One hour before the Abomination's attack.
Three out of four people were arguing. The argument was already disturbing the peaceful forest, and It's not like they want to tell the predators their location, and fight them – for the fun of it.
A female voice has been scolding someone."I already said to you - do not take all the kills!"
The one that replied was a man, and he looked like a overly armored knight of some order. "And I already said- first come first serve, as Sir Marco always says."
"My God could the two of you be more quite, we are in the middle of unknown land here" Said the man that looked like some kind of fancy scout.
The fourth man of the group was a man of few words, and his appearance was- oldest among them. His age might be mistaken, between his late fifties or early sixties- but his true age was more or less ten times of that. He was a king of another world, or probably on another reality. He was also the strongest in the group.
They were travelling more than a week now, and they were still unable to find any civilization. They were currently running at an unbelievable pace, compared to your mortal capabilities. Their stamina was so high, that they could run for hours- even with such abilities they still need to rest.
They were always meeting beasts and monsters at first, with such slow pace the beasts and monsters of the forest were somehow attracted to them. So they just ran as fast as they could-that even the beasts and monsters were unable to follow.
Marco was able to run all day, but the others still need to rest. They were currently going in one direction, that's until they see any civilization. They even reached the blue sea, but they were not looking for the sea, so they went on another direction. This was the third time they were going another direction, and five days has passed since the undead incident.
The only good thing going for them was, the forest has many creatures to hunt, and also they found a multiple smoke trail. They at last found a sign of civilization, and so they went to that direction.
Marco and the others suddenly felt malevolent magic, a branch of dark magic but more sinister. They knew that the magic they felt was closer to the curse that they once knew, even if its far weaker than the curse.
They felt something coming on that direction, and it is coming on their direction. They all stopped on their heels, and readied themselves to greet the things that was approaching.
"Sir Marco, It seems that we have incoming visitors." Said Kira while hands on her weapon, ready to draw his short sword anytime.
Ten figures of humanoid beings appeared in front of them, they were all disfigured, some have extra limbs and others have extra eyes. These creatures were all smiling, overconfident with their strength. The creatures have thick reptilian skin, but red cracks were all spread out. Their horns were visible on their forehead, and some have crude weapons, while others have their claws as one. This demons were waiting for someone to make the first move, and Marco did just that.
"Greetings strange-"
BAM!
One of the demons suddenly smashed its crude club, a thick dust covered where Marco was standing. All the demons laughed, but as the dust clears they were all shocked. Marco has caught the club, and was currently angry because of the interruption.
The demon that tried to kill Marco felt something wrong, and the last thing he saw was a splitting world. The other saw their comrade as he vertically split into two, they took a step back, and their smile faded. They all took their fighting stance; they knew that their opponent was strong.
Marco was currently only equipped with a normal short sword, he was shocked the strength that he used killing the demon. Its skin was thick as a enchanted amour, may it be a weak one, but still an ordinary soldiers on his army might have a problem dealing with it. He faced the other creatures, and saw that they were all ready to fight.
Marco was not so unforgiving to blame others, for a mistake they did not commit. "Are you sure you want to do this."
They all roared and charged to him, they have little control over their savage behavior. The first demon to approach tried to punch Marco with its huge hands. The hand to body proportion was huge, and it had four of them.
Marco was able to evade the attack, and went straight through its head. It decapitated its head, and its body fell instantly. The next demon was next to attack; it has a thin body and has long sharp nails. It tried to spear Marco with its sharp nails, but Marco immediately changed his weapons mid fight. His broad sword changed into a great sword, he shielded himself with the attack. The demon tried to push with all its might, but a throwing knife suddenly appeared on its head. The knife on the head immediately killed the demon, the rest of the demons attacked instantaneously.
Marco lifted the great sword, and swung vertically aimed to the demons. The slash was lightning fast, breaking the sound barrier tenfold, a wide air pressure flew towards the demons. They were all sliced in half except one; it flew high in the sky with its bat like wings. The demon aimed its palm at Marco, a magic circle formed in the air. A huge fire ball was formed, and it flew towards Marco.
Marco immediately changed his weapon; he took out an Anti- magic shield and a lightning long bow. When the fire ball was a meter to the shield, the shield absorbed the fireball itself. Marco sets aside the shield, then held the bow with an arrow ready to fly. An electricity was visible on the air, the flying demon was shocked at his fireball vanishing. It tried to use magic again, but a sound of air whistling was heard by the demon.
