p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"Chapter 24/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"3/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"rd/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;" person (General)/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"If a group of young warriors such as yourselves are capable to withstand an attack from an Ancient Erpel, an army must be able to annihilate them." The black haired king spoke, looking at the party. "But, from what I have heard, I'd imagine it would take more than my army."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Trust me... we barely survived." Bereit admitted to the king./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"I understand, but I'm sure with the right tactics, we can take these down. And with all of your experience, we stand a higher chance." The King explained. "While I am aware I have summoned you all here on little notice, so that is why I give you the option of making a choice."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The party looked at each other, waiting for his question./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"I ask of you braves warriors to join an army I'm sending to west of here." He explained. "We received word from Holhen that they had seen an Erpel flying across their land. One coloured as the earth we stand on. And it decided to come to Wuste."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Imbir raised his hand, to let the king know he was going to speak. "What are your numbers? And your method of fighting it?"/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The king gave a slow shake of his head. "Unfortunately, I have no idea. The General had joined them, and he's the one in charge of their tactics." He explained to them./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"And he wouldn't mind our involvement?" Imbir also asked./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"He can be rash at times. Prideful as well, but I'm sure he won't refuse a helping hand." The king explained again./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Good to hear." Bereit commented. "Anything else you can tell us? Something about the Erpel or anything?"/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The king nodded. "I do, in fact." He answered, soon bringing the party to a steel door, standing right in front of it. His hand gripped the handle and opened the door, however he pulled up on it, then twisted it, rather than simply twisting it. After a few sudden clicks and sound of metal clunks, he pushed the door open, revealing a small room, each wall being covered with all sorts of organized scrolls in their own spots, some having more than one cramped together./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Fallen felt this strange sense of discomfort being in this room. She wasn't sure why. It just gave her this feeling. The first thing that came to mind as soon as she tried to figure out why was because her father had a room similar to this. Though, not as neatly organized. The reminder of home, that's what it was. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of these thoughts./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The king ran his finger over the long line of alphabetical scrolls, before stopping to the E's. He took a handful of scrolls, as he checked each of their seals, seeing one that had a dragon, as the rest had different animals on it./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The king opened the scroll up, reading 0ver it quickly just to be sure this was the right one. And it well was./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"3/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"rd/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;" person (Bereit)/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Bereit watched as the scroll was handed to him, Bereit taking it with both hands. "Thank you." He said, eyeing the king for a moment, before he looked down at the scroll, slowly opening it to see what information it held./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emCreature name: Titan/em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emSpecies: Ancient Erpel (?)/em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emCharacteristics: The arms and legs of this dragon-like beast are many layers thick of rock, just like the scales of it's body. While it bares sharp teeth, it's claws and tail are pure rock, without any sharpness, but hold a blunt force to them./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emIt seems to not attack unless provoked. And when provoked, will destroy anything that threatens it, regardless of strength of if it even is a threat./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emTactics: While we have yet to hunt the magnificent creature, we have already discovered means of tactics. Distance is key, since the creature seems to hold no natural means of range attacks. However, it does use the very ground as it's weapon./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emWhile it's body is primarily made of rock, it's wings are natural scales, to help with flight, despite it being it's weaker set of skills. This may be a potential weak spot we can exploit./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emFurther examination of the creature will be done./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: small;"em~ For the future of Wuste and the other continents./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Bereit made a reminder to himself to the details of weaknesses, along with whatever information it provided combat-wise. Bereit's eyes looked up at the king, giving him a grateful bow. "Thank you, your majesty." Bereit thanked him, with a smile./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"The king nodded back. "It is my pleasure. However, even with this at your disposal, I'm sure you're all aware to keep your wits about you during your battle." The king warned the party./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"You've got nothing to worry about, your majesty." Scharf assured, with his arms crossed. "Our survival isn't guaranteed, but I'm confident to say the odds are in our favour."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"That confidence won't get you far, good sir. But I do have faith in all of you." The king stated./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Scharf huffed at his response, but in a friendly manner./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Imbir stepped forward. "As much as I know it is rude to dismiss ourselves in front of royalty, but I believe we should get to that army of yours to assist them as soon as possible."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"The king nodded in agreement. "Indeed. But I must say one more thing." He said, with a slight bow of apology, as if it was necessary. "I'm sure this request would not come without a need of a reward."