Hidden Strengths

"Chen!"

I was leaving base 3 of the Scavengers of Flaris, heading for the city when Nelo came running up behind me.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Hitting the job office?"

"Of course."

"You actually plan on taking a job this time?"

"Nelo…"

"Ok. I'm just saying. It's been six months."

"So I should stop trying to find out who I am?"

"I didn't say that Chen. All I'm saying is that trying to figure out your past doesn't have to hold back your future."

We stood in silence a moment longer. A slight gust of wind rolled across Flaris.

"Besides, you still owe me a ton of money." Nelo finally said, with a smile. "I hope you don't plan on riding my coat tails forever."

"Fine."

"Good. I'm going to come along though."

"What? Why?"

"Well, it's been a while since I've taken a job at the office. Besides, I get the feeling you might need my help. You're still a little green after all."

With a sigh I replied, "Whatever, let's just go."

We took the same familiar path leading around to the Northwest entrance into Flaris. It had been six months since that strange day waking up on an island in the sky, discovering a world that was my own and yet very unknown to me. It was also six months since I joined the guild, The Scavengers with the help of my friend Nelo Rohe. He had been a great asset to me, helping me become adjusted to life on this strange continent. Much like a newborn though, I still seemed to have things to learn.

As we passed into the Market Circle, the city seemed to be busier than usual.

"What's going on do you think?" I asked Nelo.

"They're just getting prepared for the tournament in two days."

"Tournament?"

"Yeah, about once a year the four cities hold a tournament for warriors."

"Here in Flaris?"

"Well, no. At least, not this year. They rotate the main tournament location between the four cities. This year it's going to be held in Saint Morning."

"Then why?"

"Each city holds their own tournament to determine what four fighters they will be sending to the main one to represent their city. At each of the individual tournaments, there are no restrictions on those who can enter. Often enough though, they get complete amateurs who enter just for the fun."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not really. If you're losing you can concede, and even if someone loses there's very little chance of death at the tournament."

"How's that?"

Nelo looked at me a moment then answered.

"I'll show you after we hit the job office."

We continued on past Market Circle, the bustle of the shop keepers, and everyone else preparing things for the following day. When we got to the East Circle of Flaris, we found a rather large group of people gathered around the job office and Mikyel. She had two other ladies with her apparently helping. She looked up and saw Nelo and I watching her, and hurriedly came over to us.

"I'm sorry Chen, there still isn't any news or anything, so I'll have to see you next week ok?"

"That's alright," I replied. "But I also wanted to try taking a job Mikyel."

She looked surprised.

"Really? Well, that's great! Ok…umm…I don't really have the time to help right now due to the enormous number of tournament entries, but feel free to check the board for something. There should be a few jobs still up."

"Mikyel!" One of her helpers shouted.

"Come back later and we'll talk ok?"

Mikyel rushed back to the crowded table and began to work again. I looked at Nelo, who had a peculiar smile on his face.

"What are you smiling about?"

"I think Mikyel's sweet on you, that's all."

"Oh, shut up."

I pushed past Nelo and went to the bulletin board to stare at it's nearly blank face. My eyes instinctively started at the center, where I saw again the missing persons job from when I first began searching for myself. Each time I looked at those black eyes I couldn't help but feel sad. I felt compelled to do something, and as I reached out to grab the flier, Nelo put his hand on my shoulder.

"I think, this one should do just fine." Nelo said picking out a small, slightly decorated flier. "Let's go."

I looked back at the missing person once more before following after Nelo.

"So, what's the job?"

"Collecting some items for decorations and such in the upcoming tournament. Shouldn't be anything the two of us can't handle. We just need to get you a weapon."

"A What?"

"A weapon. The things we need are only found in demons. I was hoping to get to this sort of thing a little sooner really, but this job actually works fine."

"Wait, why would I have needed this kind of experience at all? Who would we need to fight?"

"We may be a neutral guild which keeps us pretty safe from any problems having to do with each nation's governments, but sometimes we're targeted by pirates or similar problems."

We arrived at the weapon smith, Boboku's shop.

"Which would you prefer chen, raw power or speed and precision?"

"Um, the sword I guess?"

"Speed and precision it is. How much Boboku?"

"For you Nelo I'll bring the price down to a meager 14,000 penya."

"Yeah, meager my…whatever we'll take it."

Nelo held out the sword for me. The blade wasn't nearly as heavy as I would have thought, taking it in my hands for the first time. Nelo turned back to me after paying for the weapon.

"Alright, let's go. Just follow me."