It slowly looked down to his body, the demon saw a hole on his chest. It looked at the person he was supposed to cast on, and heard another whistling which followed by total darkness.
The last demon fell from the sky, it was then that the battle had ended. Marco started to lower his bow; he then looked at the presence of the other demons. He felt that the demons were heading to the smoke that they were following, he knew that they were about to attack there.
His companions knew what was happening, and said."Let's go."
They all nodded and followed their king.
They ran towards the smoke trail as fast as they could, they ran faster than any horse. The other demons indeed arrived first at the small town, but Marco and his companions were faster than them. Marco was the first to arrive, he already saw the first demon to charge.
The negligible number of human defenders raised their mismatched shield, this was more like a militia than a military force. They were indeed courageous, but they were still outmatched. Their soul were weak when Marco saw them, compared to the demons.
He took out an enchanted arrow and put it on his bow, he pulled the string as far as he can. Then he let go. The arrow whistled through the air, and penetrated three of the demons before the arrow imbedded through the ground. The demons have a single hole on their body; they just suddenly fell on the ground. The other demons didn't notice their comrades as they charge, they only notice their dead when more arrows slew their numbers, but they noticed it too late.
When the last demon was slain it fell from the sky, and a loud bang was heard as it smashed through the ground. Marco and his three companions lowered their bows, and then they slowly exited the forest. The defenders of the small town were still at alert, since they were being approached by a unknown powerful group of people.
In the shadows a hooded man was watching, he saw the slaughter of his summons. He was shocked at the firepower of their archery, they were able to kill the demons with a single shot. He saw four people got out of the forest, he cast a spell to magnify his vision. He saw three men and a woman, the one that leads them has a posture of power. When he zoomed more the man suddenly looked straight at him, cold sweat ran through his back.
He knew that he was not supposed to see him, he casted multiple spells to hide his presence. When he pointed a finger at him, a marble size blue sphere flew towards his position. The spell flew so fast that he was unable to react, his magic shield broke immediately. He reacted fast, and he used his teleportation spell.
He was able to successfully teleport in a safe distance before another spell hit him. The robed person vanished, only the magical traces could be found.
Marco felt a soul on the far side of the forest, but he doesn't know its intentions. He just continued to walked, but when he felt he was being closely observed he looked at that direction. A smile crept to his face when it react with a shocked face, he tried to use a low tier spell [Stun].
Marco was a little shock, when a magic shield stopped the spell. The possible clue print of the demon incident was probably that person, Marco cast another spell faster than [Stun], he casted the same spell, but he threw the spell like a ball, adding more velocity to the spell.
He was not naïve to let this person be a problem on the future, he doesn't truly now it, but rather his intuition tells him.
When the spell was an inch of the culprit, it vanished only dark energy remained on its place.
Marco felt a little irritated, and clicked his tongue, the robed man was able to escape.
Marco's companions were unable to detect the man. They were just on alert when their king suddenly threw a spell, they just took out their own weapons just to defend.
"Sir Marco, how many enemy?" asked Kira.
"Just one, but don't worry it's gone. It seems that there's something going on in this place, something…. interesting"
They all looked at their king, they knew what he desires. What he truly desires, and that's someone to challenge him.
They still continued walking towards the defenders; they were just on alert in what Marco did. When they neat the dozens of people Leo spoke." Look alive guys, it seems that we are gonna be heroes today."
And on that day a new force was born, a reckoning force that will challenge nations, and empires. A new king has risen, a king to challenge this new world.
The King of War was upon them.
Meanwhile on the other part of this world, people were being summoned. This may be fate, or done by someone, nobody truly knows. This was the only certainty, he was not alone.
…..
Frank's head was aching-hangover was expected for excess drinkers. Even though he has low tolerance to alcohol, and yet he always drank for no reason, which might be an addiction. He woke up on the rough shaking of his body, and the clattering noise of something familiar, yet not.
His face was currently facing a wooden floor, and the floor was vertically moving, making his head hit the floor. He pushed his body against the floor, he was shocked when on what he saw. He was in some kind of jail, made out of wood with wheels, and being pulled by a horse. He was currently the only one inside, which did not make him calmer. He tried to move again, and just to realize his wrist were cuffed and his feet chained.
