Chapter 09
Transcendence Rising

The rays of the morning sun were what aroused Iruna from her sleep. She blinked sleepily at the windows, before she realized what it was that had awakened her. In the hush of the early morning only the birds sang across the roofs of Prontera.

She lay in bed on her side, still breathing slowly. It was the Day of the Sun - time seemed to be passing slowly, now that they were free from the hectic bustle of their previous guild life. In fact, they were free of everything that had tied them down.

But then again, to a Transcendent these things would be unnecessary.

Wouldn't it?

She sighed and turned over in bed, wondering why she thought so much when she had just woke up...and came face to face with Valkron.

Iruna blinked. His deep, regular breathing made a loose strand of hair in front of her face flutter. She brushed it aside and contemplated her husband's sleeping profile with a smile. He looked less troubled now - far less troubled than he had been ten years back, although she was still struck by how human he looked when he was asleep.

And the long hair? Iruna nearly laughed out loud as she remembered how both of them had argued over the matter, she wanting him to grow it out and him wanting to cut it. Eventually she'd won, but it took several days and many near attempts of him picking up the knife when he thought she wasn't looking.

She lay in bed, head resting on pillow and blue hair strewn across its soft white cotton, gazing at him. Then, very gently, she blew at his face.

His eyelids moved slightly. Slowly he half-opened his eyes.

"Yes?" he said.

"You were awake already?"

"No."

Iruna laughed a little. "I was watching you sleep."

"That's annoying."

"Why?"

"Because I should be the one doing it." Valkron smiled as his wife buried her face in the pillow to laugh.

There was a pause. Then Iruna said, "Are you planning on making anymore visits today, Val?"

Valkron snorted - or did whatever he could do that sounded close to being a snort, because he was still sleepy. "No. I admit, yesterday was a bit much and I don't plan on hurrying around looking for people today."

"Listen to you talk like that," said Iruna, pushing him playfully. "You'll get lazy and fat."

"Not with you around, no." Valkron yawned a little. "Why can't I spend some time with you? This is the age when everything slows down, you know."

Iruna laughed so hard she nearly fell off the bed. Valkron had to grab her in time. "You are such a joke!"

"I swear it's true, honestly," he said, trying not to laugh as well.

"The next thing you're going to tell me is to let an old man have his fun," she said, still giggling. "Right? You're not even old enough to be called old! Fifty isn't old!"

"You have a point there," he admitted. "And yes, I was going to tell you that. You know me well."

"All too well, Val, all too well," said Iruna, lying back down on the bed and pulling the covers up to her chin.

Valkron pulled her to him; she wriggled out of his grasp and snuggled close up to him. Both of them lay in the folds of the mattress, Iruna within Valkron's arms, and gazed off in silence into the distance as the rays of the sun grew brighter.

Iruna, lulled by the warmth of the sun's rays on her back and the heat of her husband in front of her, felt her eyes closing again. It always felt good to have a lie-in, especially with her husband. Somehow everything seemed more...tolerable, easier to resolve, when they had had a full rest together, without saying anything. Valkron never really did want to say anything unless he was spoken too, because he liked to think - it was something she had grown used to.

She wondered if she should stay awake, and then gave up. After all, they did have nothing to do.

Valkron watched as his wife fell asleep. He continued watching her sleep for a long time afterwards.


When they came down later, everyone else was sitting around the table reserved for them eating breakfast. At their appearance everyone looked up.

"Well, you're late," said Nocturne, getting up. "We ran out of chairs for the entire table, so just hang on - I'll get you guys a couple."

"Had a lie-in?" asked Khan, as they let Nocturne pass.

"Yeah, what did you think?" said Valkron. "Your breakfast looks good, by the way."

"It does make a statement in itself, doesn't it?" agreed Khan.

"Valkron."

The white-haired man looked up. Oripheus was looking at him; not far off Zweihaender and Arlena were in deep discussion over a newspaper in their hands.

"I'll be back," he said to Iruna, before making his way over to them. The first thing he asked Oripheus was, "Is that a copy of The Prontera Standard I see?"

"It is, but we've found something in it that might worry you, Val," said Oripheus. "You might want to take a look."

Valkron forced himself to shake off his scepticism he usually had for - in his opinion - the kingdom's worse paper ever to go on print and went towards Zweihaender and Arlena. Upon seeing him the two of them broke apart. Arlena held out the paper to him, and he took it. She had rolled it so that the article was the exposed side of the page.