We each touched the center panel of our belts and waited as from each, came glowing squares that proceeded to unfold out into nearly flat, rectangular shaped boards that hovered mere inches from the ground. The two of us secured ourselves to our boards and began to fly.

We had headed northwest for quite a while before Nelo signaled for us to land. We descended toward a small camp site and stored our boards back to our belts. It was getting dark already so Nelo decided it would be best to camp for the night. Since the tournament wasn't until the day after tomorrow, he figured there would be plenty of time to collect what we needed and hand it all in tomorrow. There was already a fire going in the middle of the sizable encampment, as well as several people gathered around it. Nelo and I sat on a log together just on the outside of the fire's light.

"Why are all these tents and such already set up?" I asked.

"This camp site was set up and is maintained by Flari Pang. He made this little resting spot for those who come this far from Flaris and needed a place to gather themselves. Also, you noticed the lode light near here right?"

"Pretty hard to miss."

"Right. Well, he also set up camp here to study it. Some say he was commissioned by Lady Cerand, while others will claim any other leader of one of the four cities did. I don't think anybody knows for sure, but my opinion is that he just took a personal interest in it."

We all sat in silence for a while when my eyes began to slowly close. Nelo nudged me softly.

"What?" I asked sleepily.

"Sorry Chen, but you have to stay up just a bit longer."

"I hope you're joking Nelo."

"Afraid not. We have to wait for Flari to assign us a tent. I think he'll be along shortly though."

Another minute passed and I began to rock into sleep yet again when I heard a strange jingling sound coming toward the small group gathered at the fire. I squinted to see who was approaching. What I saw surprised me enough to cause me to fall back off the log. What had come into the light of the campfire was a strange blue birdlike creature, with a large white stomach and a small white spot over its right eye. It was almost as tall as I was, and strangely enough it was wearing a hat made out of what looked like large dried leaves, with a big blue bell connected at its top.

"Nelo, isn't that a demon?"

The rest of the people gathered around began to laugh a little. Nelo stood up and helped me off the ground.

"This is Flari Pang."

"This thing is Flari?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Thing!?" The creature spoke, visibly angry.

"He didn't mean anything by that Flari. He's just sorta…young." Nelo interjected.

"Not young enough to dismiss. Where'd he learn his manners Nelo, those Demians down the hill or something?"

"Not that I know of. Look, he's just tired so if you'd just assign us our tent, then…"

"Fine, fine, take tent six. I'm preparing the morning meal early, so if you don't wake up for it you can expect a cold breakfast."

"Thanks Flari, let's go Chen."

The two of us settled in for the night and Nelo blew out the lantern hanging inside the tent. I was just beginning to fade into sleep when Nelo woke me with his words.

"Try not to make assumptions when you see things like that ok? I know it can be confusing, especially given your condition, but understand that not all demons are evil, or violent. Some are even very kind and helpful like Flari, though unfortunately far less than those of the other sort. Understand?"

"Yeah."

"Ok then, good night Chen."

"Night Nelo."

The next morning I awoke to the smell of fresh biscuits and sausage. Nelo was already up and had eaten more than half of his meal. There was a full plate resting next to him.

"Thanks for waking me up." I said sarcastically.

"You didn't ask me to, and there's no real rush this morning anyways. If there were something important I would've woken you."

He lifted the other plate and I took it hungrily. We finished up breakfast and quickly thanked Flari. We were on our way further north when Flari grabbed my arm.
"Sometimes the past is better left forgotten, and sometimes the answers you are looking for aren't the answers you really want."

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"Chen, come on already!" Nelo shouted.

Flari released my arm and shuffled away quickly toward the lode light. I tried to drop what he had said, and ran to catch up with Nelo. There was a large bridge of rope and wood from where I caught up with Nelo that stretched for what seemed like a thousand feet to the cliff at the other side.

"We have to cross this thing? Why not just fly over it?" I asked flicking one of the ropes.

"You want to waste fuel on a couple hundred feet? It's safe, trust me. You should've seen this bridge before it as fixed up. There used to be a big hole about three quarters of the way down it."

He took a few steps on the creaking wood then turned his head to face me and said, "Just don't cross it while I'm still on." Then he continued on. I hesitated a moment, not sure if he was joking, then continued across.

We arrived on the other side safely and looking about, I could see many demons roaming the area before me. To our left there were flowers that were each as long as a human, but also with actual legs protruding from the stems. Then in the middle of their petals, were protruding beak like mouths. I watched them fascinated as they scurried about on all six of their legs. Directly ahead of us were many different colored human like cats.

"That's one of the things we're here for."

"The cats?"

