"Yes," replied Chamoro.
"Take care."
Chamoro stood on the deck of the Ship of God. The Gent Clan had agreed to loan me the ship for my journey to explore the world. We lifted anchor and set sail out of the inlet and into the wide ocean. I looked at the magic map, which revealed more and more ocean.
Not surprisingly, monsters jumped out from beneath the surface to attack the ship. There were these octopi armed with spears, shields, and armor, these marine snakes, these spear-wielding mermen, these sdea vultures, and these jellyfish. I often got the enemies to dance by using the Entice Dance skill, while Hassan delivered deadly jump kicks, Muriel used the Sweet Breath skill to put enemies to sleep and Chamoro cast Firebane to burn the enemies while Barbara cast Heal to heal us.
It was after a few hours of sailing that we sighted land.
"Looks like this is uncharted territory for us," I said, looking at the magic map.
"We can set anchor over there," said Chamoro.
And so we sailed up to about a few yards from the coastline and set anchor. We all got onto the wagon and Falshion pulled us down the gangway and onto the beach.
I was able to make out the surroundings. There were clearly cultivated fields.
"There must be a settlement somewhere," said Hassan. "maybe wee can find clues as to our next step."
"Uh, by the way," said Muriel, "you visited your parents, right? How was that?"
"It was okay, I guess. I was only gone for three weeks."
As we traveled due east, according to the compass, we were attacked by monsters. There were these empty suits of armor similar to those we fought in the cave leading to Mudo's castle, there were these blue jellyfish which could cast Heal upon their allies, and there were these dogs which wielded bows ans arrows.
After about an hour of traveling inland, I saw something in the distance.
"A castle!" I yelled.
It clearly was a castle, with stone towers and walls.
ooooooooooooo
A sign identified the castle as Arcbolt Castle. There was a courtyard just before the doors into the main keep. We saw a wooden sign, reading "i'm Looking For a Warrior to Defeat a Monster"- the King
The great wooden doors open, and this man in blue walked out. He appeared to be carrying a broad sword. What I did notice is that he was dragging a coffin behind him.
"Excuse me," said the man, dragging the coffin as he left the castle.
I shrugged and we all entered the main keep.
The lower levels of the castle had an inn and some shops. I heard more about the challenge, that several people have come to the castkle, received a coffin, and left to the northwest. There was a tunnel northwest of here under construction.
"We might as well take the challenge," said Barbara. "That tunnel needs to be built and we've got to be the ones to take that monster out."
And so we approached a guard.
"Excuse me," I said. "We heard about the king's request and we wish tio speak to him. Does he have time for me?"
"You must defeat me in battle first," said the guard, drawing a sword.
And so we engaged in combat with the guard. Hassan gave the guard some powerful Spirit Punches, while Muriel cast Increase healed with Healmore and Chamoro cast Firebane. The Entice Dance had no effect on this soldier, so I simply swung with my broad sword. After a minute, the guard went down.
"You are good," he said. "You may pass."
And so we did, going to the upper levels of the castle. We spoke to more people, and we did find small medals. I kept those medals, wondering what they are for.
We emerged to tghe balcony and these two soldiers were standing in front of the door.
"You must defeat us before you can see the king," said one of the guards.
I drew my broad sword and we attacked.
Muriel cast Increase to raise our defense, while I cast Sap. I then struck with my sword while Hassan used the Spirit Punch. Muriel healed us with Healmore and Chamoro healed us with the Gent Cane. Occasionally, one of the soldiers would cast Defense, requiring Muriel to recast Increase. The two guards fell quickly. After all, we did finish off Mudo just yesterday.
"You may pass," said the other soldier.
We then entered this huge room with a red carpet. Near the back were two thrones, where a man and a woman sat. The man wore a robe and a crown; he was definitely the King of Arcbolt.
"Welcome," said the king.
"Your Majesty," I said. "We are taking up your challenge."
"Yes, many parties have come to take the challenge," his Majesty replied. "I had the guards engage in combat with you to test your strength. Though one person managed to defeat the guards all by himself. You see, my people were building a tunnel in the northwest so people could travel between my kingdom and the lands to the north. But there was this monster there. I sent an army to defeat the monster, and most of them were killed. Brast, the captain of the guard, was wounded. There is a reward should you defeat the monster. But before I accept your challenge, you must defeat the captain of the guards."
This man entered the throne room. "you summoned me, sire?" asked the man.
"Captain Brast, these people wish to take the challenge," said the king. "Defeat them."
"As you wish, my lord." Brast then looked at us. "Come with me, we go to the training room in the southwest tower."
So we all, the king and queen included, left the throne room and walked along the outer wall to the spouthwest tower. We went down some stairs.
The room on the lowest level had a dirt floor. There were these wooden training dummies.
"I am the Thunder Knight Brast," he said. "Though you are four, I am still quite capable of taking multiple opponents down. Are you ready?"
"Yes, I am," I said, wielding my broad sword.
And then the battle began. Muriel cast Increase while I cast Sap. Brast had this Spinning Sword technique which knocked down all of us. He was much more difficult than his subordinates. I had to stay on my toes just to avoid being cut down with his sword. Brast was not one to be taken down easily, even with Hassan and I keeping at him while Muriel and Chamoro provided backup with spells. Fortunately, with the skills I learned as a Dancer, I was able to stay on my feet even after being hit by one of Brast's Spinning Sword attacks.
I saw Brast's sword coming straight at me; I quickly rolled and then smashed against his chest with the blade of my broad sword. I pointed the tip of my sword at Brast's throat.
"I don't believe it!" he said. "I've been defeated again. You are powerful; the monster in the cave is much more powerful than I."
We then went back to the throne room.