He skimmed through it, and then looked up. "I don't get it."

"The mercenaries are angry that Rune-Midgard let them be used as pawns for the expedition, with absolutely no value for their lives," said Zweihaender. "They threatened the sages, who in turn threatened to severe ties with Rune-Midgard."

Valkron looked down at the paper. Valkron looked up at Zweihaender.

"And now they're having this all out fight between Junoan mercenaries and Rune-Midgard mercenaries?" He sighed and handed the newspaper back. "This is like the Battle of Al'Zahur, only--"

"--more simple?" suggested Arlena.

"No, more stupid." The white haired man massaged his forehead. "I don't know why people actually bother in this sort of mess. It wastes their time."

"Want to go deal with it, Valkron?" asked Nocturne. Valkron looked over his shoulder and realised that everyone had been listening intently while they had been talking.

"No, why should I?" he said gruffly. "It's not our problem. There's nothing we can do, and we're not supposed to intervene unless we've been told. If we do intervene we'll be in trouble up to our necks."

"He's got a point," said Nocturne. "Oh well. Turn back to your breakfasts, everyone."

Everyone resumed their breakfasts, while Valkron went back to the table and left the three to discuss on their own. Every day, something petty would happen, he remembered the Valkyrie saying. Only one of these events would be the true revealing.

"Good morning," said Niki-Haru, rounding the screen that blocked the rest of the room from sight. She looked considerably brighter than she had been yesterday.

"Hello there, Niki," said Valkron in reply. "How was your rest?"

"Oh, it was good. Kyo's just coming, he's stopped at a newsstand to take a look at things."

"I'll be looking forward to that," chuckled Khan from the opposite side of the table. Amaru gave him a brief look before resuming his eating.

Niki-Haru chattered happily as they finished eating. She had already had her breakfast - drill training never got out of a knight's system once it had been instilled, and plenty of knights still got up at five in the morning even when they had nothing to do. She too had trained in the morning as well. Valkron couldn't help thinking what a slob he had been when one of his ex-students had been hard at work, and nearly laughed aloud at his thoughts.

They were still deep in conversation about how training went - and with others chipping in from time to time - when Kyo burst in.

"Hey," he said breathlessly. "Another edition of The Prontera Standard just came out today! Look at the front page!"

He threw it on the table. Like a snake striking its prey Valkron had swiftly snatched it off the wood and unfolded it, even before some of the others had lowered their cutlery. He scanned the page, while the others waited anxiously.

"What is it, Valkron?" asked Kushana, eventually.

"Bad news for Rune-Midgard," said Valkron, still reading. "The sages have just decided to break out the big guns. They've called for the Expedition Cavalry of the Junoan army to break up the argument the mercenaries are having. For some reason it sounds like if someone with power doesn't show up immediately they're just going to get rid of the mercenaries." He looked up. "I can't have that."

"Why not?" asked Kyo, looking surprised. "They're just mercenaries."

"We used to be mercenaries too, Kyo. Remember?"

"Hey! That's unfair discrimination!" Niki-Haru gave Kyo a glare that made the assassin actually flinch.

"Sorry, I forgot you wanted to be one when you graduated..."

"Valkron."

They looked at Emeth. He was looking at the ceiling as if he was listening very intently.

"Did you hear that?" he said.

"Hear what?" asked Eni.

"Hear that."

In the silence, Samaroh said peacefully, "I did."

After a few moments' extra silence Emeth looked down and irritably remarked, "Only one person heard it? And you call yourself Transcendence."

"No, no, I hear it as well," said Valkron, who had turned his head to one side. "I'm just trying to hear the pattern."

"There is a pattern," said Nocturne. "Just that it's very hard to tell how it goes. It keeps changing ever few minutes."

"What? What? I don't get what's going on! What can you hear that we can't?" protested Niki-Haru, looking bewildered.

"We're listening to the world," said Samaroh simply. "It will tell us everything we need to know, and what we need to do next for it."

"Is that even possible?" asked Kyo,looking disbelieving.

"Anything is, if you know how to listen." He put a finger to his lips and smiled.

After a long while, Valkron coughed and broke the silence. "Get changed, everyone," he said. "We're going."

"I thought you said we weren't," remarked Zweihaender, looking up in surprise.