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Well..." Bereit scratched his head, looking back at everyone, seeing they all looked back at him. "We could use some beds for our airship... if that's fine."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"The king raised an eyebrow and chuckled a little from his request. "Beds? If that's what you wish. I was expecting a hefty sum of money, to be perfectly honest." The king explained. "Your request is more than acceptable. Once the beast is slain, I will have the finest brought to your airship."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Vanessa smiled, pumping her fist gently in excitement. She was tired of sleeping on the cold hard ground, using the walls as support./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Thank you. All of you. The army I have told you about is waiting for you far west of here" He reminded them. "I'm sure with a battle such as this, it would be hard to miss." The king explained, with a bow. "May you be victorious in your upcoming battle."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Bereit nodded gently. "We'll do our best. Because our lives depend on it." He said, with a slight grin, before he turned around. "Come on guys, let's go hunt us an Erpel." He stated with confidence./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"The party followed their leader right out the castle, heading east as instructed by the king. They were silent for a little bit, until Vanessa decided to break the silence. "It's gonna be so nice to finally have a bed. Now I'll be able to sleep without having to worry about my posture."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Never figured you as the type to worry about that." Scharf commented./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Dad says that too." Vanessa said, laughing a bit. "But you know, posture is important."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Could have told me that when I was younger." Scharf said, as he pointed at his back. "Would have avoided the surgery I needed for it."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Vanessa shrugged. "Well, I don't what to tell you."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"3/span/span/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"rd/span/span/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;" person (Fallen)br /"Actually, Scharf, what were you like when you were younger?" Fallen asked out of the blue, with a curious tone./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Scharf turned his head to Fallen with a surprised look. He chuckled a bit, running his hand over his grey hair. "Well, this is a new question..." He admitted, before he started to look back on his days as a young man./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I can tell you right now that I was a lot more naive back then. Always thinking that I could change things for the better of everyone. And I can certainly tell you that this was not my idea of a living. Not sure it's anyone's idea." Scharf explained to them. Pulling on one of his gloves./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I never saw being an assassin as a good job to have for raising a kid." Bereit commented, but his tone showing no snarkiness or anything of the sort. Just something he wanted to point out. Like he understood that already./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Tell me about it." Scharf said, with a slight chuckle. "Let's just say it was something I didn't have much of a saying in."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Fallen did ask for your time as a young man." Bereit reminded./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I know. That's what I'm doing right now." Scharf explained to him, everyone having a slight shocked expression./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Geez... that early?" Vanessa asked./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Scharf nodded. "And that early with a kid as well." He added. "Remember when I said I was naive? Well, that naive part of myself is what made me into what I am today. There's a lot more detail... but I'll tell you another day. It's... a bit hard to explain."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Choose a different topic. -/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Completely drop the subject./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Umm... if I can ask, what were your parents like?" Fallen asked, hoping she wasn't asking anything sensitive./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Scharf laughed, running a finger over his nose. "They're just as you'd expect from parents. Eat your vegetables this and don't do that. Though I was something of a self-taught kid. Most of what I know is from experience."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Like?" Imbir asked./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Don't fight a monster with being absolutely sure you're prepared." Scharf pointed at his eye that was covered with an eyepatch. "I would still have this if I were."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Yeesh." Bereit commented. "Does it still hurt?"/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Ever heard of Phantom Pain?" Scharf asked him./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Uhh... no." Bereit answered./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"It's like still feeling the pain of a limb or part of your body that isn't there anymore." Scharf explained./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I... well, uhh..." Bereit wasn't sure how to respond. "That... sounds pretty bad."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"It isn't as bad as feeling it first hand, but it ain't the greatest to have either." Scharf explained, huffing a breath of air. "But it's a good lesson to yourself, if you can see it that way."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Unless you're a white mage. Our purpose is to heal those kind of injuries." Zelkova stated. "It's a shame I never met you during those times. You could still have that eye by now."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I made it this far without it. I think it wouldn't have changed anything." Scharf commented. "Though, I'm sure me in the past would have really appreciated it."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"There was silence among the party, before the sound distant... explosions, from what it sounded like, was heard. They all turned their heads ahead of themselves, seeing the sands rise high up in the air, forming mountains of unimaginable sizes far in the distance./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Please tell me I'm imagining this..." Vanessa asked in a nervous tone./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Fallen shook her head. "No... this is real."