Nocht pov
Nothing to really put in the notes, so onto the reviews!
King (probably the only time I'll answer any that weren't on the most recent chapter): Yep, that's one of the things I'm good at: Doing fairly interesting descriptions or dialogue, even if it's mid battle and not all that needed.
Ace: Eh, the older ones were pretty good, up to ten or so at least, and XV looks much more promising than the more recent games, to say the least. Now if only we could get a TWEWY 2 like they've been hinting at for more than two years. Oh, c'mon, Lewyn didn't get too much damage, merely a flesh wound!
Chasti: Hell yeah for politics and history/geography that has barely changed since the games!
Disclaimer: We do not own Fire Emblem, nor do we own any other the characters that make cameos or their respective franchises.
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Nocht pov
Today was the first day of individual training. Each student had an instructor who chose to take him or her on as a student. Where Headmaster Beowolf managed to get enough of staff members for the instructors to outnumber the students, I'll never know. I guess being a manakete in the upper class gives one a large cash flow and plenty of time to save money.
As it was the first day, we all had deemed it pertinent to ensure that we each made it to class a few minutes early to give a good first impression to our instructors. That way, we would also get the chance to speak to the instructor prior to the lesson, and possibly get to know him or her. That seemed like a good plan in theory, but sadly my instructor had yet to show himself.
The bell rang out loudly, and as the ring finished a man in a purple shirt seemingly appeared from thin air.
The man, no older than thirty, was rather short, possibly 5'3 at most. This, however was counteracted by his spiky orange hair that reached up past my head. His shirt was a mottled black and purple, and had a hood like sag in the front. He was very thin, with his yellow wristbands sagging towards his hands, but his sheer magical power had an aura that rivaled- no, surpassed that of Lewyn. Small sparks of energy surged in his palm, forming a ball that he was toying with while listening to the music that was blaring out of his purple headphones. Although I didn't know the man, the aura he gave off along with the cold look in his blue eyes gave him the image of an angel who's had his wings ripped off and was out for revenge.
He finally noticed me and took off his headphones. "Nocht, right? Well, today's your first lesson, My name is Neku Sakuraba, and I would prefer that you refrain from calling me 'sir' or 'mister Sakuraba'. I hate formalities, so just call me Neku. I will teach you how to control your magic to its full potential," To emphasize this, Neku floated into the air and moved into a seating position "and if at all possible, I will teach you some of the wisdom I've gained over the years so that you don't make the same mistakes I did. For example, you should always trust your teammates, they will lift you up when you can stand no longer. I was too late in learning that particular bit of knowledge. If I had learned it sooner, my friends and I would never have suffered the trials we did, and my ignorance eventually caused their erasure."
"You… lost your friends? I don't know what I would do without mine." That explained the look in his eyes, as if he wanted revenge against an enemy that was completely out of his reach.
"Most of the instructors here have similar stories, we're all just a bunch of refugees that were taken in by Beowolf after our own worlds went to shit. Anyway, take this." Neku tossed a massive book at me that nearly threw me out of my seat.
I looked at the book, which was covered by many lines of ancient writings. I recognized it as the language of magic. Although the language was not widely used, all mages were at least proficient with its use. "Is this a tome? But I can already cast magic with just my hands, why would I need this?"
"While modern mages have more advanced methods than tomes, most of you skip straight to this method without ever trying the original. It's kind of like running a marathon when you haven't even run a mile before. I expect you to read this very thoroughly and try to see ways you can improve your own technique."
And so began a day of study. The text was difficult to understand and rather dull, but I felt I was picking up a few tricks as I went through. It seemed as if barely any time had passed when the bell rang.
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The next exercise was team sparring. The rest of my team met in the arena, a massive stone coliseum like the ones depicted in ancient Feroxi records.
Hawke let out a loud whistle "I wonder where Beowolf gets all this money"
"Probably drugs." Reno said, only for Artemis to smack him upside the head.
"That kind of talk about your own principal? Unacceptable!" Came a woman's voice. We all turned to see a beautiful brown haired woman. She wore a white dress that was reached about mid thigh with the sides parting to reach her knees, as well as long black gloves reaching her elbows, black boots and a black hairband.
