Slayer: Okay so we're finally back, don't know what that means to you but hey! I feels nice to get back to writing.
Shadow: Where have we been again?
Slayer: Oh you know moving to another state, then having our car! Spontaneously combust! And then completely explode!
Bladedancer: Oh yeah that happened. Still we're sorry for the delay.
Mizore: Not much we could do about it I guess.
Shirone: True… but we've haven't forgotten about anything. Plus this is now called Dark Guard productions thanks to our co-author…
Judan: ME! Judan Kunai! I've now officially joined the team of… I don't know three?
Slayer: If you want to count my real sister than yeah. Although she doesn't really do much…
Bladedancer: She did make Eugon for us, even drew him. In fact she's drawn all of us OC's.
Slayer: Yep pretty much what she does. This chapter you'll see just what kind of man Bladedancer is. Sure he's the main character in TOTDG, but he's also much more. He's a teacher, something we hoped to translate here. However the guy is still kind of insane and that is the most prominent thing. But if you want to know some more about him read the… LOTDG Bladedancer. (Legends of the dark guard: Bladedancer). It'll pretty much cover all of his beginning life. So now that we've talked on long enough… Gin would you do the honors?
Gin: Sure thing… We at Dark Guard productions, own nothing by OC's and reality building concepts. Everything else belongs to their respective owners. So now without further ado…
Everyone: Here's the story!
Nero"
Thoughts/talking to inner voice
'Masamune'
Arc Two: path to might
Chapter Eight: I warned you!
The Dragon
In this place I couldn't help but feel just a bit paranoid. Last time I was here I had a team of highly trained individuals. It consisted of me, a dragon, and the last was someone trained by yours truly. This time I had more people, yet they weren't even a fifth as strong as one of us.
Then again I'm not in tip top shape right now either. When I get my hands on Maxos I'll wring his neck. Needing to focus I quickly shook my head from those thoughts. Peering into the dead trees around me, I couldn't help but feel as though I was being watched. But with this place being what it is… that was actually highly likely. The sounds of either dying, or really angry animals surrounded us on all sides. I hate this place, there was a reason we decided never to come back here.
I looked back to my new companions. All of them were pretty much half asleep. The noises waking them up every now and then, especially our youngest member. Shirone the poor girl, if what she said is true than she's able to feel the energy of this place as well. At least I'm used to this place; she on the other hand must have it rather rough. Still I couldn't help but admire her determination. But I couldn't help but wonder… what would've happened if Hunter never showed up to save her. Food for thought, I'll discover that little secret at a later date.
Getting up and stretching my back I decided it was time to get moving. "Alright people it's time to get a move on! We have a lot of ground to cover, and your friend isn't getting any better." Everyone gave out some groans except for Mizore and Shirone. That didn't really surprise me since, those two wanted to save him the most. Chuckling a little I went over to the now dead campfire. Using a little Psi-fire I relit it. I then took out a frying pan from my storage dimension, and put it over it.
Quickly I took out some sausage and eggs. Not a full course meal but it would have to do. I left all that fancy stuff to my partner back home. Now he knew how to cook, the white haired jerk. Anyhow as I was cooking everyone else was picking up camp. Seeing how there were not many tents, it was all done rather quickly. So soon everyone was around my little cooking fire, the small glow illuminating a small part of our surroundings.
"Well everyone here's how today is going to go." I took a deep breath before speaking again. "After breakfast here we're going to head north, there we'll find a small cavern. It's about ten miles from our position, so it shouldn't take too long to get there. However along the way we'll be looking for the flower, just in case." I then raised my hands and shrugged. "In all honesty I'd prefer not to go into the cavern. But that is where the flower will be growing. Anywhere else you find it will be just pure luck. But the cavern is a one-hundred percent chance." Everyone gave nodded their heads in understanding, but it was Shirone that asked an important question.
"Why don't you want to go into the cave? Is there something there?" I couldn't help but feel a bit impressed with that line of questioning. It proved that she was cautious and held onto small… yet! Important details, and this was most definitely an important detail.
"You know you're pretty smart there kid, but yes there is something in there. However…" My mind became blank as everyone paid close attention to me. "If we make there, none of you are going to enter with me. I'll set up a barrier outside, but you're not to follow me in." Everyone gave each other differing looks of worry at that declaration. After all I've been saying that we shouldn't split up, and now all of the sudden I'm telling them not to follow me. It's most indubitably… not a good sign. Being one of most cautious ones Mizore was the first to ask me why.
