Well, either this chapter or chapter 10 is my final update before a little something called the End Of Year Examinations. Thanks for your support guys.
Special thanks goes out to CrapPishh for suddenly reviewing a whole load of chapters, Randomness From Boredom for actually sticking with this story so far, Nimajneb and HonestNinja for reviewing. As you guys should know by now, i'm not really the kind of guy who responds to every review with an overly long message, but I assure you all, I appreciate the reviews, and of course take into consideration all the comments and suggestions.
On another note, I'll be taking Randomness' advice, and in the next chapter, i'll try writing scenes that have Laran in them as first person. His POV. Without further ado, enjoy DoT's latest chapter, which has finally broken the 4000 word barrier!
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Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the story. Except maybe a couple of cool techniques, thats all, i swear!
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Chapter 9
"Ready?"
"I've been ready for this since I watched Naruto!"
"Fine. You do know that this is the last time I'm helping you right?"
"Yes yes, just get it over with, Lana."
"I implore you to reconsider. You look retarded enough already."
"Nuh uh. I'm sure about this."
There was a flash of a permanent black marker, as bold strokes swiped across Xenious' right cheek. In a split-second, the black marker skidded across Xenious' left cheek. It was out of control, sliding and slipping. Lana's eyebrows furrowed in concentration, sweat rolled down her forehead, got into her eyes and… It was done.
Xenious picked up a mirror and looked at himself. Excellent. He was now an exact replica of Naruto, having the marker drawn whiskers, the ridiculously orange jumpsuit, and of course the prized headband slung over his head in a rather fashionable way.
He cleared his throat.
"I'm a Naruto Dattebayo!".
Lana cringed. Her husband was painfully childish and immature at times.
"Ok, now that we're done with this crap, can we move on to talking about that boy? Laran was it?" She asked irritably.
"Ah, yes." Xenious' face no longer bore that look of sheer retardedness.
The atmosphere was noticeably tenser.
"He is definitely not normal. Whether it is for the better or the worse, I have no idea. Even for a Chosen, he is warped!" Lana quipped.
"I feel that there is something lurking inside him, other than Rejection and his own soul, there is an additional invader. I think Glen must have noticed this as well, that's why he told me that he had given Laran the Scroll of Perseverance"
"Scroll of Perseverance?"
"Yes. It is used to test the person's willpower, and to free them of their impurities. I don't know the exact details, but it is said to…help the person face his or her inner demons."
"So that scroll would help us find out what the problem with Laran is?"
"Indeed."
"What do you intend to teach Laran next?"
Xenious paused, considering the question. The only thing that he truly specialized in was the manipulation of spirits. Other than that, he was considered rather useless.
"Nothing. The bird has to leave its nest."
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Beep Beep.
Laran checked his cellphone, to find a message from Xenious telling him to stop leeching on his supplies and asking him to seek training elsewhere.
"…" Laran was unhappy with his harsh attitude.
"So. Why aren't you wearing any proper armour for protection? You are a warrior right?" Clora quizzed Laran curiously.
"It restricts my movement, it's uncomfortable, and most importantly, the only armour I can wear now looks fugly." Laran stated in a matter-of-factly way.
"Hmm…" Clora scanned his level, resisting the urge to state that he was no Prince Charming himself. He was only about level 41, but he had great potential hidden within him, being able to defeat a weakened Tauromacis. All he needed was a good mentor, and of course proper equipment. She looked over at his weapon that he clutched tightly. She had never actually seen that sword before.
This boy was just full of surprises.
But then again, at level 43. she wasn't exactly the best person to mentor him. She would just have to stick around with him and find out more…
"Hey big sis, why are you still using that Red Viper? Isn't the Vaulter 2000 more powerful?" Laran inquired.
"Its none of your business!" she snapped.
Laran was clearly taken aback from her violent outburst. He quickly changed the topic.
"Errm, so where are we going to next?"
"A nearby cave. Right now we are at the edge of both Panon and Esuna. There's something I need to pick up. In order to reach the cave, we'll be progressing deeper into Esuna."
She set off immediately, her back facing him. Laran grumbled something about her aloofness, before jogging to catch up with her.
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Glen was hard at work, training aspiring warriors at the training range. As he taught them the basics of Power Strike, his mind wandered over to Laran.
The boy certainly had a couple of truly unique techniques. Half magician, half warrior, what WAS he? Could he possibly be of the mythical hybrid class? The conditions that were needed to be taken to become a hybrid were incredibly difficult to fufill, and achieving hybrid class meant that one would have to take huge risks.
"Oldie Glen! Oldie Glen!" a young apprentice, no more than 12 years old ran over to Glen, snapping him out of his daydream.