"Miss Oblige? Are you the moderator for our sparring?" Perseus asked.
The woman laughed "I already told you that you can refer to me as Agnes, and no, your moderator is right…over...there." She pointed at a man in a green and yellow cloak who was floating down to the floor.
"My name is Mark," the man stated "And I will be monitoring all matches in this arena. In a while, you will be having your first sparring sessions with each other, but first we have an exhibition match to show you."
One by one, our instructors began to show up.
First, a man wearing a red trench coat and a black beanie who had completely gray eyes. He had the look of a defeated man and held a massive axe in his hand. According to Victoria, the man's name was Shinjiro . Although the man had seemingly no magical prowess, he could probably kill me at least ten different ways with brute force.
Second, a man wearing a leather jacket with the hood pulled completely over his head, with his face concealed by an intricate metal mask. He held what seemed to be a collapsible sword in his hand and probably kept various other weapons hidden in his cloak. The man held a very ancient form of magic, one that was weak yet extremely formidable. Jett stated that the man's name was Corvo.
A third came in, a little younger than the others. She had very bright blonde hair and blue eyes, and wore billowing blue cross of a cleric's traditional dress and an officer's outfit. She carried various pouches that most likely held vulneraries and elixirs. She did not seem to be very dangerous, based on muscular build or magical power, but the look in her eyes and the gun in her hand told otherwise. Hawke exclaimed loudly that this was his instructor, Frederica.
Finally, Neku walked in followed by another man wearing a black cloak with the hood over his face, who seemed to be about the same age. He wasn't displaying any of his weaponry, but between his build and aura, I could tell he was on about the same level as Neku as well. According to Artemis, this was her teacher, Roxas.
Suddenly, another figure floated down next to Mark. This one wore a dark cloak with purple lines forming the mark of Grima. There was only one person this could be; my ancestor, the grandmaster tactician Robin.
"As I said, there will be an exhibition match today." Mark began " As all the instructors know, and some of the students may know, Einherjars typically have less power than their original selves. Due to this, some of our instructors tend to get cocky, so Robin and I would like to show that we are still a force to be reckoned with. Roxas, Neku? Would you please step forward? And would the others be kind enough to please take their seats in the stands?"
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In the arena, the battle commenced. Robin and Mark both pulled out brave swords while Roxas pulled out two blades. One was black and the other white, in the shape of… keys? Despite this weird form, there was certainly a great amount of power emanating from them.
"Hey, Roxas, we should probably work together. If we don't, these two will be able to overcome us with their tactics, so let's form a pact." Neku told his partner while holding out his hand.
"To hell with that, teamwork's only ever made things worse."
Neku put on his headphones "Your funeral, dumbass."
The cloaked man charged at Mark. "Come at me, you undead bastards!" While his two swords let him move faster than Mark, it wasn't much quicker than a brave sword, and with some teamwork he and Robin had no issues throwing the man to the ground.
"Don't insult us Einherjars when you are nothing but a shell yourself, nobody." Mark stated as Roxas stood up.
"So you're not gonna help your friend?" Robin asked Neku.
"Eh, he deserves it." Neku replies.
"No wonder all your friends ended up being butchered by the reapers." Robin sneered. Neku immediately pointed his hand in the shape of a gun, launching rounds of massive grey bullets that were blocked by Robin's multiple bolganones. After a moment, the rounds ended. "Bang bang." Robin chuckled.
Neku launched a massive pillar that Robin barely evaded before laying several bubbles of dark energy that seemed like mines.
That would have been a good plan had Roxas not been launched into said mines.
Roxas stood up, his entire body damaged by hitting multiple traps as if he were a pinball. He cast a healing spell on himself before raising both weapons, raining down multiple beams of holy energy on the enemies.
Just as before, this would have been a good move had Neku not been the only one to take damage from the attack.
Neku stood up, placing a barrier of wind around himself as he healed. The winds attacked Robin for a second before he and his teammate rammed Roxas and Neku into each other.
"That's it," Neku said as the barrier fell "I'll have to go all out now." A pair of white wings grew out of his back "In that game, I was put into so many life threatening decisions- Wait why aren't you attacking?"