"We are now. So says the world." Valkron jerked his head towards the flight of stairs. "Let's get going."

"Can we come?" asked Niki-Haru.

Valkron looked at her. Then he said,"It might be dangerous. This is the New World camp we're heading for."

"Yeah, but it's not outside the camp, is it?" pointed out Kyo.

"I wasn't talking about the monsters." Valkron turned away. "Well, if you want to come feel free to, but don't get in the way. You don't want to get killed."

As Niki-Haru and Kyo exchanged looks, Valkron headed for the stairs. "If I'm the last one coming down, tell the others it's because I've got a lot of armour to put on."


When they did come down, however, Niki-Haru and Kyo were disappointed. All of them were wearing large cloaks that hid their bodies from view. There was no sign of their clothes.

Except for Khan's blades.

"How can you run with those blades on your shoes?" asked Kyo, as they stood around to wait for the others who were not down yet. "They look sharp."

"They are. I use them as a last resort. Khan looked down. "Don't worry, I can remove them when I want to. And it doesn't look it, but I can run around easily with them."

"How long did it take you to get used to them?"

Khan shrugged. "As long as it took me to learn how to use them. I don't think I could ever explain that to anyone."

"You know, I can hear some serious sounds from under your cloaks," said Niki-Haru nervously. "Especially Zweihaender."

"It's not that much armour," said the ex-crusader.

"Oh yeah right, 'not that much armour'," said Arlena, giving him a shove.

"So how are we getting there?" asked Niki-Haru, as Valkron, Iruna and Samaroh traipsed down the stairs in their annoying cloaks.

"We warp," said Arlena. "We don't have the power to teleport at free will, but when the world calls us it will allow us to open a warp anywhere we want. However, the only person who has the skill to actually channel a hole through space and time in this entire group is Samaroh."

"And that I will do now, right here," replied the aforesaid man. "Just make sure no one sees us."

"I've already done that," said Emeth, nodding at them. "All clear."

Samaroh raised his hands. In a split second blue light had erupted from the floor like a fountain and was now spinning quite fast on the floor.

Niki-Haru stared. This was unlike any portal she had ever seen any priest summon. While slightly similar in shape, it gave off gentle sparks and concentric circles as it pulsed like a living thing.

"Go in, Niki," said Iruna, who was behind her.

"What? But I don't know what's on the other side--"

"That's the whole part of the journey! Go!"

And Iruna pushed her in.

Niki-Haru felt the sensation of falling, but she was still standing upright. Her feet landed something hard and sandy, but they did not buckle. All around her was darkness.

Someone landed in front of her. It was Samaroh.

"Turn around," he said.

Niki-Haru turned around slowly - and saw a sandy area full of tents in front of her. Suddenly it was all around her. She felt Samaroh shift behind her, before he walked past to join the others who had already been through the portal. The knight hurried to join them.

When she reached the group they were looking over the camp, many of them with eyebrows raised. She could see why. Rune-Midgard's mercenaries had been herded into a corner by the Junoan troops, and were now being advanced on. It appeared that negotiations had not gone well.

"Your kingdom doesn't care about you," they heard someone shout. "If they had they would have sent people in to save you now! Kill them!"

"Hold it."

Valkron had not shouted, but the Junoan troops turned to him in surprise. Behind them the mercenaries had disbelieving looks on their faces.

"We've come for them," he said quietly, stepping forwards. "Release them, and let them go home."

There was silence. Then someone in the troops laughed, followed by the entire cavalry laughing as well.

"Who is this man so bold as to try and stop us?" said one of them. He was wearing a plume and was obviously the leader. "And that little force behind him? Barely enough to defeat us!"

"I warn you," said Valkron quietly, "we may be small in number, but we are much greater in strength."

"I'd like to see it!" sneered the man, and charged on his bird, aiming his spear at Valkron.

What Valkron did next was unexpected and impossible for a normal knight to have actually done. As the spear reached Valkron he grabbed it firmly by the shaft and levered the man off his steed as he galloped past - using the spear.

The rider landed with a thump on the sand. It was suddenly very quiet. No one was laughing now.

"Why you--! How dare a dwarf like you stand in my way!" The man drew his sword and charged.

Valkron's eyes narrowed. Niki-Haru knew he disliked it when people discriminated about his height. He tended to prove that height didn't matter in these cases.