"Wait wait, who the heck are you calling Oldie Glen? 20 push-ups, now!" Glen's ego was understandably bruised. He liked to cling on to the idea that he was still a fit, albeit slightly older man.
20 push-ups later, the apprentice was up, huffing and puffing. "Oldi-err, I mean Master Glen, Sitting Bull wants to meet you. It's concerning Operation Revival."
Glen grabbed his swords immediately, hastily making his way to Sitting Bull's hut.
"So, it has begun…" Glen thought, a mixture of excitement and dread flooding him. He raised an arm to open the flaps, and saw Sitting Bull meditating, deep in concentration.
Sitting Bull's appearance could be described using just one word. Hulking. He dwarfed many, and with his impressive physique, he exuded a powerful aura. Indian markings covered his body, and his messy jet black hair was sprawled over his back.
"So," Sitting Bull spoke as Glen entered. "I have managed to secure the services of Manji; that warrior that enjoys hanging around in the outskirts of Panon. He will be a great help in Operation Revival."
"Can you guarantee his allegiance to us?" Glen remembered Manji as a shifty-eyed combat veteran. He had the stealthy aura of a rogue, and a pensive melancholic attitude towards life. Manji treated everyone with aloofness, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Glen had felt bad vibes coming from him.
"Trust needs to be earned Glen. Now, let us commence Operation Revival in 2 hours, when the sun sets. The next time it rises, the purging will have been complete. Panon will be no more." Sitting Bull spoke confidently, pride and determination radiating from him. The tension was palpable.
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Laran was blind. The pitch black darkness was eerie, as images of monsters and imaginary enemies flashed in his mind, tormenting him. Stirges screamed, as they swarmed overhead, throwing Laran into a jittery mood. Clora had rushed ahead, leaving him alone and defenseless.
Laran felt the ever growing urge to flee surface again in his mind. It was hard to admit it, but he was scared. Pushing away the thoughts of failure and feelings of despair, Laran calmly sat down, brainstorming of solutions to the lighting problem.
"Eureka!" Laran voiced out loud. The phrase was coined by the alchemist Eurek when he discovered how to use upgrade cores on items that weren't being equipped. Personally, he didn't give a damn about the discovery, but boy did he like the phrase.
Laran concentrated his arcane energies, trying to produce the lightning spear again. He could visualize it in his mind, but when he tried to make it materialize, the image would slip out of his grasp, frustrating him immensely. It was pointless to continue, so Laran compromised. He formed a crackling ball of electricity by clenching his left fist, which helped to light up the cave to a small extent.
It seemed that he could only wield the lightning spear when he had enough mastery of his arcane energy, something that emerged during a life and death scenario. Laran sighed. He certainly did not enjoy putting his life on the line to achieve greater power.
Clora had said that the lightning energy was imbued within him, that it was possible to convert normal arcane energy into that lightning energy. But how did he even gain that ability? Only Ice/Lightning Mages were able to accomplish such a feat.
Light emanated from the electricity, as Laran progressed through the cave. He was making good progress, when he stopped abruptly, taken aback by what lay in front of him.
The cave had spread out to form a huge grey dome. Its diameter was about 400 metres, a quarter of a mile wide, with stalagmites and stalactites protruding in various places, made out of solid rock. There was a small lake in the middle of the dome, gracefully sparkling, as if happy to be the icing of the cake, the part that beautified the dome. It was a magnificent example of natural structures.
Laran took a step, admiring nature in its entire splendor when…he saw it. That big ugly grey spiral shaped structure suspended high above the ground. It was a massive stirge hive. The sign of it sent a resounding message echoing through Laran's mind "Mind your own business." Laran slowly maneuvered himself around the hive, spotting an additional tunnel behind the hive that no doubt led deeper into the cave.
"This'll be an excellent test for my new babies…yeah yeah." A mysterious voice giggled.
Laran twisted around, to see a slender figure crouching near him, inspecting a kumbi throwing star. His heart skipped a beat. He hadn't noticed her presence at all.
"Yeah yeah! Adamatium Advarice…check. Synchronization…check. Haste..." she seemed to be going through a list.
"You want haste too yeah yeah? Taking on the hive'll be pretty difficult."
Laran felt his physical weight decrease exponentially, while simultaneously, felt his heart plummet, as his amazingly slow mind realized what she was going to do. It was a unique feeling.
Before he could protest, the feisty girl sprinted towards the hive, something that could very possibly be the thing that would kill them.
Laran looked down, and sighed. He gripped onto Rejection, taking long strides towards the hive. He sure as hell didn't want to die alone.