I could only sigh before answering. "Well, there's something that lives in that cave. Something that I don't know if I can beat, I couldn't even beat it the last time I was here. And! I even had two others as well trained as I was! We got our posteriors handed to us on a silver platter! I admit I have a few new tricks that I didn't have then, but I still do not believe I can beat it. So it's best for me to just sneak in there alone, grab the flowers, and then get the heck out of dodge." Unfortunately for both my pride and the others confidence… what I had just said is completely true. I, Gravelord, and Darkheart didn't stand a chance against the creature.
Gulping Tsukune laughed nervously. "Hehehe… Is there any other place that the flower grows? Because by the sounds of things… trying to grab a flower from that cave sounds suicidal…" I couldn't help but fold my arms and nod.
"Tell me about it… but as for your question, not that I know of. Unfortunately we can't go looking for it anywhere else either. By the time we find it your friend, will, be dead. So it's best that we hurry, now eat your breakfast. We have a long day ahead of us." When they started eating I noticed something different about Mizore. In fact what I saw pretty much shocked me, because I haven't seen it done in a long time. She bowed her head, folded her arms… and actually said a prayer! That was something only I did, but only because I knew about the whole creation of existence.
My teachings with my master were rather informative. The guy could rip open portals to the afterlife, just by willing it into existence. He could also literally create new forms of life, just by thinking of it. And yet… he believed in a true god that created everything. So seeing someone besides me say a prayer was rather interesting. When she was done and opened her eyes, she noticed me staring at her.
"What? Is there something wrong?" Quickly getting a grip I shook my head.
"Not it's just been a while since I've seen someone else; say a prayer to the creator. Instead of some minor god or the like, just rather interesting is all." Mizore blinked a few times in surprise before giving a soft smile.
"It's actually Hunter who got me into the habit of doing it. He explained to me what the Outsider told him, and I've just sort of followed along now." At this point everyone had stopped eating, to listen to our conversation. However I noticed that Shirone was listening, the most. Not that I minded despite not being overzealous, I didn't mind teaching others. Especially, since it does help to understand the universe, and creation as a whole.
"You know the more you talk about him, the more I want to actually truly meet him. I'm also starting to wonder about a few things, like maybe he and I are from the say dimension. Or maybe he's just a different version of me! Who know there are infinite world, timelines, and dimensions, all within thirteen universes. In the end you never know what you might find." I gave a light hearted laugh, while Mizore gave me a light smile. So still smiling I decided to promise her something. But not before giving a small history lecture.
"Did you know about one thousand years ago, an oath meant more than just a promise?" Everyone shook their heads no. This caused me to smile more. "Well it did in fact… an oath was so important, that they wouldn't enter into one if… they knew they were going to break it. It was so important, that they'd lay down their own lives to keep it. There were a people, which swore never to use weapons to slay other ever again. So when an army came to destroy them, they just laid down at their feet. Eventually the enemy got tired of killing them and left." I couldn't help but chuckle a bit seeing their expressions.
"There are many examples of such things, yet they are forgotten and lost. However let me make this promise to you." I then looked into all of their eyes, but looked into Shirone's and Mizore's the longest. "I give my own oath that I will see that Hunter lives. No matter what we might find in these woods, I will make sure we save him. Also along the way I promise to keep you guys alive, but that's already a given."
Even though everyone laughed a bit at that last part… I could see a lot more hope in the eyes, of those that cared for Hunter the most. That was what I was going for, hope. To me that is one of the strongest things, and once I didn't have any. That cost me more than what I could pay at the time. But then I gained a small spark, it wasn't much but it kept me going. So to these girls I'm glad I gave them some. In all honesty I miss teaching others, I miss truly being able to help others find their own path.
So far I've had at least four students, and each one had gone out to be something greater. So even if it was for a little bit giving a small lesson here, felt rather good. Smiling I took a look at my food only to scowl.
And there's a burnt egg, should've paid more attention to it. Looking at my egg I could see that it was now on fire. Everyone else was also looking at it with some, form of strange fascination. Even Mizore that tried her best to avoid warm things, thanks to her heritage, was watching it. So sighing I broke the trance with my next words.
