...
"I wish to court you."
"Master Yukihana, I wish you could refrain from saying that so casually."
"Why not? I am rich. I have everything you need. And besides, I like you very much. That you could tell. "
I do not wish to be fired from my job when your mother hears about this."
"Now now, listen here. I like you."
"Master, I am a human. Even if I said I wanted to be with you, I don't like thinking about the future where I'm old and you will be there, still young, by the side, crying."
"That's in the future, you see. And, is that a confession? "
"Damn it, Master!"
Message:
There are personalities of the Holo-members that will be mentioned that could be, errr, a bit or even a lot different from usual, or it's just me with the lore stuff tweaking with their perks.
Without further ado, please enjoy and read.
"Signals of Hololive 3: The Legend of IRyS"
CHAPTER 1: Rotten Confrontation
The sky was falling soft snow, but there was something wrong because thick smoke and the light of fire could be seen.
A young man could be seen running towards the burning town. He went to an alley, hoping for a shortcut, but only found a dead end. He grumbled under his breath before he heard a voice behind him. He looked back to see two Hobgoblins in full armor. They looked strong, but he appeared to have no patience with them.
He demanded to know where the people were. The hobgoblins merely laughed at him and tried to kill him. But that was a mistake. Before they could take a step, the Hobgoblin from the right suddenly stopped before it was suddenly chopped into several pieces before its horrific stature fell on the snowy ground, alongside its armor.
The other hobgoblin screamed in terror. The man demanded the same thing again. This time, the monster answered and told him that it was just to the north in the building that looked super important. The young man then furiously kicked the monster to the side and was knocked unconscious by the wall.
He had an idea as to where that was—the Town Hall. As he made his way through the cold yet hot air, he observed that the fire was not that massive yet, mostly thanks to the cold, but it was only a matter of time before everything fell. He passed through a certain building and noticed several giant spiders trying to bust through the door of a house. He heard an old man angrily yelling at the spider while waving his sword just by the gap of the entrance as the spider screeched.
The young man decided to save the old man inside and provoked the spiders. The monsters heard his cry and turned to him instead. They launched at him, but it stood no chance against his strength and speed. Even after they shot a thick web at him to try and bind him, it merely stopped him a second before their inevitable end.
After that, the young man looked back to the house and saw an old man exiting by the entrance. The old man seemed to recognize the young man as he thanked him for saving his life. The young man just simply nodded before asking where the others were. The old man replied that they were just up ahead, being cornered by the monsters in the Town Hall.
The young man told him to quickly leave the place before he rushed on his way to the location. Upon arrival, he was shocked to see a bunch of hobgoblins, a burning demon and a dark elf, with the last one seeming to be holding down a young woman in his hand... with a bunch of corpses just behind them.
The dark elf appeared to be surprised to see him as he ordered the demon to kill him. The monster complied with his order and roared at the young man. However, the young man was not looking at the monster, but rather, at the young woman who was struggling in the grip of the dark elf.
This made the young man angry after seeing her current state and, not to mention, the corpses of whom he recognized as the villagers of this place.
The burning demon and the hobgoblins faced the young man. Although he was outnumbered, it proved to be nothing from the young man's anger as he slaughtered each of them. He then faced the burning demon, who fought back. The two stood equal for a moment before the young man got the upper hand and sliced the monster in half.
The young man let out a deep sigh before he turned to the dark elf and called his name with anger in his tone; "Umeo". He demanded to let the young woman, whom he called his sister, go. His sister cried for help, and she appeared to be desperate. Not to mention, pain, as the young man also noticed that her left arm was twisted in a gruesome way.
Upon noticing this, it made the young man angry. Without waiting for a response, he immediately charged at Umeo. However, out of the young man's sight, the dark elf placed his hand on the young woman's back before jumping back swiftly to dodge the young man's attack. The young man chased after Uemo before he felt a powerful blow from behind, almost knocking him out unconscious.
But he coughed out blood and pain invaded his mind, forcing him back to reality. He looked behind and saw his sister looking down at him with an angry expression. She was holding a hammer, and a clear killing intent could be seen from her eyes.
The young man quickly noticed that something was wrong and angrily asked Umeo about this. The dark elf appeared to be amused at the situation. The young man looked back only to dodge another attack from his sister while keeping his eyes on Umeo. The dark elf simply told him that he had let his sister's true colors reveal themselves; and that humans are always a race that shows great distress in itself amongst any race. He doesn't believe it as he blocked his sister's attacks with his sword.
Umeo merely laughed as he told him that his sister was jealous of his achievements and sometimes she would plot something against him. She did not do it though, out of respect and love for him. The dark elf merely opened the door to her true nature, of course, by supplementing her with some dark magic.
The young man could not believe it. He doesn't want to. But try as he wanted, he knew that it was true. He knew that his sister was jealous of him, but he paid it no mind, thinking that maybe she needed a room to sort herself out. But it could not be any worse, but he still would not believe it.