"Nyangs they're called, but yes. We need to collect some items from them, and then the Bangs. They're just a little further that way." Nelo said pointing toward the northeast.

Nelo led me closer to the large gathering of nyangs.

"Is it dangerous to get this close?" I asked.

"Not really. Not all demons are aggressive remember?"

"But we're still going to kill them?"

Nelo looked at me a moment then said, "I understand how that must seem, but they have things we need, it isn't as though we just come out and slaughter them wholesale for fun. Not that it would matter much if we did."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, demons that are killed appear to be reborn. The time it takes always changes, but I don't think the population can ever actually be wiped out."

"That makes it right?"

"Did I say that it does? Right or wrong, that's just the way life here is, neither a practice in good nor evil. It is what it is. Can you handle that?"

Nelo seemed fairly irritated at this point so I answered simply, "Fine. I can handle it."

One of the nyangs began to stray from the group, walking no particular direction but still coming closer to where Nelo and I were standing. I watched it a moment longer, then it stopped suddenly mid step and its ears stood straight up.

"What's that one doing?" I asked.

"I'm not sure."

Nelo had just gotten out that last word when the nyang looked directly in our direction and its eyes began to glow red. It let out a sharp hissing sound and came running at the two of us.

"Draw your sword Chen!"

I obeyed and held my sword in front of me. Much to my surprise, Nelo stepped out of the way and the nyang charged directly at me. When it got close enough, I swung the sword downward into the creature's shoulder. I looked in shock while, even though the blade bit into the creature a good inch or so, there was no blood. The nyang screamed in pain, but did not fall. Instead it swung its right clawed paw connecting with my cheak, knocking me sideways.

I looked over at the nyang and was surprised to see the wound I left seemed as though it had no real effect. The area that was hit was simply white. The nyang charged once more and swept high with its right paw again. I ducked the attack and swung my sword across its belly as it passed. Once the demon had fully passed me I continued the motion of my swing across its back. There was still no blood, yet the nyang was visibly hurt.

"You should finish it now Chen, before it gathers enough energy to strike again."

Nelo was right. The nyang already seemed to be preparing to continue the fight. I made the first move, this time raising the sword high above my head then leaping at the demon, swinging down with all my strength and weight. Unlike the first three strikes, which left only white streaks where the sword had connected, this attack split the nyangs skull in half spurting blood onto my clothes. I stumbled back in shock as the monster's dead body slumped to the earth.

"What? I don't…" I struggled to find the words I wanted.

"You beat down its spirit. You see, all living creatures in this world have a spirit that forms a natural shield around their bodies, protecting them from certain amounts of harm, much like your first three strikes. It's the exact same thing that kept the nyang from tearing a good chunk out of your face earlier, or even drawing blood for that matter."

I put one hand on the cheek that the nyang scratched and then looked at it. There was no blood.

"However, once this shield takes too much damage, you become dangerously open to attack. Once the shield is broken, you can be killed."

"So this is what keeps the tournament relatively safe then? You can somewhat gauge how much more damage the shield can take?"

"Somewhat. All people have different strengths, which means different amounts of punishment one person's spirit can take next to another…and also how much damage one does to another person's spirit as well. For the fights that get a little too intense or are badly matched, there are powerful assists ready to help."

"Assists?"

"Yes. Magic users who specialize mostly in supportive and curative crafts. The powerful ones can prevent true death. You see, once you die, there is a small window of time where an assist will be able to keep the soul from completely abandoning the body. If they are allowed time to concentrate, they can heal the body enough to prevent the soul from escaping, saving the life. Only the most skilled generally even attempt this procedure as it is fairly draining on both the assist, and even the revived soul usually is still so weak they can barely move. Luckily, Lady Cerand and Sir Yob are the most powerful assists in the world, and they always attend the tournament."

"Who is Sir Yob?"

Nelo walked to the fallen nyang body and pulled my sword from it. He held my sword out for me and pulled me to my feet once I grabbed the handle. Then before my eyes, the body of the nyang began to dissolve. After the corpse was gone, there were some items left behind which Nelo picked up and stored quickly. He turned to me and answered.

"Sir Yob, is Lady ceran'ds right hand. Though he is much more than that. As powerful as Lady Cerand is, no being alive can create an external shield as powerful as Yob can. Seeing Lady Cerand's yourself, I'm sure you can understand just what that means. Of course more importantly than any of that, is the fact that they are also lovers."

"Lovers?"

"Yes, though it's somewhat of an unknown fact. Probably due to the fact that they don't much show it. Or more specifically, she doesn't. Enough of that though. We still need more of these, and given that as your first fight, I'd say we're in decent shape. Let's go see if we can pick off another wanderer."