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Fantastic..." Vanessa whispered, shaking her head./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"But... what could this mean for the soldiers battling it?" Zelkova asked./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Only one way to find out." Bereit said, as he marched forward. "Let's just hope there aren't too many that were killed."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"And once that was said, Fallen felt her heart sink at those words. Of course, she wasn't blaming herself at all, but the idea of seeing a whole army being beaten by an Erpel didn't sit well with her. Then again, who would it sit well with?/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"3/span/span/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"rd/span/span/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;" person (Bereit)/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Bereit and his party all rushed for the newly formed mountains, as they were shown the mountains weren't fully formed just yet. Giant shards of solid rock came out of the mountains, like barricades in a fort./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Once again, the party was met with a problem./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Well, that's just great." Scharf commented. "Now how are we gonna get to that Erpel?"/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Bereit sighed, clenching his fist. "And we were so close too..." He added. "I doubt we can get up there on our own." And he didn't plan to use his Lord powers either./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Maybe we can break through?" Vanessa suggested. "Not with a vehicle, but maybe with enough things thrown at it. Like catapults, or missiles or whatever."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"But where are we gonna find that?" Imbir asked./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Everyone looked at each other, as if any of them had an answer. But as it turned out, one of them did./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"3/span/span/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"rd/span/span/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;" person (Fallen)/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I do." Fallen answered, as she took a step forward. "My parents."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Everyone had a shocked expression, hearing what she had just said./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Fallen..." Bereit spoke up. "But th-"/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I know. They just about want me dead..." Fallen said, obviously exaggerating. "But this is probably our best bet. I can convince them. I know I can." She explained to him, more-so the group. "And I'm not taking no for an answer on this. We have to do this."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Everyone was silent for a moment. "We accept your decision on this, Fallen. It's just..." Zelkova spoke up, looking at Bereit and Imbir. "Are your parents not familiar with Bereit and Imbir?"/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I told you, I can convince them. The fact that I'm with Bereit and Imbir won't even be an issue." Fallen explained./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"And... it ends with you being with us in the end... right?" Vanessa asked, looking at her./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Fallen was silent, her eyes looking around the party, before she nodded hesitantly. "Of course." Fallen answered./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Save your game up to this point?br /br /Yesbr /No/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"3/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"rd/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;" person (General)/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"If a group of young warriors such as yourselves are capable to withstand an attack from an Ancient Erpel, an army must be able to annihilate them." The black haired king spoke, looking at the party. "But, from what I have heard, I'd imagine it would take more than my army."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Trust me... we barely survived." Bereit admitted to the king./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"I understand, but I'm sure with the right tactics, we can take these down. And with all of your experience, we stand a higher chance." The King explained. "While I am aware I have summoned you all here on little notice, so that is why I give you the option of making a choice."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The party looked at each other, waiting for his question./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"I ask of you braves warriors to join an army I'm sending to west of here." He explained. "We received word from Holhen that they had seen an Erpel flying across their land. One coloured as the earth we stand on. And it decided to come to Wuste."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Imbir raised his hand, to let the king know he was going to speak. "What are your numbers? And your method of fighting it?"/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The king gave a slow shake of his head. "Unfortunately, I have no idea. The General had joined them, and he's the one in charge of their tactics." He explained to them./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"And he wouldn't mind our involvement?" Imbir also asked./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"He can be rash at times. Prideful as well, but I'm sure he won't refuse a helping hand." The king explained again./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Good to hear." Bereit commented. "Anything else you can tell us? Something about the Erpel or anything?"/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The king nodded. "I do, in fact." He answered, soon bringing the party to a steel door, standing right in front of it. His hand gripped the handle and opened the door, however he pulled up on it, then twisted it, rather than simply twisting it. After a few sudden clicks and sound of metal clunks, he pushed the door open, revealing a small room, each wall being covered with all sorts of organized scrolls in their own spots, some having more than one cramped together./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Fallen felt this strange sense of discomfort being in this room. She wasn't sure why. It just gave her this feeling. The first thing that came to mind as soon as she tried to figure out why was because her father had a room similar to this. Though, not as neatly organized. The reminder of home, that's what it was. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of these thoughts./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The king ran his finger over the long line of alphabetical scrolls, before stopping to the E's. He took a handful of scrolls, as he checked each of their seals, seeing one that had a dragon, as the rest had different animals on it./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The king opened the scroll up, reading 0ver it quickly just to be sure this was the right one. And it well was./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"3/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"rd/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;" person (Bereit)/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Bereit watched as the scroll was handed to him, Bereit taking it with both hands. "Thank you." He said, eyeing the king for a moment, before he looked down at the scroll, slowly opening it to see what information it held./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emCreature name: Titan/em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emSpecies: Ancient Erpel (?)/em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emCharacteristics: The arms and legs of this dragon-like beast are many layers thick of rock, just like the scales of it's body. While it bares sharp teeth, it's claws and tail are pure rock, without any sharpness, but hold a blunt force to them./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emIt seems to not attack unless provoked. And when provoked, will destroy anything that threatens it, regardless of strength of if it even is a threat./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emTactics: While we have yet to hunt the magnificent creature, we have already discovered means of tactics. Distance is key, since the creature seems to hold no natural means of range attacks. However, it does use the very ground as it's weapon./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emWhile it's body is primarily made of rock, it's wings are natural scales, to help with flight, despite it being it's weaker set of skills. This may be a potential weak spot we can exploit./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"emFurther examination of the creature will be done./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: small;"em~ For the future of Wuste and the other continents./em/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Bereit made a reminder to himself to the details of weaknesses, along with whatever information it provided combat-wise. Bereit's eyes looked up at the king, giving him a grateful bow. "Thank you, your majesty." Bereit thanked him, with a smile./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"The king nodded back. "It is my pleasure. However, even with this at your disposal, I'm sure you're all aware to keep your wits about you during your battle." The king warned the party./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"You've got nothing to worry about, your majesty." Scharf assured, with his arms crossed. "Our survival isn't guaranteed, but I'm confident to say the odds are in our favour."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"That confidence won't get you far, good sir. But I do have faith in all of you." The king stated./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Scharf huffed at his response, but in a friendly manner./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Imbir stepped forward. "As much as I know it is rude to dismiss ourselves in front of royalty, but I believe we should get to that army of yours to assist them as soon as possible."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"The king nodded in agreement. "Indeed. But I must say one more thing." He said, with a slight bow of apology, as if it was necessary. "I'm sure this request would not come without a need of a reward."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Well..." Bereit scratched his head, looking back at everyone, seeing they all looked back at him. "We could use some beds for our airship... if that's fine."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"The king raised an eyebrow and chuckled a little from his request. "Beds? If that's what you wish. I was expecting a hefty sum of money, to be perfectly honest." The king explained. "Your request is more than acceptable. Once the beast is slain, I will have the finest brought to your airship."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Vanessa smiled, pumping her fist gently in excitement. She was tired of sleeping on the cold hard ground, using the walls as support./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Thank you. All of you. The army I have told you about is waiting for you far west of here" He reminded them. "I'm sure with a battle such as this, it would be hard to miss." The king explained, with a bow. "May you be victorious in your upcoming battle."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Bereit nodded gently. "We'll do our best. Because our lives depend on it." He said, with a slight grin, before he turned around. "Come on guys, let's go hunt us an Erpel." He stated with confidence./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"The party followed their leader right out the castle, heading east as instructed by the king. They were silent for a little bit, until Vanessa decided to break the silence. "It's gonna be so nice to finally have a bed. Now I'll be able to sleep without having to worry about my posture."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Never figured you as the type to worry about that." Scharf commented./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Dad says that too." Vanessa said, laughing a bit. "But you know, posture is important."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Could have told me that when I was younger." Scharf said, as he pointed at his back. "Would have avoided the surgery I needed for it."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Vanessa shrugged. "Well, I don't what to tell you."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"3/span/span/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"rd/span/span/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;" person (Fallen)br /"Actually, Scharf, what were you like when you were younger?" Fallen asked out of the blue, with a curious tone./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Scharf turned his head to Fallen with a surprised look. He chuckled a bit, running his hand over his grey hair. "Well, this is a new question..." He admitted, before he started to look back on his days as a young man./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I can tell you right now that I was a lot more naive back then. Always thinking that I could change things for the better of everyone. And I can certainly tell you that this was not my idea of a living. Not sure it's anyone's idea." Scharf explained to them. Pulling on one of his gloves./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I never saw being an assassin as a good job to have for raising a kid." Bereit commented, but his tone showing no snarkiness or anything of the sort. Just something he wanted to point out. Like he understood that already./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Tell me about it." Scharf said, with a slight chuckle. "Let's just say it was something I didn't have much of a saying in."