But Valkron did not draw his sword, or do anything he would have done before. Instead, as the man lunged, he stepped aside neatly and let the blade miss completely. His opponent swung his sword towards Valkron, who ducked.

The man was surprised, but only for a moment. He began to strike from side to side, trying to get Valkron by the side of his head, but the white haired man simply ducked the whole time. When Valkron wasn't ducking or dodging he was watching the man intently. Niki-Haru suddenly remembered.

"My ability is to 'read' my opponent's thoughts and see their weaknesses, as well as their next move."

Valkron suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the man's arm and swiftly threw him to the ground.

There was some tittering in the crowd of Junoan soldiers as their leader got to his feet. He growled.

"Fight me like a man, why don't you?" he snarled at Valkron.

"Me? I don't need to. All I need to do is stop you," replied Valkron calmly.

The cavalry leader charged. Valkron did not step aside. Jaws dropped as he clapped his gloved hands on the incoming blade so that it stopped.

And twisted his clasped hands.

The blade broke.

"I don't even need to point out how bad your swordsmanship is, do I?" he said, as the cavalry leader gaped at the stump of his sword. "And your weapon itself was badly forged. I wonder how much you paid for it - no, I wonder how a man like you could become a cavalry captain. If I had someone like you in my troops I would have sacked you the very instant I saw your sword."

Valkron dropped the part of the blade he had broken off and showed his hands. They were unharmed.

"Don't worry, there's a trick to it," he said, smiling.

There was silence. Then all hell broke loose in the form of all the Junoan soldiers bearing down on them.

Within minutes Niki-Haru found herself surrounded. She was about to draw her sword when Kyo suddenly landed next to her, took her by the waist and leapt out of the mass of fighting soldiers. They landed some way away from the fighting.

"Knew it would get to there at some point," he said, as Niki-Haru brushed the hair from her eyes. "Besides, we get a better view. Look."

She looked up at the crowd.

The Junoan soldiers were pretty sure that they were fighting normal mercenaries. It was therefore a surprise to them when they found out they had been bound to the ground by large spider webs.

Oripheus aimed his hand, pointing swiftly to several individuals. Suddenly they were collapsing to their knees, breathless and very tired for absolutely no reason. Others had suddenly realised a mist was rising very quickly from the ground.

Those who were not locked down by the webs ran for Emeth, who was by now wielding a staff. Emeth took one look and flung his arm out at them.

Men flew into the air. The odd thing about it was that they had been five metres away.

"I don't like using spells to chase people off," said Emeth quietly. "So it's not actually a choice for me, heh, to use that."

Someone behind him sprinted for Emeth. The red-haired man did not turn around, but he closed his eyes.

And smiled.

The man drew his sword and leapt into the air, swinging his sword down. Eyes followed him; no one was fighting. Everyone wanted to see how this tall man would avoid the blow without even moving--

About three metres from Emeth the man actually hit something invisible and crumpled. He slid down whatever it was and collapsed on the ground.

"And they say I'm untouchable." Emeth chuckled. "Oh well..."

"Valkron, they've called in for reinforcements," said Nocturne. "What do we do? Keep fighting?"

Valkron's eyes narrowed. "Yes. And this time we don't hold back."

The reinforcements were coming into the camp just as he spoke. They were heavily armoured and armed with a variety of weapons; their faces were replaced with the expressionless grills of their helmets.

"Oh, these guys," said Valkron. He looked back at the others. They nodded.

Kyo and Niki-Haru were breathless. What were the Transcendents going to do? They had a shared feeling that what the little group had shown recently was not all they could do.

The heavily armoured troops charged.

Valkron was the one who moved first. Niki-Haru gasped. He had blurred faster than a normal assassin!

As the first armoured man reached Valkron, he brought his heavy flail down. Valkron blurred for a second; suddenly he was behind the man. He drew his sword and brought the hilt down on the man's neck.

The armoured man had barely gone down when two more took his place. Valkron whirled around and dodged the first man's axe; he grabbed the spear of the other and broke it into half without any effort. As the man with axe brought his weapon down on Valkron the white haired man simply swung his sword around and shoved it away with a clang.

Niki-Haru couldn't make it out. Normal knights had to stop and think - even Valkron did back then. Now he was just...moving. He did not stop. She watched as he ducked, parried, skidded, struck...in one continuous movement.