The two of us headed a little closer to the main group of nyangs. Suddenly, the entire group began sniffing the air, and like the wanderer, their ears all stood straight up. The entire group shifted their gaze at us and we could only stare back at about a dozen pairs of fiercely red glowing eyes.

"This doesn't look quite right…" Nelo began, when the entire group broke into runs, stampeding in our direction.

"Get ready Chen!" Nelo yelled, drawing two swords and rushing the entire pack of nyangs.

After the battle, Nelo collected all that we needed and decided it was time to move on. I was quite tired at this point, but Nelo didn't seem phased at all. He defeated most of the nyangs on his own, and without very much trouble. Even though I was tired, I followed along to face the next group of demons.

The bangs were giant metallic beings. They stood more than twice the size of either me or Nelo, with a hammer and crescent shaped blade in place of each of its hands.

"You must be joking! We're going to fight those things?" I asked.

"Yeah, why not? Don't worry about it, they're generally stronger than nyangs, but we can handle it."

"Well I know that you can, the way you took on those nyangs and all."

"Hmm…alright then, I'll take care fo this then, you just watch my back in case things start to look bad."

"Sure."

Nelo pulled his dual swords out once more and strode towards the bangs. One nearest him attacked, swinging its giant mallet hand downward to crush him. I felt my heart jump slightly as all he did was hold up his blades, blocking the blow effortlessly. Nelo shifted the arm to his left, and once he moved closer his swords began to move seemingly of their own, cutting into the demon. The bang rocked forward and fell down into the earth just as Nelo moved swiftly out of the way. He continued on in this fashion on the others around him, moving quickly and striking them down with relative ease. I had begun picking up the parts we needed while Nelo fought, until there was a loud crashing noise coming from the trees to my left. Nelo just finished with on more when he came to where I was.

"Nelo?"

"Back up a little bit Chen."

Before I could, nearly the entire front row of trees exploded and a bang towered over us, dwarfing even all the other bangs by a great deal.

"Get out of here Chen!" Nelo screamed.

I was frozen in place. I couldn't move, speak, or anything other than stare at the giant bang and its two glowing red eyes. Nelo rushed onward. The giant bang swung its blade vertically at Nelo as if just trying to brush him aside as it continued toward me. Nelo moved quickly to avoid the attack and somehow managed to get a hold of the arm on passing and began climbing up it. Nelo slashed at the bang's head without a moment's rest or any visible effect to the monster itself. The giant just came lumbering forward and swung its hammer arm at me sideways at it did with Nelo. All I could think to do was bring up my sword to block the attack, but the blow shattered the blade and threw me head over heels into a boulder.

"Chen!"

Nelo jumped from the demon's shoulder to check on me, but was then flung into the trees by a kick from the bang. I found I could not move. I could only watch on as the giant refocused its attention onto me. The giant bladed hand raised him in the air and as it began to come down to cut me in two, I could hear from somewhere in the distance…a click.

I found myself suddenly behind the demon just as the bladed hand connected with the earth. I vaguely felt the grip of one of Nelo's swords in my hand but nothing else. My body began to move without my control charging forward and attacked the backs of the creature's legs at a speed that frightened me. The bang seemed to stumble slightly, but did not fall. Instead the monster swung its powerful arm while turning to face me. My body rushed back between the legs twice more, striking again and again at the legs on each pass. The demon fell to one knee, and my body began to make passes striking at the body trying to wear it down. The bang was using its hammer arm to keep itself propped up. It would not be long now I felt. On one pass though, the bang swung with its other hand in an upward motion, catching me and flinging my body into the air. All I could see was the tree line disappear and was replaced by the endless sky until I felt my body right itself in mid air…and then it began to spin like a top. I came back down holding Nelo's sword out as I spun, then crashed into the bang, cutting into it over and over. Everything was blurred, but I finally crashed into the earth, ending my spin and leaving me unconscious.

When I finally opened my eyes, I had regained control of my body and I found Nelo kneeling over me.

"You ok Chen?"

"I…think so."

"How'd you do it? How'd you beat that thing on your own?"

"I…don't know. It was just a second away from finishing me off when my body started acting on its own. I couldn't control myself."

Nelo looked at me a moment, studying me.

"Let's go. We have all we need here."

We flew back to Flaris in silence. Nelo handed in the components and split up our money. He wanted to stay in town a bit longer, so I decided to go home. As I tried to sleep, I found it impossible, remembering the events of the day, and pondering even more over all the questions of myself I've never found answers for. I was awake when Nelo finally arrived, and I remained so long after he slept.