's bag. Then, the vendor starts computing the price of the items, "You bought the following…"

Potion: 50 x 10 500 gil

Phoenix down: 500 x 3 1500 gil

Tent: 1 x 1200 1200 gil

Antidote: 50 x 6 300 gil

"Your total purchase is 3800 gil." The vendor said while preparing the receipt. Biggs draws out 3800 gil from his coin purse and gave it to the vendor. He still has remaining 200 gil.

The brothers left the shop and headed towards the North Gate. As they stand at the North Gate, they can see the wide grassy plane and the mountains surrounding it. They can also see the Temple of Scion that is located directly north of the Mist village. The brothers traversed the plains, heading directly to the temple.

Suddenly, five goblins jumped and blocked their way. The twins prepared to fight them.


BATTLE

Party Member: Biggs

Level: 2

Job: Mystic Knight

Abilities:

- Attack - Defend – Row

- Mystic Sword: Spellblade, Runicblade

- Items

Biggs is currently equipped with a short sword.

Party Member: Wedge Baron

Level: 2

Job: Red Mage

Abilities:

- Attack - Defend – Row

- Red Magic: Bolt, Fire, Poison, Cure, Poisona

- Items

Wedge is currently equipped with a short sword.

Enemies: Goblin x 5

One goblin attacks Wedge while another goblin gives Biggs a goblin punch. The brothers moved backward. Biggs then quickly slashed the goblin that attacked him. The goblin was hurt but is still alive. Wedge cast bolt (1) on the goblin that attacked him and it died instantly. "Pretty cool spells huh!?" Biggs said to his brother. "I might run out of magic (2) if I use my spells frequently. How about electrifying your sword?" suggested Wedge. "Ah yes! I need to show-off some talents too." answered Biggs. Biggs lift-up his sword and it shines a red light (spellblade)(3). When Wedge released another bolt, it was quickly absorbed by Biggs' sword.

The goblins attacked again. Two goblins attacked Biggs while the other two attacked Wedge. Biggs attacked one of the goblins. At the moment his blade strikes the goblin, it was also hit by a bolt spell coming from the sword and killed the said goblin in that instant. Meanwhile, Wedge attacked the goblin that managed to survive Biggs assault, also killing it in an instant.

"Three down... two more to go." said Biggs. The goblins attacked again but the brothers managed to parry their assaults. Wedge prepared to chant for another bolt spell while Biggs attacked one of the goblins. Similar to his previous attack, the blade and its bolt spell strike the goblin at the same time (4) and killed it in the process. Then, Wedge cast another bolt to finish off the last goblin.

VICTORY


"Whew! That was close!" said Biggs, looking tired. "That Goblin punch is quite powerful. I'll heal you... CURE!" Wedge then healed both of them, "Now let's head to the temple. They must be waiting for us."

The twins finally arrive at the temple. Waiting at the temple entrance are, Noah and Unne Baron, their father and mother respectively, Matoya, the Elder of Mist and their grandmother (Unne's mother), as well as two Mistian trooper. Their parents are looking at them while smiling, the footmen seems to be scanning the surrounding while Matoya is looking towards the interior of the temple as if she is thinking deeply of something.

"The boys are finally here." Noah exclaimed while holding on the handle of his sword that is piercing the soil. "Excited to undergo the summoner's trial?" Unne asked them while leaning on the temple's outer wall and with her arms crossed on her chest. "Yes Mom! Ready as ever." Wedge answered confidently. "I and Wedge will slash and burn whatever monster lurks within that temple." Biggs answered as equally confident.


Footnotes:

(1) Throughout this story, I will use the convensions Bolt, Bolt2 and Bolt3 instead of Thunder, Thundara and Thundaga for different levels of spells.

(2) Magic here means MP. I just find it awkward that characters say HP and MP as if they are aware that they are in a video game.

(3) Spellblade here does not operate in the ways similar to FF5 or FF9. Instead, the Mystic Knight puts magic on a sword in the same way Celes' Runic ability absorbs MP. However, instead of absorbing the MP, it absorbs the elemental attribute of the spell. It does not work with beneficial spells and blue magic. Biggs also has a separate Runicblade ability, which operates on exactly the same way as Celes' and works on any spell. While Mystic Sword and Spellblade are synonymous in Final Fantasy, in this story, Mystic Sword refers to one of the two skillsets of Biggs, which includes Spellblade and Runicblade.

(4) After acquiring the elemental attribute, Spellblade can be used again and again until the battle ends or the sword absorbs another elemental attribute, similar to FF5. Only the process of absorbing elemental attribute consumes MP.