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"Lucky Seven! Lucky Seven!" that strong yet feminine voice rang out, as four kumbis glided through the air elegantly, before ripping apart four stirges.
"Tempest…Hurricane!" Laran unleashed the pent-up arcane energy, letting it explode into whips of fierce wind, which cut deeply into many stirges.
He took a breath of air. Although it was still difficult to use Tempest Hurricane, his stamina had increased over the last few grueling days to allow him to utilize it several times.
"Synchronization!" Laran activated Rejection's hidden prowess, transforming it into the sleek one-handed sword. With Haste and Synchronization, Laran felt as if he were floating on air.
"Terran!" His eyes flashed, as they swirled to form the demonic Terran Eyes. A familiar feeling of security came back to him, as he grinned in spite of the situation he was in.
The stirges rushed at him, forming an arrowhead formation, their shrill voices squealing what seemed to be death threats.
Laran's mind worked nimbly, as a plan popped out of a deep crevice in his mind. The plan was unique, challenging, and for once, made sense. Just what the doctor ordered.
Working quickly, Laran ran in the opposite direction, away from the stirges. He tensed himself and kicked off from the ground, his inertia propelling his body towards the wall.
He grunted slightly, as he twisted his body such that his legs were facing the wall. With much needed concentration, he managed to cushion the blow to his legs by bending down just as he made contact.
Time to make it or break it, Laran thought.
"Right foot, anchor!" Laran grunted, as electrical arcane energy burst from his right foot, biting into the wall, making deep indentations. The arcane energy was helping him "stick" to the wall! His head slightly spinning, he steadied himself, just as the approaching stirges grew ever larger in his line of vision.
Adrenaline pumping from the acrobatic stunt he accomplished, Laran took a fresh two-handed grip on Rejection, preparing to unleash hell on the stirges. He smirked at them, knowing that they would be flying towards their deaths.
"He's good yeah yeah!" The female assassin quipped enthusiastically, as she narrowly dodged a particularly large stirge. With a flick of her wrist, a kumbi soared through the air, fluidly decapitating the stirge.
"Looks like I can't be lazy yeah yeah!" Her face instantly warped from a relaxed expression to a solemn one. Digging deep into both of her shuriken pouches, her fists reappeared, effortlessly clutching onto 4 kumbis in each hand.
"Lucky Seven!" her voice rang out as eight kumbis swiftly brought death upon eight stirges. A cheeky grin formed on her face. She was just warming up.
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The villagers, huddled together at the base of the capital of Panon, had their eyes fixated on the three warriors making their way towards the home of their king, Soitoru.
There were rocky flights of stairs everywhere, leading to the higher levels and vice versa. It was like being in a huge maze. Cliffs and mountains stretched out proudly towards the skies, and from a bird's eye view, the entire region looked like a mass of brown and orange.
Soitoru had decreed that no one were to disturb him. Only he communicated with the peasants, not they with him. There was absolutely no way of getting in contact with him short of smashing down his front door. And these three looked like they were just about to do that. The bodyguards of Soitoru remained vigilant, and did what they did best, standing around and looking badass.
"Listen up. Here's the plan." Sitting Bull gave commands with an air of confidence.
"Glen, you stay and make sure the crowd doesn't interfere. Me and Manji will handle everything." He grinned proudly, as if the plan was a very intellectual one.
"What the heck, why do I have such a minor role!?" Glen made no effort to mask his discontent. "Let me fight too!"
"Fine, come with us. But don't get in my way." Manji had spoken for the first time; his voice was raspy and rough, sounding as if he had a sore throat.
Dances with Balrog and Glen stared at him, aghast. It was extremely rare to hear Manji engage in conversation.
The mass of bodyguards flexed their muscles and looked at him menancingly. They were more brawn than brains, and served as cannon fodder, looking more like overgrown pigs with their piercings and weird hairstyles rather than professionals. They must have been mercenaries, those who had thrown away their morality for cold hard cash.
Manji sauntered towards them, enjoying his leisurely stroll. Glen thought that he could see a tiny smirk hidden under the dark shadow of the bamboo hat.
Thoroughly concerned with the odds, Glen took a step forward, only to see Sitting Bull blocking his path.
"Don't interfere. Manji is the strongest lone wolf out there." Sitting Bull glanced at Manji, who was striding towards the enemies at a painfully slow pace. "Give him 10 seconds."
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His arms were aching faster than he had expected it to. Laran ignored the growing pain as he continued the barrage of lightning quick slashes against the persistent stirges, many of whom joined their fallen brethren in death in a matter of seconds. Wincing as the wounds from his previous battle threatened to reopen themselves, Laran continued his flurry of attacks.