"Well, normally I would have stabbed you by now, but this is just sparring and you were having a nice monologue." Robin replied.
"Okay, in that time, in order to survive, I had to become the very thing I thought against. Draconus Cantus!" Neku's form shifted, taking on that of a dragon… that was made of graffiti?
Roxas finished healing " I guess I'll have to go all out as well."
Mark groaned "Please tell me you don't have another monologue."
"Don't worry about that. This is my true power!" Roxas put away his two blades, pulling out a larger blade that had two hilts and a massive blade, surrounded by a blue aura.
The two groups fought, with Roxas and Neku each pushing back their enemy. They simultaneously prepared an attack to finish their adversaries off, but they narrowly dodged. Roxas was met with a massive amount of fire while Neku was hit by a beam of blue energy that forced him out of his dragon form.
The two forced themselves back up. Roxas looked at Neku "You know, that pact thing sounds pretty good right now." He held his hand.
Neku gave Roxas his hand and they both glowed blue for a moment. "Let's kick some ass. It's been a long time since my last pact, I forgot the rush that power gives you."
Roxas pulled out his white sword and handed it to Neku. "You can read minds right? Do you know what they mean?"
Mark looked at Robin "We should probably attack them."
"No! The only people either of them have bonded with are Beowolf and Zack, who remembers his old friend when he sees Roxas. They need this!" Robin yelled.
"Yes," Neku replied "The white one is Oathkeeper, which is meant to protect your friends.."
"And the black is Oblivion, to destroy those who mean to cause your friends harm." Roxas replied.
The two charged in, working in tandem with their respective blades. This time they overpowered their opponents, dealing a fair amount of damage.
When they came back, they were panting due to the energy they had used throughout the battle. "We'll have to finish this in one blow, will you give me all of your strength?" Neku asked his teammate.
"Let's do this already!" Roxas said, getting pumped up.
Roxas disappeared in an orb of yellow light, circling Neku's hand. He released the energy, letting loose a massive blast of energy.
Robin and Mark matched this, combining Excalibur and Valflame to unleash a massive blast of fire.
The two beams collided for a while, staying in the same position before Neku's attack began to overpower the other, coming almost all the way to the target before it simply gave out. What was left of Robin and Mark's attack spread to hit Neku, knocking him to the ground. Roxas re materialized next to him, his hood down to show his spiky blond hair and blue eyes.
"Well, that's our win," Robin began, "But had you two been working together like that from the start, you certainly would have won.
The losing team looked at each other. "You know," Neku began "After I trained for a while, I figured out that it's fairly easy to break pacts. Although I'll admit that I missed working with another."
"Don't worry about it," Roxas began "I couldn't have been a solo unit forever anyway, and If I remember correctly, this binds our life force, so you can't stab me in the back like that damned organisation. However, this also means you'll have to be my wingman, phones."
"Ugh, why does everyone use that nickname? And you'll have to be my wingman as well." Neku replied, and the two burst out laughing.
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Individual matches.
Boy, was Reno excited. Too bad he didn't yet know whose ass he would kick.
Mark cleared his throat from his podium, "Our first match is between Nocht and Perseus. Students, please take your positions."
The two of them nodded and walked down to the area. Nocht stood on Reno's left, and Perseus on his right.
Mark held up a gavel and slammed it on the podium, "Begin."
The two magic users began charging up attacks. Mages didn't need tomes anymore, mages could simply cast magic without their aid.
Nocht made the first move, and shot a blast of darkness at Perseus. The Advocate held one hand in front of him and a wall of light sprung to life in front of him. the darkness hit the wall and went no further.
Perseus collapsed the wall and began shooting small little strikes of light magic at Nocht. The Scholar smothered them with darkness, stopping them all before they struck the Scholar.
The Advocate frowned before beginning a barrage of light spells. From his seat, Reno had to avert his eyes, lest he become blind.
When he looked back, he saw Nocht on one knee, breathing heavily. Perseus barely looked winded as he brought up his hand to cast the final blow.
"You can do it Nocht!" shouted Jett from her seat.
Reno however, was cheering on Perseus silently. That would show Nocht and his plans of throwing Reno everywhere.
Nocht heard Jett's shout and he stood back up, albeit wearily. He began to form a shield of darkness as Perseus unleashed his attack.