He looked at the man driving the horse. "Um…Hello good sir, what the hell is happening? Where the hell am I? And what the Hell! "
The driver look back at him lazily and just replied. "Shut yer trap will ya. Yer know soon enough"
"I know a lawyer, and if you don't let me out I'll sue your ass."
The driver ignored him this time, but Frank still talked like a never ending recording.
"You got some alcohol with you? Got some anything to eat? Or how about to drink? You know I have never been in a reenactment, you kids are have such creative thing. If I were you I'll just get high and let it drag me to my dreams…."
Frank was a blabber mouth if he doesn't get drunk, got high, or drunk asleep. He was indeed an addict to every addictive thing out there, he have a carefree life since he could remember. That's if he could remember something at all, but be careful of sober Frank.
The driver was getting angrier and angrier every second pass, and when an hour pass he just flipped.
He pulled his sword on his waist and shouted." SHAT YER FRIGGIN TRAP, OR I'LL GUT YA!"
Frank immediately backed up and closed his mouth, he was not suicidal to keep talking. He after all values his life, because at the end of the day, dead men can't get drunk.
The prison carriage continued its journey, time passed and Frank did not speak no more. He just looked around the wooden cell a way out, he looked at his handcuffs, and the handcuffs were old. He knew how to unlock a modern cuffs, but these cuffs were old, medieval old. He tried to pull with all his strength, but it did nothing.
He even tried to unlock it by using an improvised lock pick, using a large toothpick out of the cage. Frank is many things but he was not that smart, in the end he just gave up-and slumped down, waiting for this act to end.
He reached his destination, or what he thinks was. The smell of the forest was overwhelmed by the stench of shit, piss, and body odor. The road was unlike the rocky road, now when they arrived in a walled medieval town.
His belief that this was a reenactment was starting to fade. The biggest clue of all was not the stench, nor the clothes and weapons of the people, but the abnormal looking animals. A bird, but its feathers were blue and it has four wings. There were even bugs as large as a dog, and as small as Chihuahua.
"What the hell….. " This is not some kind of hallucination that I usually know, and I know a lot. He knew that moment that this was not his earth, or world, he was not a fan of fiction entertainments. His hobbies involves more on alcohol and other unhealthy practices.
The whole cell carriage stopped which also halted his thoughts. He looked outside to see what's going on. They stopped to what seems to be some kind of store. There were dozen or so people with collars, some were human, while others were not so human. There were few things that were different than your ordinary human, while the others were definitely not human.
These were creatures only seen on fantasy things; drakes, humans with tails or few feline traits. There were even your generic dwarves and elves.
He felt hate for the thing that he saw, not about the fantasy creatures, but about the practice of slavery. Now that he was being sold as a slave, it also made him scared at the same time.
"I see that business is slow, Huh.."
"Yeah, pretty much… The great demand for slaves made the bigger slavers quite active these days. These guy is the only thing I saw without papers."
The store owner gave a glance at Frank's direction, he felt uneasy somehow at the glance.
The store owner gave a sigh and said. "Ok, just this once, as a friend I'll take this one….. fifty coppers. "
"Sixty!"
"I Can't do that, friend. I'll probably just sell him to the Miners."
"I know that you saw his clothes, that's quite something isn't it. Little cleaning and it's good as new. So how about it Sixty and we got a deal."
The man put his hand on his chin, thinking a moment then replied."Ok, you got a deal."
Frank suddenly interrupted the two man as they shook their hands. "Don't I have a say something to this, don't I have at least rights?!"
The store owner laughed at Frank. "Hahahaha…. This man has spirit. You'll last on the mines without reply on his question, he was sent straight to the mines. "
There he saw the dreadful situation of the slaves, on that exact day he was sold was at the same time he mined as a slave
That was the day that frank became a slave, while accepting that this was his new world. Where fantasy creatures exist, where magic reign, and swords clashes.
…
Inside the grand arena of the great nation of Azaroth, two men faced each other. One wielded a wooden sword, while the other with a wooden spear. Each of them used their weapons with skills, each techniques used were at their best. One was a man on his thirties while the other was two decade older.
The one with the long sword was a man with a golden hair, blue eyes and strong chin. His clean trimmed mustache and hair, made it obvious that he was some kind of noble. The flow of his swings and the parry he did were smooth, his footwork was the best among the best. His skill is matched with his age.
