It took awhile but I finally got the chapter up. I was busy working on a different fanfiction so please forgive me if some parts seem a little off. You also might notice I changed the main character's name. I honestly did not know what I was thinking when making the original name. I was just putting random syllables in my head.

Arch: I like to lick butter socks! :D

Epic: What's wrong with him?

Oh, yeah. Because I no one reviewed the first chapter, he ate the 100000000 digital cookies so he's a little sugarhigh. ^^

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ Chapter 2: Lighting the Forge ~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^

The sword rose upward, hitting the bandit leader expertly. A shadow descended upon the paladin. Quickly, he jumped back as the hammer came crashing down and charged once more.

My name is Archer Igneous Walker. I am a fourteen years old and am a fledgling paladin.

Arch moved in for the attack, slashing at the being's waist. The red clad leader kept thrusting his hammer down, trying to hit the armored soldier. However, the handle was far too long, making him overshoot.

I never wanted to have this Life, but I had to. I had to become a paladin.

Arch was hit by a shockwave from the hammer's impact with the ground. The boy was sent flying backwards and was sprawled out on the ground. The bandit leader charged toward the boy.

Arch, however just smiled pushed off the ground. Ah, he could just imagine it if the other paladins were here with him right now. He could imagine the sword wielders pushing each other out of the way to get to him, to push him out of the way or attack the creature. All for him.

I am a lone wolf, not one of those...social lions. I've never really been compatible with others anyway.

Arch sidestepped just as the hammer hit the earth. Waves erupted from the hammer's epicenter, causing Arch to spin around and put up his shield. He shuddered slightly as he felt some of the energy shake his nerves. Even with his shield, he still wasn't fully protected against enemy attacks.

Might be a good thing actually, considering that if I teamed up with people, they'd just get in the way.

Arch held the shield in front of him as the bandit leader sent hammer after hammer after him. I smile broke out on Arch's face. Confused by this sudden action, the bandit leader brought his hammer down.

It was a flash of white on steel as Arch threw his shield and jumped up on the hammer. Arch ran, his sword gripped in both hands as he ran up the handle. He leapt, his silouhette against the sun as he raised the bronze blade.

"With that hammer, you probably should've considered taking a different line of work. Maybe a carpenter!" He yelled, thrusting the sword down.

The bronze made its mark, making the red hooded tyrant cry out before its body started glowing. Arch pulled out his sword and jumped off the beast just as it materialized into a new shape.

Arch panted as he stared at the transfigured being, now in a boxlike state. The box was made of a sandy colored wood with crooked steels bars across one end. Inside, Arch saw two yellow slits staring out at him from the cage.

Carefully, Arch approached the cage. He knew that bountys never broke open immediately after their transformation, just only if they were attacked. Even this one was untouched, Arch still approached warily. The bountys of bandit leaders had never seemed quite as stable to him.

Bounty eyes glared at the paladin's sapphire ones and vice versa. From every bounty Arch had ever taken, those eyes always had the same emotion in them, and that emotion was hatred. He knew those eyes too well, they were the eyes that wanted him hurt, hunted, beaten down. They were eyes that wanted him to fall off cliffs, be torn apart by monsters, be washed away by ocean waves. They were eyes that wanted him to burn in-

"Hey!"

Arch stumbled forward as he felt something hit his head. "What do you think you're doing!" he yelled, holding out his sword.

He was expecting to see a gang of paladins, trying to steal his bounty. He was expecting even more bandits, attempting to free their leader from his oaken prison.

He was not expecting to see two teenage mercenarys.

One of the mercenarys was dressed in the usual garm of a fledgling. He looked average with his chestnut hair and blush until Arch saw his eyes. The eyes were colored mahogany with a bit of peach. Arch saw him tossing stones in his hand and knew that one of them had been thrown at his head.

The other mercenary stood a few feet behind the chestnut, nervousness in his eyes. This one bore navy blue hair which was covered by a basinet helmet, minus the visor. Arch looked at his clothes and realized this was the boy shouting earlier that morning.

The chestnut shifted from one foot to the other. "Excuse me Mr...um...Paladin," he started. Arch had to stifle a chuckle. Mr. Paladin? Man, this guy was hopeless.

