Chapter 7: Reinforcements
Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online or anything associated with it.
High in the sky, four glowing balls of magic rocketed away from Juno and toward the southern part of the kingdom. As the four orbs shot over Al De Baran, their paths diverged as they blasted toward three different destinations. Two of the orbs followed nearly the exact same path into the south eastern regions of the kingdom, while the other two flew south-west of Al De Baran, heading toward the same region of the kingdom but not to the same destination. Each of the orbs had been magically programmed to seek out a specific person, and they arrowed toward their final destinations at tremendous speeds.
Silent as a shadow, a hunter moved through the dense forests outside of Payon. Above him, his falcon barely rustled the leaves of the trees as they both stalked a single creature. As he peered around the tree he was hiding behind, the hunter focused on his prey. The small grey raccoon, called a smokie, was crouched in the center of a small forest clearing nearby. This particular smokie was also clutching a small headband topped with cat ears, which is the reason the hunter was after it. The smokie had stolen the hairband from Payon Town two days ago, and the hunter had been searching for it ever since. Quietly drawing an arrow from his quiver and fitting it on the bowstring, the hunter prepared to dispose of the thieving raccoon and take the headband back to town.
Without warning, a brightly glowing fireball dropped out of the sky and through the clearing in the forest. The smokie looked up in surprise and was about to bolt when the glowing ball of energy slammed into it, causing a small explosion that knocked the hunter off his feet and caused all of the animals within a few hundred feet to scatter into the forest. As the hunter staggered back to his feet, he looked back at the clearing to see what had happened to the smokie. A small crater was all that remained where the smokie had stood, but for some reason the headband still lay in the center of the crater, with the orb of magic floating above it. Realizing what the orb was, the hunter stepped out of the shadow of the trees and approached it. As he drew near, the orb expanded and transformed into a glowing image of the wizard Sigma, which began speaking.
"Kihake, I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time. I'm sure you remember all of the old legends we used to hear about and investigate. It turns out that some of those might actually be true. So, if you want to fight a legendary monster that's stronger than anything you've ever seen before, please come to Prontera city immediately."
Sigma's image collapsed in on itself and vanished, leaving behind a small wing-shaped object on the ground next to the hairband. Kihake picked both items up, grinned, and then crushed the wing in his hand. With a flash of blue light, the hunter and his falcon were gone from the clearing and back in the city. After returning the hairband, Kihake set off for the center of the city to find an acolyte to send him to Prontera.
Far in the southwest region of the kingdom, in the resort city of Comodo, two sisters were busily cleaning up the inn room they had been staying in for a week in preparation for their departure from the town. The older sister, a priestess, had heard that adventurers flocked to Comodo to fight seal-shaped monsters called Sea Otters. Since the journey to the beach where the seals resided was arduous and tough, anyone with warp portals could make a fair bit of profit selling warps to the seals' beach. The priestess's sister, a knight, had followed her to investigate several local legends. Soon after arriving, the two sisters had discovered that there were so many priests, priestesses, and acolytes in the town that warp prices were extremely low, and so they had decided to return to traveling once again. As they were preparing to leave, two glowing balls of magic shot out of the Comodo sky, passed through the windows of their room like ghosts, and startled them both. Once they recognized the orbs, however, they calmed down and waited for the orbs to present their messages. The two orbs hovered for a moment before they flickered, melded together, and coalesced into a single image of Sigma which began speaking.
"Lucretia and Tsuzumi. I'm sure you both remember all of the times our old guild tried to find explanations for local rumors all across the world. It turns out that many of those rumors may actually be true. Please come to Prontera city immediately and I'll explain more."
The image vanished, leaving behind a blue stone on the floor of the inn. Lucretia walked over to the stone, picked it up, and examined it for a moment.
"Could you check us out of the hotel while I finish packing, Tsuzumi?" Lucretia asked her sister.
"Sure," replied the knight. Tsuzumi left the room while the priestess finished gathering all of their belongings. Once the knight had returned, Lucretia created a portal with the gemstone she had received and the two sisters stepped through the vortex and out of Comodo.
West of Payon and its forests, deep within the desert, another hunter wrapped a cloak around his face as he struggled toward Morroc through a blinding sandstorm. He had been hunting in Ant Hell for quite some time, but upon exiting he had discovered not only a raging sandstorm but also that he had forgotten to bring a butterfly wing. As he forged through the howling winds and the stinging sand, a bright light suddenly appeared in the sky hurtling straight toward him. The magic sphere plunged into the storm and, as it neared the hunter, pulsed once. As the sphere pulsed, the sand whipping around the hunter seemed to be forced back and a sphere of calm surrounded the sphere and the hunter. The sphere glowed and then transformed into an image of Sigma.
"Elohim, I'm sure you remember all of the legends and rumors our old guild used to investigate. It turns out that many of them might be true. If you want to fight something more challenging than anything we've ever faced before, come to Prontera immediately."
The wizard's image vanished and a fly wing dropped out of the air onto the sand. Seizing his chance while the magic sphere of calm still held, Elohim grabbed the fly wing and crushed it in his hand, disappearing in a flash of blue light. Once he had reappeared in Morroc, the hunter quickly found an acolyte and purchased a warp to the capital city.
Upon arriving in Prontera, Sigma and Revaine sat down on a bench near the fountain in the center of the city.
"What are we waiting for?" asked the sage. "Shouldn't we be going to help your apprentice?"
"Yes, but there's no way we could take on that creature by ourselves. I asked a few of our old guildsmen to join us," replied the wizard. As he spoke, a hunter in blue clothes, a priestess and a knight, and another hunter all appeared out of thin air around the fountain.
"Here they are now," said Sigma as he rose to greet the new arrivals.
"Sigma and Revaine, good to see you both again," said Kihake as he, Tsuzumi, Lucretia, and Elohim all walked over to the bench.
"Yeah, good to see you again!" echoed Lucretia, Tsuzumi, and Elohim.
"So what did you call us here for?" asked Elohim.
"Come on, I'll show you. We have to hurry, so there isn't enough time to explain," replied Sigma. "This way, and hurry!" Following Sigma, the group set off for the West Gate. Along the way, Sigma and Revaine showed everyone the book with the picture of the giant insect.
"What is that thing?" asked Lucretia.
"We believe that that's some kind of thief bug leader. The reports of the thief bug infestation in the Culverts here match with some old Elvish records," replied Revaine. "Whatever it is, it's bound to be very powerful."
"Sounds like fun," said Kihake. The group reached the Culvert entrance and, after assuring the guard that they were there to help, hurried inside. At the bottom of the entrance ramp, the six adventurers paused.
"So where is this golden thief bug?" asked Tsuzumi.
"I'd guess it's on the bottom floor. We should probably see if we can catch up with my apprentice Aya and her friend before they get there," said Sigma.
"Good idea. And one of us should try to find anyone else in the Culverts and get them all to meet us at the bottom. The more people we have, the better chance we'll stand against the creature," said Kihake. "Let's go."
"I'll find anyone else who's here. You all go on ahead," Revaine said. Revaine hurried off into the darkness of the Culverts while everyone else pulled small objects out of their packs, affixed them to their collars, and vanished in a series of flashes of light.