Chapter One

"In the Beginning..."

This is a story of a boy named Miguel. He was a Swordsman. Miguel is a citizen of Rune-Midguard, the country of magic, a country located between the country of Asguard and Midguard, the most prosperous and advanced of all the countries, where the Elves can be found.

He loved sparring with his friend named James. He was a normal boy, living a normal life. But one day, all of this changed…

One day, Miguel was walking through the forest, heading towards the academy, when he heard a girl scream. Being a (heroic) Swordsman, he ran towards the source of the scream. There, he saw an old friend, Anna, an Acolyte. A strange-looking creature was attacking her. It looked like a wolf standing on it's own two legs. It had a tail of a snake, and the claws of an eagle. When the creature tried to attack Anna, Miguel jumped in front of Anna and slashed the creature. But unfortunately, he was not strong enough, so he hurdled back, as the creature continued its attack on Anna.

Miguel then closed his eyes, not wanting to see the death of Anna. Anna then, also, closed her eyes in fright. Then they suddenly heard the creature scream in pain. When they opened their eyes, they only saw each other and the dead creature on the floor.

Miguel, sensing that they were not alone, said in a loud voice, "come out! Show yourself!". From out of nowhere, a voice came out saying, " as you wish…". A person then suddenly

appeared in front of them. It was an Assassin.

Miguel, knowing that he was no match against an assassin, just said, "Don't come any closer! It's two against one! You are no match!". "Is this the way you say, "thank you" for saving your life?" the assassin said. The assassin then shook his head and said, " the weaker they are… the loader they bark…". "What's that suppose to mean? Are you mocking me?" Miguel said in anger while holding his sword. The assassin then looked at Miguel and said, "judging by the way you handled against that monster, do you think you have a chance against me?". Knowing that the assassin was right, Miguel backed out, saying, "I'm warning you…". He then got Anna's hand (Anna, then blushed) and walked away.

After their experience with the assassin, they headed for the academy, the place where the Swordsman Guild is located, and where swordsmen are recruited. As they were heading for the academy, they noticed that they stumbled on a place that looked like a grave. They noticed that there were corpses of males and females (duh) all around the place. The female corpses were wearing Chinese Royal dresses that were red. The males were wearing the same, but only blue. But what was strange was that all the corpses were wearing talismans on their faces, covering their faces. The only way that they were able to differentiate male from female was that the females had long hair tied up (Chinese Style) and the males had shorter hair. They also noticed that the corpses were not cut, damaged, or burned in any way. The bodies were as if they had just died!

Miguel and Anna just continued walking, not minding the corpses. The corpses suddenly stood-up. The dead bodies then started moving towards Miguel and Anna. But they were not walking, they were hopping (that's weird)! Miguel then asked Anna, "what are they?". Anna then replied, "the ones wearing red are called Munaks. They are the females. The ones wearing blue are called Bonguns. They are the males, and the more powerful ones. They were thought to be demi-human, but after some scholars started studying these creatures, they were proven to be undead.". One of the Munaks then came close to Miguel, and attacked him. The Munaks and Bonguns then started attacking Miguel and Anna. Miguel, naturally, fought back.

But, because of their lack of experience, they were eventually cornered. As Miguel and Anna fought for survival, they noticed that the number of the Munaks and Bonguns was decreasing very quickly. They then noticed that a person was helping them at the back of the group of Munaks and Bonguns. When the number of the Munaks and Bonguns was already little, they were able to get at clear view of the person helping them. It was the assassin from a while ago!

When all the Munaks and Bonguns were killed, Miguel approached the assassin asking, "Why are you following us? Are you our guardian angel or something?". The assassin then replied saying, "not yours, HER'S". The assassin then approached Anna, and whispered to her, "By the way you two look at each other, I can see that you two are old friends, so I think that he would understand it better if you would explain". Anna, understanding the point of her "assassin-like guardian" looked at Miguel and said, "This is Joshua. He is my friend, and like a big brother to me. When we were walking in the forest, we were attacked by hundreds of those wolf-like creatures (don't know the name). To protect me, Joshua lured them to another part of the forest. All of them chased him, except one. The one that was left behind was about to attack me, so I ran away. While I was running, I tripped. The monster then caught-up with me. That is when you came in". Miguel, still confused, asked, "why does Joshua need to protect you?". Joshua then whispered to Anna and said, "you tell him…". Anna then said, "I am going to be a priest. I am almost one…" (blush). Miguel then said in shock, "how did you get so strong?". Anna then smiled and looked at Joshua. Miguel then understood.

Before anyone could say anything, Anna said, "Miguel, would you like to join us?". Miguel then paused for a moment, and then nodded.

Miguel, Anna, and Joshua then headed for the exit. They were hoping that they wouldn't find any monsters on the way, but luck wasn't on their side that day. A group of Munaks and Bonguns were hopping (not running) towards them. Joshua then said, "Go! I will hold them back for you. Keep Anna safe!". Miguel, realizing his responsibility, nodded. He then grabbed Anna's hand (again) and ran for the exit.

But as fate has said, conflict can never be avoided. They came face-to-face with a group of Munaks and Bonguns. The group of undead then surrounded them. But then, they heard some of the undead scream in pain (not squealing). The Munaks and Bonguns were dying one by one. They then saw an assassin. The assassin then killed the undead blocking their way. Thinking that it was Joshua, they went ahead and headed for the exit.

But one munak saw them running and started chasing them (by hopping). Since Miguel and Anna were running from the munak, they didn't see it take a turn at one of the turns (you could either go straight or make a turn. Miguel, holding Anna's hand, went straight, while the munak made a turn). Since they were not very good at running, they became tiered and stopped for a moment. They then looked back and saw that the munak was gone. When they got their stamina back up, they started running again. When they caught sight of the exit, they saw that the munak that was chasing them was next to the exit. It was blocking the exit, so they had no choice but to face it.

Miguel then felt rage in him. He got his sword and said, "Bash!". Miguel then delivered a mighty blow at the munak, thus, killing it. Anna then said, "WOW! Your so strong!". "Not really. I am just new" Miguel replied back. A group of munaks and bonguns then started heading toward them. Then they saw, not one, but two assassins. They thought that Joshua was moving so fast that he was creating a mirror-image of himself. Joshua then said, "go! We'll hold them back!.". Miguel then said, "WE?".. Joshua then said, "just go! I will explain later!". Anna then said to Miguel, "Lets go". Miguel then nodded and 9once again) grabbed Anna's hand and headed for the exit.

Since the exit was just near, they were out in just a few minuets. Outside, they saw Miguel's sparring-partner, James. James then asked, "what were you doing in the grave?". Before Miguel could answer, James walked towards Miguel and whispered, "who's that cute girl next to you?". Miguel then replied, "this is Anna …". Anna then interrupted and said, "Hi". Miguel then continued, saying , "…an old friend of mine". (Miguel then said to himself, "cute?".)

They then remembered about Joshua. Miguel asked, "what happened to Joshua?". "I don't know… but we shouldn't worry. He should be fine" Anna said. Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of footprints, coming form the grave. It was Joshua! But Joshua was not alone when he was walking out of the grave. He was with another assassin!

The assassin then said, "Hi. My name is Mark. I am an old friend of Joshua.". Anna then said, "hi. My name is…". Mark interrupted Anna, saying, "don't worry, I know you already. You are Anna and you are Miguel. Joshua likes talking while fighting. It keeps him from getting board (heh).". "Anna then said, "since you're an old friend of Joshua, would you like to join our party?". Mark then said, "sure! Why not?". Alright then! It is settled! We are four in the party! (no one is noticing James)