The mercenary continued, "You just so happened to steal the bandit leader we were tracking all morning. You see, we have been requested by a paladin back in town to cash in the bounties of three bandit leaders,".

The boy dropped the stones and reached into his pocket. From it, he withdrew a pamphlet yellowed with age. Slowly, the merc turned the brittle pages until he arrived at the second to last one. At the top in faded ink was scrawled, Requests. The chestnut pointed to one of the listings.

Arch leaned in close to get a better look. Sure enough, under the headline read, Cash in bounties of 3 bandit leaders.

"Well," Arch said. "Hate to burst your bubble but it seems we have the same goals." From his own pocket, the blond withdrew a pamphlet just like the boy's. The only difference however was that it was untouched and perfectly new. Arch thought he saw a hint of annoyance flash on the merc's face at the sight of the pure, white pages.

This time, Arch turned to the last page and pointed to one of the listings. This time, the role was swapped as the mercenary leaned close to read the print. He blinked once, then twice, for across the page was also written, Cash in the bounties of 3 bandit leaders.

Same handwriting, same wording, same request.

Oh gosh...

"Ohmigosh! So sorry! I didn't know that you were also working on that request!" The chestnut bowed his head repeatedly in apology. "Name's Epic, I'm a fledgling mercenary!" He introduced. Epic grabbed the other mercenary's arm and pulled him over. "And this is Jude, also a fledgling."

Arch gave a faint nod. "Yeah, I figured you were fledglings. Well, at least you and not Jude," (Hey!). "My name is Archer, and I'm a fledgling paladin."

Both Epic and Jude gaped at the boy. "You're a FLEDGLING!" Epic exclaimed.

"Yeah,"

"And you took down a bandit leader!?"

"I guess..."

"All by yourself?!"

"I work alone, it's my thing."

Epic shook his head in disbelief, the helmet slightly rattling. "No, way. It's not possible." He muttered. Arch shrugged. "Well, you just saw it for yourself so you'd better believe it." he said.

Epic snapped out of disbelief and raised his head. "Say, Archer, since we have the same goals what do you say about working together? I mean with your skills and our-"

"No."

Epic jumped back at the response. The way Arch had said it, it was quite commanding. It was almost as if the boy had morphed into Mustang for half a second.

"No?" The chestnut gawked.

"No," Arch said, grabbing the bounty. "I'm a lone wolf, okay?" His feet shuffled through the grass as he started to walk away.

"Hey, wait! Archer!" Epic yelled, starting after him. Arch turned toward the oncoming mercenary. "What!?" He said.

Epic immediately stopped running toward the armored adolescent. The chestnut fingered the handle of his claymore nervously. The last thing he needed was a short tempered paladin.

"I just thought we could come up with some sort of compromise," he said.

Arch groaned. "I already told you, I work alone," he grunted.

"You don't have to team up with us!" Epic exclaimed. "We could just, take turns."

"That still sounds like teaming,".

"No, wait! I meant that me and Jude could defeat a bandit leader and you could defeat the next one, making three bounties for all of us."

Arch shrugged. "I don't know..."

"We'll split the money 50/50 and you can have anything that the clerks find on them. Deal?"

Arch sighed. He despised this kind of company. Epic wouldn't take things seriously and Jude was... well, he seemed like a coward. He could never be seen with these two! Then again, money was money, and technically they wouldn't be teaming up with him.

"Well, what the heck? I'll do it," Arch said. "Just make sure to stay out of the way and we'll be fine. Okay?"

Epic broke into a grateful smile. "Okay!" He shouted. "Jude, C'mon!"

Arch shook his head as he saw the two run off. Prancing across a field of flowers like the people they are. He thought.


"I'm pretty glad we managed to make an agreement!" Epic cheered. He turned toward his companion. "What did you think of Archer?"

"He scares me..."

"Jude, everything scares you."

"Oh yeah!"

Epic stopped, looking around the field. "Stay quiet. Those bandits could be anywhere." he said, crouching down to the earth.

"Epic," Jude squeaked.

"Yeah?" Epic asked, turning toward him. That was when he saw it. The red clothed giant rose over them, a hammer in hand.

"Where did he come from?" Epic shouted, unsheathing the claymore. "You ready Jude! Jude? Jude!" But Jude had already run off. Epic could still see the dust he had left behind. "Oh my freaking...not again!" He complained.