"It just had to be my egg that caught on fire didn't it." Everyone blinked at me for a few seconds, before bursting out laughing. "It's nice to know that I'm appreciated, thank you truly." My sarcastic words only seemed to increase their laughter. So sighing sadly to myself I took out a F.O.O.D bar. Or a… Fully operated optimized donut bar. Yeah… despite creating the thing back in my time as an E.Y.E agent, I didn't name the thing. The "F.O.O.D" bar looked like a… uh, donut bar.
It is about two inches wide, one centimeter thick, and four inches long. It was meant to be kind of tasty, while providing necessary nutrients to those in the field. I actually didn't remember the last time I ate one. I just shrugged however. Oh well, down that hatch I supposed… Taking a bite I noticed that it was a bit old, but not too bad. Well it could be worse for a ten year old military ration. I thought for a moment than shivered. Yeah could be a whole lot worse…
Welcome to line break the part of the story where you see a line break.
The white cat
I was personally surprised by the actions, and words of our new friend. In a way he seemed like an older version of Onii-chan. He seems to want to help just because he can. Plus he can be rather funny yet rather serious. I can't help but wonder just what kind of things people like Onii-chan, and like Bladedancer here. Have to go through, to turn out… the way they do. I truly believe that men like them, and yes I said men. Are truly strong, I mean sure they all seem a bit crazy… Okay scratch that they are quite crazy. But you know you can always count on them.
Truly smiling since the first time I got here, I finished up my breakfast. After everyone was done, and Bladedancer finished off his weird smelling donut… and yes it did smell rather strange. We headed on out to find the poison flower that will fix my brother. You thinking back on what I just said, I can't help but wonder when things got so strange.
You know what never mind, it was right after I met Onii-chan. Another thing about guys like them is that… things always seem to get a bit… weird around them. However the way Onii-chan put, it was just my limited understanding of how the universe worked. In truth if the universe did run the way he said it… then I might want to invest in a bunker one day. My thoughts were interrupted as I felt strange energy coming from Bladedancer. Looking back towards him, me and the others couldn't help, but watch him in fascination.
He had brought his hands together, and had started channeling what I could only assume… to be mental energy. His body glowed a bit, as the strange scrolls he set up around camp, floated towards him. It was rather interesting that as soon as he grabbed them. The barrier around our campsite completely vanished. He quickly snapped us out of our amazement by addressing us directly.
"Alright then the Psi-barrier I put up is now disabled. Glad I was still able to create it…" He said that last part under his breath. So I wouldn't be surprised if only I and Gin Sempai heard him. I was rather confused to, and I couldn't but think about what he said. Even when we started moving again.
I wonder, is he weakened or something? Or maybe it has something to do with the environment. I shook my head at that thought. No that can't be it! It must have something to do with him, wanting Onii-chan's help. But what could the reason possibly be? Little did I know at the time my first guess was rather spot on. (J/N if you want to know more read TOTDG rising demons.)
As we continued walking, I couldn't help but feel as though someone… or something was following us. However I also felt less threatened, by the energy surrounding this place. I guess I was just getting used to the place. In fact I was starting to believe Bladedancer was exaggerating before. We ran into a purple fog, which was when I completely started to believe him. Because as he stopped us by stopping in place and holding out his hand. A small mouse like creature with eight eyes, and two tusks ran into the fog. Only for it to turn into goop… five seconds later.
Yeah safe to say that we all… believed him right then and there. His voice ranged out over our now eerily silent group.
"Well seems like you just had a front row seat, to the dangers of this place. Try and make sure you don't become the stage actors. Anyway we'll be moving around the cloud. All of us will need to be swift, seeing how this will take a little bit of time." At the mention of more wasted time I hissed a bit. Turning his masked face to me he addressed me, well aware of my aggravation. "I know it's not the most timely course, but I don't think your brother would appreciate you becoming soup."
I sighed knowing he was right but it still annoyed me. "Sorry but I just want to find the flower, get out of here, and save Onii-chan. Also… why couldn't you put us closer to the flower, in the first place?!" I know I was now being a little unfair but as I said I was annoyed. However my question had once again gained him everyone's attention. Sighing behind his mask he answered us.
"Simple for one reason and one reason only… I can't. This place is different from most other places. In this world, specifically this cavern. There are only three entrances from a dimensional standpoint. The other two are much farther from the one we used to get here. So I used the quickest one to set us out on our way. Most other worlds you can get in from literally everywhere. But Manus wanted choke points I guess you could say. You see this allowed him to discourage, others from taking back this world." I now felt rather bad for what I said to him, but he didn't seem to mad about it. Even still, I apologized.