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Fallen did ask for your time as a young man." Bereit reminded./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I know. That's what I'm doing right now." Scharf explained to him, everyone having a slight shocked expression./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Geez... that early?" Vanessa asked./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Scharf nodded. "And that early with a kid as well." He added. "Remember when I said I was naive? Well, that naive part of myself is what made me into what I am today. There's a lot more detail... but I'll tell you another day. It's... a bit hard to explain."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Choose a different topic. -/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Completely drop the subject./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Umm... if I can ask, what were your parents like?" Fallen asked, hoping she wasn't asking anything sensitive./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Scharf laughed, running a finger over his nose. "They're just as you'd expect from parents. Eat your vegetables this and don't do that. Though I was something of a self-taught kid. Most of what I know is from experience."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Like?" Imbir asked./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Don't fight a monster with being absolutely sure you're prepared." Scharf pointed at his eye that was covered with an eyepatch. "I would still have this if I were."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Yeesh." Bereit commented. "Does it still hurt?"/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Ever heard of Phantom Pain?" Scharf asked him./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Uhh... no." Bereit answered./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"It's like still feeling the pain of a limb or part of your body that isn't there anymore." Scharf explained./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I... well, uhh..." Bereit wasn't sure how to respond. "That... sounds pretty bad."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"It isn't as bad as feeling it first hand, but it ain't the greatest to have either." Scharf explained, huffing a breath of air. "But it's a good lesson to yourself, if you can see it that way."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Unless you're a white mage. Our purpose is to heal those kind of injuries." Zelkova stated. "It's a shame I never met you during those times. You could still have that eye by now."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I made it this far without it. I think it wouldn't have changed anything." Scharf commented. "Though, I'm sure me in the past would have really appreciated it."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"There was silence among the party, before the sound distant... explosions, from what it sounded like, was heard. They all turned their heads ahead of themselves, seeing the sands rise high up in the air, forming mountains of unimaginable sizes far in the distance./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Please tell me I'm imagining this..." Vanessa asked in a nervous tone./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Fallen shook her head. "No... this is real."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Fantastic..." Vanessa whispered, shaking her head./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"But... what could this mean for the soldiers battling it?" Zelkova asked./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Only one way to find out." Bereit said, as he marched forward. "Let's just hope there aren't too many that were killed."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"And once that was said, Fallen felt her heart sink at those words. Of course, she wasn't blaming herself at all, but the idea of seeing a whole army being beaten by an Erpel didn't sit well with her. Then again, who would it sit well with?/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"3/span/span/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"rd/span/span/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;" person (Bereit)/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Bereit and his party all rushed for the newly formed mountains, as they were shown the mountains weren't fully formed just yet. Giant shards of solid rock came out of the mountains, like barricades in a fort./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Once again, the party was met with a problem./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Well, that's just great." Scharf commented. "Now how are we gonna get to that Erpel?"/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Bereit sighed, clenching his fist. "And we were so close too..." He added. "I doubt we can get up there on our own." And he didn't plan to use his Lord powers either./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Maybe we can break through?" Vanessa suggested. "Not with a vehicle, but maybe with enough things thrown at it. Like catapults, or missiles or whatever."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"But where are we gonna find that?" Imbir asked./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Everyone looked at each other, as if any of them had an answer. But as it turned out, one of them did./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"3/span/span/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"rd/span/span/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;" person (Fallen)/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I do." Fallen answered, as she took a step forward. "My parents."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Everyone had a shocked expression, hearing what she had just said./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Fallen..." Bereit spoke up. "But th-"/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I know. They just about want me dead..." Fallen said, obviously exaggerating. "But this is probably our best bet. I can convince them. I know I can." She explained to him, more-so the group. "And I'm not taking no for an answer on this. We have to do this."/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Everyone was silent for a moment. "We accept your decision on this, Fallen. It's just..." Zelkova spoke up, looking at Bereit and Imbir. "Are your parents not familiar with Bereit and Imbir?"/span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"I told you, I can convince them. The fact that I'm with Bereit and Imbir won't even be an issue." Fallen explained./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"And... it ends with you being with us in the end... right?" Vanessa asked, looking at her./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Fallen was silent, her eyes looking around the party, before she nodded hesitantly. "Of course." Fallen answered./span/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"Save your game up to this point?br /br /Yesbr /No/span/span/span/p