The beginning is the fight with the Black Knight.


I charged at the imposing man in armor with little fear and with Alondite in my left hand, even though a sword of this size should be heavy. But since Alondite is blessed, that makes things easier for me as I am so new to using swords. Before I even get to the Black Knight, he released a blast of energy at me, sending me into what's left of a wall. I forgot the swords could do that. While I was getting up, the armored swordsman was already running at me with the speed comparable to a swordmaster. I released a blast of my own at him, causing some damage to him though he didn't made any indication of being hurt. Both of us soon got into a physical fight, both of us having an advantage over the other. I have slight more strength then him, while he balanced that out with having more experience than me with the sword. I slashed the Black Knight in the chest five times while he cut me in the same area seven times, though I blocked all but the first two.

"You are doing quite well despite your first fight with Alondite, child," he said.

"I'm using my experience with the axe, Black Knight," I responded.

After a few more slashes and me using up the rest of the elixir, I'm to exhausted to continue. The Black Knight noticed this as well.

"You're still standing. Why continue?"

"Because...I know...what y...your going to... to do," I struggled to answer with what little strength I have while using Alondite as a crutch. But I fell with no more strength to even support myself with the silver bladed sword of Ashera.

"What a pity, you would've made a great warrior someday," I heard the Black Knight say while he retrieved Alondite and I was slipping into unconsciousness.


I woke up to a scream. Damn, Greil died. I checked my injuries, but saw nothing since I am shirtless. Guess one of Luna's parents is a healer. Thats when I saw Luna and a woman dressed in black cothing that looked like an older Luna but with shorter hair and with a couple shallow wrinkles.

"Thank you for killing those brigands and keeping my daughter safe during your job earlier today," she said.

"Earlier today? Guess I wasn't out as long as I thought I would from the beating I took from a knight in full ebony armor," I responded.

"Yes, Luna told me of your fight with the mysterious Black Knight. I made repairs to your armor and some changes as well, giving you more protection in a fight. I used what's left of the armor of my late husband's armor for the changes. He and you are alike in terms of coloration."

"Huh, you don't say. Anyway, do you have any food? I'm hungry enough to eat a horse," I replied.

When I ate and told Luna and Umbra, Luna's mom and local summoner as it turns out, talked and shared stories, they left me to sleep. The next day came to early for me, but since I am a morning person, I got up surprisingly good as new and went outside to use nature as my bathroom by going through a door I didn't see before. I washed my hands in a river that, to my surprise, had homemade soap. When I went back into the room I has staying in, that's when I saw my modified armor on a desk across the room. My armor that I wore yesterday now has a steel plated right sleeve that came up to my right chest and with part of the armor that covers my left arm that from my elbow down. The armor for my legs now has steel plating sewed onto them, with steel boots to match, with a steel axe and a steel sword next to my new set of armor. After I changed into my new armor, I heard my stomach growled.

"Yeah, yeah. You'll get company soon enough," I said to an organ that doesn't even talk at all. That's when I smelled food, making my stomach to roar for food. Funny, didn't eat since I was knocked out a few days out if I don't count last night. When I followed my nose to the source of the sweet aroma of food into a relitively undamaged dining room, I saw Luna on the floor like she was caught by a thief with Umbra calming her.

"Zeke, do you know where that roar came from?", Umbra asked me when she saw me coming in.

"Sorry, that was my stomach when I smelled food," I answered while rubbing the back of my head with my left hand. Umbra and Luna looked at me like I grew a second head.

"What? I need a lot of food if I want to do my best in a fight."

After we all ate (which the food tasted a whole lot better than last night with an empty stomach), I helped the reconstrontion of the town. With my strength and stubbornness and Umbra's few undead soldiers, the houses are on their way to be done by nightfall. After another great meal with the elder magic mother-and-daughter duo, I went to get an early night's rest. A few hours after falling asleep while wearing my new armor very early in the morning before the sun rose, I heard shouting of an unknown person. And with that, I woke up severely pissed off. No one, and I mean no one, wakes me up from sleeping. I grabbed my steel swords and steel axes- I bought another sword and axe encase I needed a backup- I went out.

"Alright, who the FUCK woke me up," I yelled out madly.

"That would be me, mercenary," a voice responded to my left.

I turned around and saw a male beserker wearing the pelt of a laguz tiger with straps on his chest and common clothing from the waist down. Being a beserker, he was muscular and a foot taller than me. He had short light green hair and light blue eyes that held bloodlust in them. The man has a venin axe in his right hand. And with him, Daein soldiers, lance knights, and axe knights.

"Bad choice of company, man," I said.

"Why?"

"Because, you will be dead soon enough just for waking me up, friend," I said in a venom laced voice.

"Oooooohhhhh, I'm scared. The names Hunter," said the beserker.