The boy sighed as he turned toward the tyrant. Guess its time to play the lone wolf. He thought as he charged forward.


Epic stood at the door of the guild office, covered in bruises and dinks. He limped toward Jude, who was sitting at a table awaiting his arrival.

"Wow, you look pretty beat-up," he said. Wrong answer. Epic sped up to the boy and grabbed him by the scruff of his clothing.

"I got smacked by someone with a giant hammer," Epic growled. "WHAT DO YOU EXPECT!?"

"Geez, I was only concerned," Jude said, wiggling out of he clenched hands. "Did you see Archer out there?"

Epic shook his head. "No, but he should be here soon, the sun's going down." He replied. "Might as well go to the artisan district, my claymore could use some repairs."

Though the claymore was only bronze, it was one of Epic's most treasured items. Sure, it was like every other tool that provided the nesseccities in one's Life but to Epic, this claymore wasn't just a tool. This claymore was one of his best creations. The blade was designed to be sharp, but sturdy as well. The handle was made for the best grip possible, making even the least dexterous people handle it with ease. No doubt, the blade was top quality, being able to rival its iron counterparts. Epic was glad to have been a blacksmith as his previous Life.

"Might as well make a new blade and shield for Archer," Epic said, putting the two handed sword in the scabbard.

"New equipment? Epic, why do you want to help that Archer guy?" Jude asked.

Epic turned toward the merc, then shrugged. "Don't know. Probably because I think he could be a good friend."


Arch eventually returned, the two bounties trailing behind as he slightly limped into the guild office. Immediately he saw the two mercenarys waiting for him.

The boy panted as he slung the bag he was carrying onto the floor. "Hey guys, I've got the bounties," he said, giving a reluctant wave.

"What's up with your leg?" Epic asked, pointing to it.

"Huh? Oh yeah! The bandit leader sort of crushed it a bit," Arch said. "Hey, don't worry! I've had worse injuries," he said when he saw the merc's faces.

Epic nodded in understanding. "Okay, what's in the bag?" he asked.

"Animal hides," Arch replied. "I also had a request where I had to kill a bunch of red wolves. That's why I'm late. Y'know, because red wolves appear late at night."

Epic raised an eyebrow. The way he had said it was so nonchalant, as if it was normal to walk out in the middle of the night and hunt carnivores.

"You mean you were waiting for the sun to set to go hunting?"

"Pretty much."

"Then, what were you doing until then?" Epic asked.

Oh, nothing. Arch thought. I was just sitting in a tree thinking about how stupid it was to team up with others. Always getting in the way, messing up your plans. Getting hurt. Ugh! Why is it that just because you're being friendly to someone means that they should tag along with you every single minute of the day. Following you to the fields, to dinner, even in your private matters. I like people, it's just that some can be annoying! Like you two!

"I was in a tree eating apples," Arch said. "What were you doing?"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Epic turned and bent down in his chair. "Here we go!" He announced as he pulled two objects from beneath the table. Arch gaped at the two items. The two items were a shield and a sword, seemingly nothing special, but when you took a closer look, you could see they weren't your average weaponry.

The two items were handcrafted to perfection, to top quality. Arch shook his head in disbelief. How could've he obtained top quality items so quickly. You'd have to know a blacksmith to-

He stopped as he looked at Epic. Those hands, they had made these tools. How? He was a mercenary, not a blacksmith. Unless you could change Lives. Could someone do that? He had never known such acts were allowed!

"Well Archer, what do you think?" Epic asked, eager for an answer.

Arch looked up at the two, waiting for feedback.

"You can have all the bounty money, and any items they have on hand as payment," Arch said. He watched the shocked expressions on their faces as he exchanged the weapons. The boy slung the bag of animal hides over his shoulder and turned back toward the duo.

"And call me Arch, not Archer, okay?" he said before walking out the door.


Surprisingly this chapter took only a couple hours to type. Hopefully I can get the next one up early the following week. Be sure to leave a fav/follow if you're interested in paladins, cowards or people saying random stuff.

Arch: Purple is my favorite type of cheese!

Epic: Ohmigosh! When is this sugar gonna wear off?!

*Arch grabs Epic and starts shaking him*

Arch: Shut up! I'm a pikachu, man!

Review for more sugarhigh Arch!