"If you defeat the monster in the cave, I shall grant to you a Sword of Thunder," said the king. "But I requirew proof of its death. I shall give you a coffin. If you bring the coffin back with the monster's corpse in it, you shall get your reward."
"Thank you, sire," I said.
An aide gave us a blue coffin. We headed out of the castle, towards the northwest.
ooooooooooooo
"It's amazing though," said Chamoro. "We killed Mudo yesterday, and now we're dragging a coffin around."
"We'll see where this path takes us," I said.
We reached the entrance into the tunnel. the inside was dark except for lit torches.
"We saw another fellow walk inside with a coffin," said a construction worker working in the tunnel. "you guys coming to kill that monster."
"Right," said Hassan.
"You should have brought more coffins. Ain't enough for the four of ya.. Lots of people went down there and never came back."
"Someone has to kill the monster," I said.
Walking through the tunnel, we came across two monsters blokcing a corridor. One look liked the demon Hassan and I fought in the Cave of Dream-Seeing, the other looked like a panther.
"You will not enter this cave," said the demon. And they attacked us.
I used my Entice Dance to get the panther to dance while Hassan attacked, Muriel breathed Sweet Breath, and Chamoro cast Firebane. These monsters were nowhere as near as powerful as Mudo was, or even as powerful as Brast, and they fell quickly.
We continued deeper into the cave. It was apparent that this cave was here before construction on the tunnel was begun. The cave served as home to all sorts of monsters. We fought these skeletons and these armored men similar to those we fought on our way to Mudo. We also fought these carrot-like monsters and these big iguanas. I used the Death Dance technique which sometimes slew the monsters outright.
The first level of this cave was an underground pond. There was some sort of causeway which we used to cross the pond. We managed to find a defense seed and five hundred eighty gold.
Just before reaching a passage leading to the lower level, we noticed a treasure chest which was empty. What else we noticed was this dead monster.
"I wonder who killed it," said Chamoro.
We continued walking through the lower levels of the cave, defeating the monsters who dare stood in our way.
After a few minutes and a few more battles, we heard some commotion.
"What was that?' asked Muriel.
I drew my broad sword. As we walked towards where we could hear the noise coming from, I noticed these eggshells. We then came across an intact eggs.
"I wonder what these eggs are for," said Hassan.
Then suddenly the egg cracked and this viper came out and bit him!
"Owww!" he yelled.
I used the Entice Dance to get the viper dancing as Hassan attacked and Chamoro cast Firebane and Muriel cast IceBolt. Soon, this hell viper was down. Chamoro used the Gent Cane to heal Hassan's wound.
We continued walking and in this dead-end chamber, we saw this huge green reptiloid monster wielding this menacing axe. I noted some cracked eggshells around the monster.
"My eggs!" yelled the monster. "You crush. I kill."
I drew my sword, preparing myself for battle.
I then noticed the swordsman in blue, the same swordsman we saw back at the castle.
I approached him.
"I don't need your help," said the warrior. "Get out of the way!"
The monster swung with the axe and breathed fire, and the man easily dodged, as if he were simply dancing. He then struck down the monster with his broad sword.
"Gwaaaa!" yelled the monster. "My body! Pain!"
"Looks like I win," said the man, palcing the monster inside the coffin. He then left with the coffin.
ooooooooooooo
Upon our return to Arcbolt, we saw the young man who defeated the monster single-handedly.
"Too bad," he said. "The Sword of Thunder is mine."
And he held it up for all too see.
ooooooooooo
"You are too late," said the king as I returned the coffin. "The swordsman Terry killed the monster. As promised, I gave unto him the Sword of Thunder."
"We thank you for this opportunity, my lord," I said.
ooooooooooo
"That Terry fellow must be real strong," said Hassan as we were in our rented room in the Wayfarer's Inn. "I wonder if we could recruit him to our cause, ya know."
"He'll probably accuse us of holding him back," said Barbara. "There's no way I could go toe-to-toe with a dragon."
"and he has that Sword of Thunder," said Chamoro. "It must be a legendary blade."
"The best thing for us to do is get some rest so we can cross the tunnel and find out what's out there, or maybe even find my real-world counterpart," I said. I looked and notice Muriel was staring off. "Is thgere something wrong, Muriel?"
"Uh, no," she replied. "I'm just tired, that's all."
oooooooooooo
The next morning, we left Arcbolt Castle and headed towardfs the tunnel. A soldier said that the workers found another site which to dig through the tunnel. It took a few minutes before we emerged out of the tunnel.
According to the magic map, we were north of Arcbolt, on the other side of the mountains. We rode in the wagon as Falshion pulled us through.
About half an hour after exiting the tunnel, we came across three houses out in the middle of nowhere.
"Let's pay a visit," I said.
And so we did. The home was a simple one-room building.
"So where are you headed?" asked the man living in there.
"We're just passing through, I guess," I said. "The tunnel from Arcbolt was just finished."
"Ah yes, I heard of that. We've been getting a lot more travelers since the tunnel was opened. Before, to get to Arcbolt required passage on a ship. Anyway, a lot of people have disappeared to the west. I heard of a staircase to Heaven."
"A staircase to Heaven?" I asked.
"Well, that is what I heard. I know nothing more of it."
We all left the house.
ooooooooooo
Ten minutes later, heading out towards the west, we found the staircase to Heaven.
It was located just before this forest. The stairs seemed to be transluscent, and they went up to the sky.
"Well," said Hassan, "shall we?"
"Do you even need to ask?" I replied.
And so Falshion pulled us up the stairs to the sky. I looked down, and I could see the ground far below. I could see the mountains, Arcbolt Castle, and even the wide ocean.
We would soon find out what is up these stairs.