"Sorry I guess I was a little out of line. You are doing everything you can to help us after all." Though I couldn't see all of his face, I could tell by his eyes that he was smiling.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much Shirone. You didn't know and it was a valid question, so no harm done. Just put a little more faith in me from now on." I smiled back at him, and we continued on our way. However the more we continued on, I came to realize just how dangerous some of these clouds were. We were however immune to the poisonous clouds; all thanks to Bladedancer's antidotes. We did end up seeing quite a few skeletons of various humanoids. Obviously they weren't that lucky when it came to the antidote. However despite seeing death before, the skeletons still rather unnerved me.
I shivered involuntarily at the same time as Tsukune. Noticing this Mizore put her arm around my shoulders as Moka, and Kurumu tried to comfort the only human. By that I mean cling to his arms and glare at each other. It worked at calming him down, but his face had turned to one of accepted tiredness. I myself had to pity him sometimes, and by the look on Mizore's face… they also shared those thoughts. However it was actually our group leader that spoke up.
"Would you three stop whatever you're doing? We have to be prepared and with you two glaring at each other. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the creatures sensed your hostility, towards each other, for hostility towards it!" Moka and Kurumu each took a step away from Tsukune to apologize. Seeing how that was now settled, everyone continued on in silence. At this point in time, well I couldn't even tell what time it was anymore. Even with my eyes, everything was so… dark. And the cavern was just so huge! I couldn't tell if it had been an hour, or even six! All we were doing is walking, and walking, and walking… Until once again our troop leader spoke up.
"Alright we'll take a short hour break here, don't want to wear ourselves out to quickly. Because like I said… we need to keep ourselves at one hundred percent out here." As if to prove his voice a loud roar, from some large predatory animal, rang throughout the cavern. "I stand correct…" We couldn't help but stare at him for a bit. Coughing into his hand, he went about and began setting up another barrier. Sighing I took out some snacks, and a little water. Looking up to Mizore I decided to just chat a bit.
"So… how long did he say this would take?" Sitting down next to me she brought her hand to her chin. After a moment or two she answered me.
"Well when he was talking to the chairman he said something about… a couple of weeks or something." When she said that her face turned into a frown, seeing this I asked what was wrong.
"Mizore san, is something the matter?" She looked over to me before sighing.
"Yeah something is wrong, you see… during the same talk the chairman also said that this flower. Was actually a fairly common, but here he is saying that it's not. I can't help but wonder about that… I think their hiding something." I was about to agree, before a voice from behind made us jump a bit.
"Actually we aren't hiding anything about the plant." Turning behind us we saw Bladedancer standing there with his arms folded. "You see the flower grows everywhere, but also decays fast. So I took the closest entrance to the closest batch of flowers." We nodded our heads at that. "Anyway eat something and drink some water, we have a long way to go."
We once again nodded in agreement, but this time with more determined faces.
I swear I'll be the one to save you this time Onii-chan… Then we'll deal with those after us together! I was determined to keep those promises. And though the road will be rough… I sure that we can handle it, but not just us… Looking to those around us I knew that we weren't alone. We will also have our friends with us…
Slayer: Yeah shorter chapter than usual, but I figured this was a good place to stop for the second arc.
Judan: You mean at least the beginning of the second ark right? Because if not…
Slayer: Of course I meant the beginning!
Shadow: Yeah… just word it better next time. Anyway… next time we get to see what the creature last chapter was. Or not I'm not sure, I'm just a character I don't write this stuff.
Bladedancer: Than why did you even talk just now?
Shadow: Blame the writers!
Judan: I resent that… for this one it's mostly Slayer writing your guy's speech!
Slayer: Yep and too bad I control everything MWHAHAAHA!
Shadow: Why are you working with this guy again?
Judan: Don't know don't care.
Mizore: That's a bit worrying…
Shirone: Don't worry about it too much!~ I just can't wait to see what I can do in a fight!
Slayer: Don't worry about that a fight will happen soon, and this one will be even better than the last one.
Shadow: Yep! However I'm not a part of it so I'm a little disappointed…
Judan: Don't worry you'll get your chance soon enough. Now to finish this off!
Slayer: Yeah! So this had been a dark guard production, now signing off!
Everyone: GOODBYE!