The one with a spear has half an inch beard, you could see white strands already visible, yet his skills did not falter. The flow of his attacks and defense was on par with the man in front of him. His age did not make him weaker; it rather made him stronger. His experience was his greatest weapon, adding the aura techniques he was able to acquire mastery on his spear.
The sword wielding man charged with inhumane speed towards the old man, as he reached the old man he swung his sword horizontally. But the old man was able to evade, stepping back a couple feet, the young man followed up an attack. The young man took another step, and swung another vertically on the other direction with more force. The long sword sliced the air, producing an air of blade.
"Air Blade"
The old man's eyes widened and made his own blade of air, the two air of blade clashed, negating each other's attack. The wide battle arena was now covered with dust, which blinded both the audience and each other.
When the dust became clear, you could see that both sides have let their stances down. The both of them were catching their breath, since they have been fighting for quite a while now.
"Hohoho, not bad kiddo. You have grown, since the last time I visited."
"Hmm… I could say the same to you, your age did not make you obsolete."
The audience gave applause out of amazement, with such show of prowess on both swordsmanship and techniques, even the gods themselves would respect.
They shook each other's hand, and went to the nearest chair to rest. The others that were practicing before the amazing spar returned, the soldiers continued their practice.
When they both sat down beside each other, the younger man looked at the busy arena. His face was somehow filled with, sadness, and then he spoke.
"Tell me the truth Sir Torre. What is the status of the demons north? Is it as bad as I hear?"
"I see, straight to business, huh. Yes. I say this to you as your general; we cannot defend our allies against the demons, and at the same time defend ourselves against the empire. Our forces cannot fight two sides, even with the Merlin and the fae we couldn't win."
"I know that… But is there a chance that we could win? The other kingdoms are falling, because of these demons. Merlin said that the demons are being summoned by the dark lords. Each lives that these demons take, could open the gates of hell into out realm."
"I..I see. The empire has seized to attack, and raises a truce against the demons. But we must be vigilant, the empire condemned other species, specially the faes. They are as vile as the demons that we fight, either slaughtering them or taking them as slaves, the church that they serve is a testament to that. "
"Do you mean the Holy church?"
"Pretty much. They are more a cult than a proper religion I tell you."
"I heard that they were being challenge by a self proclaimed king to the west. He was able to defeat one of the holy orders."
"Yeah…. One of my spy told me it was a slaughter, one. The holy church sent a crusade; their target was a hidden village of demi humans inside the cursed forest. It seems that the one who defended them was a rag tag of wanderers. It was four wanderers, against an army of four hundred fifty; One hundred holy knights, Fifty Magic casters, and three hundred of regular infantry."
The young man eyes widened, on what he just heard.
" What!?.. That's impossible. Even the Lich.."
Torre interrupted the young man. "No. No, it is not. There were witnesses, before they were all massacred some were able to flee. Fifty were able to escape, just to be attacked by a monster inside the cursed forest. Only ten were able to safely arrive at the nearest outpost.
They reported that the culprits were a female elf, an old dwarf, one human, and a fully armored humanoid. Each of them was wielding heavy weapons, each arrows loose produce shockwaves, and every swing of their weapons the air and the earth shook.
The first three called this fully armored humanoid a king, the church now called him, or her a demon king. "
"T..that's quite a tale, my friend. "
"I wish it's just a tale. It seems that the world is once again turning. And it is not going on our way."
"Hahahaha!", A loud laughter of the young man was heard by all, which made them stop for a moment. When the laughter stopped, the young man stood up straight, and said to the old man.
"Then call all the members of the round table, we shall discuss this to them. If war is inevitable, may it be, Camelot will never lose to dark lords, Lich king, demon king or even the empire we shall stand tall. "
The old man bowed and replied. "As you wish, I will now summon the round table. King Arthur."
….
In the east end of the continent, is where the largest mountain in any country, surrounded by five great walls. The walls are encircling this great city, and the mountain which they mine. The city is populated by nearly a million souls, and it's just one city among the united demi-human federation.
The city is bustling, filled with life, and with a strong economy. This city is just not for commerce, nor for its renowned smiths, but also for its dungeon. Half of the population is either adventurer or smiths, here to challenge the dungeon. That's right, the dungeon is the mountain itself. The mountain is also filled with magical ores, which is used for enchanted weapons, and the city's number one export.