The bolt of light pierced Nocht's shield. The attack blasted Nocht off his feet and into a wall.
"And the match goes to Perseus," Mark said, with a slam of his gavel.
A few medics began healing Nocht as Mark cleared his throat and spoke, "The next fight will be between Artemis and Jett."
The two women stood up, Artemis looking confident and Jett looking over at Nocht with worry.
"Students, take your positions," Mark said.
Jett drew two daggers while Artemis took her stance with her sword. The Cutpurse's knives' edges glowed green as they quickly powered up. Knives like that cut very easily. Artemis' sword was the same, except it was a sword.
The gavel slammed down, "Begin!"
The two circled each other, neither moving to gain any ground.
"Twenty gold on Jett," muttered Hawke beside Reno.
Reno nodded, "You're on."
Except Reno didn't have twenty gold. Oh well, Hawke didn't need to know that.
Artemis must have gotten fed up with the lack of combat because she charged Jett. The blue haired girl stabbed forward with her blade, only to have Jett knock it aside with one of her two knives. While one knife kept Artemis' sword at bay, Jett stabbed the other one forward.
Artemis reacted in time, albeit barely. Throwing herself to the side and abandoning her attack, she avoided the Cutpurse's weapon. Spinning her blade in her hand, Artemis jumped forward, back on the attack.
The blue haired woman tried piercing Jett's defenses and hitting her but every time her sword made its way past the daggers Jett jumped aside causing Artemis' attacks to constantly miss.
Then Jett jumped on the offensive. Suddenly, she was everywhere. Behind, in front, to the left, the right...Artemis couldn't keep up. She managed to block or fend off a few attacks but it wasn't long before Jett had a knife to her neck.
"Speed beats power," Jett smirked.
"And the match goes to Jett," said Mark.
Jett released Artemis and walked back to her seat. Artemis followed looking somewhat annoyed.
"You owe me twenty gold," muttered Hawke.
"The next match shall be between Hawke and Reno," announced Mark.
"Double or nothing," Reno suddenly said to Hawke as he stood up.
"What?" questioned Hawke.
"If I win, I don't have to pay you. If you win, I pay you forty," Reno said with a smirk.
Hawke grinned and nodded.
The two got into their positions. They waited for Mark's signal.
"Wait," came a new voice.
Reno looked up at one of the instructors. The guy in red with the red sword, and from process of elimination Reno's instructor, was standing. "Reno, use your lance."
Reno looked at the man strangely. Why would he use his lance? What a stupid idea. Reno had been a Space Pirate! Space Pirates used guns!
"Trust me Reno, you won't regret it," said the man as he sat back down.
The blonde Harpoon Man frowned. He didn't take out his lance.
"Begin," said Mark.
Hawke brought his gun up and shot several times. A few shots hit Reno, but they didn't do much to hinder Reno. The Harpoon Man raised his gun and fired a powerful blast.
The shot grazed Hawke's shoulder. Swearing, the Rifleman glanced at his shoulder to see the damage. Using the distraction, Reno ran up and swung his gun like a bludgeon at Hawke. The Rifleman was able to narrowly get out of the way. He then threw a punch at the Harpoon Man which connected with Reno's face.
Reno fell to the ground, reaching a hand up to his face when he felt a shot from Hawke's gun hit his left shoulder. Swearing as he felt his numb shoulder, Reno saw Hawke kick his rifle out of his grasp.
Reno rolled out of the way of Hawke's finishing shot. The rifle was on the other side of the battlefield. Not good.
Reno pulled out his lance.
And Reno felt that feeling he'd felt the other day in combat training.
Hawke shot at Reno a few times. The blond haired man swung his lance and deflected the attacks.
"The hell?" Reno muttered, confused. He charged Hawke.
Hawke looked surprised as well and he began shooting up a storm.
But before he knew it, the butt of Reno's lance collided with Hawke's face, taking him down for the match.
"And...that's it," said Mark, slightly surprised. "Ahem, the match goes to Reno."
The man in red stood up and whispered something to Mark. The tactician nodded and the man in red exited the instructor seating area.
"Come with me, Reno," he said.