"All you need to know is that your life has been forfeited to me, Hunter."

After I said that, a few lance knights and soldiers ran up to me scared. I easily took them out with one blow from my axe I gained with my armor. Three axe knights tried to hit me, but I blocked each hit with my right arm. I ended them with the same axe I used on the lance knights and soldiers. The other mounted knights and soldiers had left already, screaming about a demon in human form. That just leaves Hunter the beserker.

"Time to collect your head, Hunter."

"Bah, those guys were weak. Time to see what your truly made of merc," Hunter said arrogantly. Great, what I needed, another asswipe who thinks he's better than me. Both of us started to go at it with me dodging or blocking all of his attacks while Hunter tried to block one of my strikes with his left arm at noon after he began, but let's just say, he no longer needs it. This guy really does suck. He hasn't been in all that much fights, thinking he can scare me through out the fight and taunting me as well. He truly was pathetic, trying to beserker his life back as he realized that he was about to die. When someone wakes me up from sleeping, I'm really mad, but saying things about my mom, that's the last straw. After the sun had started to set, I beheaded Hunter.

"Thank you for assisting us again Zeke," Umbra said after a few minutes and handed me a lot of coins on a cart. 200,000,000,000,000 gold to be exact. That made my day.

"No one ruins my sleep. Now I need to get back to my mercenary band," I responded while I climbed onto the cart.

"Take Luna with you, she'll be more useful with you than here."

After the blue robed black mage reluctantly agreed to come with me and Umbra given me a sword used by her husband who happened to be a former member of the dragon tribe, we gave chase the escaped Daein soldiers. It took forty-five minutes of running with a couple of rests on Luna's part and we arrived at the castle Greil said it would be. During the time we traveled, I looked at the sword better. The sword looked like a silver sword, but with a grey shine to it. If I had to guess, it has been well cared for since its last battle. During this break, I noticed the brown hair of Volke.

"So, you're my target," said the assassin when I blocked his knife.

"What do you mean?", I asked.

"Six thousand."

"Greedy bastard," I said while throwing six thousand gold at him and another six thousand.

"I doubled what you asked for to not kill me."

"My employer wants me to test you for some reason."

"How much for the name?"

"Thirty thousand."

I mumbled about greedy assassin bastards and tossed him thirty thousand gold.

"Greil hired me to test you out."

I tossed him sixty thousand gold, surprising him though Volke didn't show it.

"Half of that is to tell me your name, the other half is to kill me should I go berserk."

"Volke, and it's a pleasure to kill you should you do go berserk."

After that, Volke left on to do what ever the hell he does. When Luna and I arrive at the castle, it was being attacked by Daein soldiers. When Luna and I went out of the forest that was used as the main defense for the run down castle, Luna took the remaining soldiers down with a spell that she was named after. I preceded to go to the knight in command.

"Weren't you that fighter we captured?", the commander asked me.

"I am no longer a fighter. I am now a hero to you, Daein scum," I replied, "Tell me your name so I would add your name to my killing list."

"Karuma and you will not win," answered the newly named Karuma with arrogance.

"Arrogance sows the seeds of its own destruction."

Karuma charged at me with what little speed he had due to the black armor with purple outlines he wore and tried to stab me with his steel lance but I blocked what I like to call the deadly toothpick with my right arm. Surprisingly, I didn't even felt a thing at all from the strike. He tried for a slash, but I dodged it and returned the favor with a slash from my newly acquired sword at his chest with all my might. When I did, blood started coming out slowly, though Karuma is still standing.

"This is it, time to die," I said while bringing my grey sword up to my shoulder and behind me, then preceding to run up to Karuma, twirled around and slashed at his neck, causing his head to fall off and I picked up his head for some odd reason. After I ran off to fight another Daein shoulder, Titania rode up to me.

"Zeke?!", she exclaimed in surprise, "your a Daein?"

"Actually, I just showed up and killed the commander of this battalion," I replied while pulling Karuma's head out. The look she had was one of disgust and asked me to toss it away, so, I dropped it and kicked it to a Daein knight, causing him to scream like a little girl.

Luna came up after I done that, let out a spell she was named after on a soldier, and asked, "Did...that knight screamed like a five year old?"

"Sure did!", I responded while blocking an axe knight's strike.

After a few more hours, I heard Ike calling all of us to come back, with me holding the southern entrance holding off as many of the soldiers and knights with my sword. Luckily for me, it held out quite well for its first time out of retirement. After another hour, I was beginning to tire and starting to make mistakes and got hit a few times by lance and sword wielders, though I didn't felt as much pain prior to me becoming a Hero. Then I noticed Mordecai coming through and jumped over me. That means Lethe is also here and the Deains retreated shortly afterwards and we earned ourselves a good rest.