Not after he saw her asking for his help from Umeo's grip.
However, in his thoughts, he got distracted as his sister's attack landed on his side. He felt himself flying through the air before he coughed out blood and fell hard on the ground, clutching his side in pain.
His sister then walked towards her, until her shadow was cast over his body. He looked up at her, pleading with her to stop. But his words appeared to not reach her eyes as she raised her hammer.
The young man closed his eyes and a tear flowed down. He then cried for help. And suddenly, he felt an urge to fight back.
He slammed his hand as renewed energy flowed to him, and let out a cry before he quickly lifted himself up and pulled back his sword in hand.
...he does not know what happened clearly. All he remembered was a whimper coming from a little girl.
...
A young boy lay on the grassy field under the shady part of the tree, facing the sky, which was bright and eyes were closed and he appeared to be resting when a man walked towards him and started to wake him up. The man called the boy's name "Ayer" as the said boy started to squirm. The boy woke up to greet the man known as the Hunter. The man reminded the young boy that he would be attending the ritual for his adulthood.
The boy appeared to be confused as to why he was called to attend the ritual when he was just at a young age. The man simply sighed and told him that he needed to. The Hunter attended it when he was just a few years younger than him, so he told Ayer to hurry up and meet the Keeper and the Chief.
Ayer followed the hunter behind as they entered a village. It was their village. "Hope" is its name. He went past a blacksmith and a small market stall before he turned around and met two young girls. One of which appeared to catch his eyes. Her name was "Riss". Ayer nervously greeted the two girls, his eyes spectacularly failing to meet Riss's.
The young boy had a thing for her, so he was very nervous in front of Riss. Though the girl misunderstood his uneasiness as she told him that everything would be fine in their ritual-she was also part of it.
However, the second young girl asked Riss to hurry up, and the two decided to leave. Ayer let out a sigh of relief as he made his way inside a wooden house that looked like a church. He entered the room to see a woman dressed in a robe and was happy to see him. He paid the woman, the Keeper, with respect and asked when the ritual would start. The woman replied that it would be tomorrow. She and the chief of the village are thinking of making Ayer go first so as to make a way easier for Riss.
This made the boy sad and pleaded with the woman to let them go together. The woman asked why, and the boy replied that he would confess to her tomorrow. And the good time to do it would be at the finish line of the ritual. The woman merely giggled as she understood his request, but she would have to talk about it with the Chief first.
The following day came, the villagers all gathered together to cheer for the two kids-Ayer and Riss-along with the woman in a robe and a man dressed as an old warrior, who was the Chief. The old warrior gave his blessing to the two as he made them put on leather armor for extra protection from the monsters they might encounter.
The two kids thanked the Chief, then he gave the two a task to get at least one leaf from a sacred tree in the north and return back here for them to be proclaimed as adults and live life independently. The two accepted the task and started to move on.
The two exited the village and went straight north. Along the way, they talked to each other about random things about which they could talk. At the same time, they are also defeating small monsters along the way to gain some experience. Finally, they reached the Sacred Tree Ground.
Before they could reach the tree, however, Ayer asked Riss to stop. She did and asked what was wrong. The boy tried to gather his courage and was about to tell her his feelings for her when a painful yet deep growl interrupted them. They looked ahead and saw an orc stumbling towards the tree before falling on the ground with a heavy thud.
This got a concerned look from both kids, but Riss noticed deep wounds and arrows sticking out from the orc. She decided to approach the orc and heal him, only for her to be stopped by Ayer, who told her that it was dangerous to get close to an orc, for they are a very dangerous race. But Riss pushes him away, telling him that if he is afraid, then he should just go away. This made Ayer hesitate, but he nonetheless complied.
The young girl approached the orc and asked what had happened. The orc looked at her with a tired expression before hoarsely replying to her name; "Hundar". He told her that a group of rogues were hunting him. While listening to his story, Riss started healing him, and the orc thanked her for her kindness. Meanwhile, Ayer simply watched with caution as he held a wooden sword that was strapped around his waist.
Suddenly, the orc sensed something. He quickly instructed the children to hide behind the tree and to not make any asked why, but the orc insisted that there was no time left. Hundar looked at Ayer for a moment before he pulled an item behind him and gave it to the boy. The orc warned the boy not to let this go and to hide.
The two kids hid behind the Sacred Tree. The orc then pulled a bunch of bushes and leaves around them, hiding them under the thick foliage. He gave a'shhh' before looking back in front. The two kids peeked at what was going on. They watched as Hundar turned around and brought out the axe, as if he was preparing for something. Then a small group of men who were dressed like bandits appeared from the road.
However, one of them dressed differently, so it appears to be the leader. The person was dressed darker than the bandits' and was joyous to see Hundar alive. The orc angrily growled at him and called him by his name; "Dread."
Dread let out a dark chuckle before he demanded the orc to give him the gauntlets, which Hundar strongly refused, and the orc roared at him, signaling a fight. The leader of the group noticed that the orc looked a little healthier than before, but he simply grinned evilly. The orc charged right at him and showed his imposing figure in front of the human.