One man wielding two scimitars attacked Valkron viciously, or tried to. Valkron parried the blow easily and threw off the blades. The man grunted and aimed the blades like a pair of scissors.

Valkron bent backwards, his face completely emotionless, as the blades passed inches from his nose. Still in that position he spun his sword around and swiped at the man's waist. The tip drew blood; the man stumbled backwards, dropping his scimitars.

Valkron straightened up and snorted audibly over the ruckus. Then he undid the clasp of the cloak and let it slide to the ground.

People gasped. Niki-Haru felt her hands go up to her mouth.

Valkron was wearing armour no one had ever seen the likes of in the entire kingdom. Rimmed with gold and emblazoned with elaborate patterns, the armour gave off something more than just power. It gave him the look of authority and most of all, it gave him an image of...

"He looks just like a lord," breathed Kyo, who was equally awestruck.

Valkron blurred again. Men yelled as the silver streak darted in between them, slashing fast. One man caught Valkron's right arm, however, and grinned.

Valkron grinned back and showed him a fist that appeared to be full of spikes. He jabbed it at the man. Niki-Haru winced.

"It's that time, eh?" said Emeth. He nodded to the rest.

Cloaks fell to the ground.

The entire fighting body stopped in amazement. Niki-Haru blinked at the fierce whirl of colours that had just appeared on the battlefield.

Their clothes were beautiful, indescribable. All of them radiated dignity and power. When she looked at them she thought, There is no doubt. They really are the Transcendence.

Emeth, wearing a blood-red cape lined with fur and a long black cloak seemingly attached to his forearms, swept his arms wide to reveal a snow white tunic and trousers. His staff turned from a cheap wooden affair into a golden staff with vivid crystals encircling the head. In one swift movement a magical aura more powerful than any that had ever been felt exploded into existence. He sent men flying with one flick of his finger; lightning struck the ground with another easy flick.

Iruna's armour was incredible as well. Reinforced with massive shoulder armour, and carrying a massive shield, she still moved fast and elegantly. A man, alarmed by her speed despite her armour, tried to deflect her blow with his shield.

His shield folded into half.

"No use," said Iruna calmly, as he gaped at the crumpled piece of metal that had been a shield a few minutes ago. "I have the ability to break all shields and barriers when I want to."

She whirled around and brought the flat of her blade on his head. He too folded.

Someone else was having a go at Nocturne, who was wearing a sleeveless chest length tunic lined with fur at the shoulders. He darted around, dodging so quickly that the man who was attacking could barely catch up with him.

"Too slow!" He fired an arrow into the man's shoulder, and fired another backwards over his shoulder into the waist of another man who had been about to pounce on him.

Very soon the Junoan troops were backing down. They had absolutely no power over these strange people, who held them off easily as if they were nothing but moths. These people were now not attacking, seeing them retreat.

"We don't fight unless we're forced to," said Valkron, watching them warily. "Thanks for letting these mercenaries go. You made the right choice."

Samaroh stepped forward. His robes were white, with some of the most elaborate piping twisting and curling set in deep red on his chest. He was also wearing fingerless gloves, contrasting against the red and gold of his cuffs.

He raised one hand over the injured. The men watched with their mouths open as, with that perpetual peaceful smile, the golden haired man healed everyone without breaking a sweat.

"May God light your path," he said calmly, stepping back.

Valkron nodded at the others. "Let's go back. These mercenaries can find their own way home."

"Er...excuse me?" said someone, from the group of Rune-Midgard mercenaries. They looked awed and frightened by the presence of the Transcendence, although they did not know who these people were.

"Yes?" asked Valkron.

"Did Rune-Midgard send you?"

"No, the world sent us," replied Valkron. "It sent us because without you Rune-Midgard will fall...and it cannot fall yet."

"Who are you?" breathed another.

Valkron looked at them, his face expressionless. They cowered in the silence.

"We are the Transcendence," he said. "And we have risen."


I do not follow the official artwork for the Lord Knight, only the sprite. Therefore there are no crosses on Valkron's armour and so on.

I also do not follow the new version of the Paladin sprites. There is an old version that looks far more practical, although less flashy – I follow that as well.

note for FFnet: I have a poll asking if anyone would like a forums (on FFnet) to discuss Warriors of the World, but because the favourite character poll is still up I can't exactly put it up as well. So yes or no? Would you like to discuss Warriors of the World via forums or in reviews?