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"Who are you?" asked Reno rudely.
"I'm Shulk. Sorry about not being able to meet with you before the battles, I got caught up in my lab and lost track of the time," he said.
"And what was all that about my lance? How did you know...that would happen?" said Reno.
"It isn't my place to tell you," Shulk said. "I see more than everyone else. I can see the future. It doesn't happen frequently, but when it does, well...it explains a lot. I saw your fight with Hawke before it happened. Had you used your lance from the start, it would have been an even quicker battle."
"I want you to tell me what I did with my lance out there, now," Reno said firmly. "I don't give a damn about your supposed future sight, I want to know what happened. And you're going to tell me."
Shulk shook his head, "No. If you haven't figured it out by graduation, then I'll tell you."
Reno swore angrily. Shulk chuckled, "For being the oldest student, you can be pretty childish."
Reno walked out of the room, promptly ignoring Shulk. The red clad man chuckled, "He'll grow out of it."
"After all," Shulk muttered, his eyes flashing blue. "He may be forced to."
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Reno walked back into the main room of the arena just in time to hear the words, "The next fight will be between Reno and Victoria."
Reno frowned, what?
Mark noticed Reno's confusion and said, "Your instructor Shulk, asked for you to be in another fight."
Shulk nodded at Reno as the Harpoon Man glanced at him. Shrugging, Reno got into position and reached for his rifle...
That he hadn't picked up. Looked like it was with Hawke in the stands.
Growling, Reno pulled out his lance as Victoria pulled out her axe. Now he had to fight Miss Trains-a-lot at a disadvantage.
Good thing he had a trick up his sleeve.
Nonchalantly brushing dust off his beat up suit jacket, Reno motioned for Victoria to come at him.
The axe user charged him, swinging her axe at a powerful arc. Reno barely jumped out of the way in time.
The Harpoon Man stabbed his lance forward at Victoria. She knocked it away with her axe, causing Reno to stumble. Victoria entered in for the kill, swinging her axe in a slashing motion.
There was a flicker of light and Victoria found herself hurting and falling backwards. She quickly stood up, not giving time to even think about what that was. But Victoria found herself on the defense very quickly.
As if come over by another, Reno began his lancework with an artistic flare. His jabs and stabs all moved in rhythm, as if Reno had been using a lance his entire life.
To be blunt, Victoria didn't stand a chance. Even with her advantage.
Reno spun the lance in his hand and the butt of the lance hit Victoria in the chin, shoulder and leg all in rapid succession. While she was knocked back, Reno aimed a kick in her stomach, knocking her down. Reno put the tip of the lance at her throat.
Mark announced the end of the match as Reno helped Victoria up. "What was that?" Victoria asked.
Pretending that she didn't mean about the lance, Reno explained, "My skill. Counter. Sometimes I can activate on command."
Victoria nodded and picked up her axe and the two returned to their respective seats in the stands.
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Nocht pov
After the training, Perseus dragged me to the magic training room held within our team's suite. Each team was given a suite with a small bedroom for each member, a living room, dining room, and three training rooms for magic, melee weapons and firearms. As I've stated multiple times, I have no idea where Beowolf gets the money for all of this.
"I noticed a major flaw in your strategy during our battle earlier." He began "You used purely dark magic when anima would have had the advantage over my light magic. Yes, the higher power of dark magic balanced out my higher magical power, but that doesn't mean much when light magic tears right through it. What types of anima magic are you good with?"
"I can use lightning fairly well, and I know a little wind as well." I replied nervously. I never really used anima all that much, but lightning was relatively easy for Grima-descended Earth Branded, having been the branch used by Robin, and wind was essential for all mages since it ruined the mechanics of one man flying vehicles.
"Perfect. Let's try it." Perseus said as he launched multiple rods of light at me. I launched a basic thunder spell that traveled along each rod, shattering them all. "See, it's not that difficult when you use the triangle properly, this gives you a major advantage against all non-dark mages since you can shift between the two. Also, I think you should probably do some sword training. I know you think it's pointless since you're better at magic, but you'll dispatch enemies with weak armor much quicker with a killing edge, and a Levin Sword will give you a major advantage over axe users."