"Sticking" to the wall, Laran managed to reduce the possibility of being flanked by the stirges. And now, he was engaged in a stamina war with the stirges, who stormed towards him, only to be brought down with Rejection. His Terran Eyes working at peak condition, Laran was rapidly releasing slashes to act as a barrier against the stirges, slicing them into pieces of flesh as they came into range.
Laran felt his control over his stamina pool start to slip from him. No wonder, as he had just recovered from a serious duel to the death with a Tauromacis. The fact that he was able to fight freely was already a huge surprise. As soon as that thought had popped up, he suddenly felt a jabbing pain in his right foot. He instinctively knelt down, to minimize the searing pain.
Yet, with every passing second of this new technique, Laran felt that he was getting mighty close to understanding, mastering something, a new technique, or a concept.
His Terran eyes alerted him that the stirges' were not letting up on their relentless offense.
Clenching his teeth tightly, Laran fluidly withdrew the arcane energy from his feet, instantly slipping as he lost his grip on the slippery cavern wall.
Somehow, through pure luck, he managed not to fall face down on his face. He squatted to reduce the impact, as he took a new stance, feet shoulder apart and his right leg pointing 45 degrees north-east. Channeling his lightning energy towards his arms, he felt a curious, tingling sensation.
Laran raised Rejection right as the stirges screeched wildly, their fangs barely half a metre from him.
"Tempest…Flurry!" He reinitiated the barrage of defensive slashes. This time, however, Rejection felt strangely lighter, allowing for better sword control. "It must've been the lightning arcane energy." Laran pondered.
His thoughts were interrupted as the stirges suddenly pulled back, arcing away from him…diving straight for the female assassin.
Laran exploded into a sprint towards her, as his instincts to protect emerged. His body groaned in protest, as exhaustion constantly weighed down on him, but he easily dismissed those thoughts.
"I'm going to directly attack the hive yeah yeah! The moment you see an opening, go in and unleash all you've got!" She yelled, while backflipping and spearing another dozen stirges headed for her.
She seemed to take a little longer re-equipping her kumbis, and when she flung them towards the hive, they arced out of the way of stirges, before embedding themselves firmly onto the base of the hive with a resounding "thud".
Laran almost stopped in his tracks, a few body lengths away from the hive. He frowned. How would such an attack give him an opening to destroy the hive? He was pondering the idea of rushing over and helping her rather than attacking the hive, when his eyes were suddenly assaulted by a "BOOM", as the base of the hive disintegrated in a flash of jarring heat and blinding light.
Explosives on the shuriken! The girl had some wild ideas. Laran leapt up into the hive, and as he always did, constructed a brutal, reckless last minute plan. This plan was suicidal. Just what a strategist would condemn.
"Tempest…" Laran's momentum forced him into the hive. He saw the dozens and dozens of stirges all swarming inside. A pang of fear stroked his heart, but he shoved that fear away.
"Hurricane!" It was a no holds barred attack. His arcane energy whipped out from Rejection, slicing and decapitating stirges, as the entire hive was cut to shreds.
Laran landed gracefully onto his feet, amidst the corpses of stirges. "Boy," he thought. "That was bleeding awesome!"
Meanwhile, the female assassin was finishing up, lobbing off limbs left and right with her kumbis. With a final heave of stars, 5 more stirges dropped onto the ground, unmoving. She too landed elegantly, inspecting her stars and equipment.
"So, who the heck are you?" Laran went straight to the point. His first impression of a girl that randomly attacked a stirge's hive was either extremely rash or braindead. She could very well possess both traits.
"JM's cousin. Call me." She giggled as she cast Dark Sight, evoking a smokescreen and disappearing from sight, leaving a piece of paper fluttering to the ground.
Picking up the paper, Laran sighed. He didn't want to waste any more time trying to probe into her background. A childish grin formed as he keyed in her name as "Brat" in his cellphone. "Ahh, the wonders of immaturity." He thought.
"Oh!" he couldn't help yelping out. He still had to find Clora! Feeling the energy of his fallen foes surge into him as experience points, he hurriedly made his way into the next tunnel.
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"It's hideous!" Clora thought, hastily leaping out of the way of the gigantic, mutated Wolf Spider.
It didn't even look like a Wolf Spider. Half cybernetic, half organic, it was a cyborg. The bastard had ambushed her, and it was only thanks to her high dexterity that she was able to pick out its presence. It must've been THEM who experimented on the poor creature.
Breaking into a forward roll that carried her momentum, she knelt down on one leg. She whipped out her red viper, and with a resounding cry; "Double Shot!"