But it was for naught as Dread kicked Hundar by the side of his face. The orc coughed out blood and stumbled to the side. The evil man chuckled as he told the bandits to kill the orc. The bandits complied and surrounded the orc, and with their blades, they began to repeatedly attack the weakened orc.
Ayer and Riss were holding their mouths as shock and fear could be seen plastered on their faces while they watched Hundar die from the onslaught. Dread then ordered the bandits to search for the gauntlets around the area. That's why Ayer and Riss started panicking as the girl wondered what to do now. Ayer held her hand and told her to not move.
The bandits searched around the area. They looked around until one of them got close to the tree where the kids were until the said bandit was distracted by something.
It took some time, but they could not find the item they were looking for. The man was angry and ordered everyone to search everywhere, and eventually, all of them left.
The kids stayed behind the Sacred Tree a little longer before they decided to come out. They approached the orc's dead body. Riss was shocked to see such gore and a traumatic scene before them. Ayer could only comfort her. He then told her to go back to the village and report this to the chief.
They returned back to the village, with the Chief and the Keeper waiting for them by the entrance. It appeared to be a cheer of welcome for their return, but when the two adults saw what was wrong with their looks, they asked what happened.
Ayer explained to them what transpired and showed the Chief the gauntlets. The Chief told him that the gauntlets must be a priceless treasure for the orc to even lay down his own life to not give this to an evil hand. Then the Chief saw a small piece of paper sticking out of the gauntlets. It showed a map that led somewhere.
The Chief gave this to Ayer and told him that he needed to go to this place. Riss suggested that she go instead, because she was the one who took responsibility for approaching the orc. The young boy, however, does not want that, and he can see in Riss's eyes that unyielding decision.
That's right, they're adults now. They can now decide for themselves. With that in mind, Ayer simply sighed as he told the Chief that the two of them would go there together.
The Chief was thankful for the two. And judging by this fact, the chief concluded that they might arrive at the said village by night if they decided to go now. The two kids are unsure but would like to proceed and return to their homes to be prepared.
It was almost dusk and the two kids met the Chief at the east of the village. Along with the Keeper, they blessed the children with good luck before the two headed out.
Thankfully enough, the path they're following according to the map was safe and no threatening monsters could be seen roaming around. Ayer and Riss made their way to a small hill and alleys when they suddenly encountered a small group of bandits. The kids immediately recognized that they were the same men as that scary person with a scary name—Dread. They decided to walk away, but the bandits caught up to them.
The bandits asked the kids what they were doing out here, and even more so, suspiciously enough. Ayer tried to lie his way through, but they're not buying it. When it was not working, Ayer quickly held Riss by the hand and they fled away fast, barely missing the grasp of the bandits by a small step. Fortunately, they seemed to be faster than their pursuers, but it was only a matter of time before they were caught up again.
In the distance, they found a tunnel. The two kids saw a man dressed in black who casually greeted them. But the kids were in a hurry, so they could only look at the man before heading north. The man in black looked at them with confusion before he was met with a bunch of bandits who asked if he saw two kids running from here.
The man pointed southward, and so the bandits went in that direction. A few moments later, Ayer and Riss emerged from their hiding places and approached the man. They thanked him greatly for not exposing them. The man told them that it was nothing and that he would go now. The man then patted Ayer's head and told him to be more careful before he walked out of the tunnel completely, leaving Ayer and Riss glad enough to find another path.
After they left the area, the man in black could be last seen looking back at the tunnel before he looked away, not before smiling.
Thankfully, the path they happened to be on is the same as it was on the map. The only thing that separates them from their destination is a cave called Windy Cavern. They entered the cave only to find puzzles and small monsters that had the ability to use wind magic. Fortunately, the monsters they fought just put up a good fight and are not really that dangerous. As for the puzzles, they involved a lot of match-making symbols and pushing. It took awhile, but they solved it and the exit was open.
They exited the cave and sat beside the bark of a tree. They were exhausted from the run and, not to mention, the things they had to do in the cave. Ayer then noticed that there was a bunch of snow on the ground, and an idea popped into his mind.
The two decided to play snowballs; well, it was Ayer's provocation to Riss that led to the situation. But nonetheless, it was fun and they seemed to enjoy it. As they had their fill, however, that fun ended when Riss threw the snow too far ahead and it alerted something from afar.
Several grunts could be heard as Ayer noticed this and he backed Riss up. A group of orcs had emerged, clad in steel and leather armor, and demanded to know what a pair of human kids were doing here. The atmosphere was dangerously thin, but Riss quickly noticed that what they were wearing was similar to Ubac's clothing and told Ayer about it. So, the boy quickly showed the gauntlets to them, and the orcs were shocked.
The orcs started to talk to one another, probably about what to do next. And it turns out that the gauntlets proved to be too important for Ayer to understand yet.