"You have a point, but I'd prefer to work on magic a little more first. So for the moment…" I pulled out the tome that Neku gave me out.
"Wait is that a real tome? Let me check it out!" And thus began a night of studying and Perseus being completely unable to read dark magic script.
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Artemis pov
I was standing in the melee training room next to Jett. I had my practice sword in my hands, waiting as she searched for more practice knives to use. "Why are we doing this again?" Jett said as she finished hunting for her supplies.
"I wanted a rematch, maybe I'll be able to win this time."
Jett smirked as she prepared her knives "Best of luck. You'll need it to keep up." She said in a mocking tone.
I immediately charged towards her, holding my blade. Jett prepared her knives, ready to block a blow that never came. Just as the sword was about to hit her guard, I flipped around to the other side with a strike that she barely managed to dodge. She had mocked me earlier, hoping to provoke me into leaving myself open. With that in mind, I opted for a feint to throw her off.
Jett lunged, lashing out with multiple strikes that I struggled to dodge. If it wasn't for the recovery time from her last dodge, I would have already been finished. She finished her attacks by bringing both hands down in a standard cross slash. I blocked, jumping while using the momentum of the attack to distance us from each other.
I may have be much stronger than her, and I was faster than most mercenaries, but that wouldn't be enough against someone this agile. I'd have to try my father's attack, one that I had only learned by watching his training and tournaments in secret. I lightened my blows while moving at a much faster pace, in my father's words, the skill required one to 'strike with the gentleness of the falling sakura petals yet as swift as the most brutal storm'. She blocked the first blow, but the second hit her shoulder, dodged the third only to be hit in the shin by the fourth. With the fifth, I brought my blade to her neck, only to find that she had done the same to me.
"Looks like it's a draw." Jett stated simply "Where did you learn that skill any way? Wasn't that Astra?"
"My father was a swordmaster from Chon'sin, who was sent to help on the Ylissean ship Morgan under the charge of my mother. The ship came in the latter half of the war, and was given great commendations during that short time. Some even considering the crew's creation to be the turning point of the war."
"Huh, my mom and Nocht's parents worked on the ship, but we never met any of their crewmates since they were all in the capitol, while they preferred to stay in the small area of Southtown. Anyway, did you learn anything else from him?"
"Yes, this." I said with a grin as I picked up two thin blades, preparing for another spar. This time, our clashes were much more even, wit me sacrificing some brute force for speed. We broke apart, and Jett relentlessly launched volley after volley of knives at me. I pulled out all the stops from the start this time, knowing that if I couldn't take out the knives with Astra I'd be done for. I knocked one, two five ten, twenty knives from the air as I struck with both blades as swiftly and accurately as I got rid of the remaining blades I brought both of mine to her neck. "And that's my round?"
"Wanna go again?"
"Let's go for either an hour or until one of us gets a major lead, whichever comes last."
"Sounds fine with me." Jett smiled before we began anew.
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Nocht pov
After several hours of studying the tome, Perseus and I opted to head to bed. As we passed the melee room, we were met with a strange sight.
The door was wide open, showing Jett and Artemis unconscious on the floor with their weapons scattered across the floor.
Perseus walked over to check on them "No major damage, just light bruises from training. It seems they have simply overworked themselves. To emphasize this, Artemis began snoring loudly. "You take Jett. I'll take Artemis because I'm used to caring for her and Victoria anyway." He said as he healed the two.
I scooped Jett up. "Thank Naga you're so light, otherwise I'd probably have to drag you."
"But we didn't finish." Jett mumbled in her sleep.
I took Jett over to her room, laying her down and pulling a blanket over her before taking a seat to rest for a moment. When I tried to get up, I felt Jett's arms wrapping around my right arm. I wasn't going to be able to get up without waking her, so I was in for a long night.
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Well, we didn't really do much other than a double dose of action, but hey! We have more cannon fodd- er, I mean cameo Characters that most definitely aren't exceedingly expendable! And pseudo supports, as well! (kinda). Please leave a review, they are vulnerary for writers!
Cormag: Yep! Hopefully you guys recognized some of those cameos. I know I only got two of them, and one of them I put in. Please review, it's like getting an Elixer from an ally in the middle of twenty archers!