A pair of arrows sped towards their target, only to be swiped into pieces by the Wolf Spider's razor sharp legs. She scowled. She wasn't expecting an easy fight, but this would be a troublesome.
She drew another arrow, and speedily nocked it into the bow.
"Let's see how you defend against this…" she mumbled, lost in her own thoughts. Arcane energy surged into the arrow, giving it a glowing red appearance that just screamed of danger.
"Arrow…Bomb!" Clora released the tension of the bowstring, adding a slight spin to the arrow to increase overall velocity.
The Wolf Spider lazily held up a leg, just as an almost invisible barrier appeared in front of it.
When Clora saw the Power Guard, it was already too late.
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"Damn!" Laran's left arm jerked involuntarily as his body suddenly suffered a static shock. He was trying to re-summon the electrical ball to aid his vision. It seemed that there was a cooldown period to materializing his arcane energy. In fact, he thought that he had already broken the physical limiters placed on his body from the previous fight.
He squinted at his surroundings. The tunnel seemed to lead to yet another dome. He heard a battle cry; a faint "Arrow Bomb!" Rushing forward, he was fairly sure Clora was locked in battle. Filled with excitement, he entered the dome, only to be chilled to the bone.
She lay crumpled in a heap. There was an enormous creature sauntering over to it in whatever way a spider could saunter. She seemed to have been knocked unconscious, a trickle of blood ran down the edge of her mouth. The stench of smoke from an arrow bomb permeated the air, prompting Laran to wrinkle his nose slighty.
"Shit!" Laran broke into a run. He shouted at the spider, trying to attract its attention, but it was to no avail, as it started wrapping up Clora in its web. It juggled her with the skill of a master entertainer, speedily compressing and squeezing her with its webs.
He had no choice. If the web was too tightly wound, Clora would die from the deprivation of oxygen. The spider was already half completed with its gruesome work of art, spinning her from one leg to another.
"Tempest Slash!" an electric blue current of arcane energy lashed out towards the Wolf Spider. Almost simultaneously, Laran heard a familiar "Lucky Seven!" chirping enthusiastically behind him, as eight throwing stars flew with amazing accuracy, locking onto the Wolf Spider. The same girl from earlier on was back!
"Brat!" Laran spun around, genuinely glad to see her. Taking on the Wolf Spider wouldn't be an easy task, and he could use all the backup he could get.
"Who're you calling brat! My name is…" She kicked Laran in the face as she landed.
"Allegra!" she flashed her innocent smile at Laran, as he rubbed his sore nose.
"Boy, she sure has a showy way of introducing herself…" he grumbled. Her cheerfulness in such a situation was painfully inappropriate.
The Wolf Spider cried out, as the blunt force of the two attacks slammed into it. Two stars pierced a couple of its eyes, while the Tempest Slash cleanly sliced off a limb that was getting too friendly with Clora, promptly sending a fountain of blood spurting out. It screamed in pain, the high frequency cry cutting through air like a knife through butter. Filled with rage, it dropped the unconscious Clora and twisted to face its aggressors, its other eyes actually glowing.
"Tag team?" Laran glanced at Allegra.
"You've got it yeah yeah!" She serenaded slightly in a sing-songish voice.
Laran sighed. Working with her would be a whole new experience. For the better or worse, he had no idea.
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"Limit Break." Manji whispered solemnly, lowering his blood stained sword.
The smoke cleared, leaving a pile of fresh corpses scattered all over the dusty red plateau of Panon.
"What the…How the heck did he…" Glen was completely aghast. His hand trembled uncontrollably, unable to contain his shock and awe. If Manji turned against them…he could very possibly single-handedly slaughter the whole of Panon, with the exception of Sitting Bull.
"That's why…they call him Demon Blade Manji." Sitting Bull grimaced ruefully, as he viewed the horrific sight.
"A warrior with such bloodlust and battle fervor that even his own allies feared him. Such is the tale of Demon Blade Manji."
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"Fire arrow." He released the pulsing hot arrow, as it impaled a charging Taurospear right in its heart, searing a deep hole through its chest. It grasped at the hole desperately, before crashing onto the floor next to its dead brethren.
"Coma." He spoke with authority, as Acquiescence split the Tauromacis' head into two, rendering it a gory corpse almost immediately.
"And you are the unluckiest." A sadistic grin formed over his lips.
"Combo attack. Release!" He pointed Acquiescence at a group of Tauros, who were backed up against the wall, frozen in fear, as the blinding white light exploded into an attack that engulfed them.
He strolled out of the Sanctuary. It was a good workout.
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Thats all folks. Thanks for reading, please review so I can improve, and i'll see you guys soon.
Cya.
Ccw.