This city is called Kape which is also known as 'The City of Adventurers'.
..
Inside a tavern on the last inner wall has a noisy crowds, all of them are adventurers, miners or wall guards. The only thing that they all have in common, is they were here to eat, drink, and end their day. After all the adventurers are here to enjoy, for their job is dangerous, fighting monsters for their core crystals. Even mining could be dangerous, and an unstable rock could fall and kill you.
Many conversation are currently going on inside the tavern, different groups discussed different things. The very popular topic always involved the dungeon, one way or the other.
There is a certain group that stands among everyone inside the tavern, they were a group of five, and each has different class and roles on their group.
The first one to talk was a skinny man, with a maw hawk; he wore sleeveless leather armor, and has a utility belt filled with blades and unknown items. His name is Rak "Did you hear the recent news? That somebody was able to successfully venture and map the 8th floor, and survived."
The next one to talk was the standing leader, with his yellow spiky hair, and eyes filled with courage. He was the leader, his class is warrior, but his skill in the art of the sword is no joke. His name is Conan "I heard it was the lone adventurer again…"
The next one to speak was a short, bearded, fully armored dwarf, to make it a his weapon of choice is a hammer. His weapon was as tall as he was, yet he could swing the thing like it's made out of nothing. His name was Metor. "Seriously?! You know she has new code name."
A female healer was the one to talk now. She has a normal face with white hair, wearing a white robe and a staff on her hand. Her appearance may be human like, but she is definitely not one. "I have no doubt she has more than one.. What do they call her?"
"The Empress of swords." Said Rak
The next member to talk is a teenager, he is known to be too energetic. He is a ranger of the team, a bow at his back is his weapon. "Wahhh!.That's totally cool!. I wish I could be a Ranker too, then I'll have a 'code name'."
"Ain't we all.. But only the talented could reach being a ranker. Ordinary adventurers like us could only dream." This time the next to talk is last but not the least Korten, he is the tank of the team. He has no weapon, nor any armor. You ask what makes him a tank. Well his skin is as thick as a leather armor, and he has a skill 'Iron skin', which is though as the name implies. He could also use aura skill for offense.
"Hahaha! Cheer up, monk of Zares. Fighting is more than talent; it's also with the experience that we grow strong. After all we are gold rank adventurers, closest thing to being a ranker. Cheers!" said Conan
The gold rank team raised their cups, and replied simultaneously. "Cheers!"
When they finished eating they all returned to their rooms, currently they are lodging second floor of the tavern. The building was three stores high, and there are many rooms available for adventurers like them.
They all slept peacefully, tired of the day's work. The only one that was awake was Conan, waken up by the nightmare that plague him every night.
Currently Conan was outside the tavern smoking, feeling the cold breeze of the night. He was thinking about the future, the future of their group. Their group was forged by time, their loyalty to each other, their achievements and hard work would prove that.
Conan was not solely thinking about the future of their group, but also their fallen comrades. The life of an adventurer is quite dangerous, specially fighting a horde of strong monsters. They lost two of their friends already, two maybe a small number, but for a team that treats it as a family, even a single one is hard enough.
The tavern door opened and a familiar voice spoke."What's the problem boss, ain't yet sleepy"
"DEAR GOD!.. I thought it's someone else. What are you doing down here, Metor?"
"Hahaha, can't a dwarf smoke too." Metor took out his own pipe to smoke into, and put some tobacco inside and lit it up."Are you still having nightmares? You know that it isn't your fault right, in our line of work we must risk our lives."
"I know…. It's just… that I can't forget her."
The dwarf inhaled deeply on the pipe, and exhaled before he replied to Conan. "Who said you need to forget her?. You must never forget, but you must forgive yourself. You are young, so you have more to learn in this life. "
"Heh! You are right…" Conan exhaled his last smoke for the night, before going inside the tavern."Good night old man.."
"Good night…" Metor was next to let his thoughts fly. He whispered silently in the cold air."Damn its cold…"
Sleep fell upon the cities citizens, but for some did not, for the wall guards were awake. Guarding the walls and patrolling the empty streets, but unbeknown to them, that someone was watching.
After all, this entire great city didn't exists a year ago.
-end-