Chapter 2

It has been three days since Doctorman reached Elder and delivered the note, and he had managed to acquaint himself with the heads of the castle. He spent a large portion of time training with the head of the guard, Lenphad. "I used to be a blacksmith," he told him when they first met. "Then when our old leader, Wally, turned out to be a traitorous whelp, we rebelled against him, and I took on the task of training warriors to protect us." Doctorman also spent some time watching the Rangers train with Luchiel, Ilene, and Corraine. Luchiel taught them the basics of close-range combat, Ilene taught them to shoot straight, and Corraine taught a select few the ways of traps. Doctorman noticed that Corraine was an elf, but unlike Ilene, her skin was dark, and her hair was tinted purple. He asked Ilene about this, as Corraine vanished after she taught her pupils. "Corraine is a Dark Elf. They are very similar to elves, but they guard the Dark El, while we guard the Light El. 25 years ago, my mother fought them, along with the other Chosen of El. But my mother made peace with the chief of the Dark Elves, and we now live in harmony. Oddly enough, she is the descendant of the Dark Elf chief, just as I am the descendant of the one who made peace with them."

Doctorman wanted to ask her about the Chosen of El, but she had a lesson to give. He decided to visit the head Alchemist, Echo, to see how she was coming along on the analysis of his sword. She said she sensed a strange presence from it, and wanted to take a closer look at it. He had just reached her studio when she suddenly opened the door, almost into his face. "DOCTORMAN!" she shouted, then noticed a startled Doctorman standing right next to her. "What is it, Ms. Echo?" he asked nervously. "Come in, I want to talk to you about your sword." He followed her in and he saw his sword laying on an observation table. "It would seem your sword is special," she said, picking up the sword and a purple El shard. "It has an unnatural aura around it, such that when I put any El shard with any traces of dark magic…" She drew the shard closer to the sword and Doctorman saw his sword glow with light, and the shard began to diminish in size. "It eliminates it, or at least weakens it." Doctorman stood speechless. "I knew it glowed near darkness, but I never expected the Lunar Sword, the sword of my ancestors, to weaken darkness!"

Echo nodded. "And if I am right, that is not the only thing your sword is capable of, but all I have are theories, and in order for them to be proven, you need to travel Elrios, as I do not have nearly enough El shards to conduct my research." She gave Doctorman back his sword. When he took it, he felt a small shift, as if the sword was happy to be back in his hands. He left Echo's studio with mixed feelings. I did not know my sword had this power, he thought. I wonder what she meant by her theories. He decided to take a stroll around the city to clear his thoughts. He saw many merchants, selling many things for what Doctorman thought to be high prices. "1 million ED for a pair of pants!?" he exclaimed when asking a merchant about his wares. "Hey, this is high-quality stuff," he responded indigently. "You don't like it, get out of here!" Deciding that the market was not the best place to be hanging around, he started walking towards a building that appeared to be a temple.

As he walked inside, he saw a large crystal floating in the back, right behind the altar. There, a young woman and a priest were arguing. "I told you, it is dangerous for you to be here! Have you not heard the news?" The priest asked of her. "Yeah, I heard," she replied. "But please, I won't go far, I just want to-" "Absolutely not!" the priest declared, making it clear he was standing firm on the matter. The young woman turned, as if to leave, but when she saw Doctorman, her face lit up and asked, "What if I went with him?" as she turned back to the priest. The priest looked at Doctorman. "You brought the news, correct?" he asked suspiciously. "Yes, I did-" "Then you should agree with me that she should not leave this place without a full entourage of guards!" the priest blurted out. "Not to be rude, sir," Doctorman offered. "But everyone needs fresh air, you can't stay in hiding forever. Sometimes you need to see what is outside." The priest looked at Doctorman, then to the young woman, then back to Doctorman. He sighed. "Very well, but if she gets even a scratch…" "I swear to keep her safe." Doctorman said, kneeling. From whatever is after her, he thought to himself.

The young woman, overjoyed to have her way, thanked the priest hastily, grabbed Doctorman by the arm and ran out the door, with Doctorman still trying to understand what just happened. At least it is finally quiet, the priest thought. Then he pulled up his hood to reveal a pig-like face. He looked to the shadows and nodded. A dark figure stepped out of the shadows…

Doctorman assessed what had happened. He had been contracted by a priest to protect a young woman while she went gallivanting across the city from a mysterious threat that he knew nothing of. "Look at that!" she exclaimed. She picked up a small spherical object accessorized to look like a little pet from a land like the one Doctorman's sword came from. "That is a Nasod drone, Miss," the friendly merchant told her. "I was given a few of those from a friend, but I only need one. Would you like a couple?" "Yes, please, they look so cute!" she said, hugging it. "For you, Miss," the merchant said, "I think I'll let them go free of charge." The young woman beamed. "Oh thank you, but I must insist you take something in return." The merchant shook her head. "Think nothing of it, I have plenty!" Happy with her new "pets", she skipped away. Doctorman noticed she seemed to float slightly longer than a normal person, but shrugged it off. I keep imagining things, he thought. Maybe I need more sleep. "Oh, look over there!" she said, derailing Doctorman's train of thought. "There is a show playing!" She took off once again, and Doctorman followed after her. How does she have so much energy still? He thought. It has been 2 hours, maybe three! Doctorman was about to ask her, when he noticed his sword was glowing. "Wait!" he called out after her, but she had already entered the theater. He rushed in after her, hoping that he was just imagining his sword glowing.

Deep down, he knew it was not worth hoping.