---Chapter 3: The Fall of a Class---
---Outskirts of Kerning City, 17:23 PM---
Meanwhile, back in Kerning City, the Rogue Festival was being held, celebrating the making of the first claws and daggers, the main weapons of the Rogue clan, with lots of balloons for the younger thieves, and plenty of mini-games with thief-related prizes to be won, depending on whatever score you got on it. A rogue who was particularly skilled at the game walked away with a particularly high averaged piece of level forty armor, the sleeves tinted with a shade of grey, the rest of the armor lined with black cloth, enchanted with luck increasing capabilities.
A few rogues had already participated within the festivities, and were training on mushrooms, both green and orange, outside the city, just in case any more events were called, so they wouldn't have to go far to get there. Kumbi stars whirled through the air, lead by a third assassin-to-be, throwing Steelies, most likely transferred from a more powerful file.
But, unbeknownst to the festival-goers, Grendel and his fellow magicians had surrounded the city of Kerning, the run down construction sites that were never finished served as outlook for other magicians, once they were cleared of the mushrooms, stumps and octopi that used them as breeding grounds.
Swiftly, the magicians all went into their positions, leering down at the city that made up their enemies. Several magicians were lined with Kages, Dark Rituals, Evil Wings, Angel Wings, Phoenix Wands and Magicodars, regardless of their level. When the rogues saw the blinding light of the Chalice of Fire, they dismissed it as some fireworks display, celebrating the Day of the Rogue.
The festival continued as it would each year, as the parade came through the city, various floats depicting the various events of the Rogue, the king and queen of thieves rode through the city, floats celebrating the strength bandits, the luck bandits and the assassins.
The most exciting part, at the end of the parade, had Dark Lord carrying the three original weapons that carved the law of the Rouge into stone in the sacred crystal on the outskirts of El Nath in Ossyria. First, the Varkit, the legendary dagger of luck. The crowd showed their amazement. Next came the Casters, the claw of legends, a Chinese dragon encircling a large black glove, the head of the dragon resting on the glove's knuckles. Finally, he carried the Cursayer, the legendary dagger of strength. The crowd cheered again, but with a quieter cheer than that what was shown when the Varkit was presented.
The magicians could hear the cheers, even at the distance between them, and all it did was making this massacre sweeter, knowing that soon their cheers would be drowned out by screams of death.
Grendel stepped forwards, and removed his wand from his belt, twirling it in between his fingers, and then gripping it firmly in his fist. He pulled a small book with ancient runes on it from his sleeve, flipping it open to its middle, as he put his finger down on the page, right at the corner, and began to read.
"I call upon the demon of the sand, come forth, and make this land a desert, and sink anything in your way into the depths!"
The land stood still momentarily, but soon the ground began to shake, and the ground broke open, cracking open all the earth around the city, with the sound of an earthquake to match. Then, the land went silent again. But, as Grendel spoke of, sand started to seep from the cracks, slowly but steadily, and the city of Kerning slowly began it's decent into the earth, as sand poured into the hole where Kerning City was sinking. All the rouges panicked, running around screaming, until the sand had covered the entire floor of Kerning.
Soon, the sand poured over the boots of the festival-goers, and it sealed them to the ground, like glue. The sound of rogues screaming delighted Grendel, sending a smile over his face. The rogues desperately tried to escape, pulling at their legs, trying to free themselves, but the overflowing sand soon engulfed their legs as well, and held them down. The screams grew louder, and even the strongest players began calling out for assistance.
Slowly, the level of sand rose past the rogue's waists, keeping them tied to the sinking city, many tried to move through it like quicksand, and would cling to things, in hope of pulling themselves out and escaping, but the sand was very thick, and made escape impossible. Soon, each individual was pulled under the sand, and disappeared in streams of ones and zeros, until the entire population had disappeared under the grains of magic-infused sand. The hole the city had sunken into was covered in sand, and so was the land around it.
Grendel was pleased with his triumph. He pulled his wand back through the little bump in his pocket, and stored the book back into his sleeve, almost like he carried a small library inside it.
"Now, my brethren! See how a class falls so easily! And these, fellow magic users, were our greatest enemies! It only will be easier from here on!" Grendel roared, and the crowd cheered with great excitement.
"Sir, I have an idea for our next attack." Suggested another magician, cloaked beneath a large Oriental Fury hat, shaded a Chinese red, with a red Oriental Fury coat to match, which seemed to glow in the sunlight beaming over the desert.
"Oh?" Grendel was intrigued that someone had even dared to oppose their great leader, as he had made his power very clear with his little demonstration. But his courage made him interesting, so he decided not to obliterate him immediately. "Let's hear what you have to say."
"I think we should target the continent of Maple. If we eliminate that, no new players could make it through to build up the populations of the remaining two tribes, and I believe we have enough troops as it is."
Grendel thought for a few moments. "Hmm… yes, that does make a fair deal of sense." Grendel paused, as he waited for the crowd to become silent again.
"Now, my people, we shall move on to our next destination!" Grendel pointed one finger to the south, but it was not to be seen, as it was covered by his long sleeve.
"We now move to the south! To Maple Island!"
The crowd went up in excitement again, some talking amongst themselves, some already began moving towards the south, and some waited for Grendel to make the first move, and followed intently when he began his movement. The pack of magicians moved swiftly, eager to draw blood again, and to draw the freshest blood of all made them move all the faster, just like a large group of wolves. The desert grew in heat, and animals unprepared for such an incredible climate change fled, or were killed from the sun beating down on them.
A raven landed on the skull of a recently deceased mushroom and cawed twice.
---Ellenia Boat Station, 19:10 PM---
A young girl had just stepped off the boat from Orbis, looking up at the sunlight, enjoying the feeling of the sun, beating on her arms and legs. She wore a red bathing suit, had long purple hair, held a dagger that branches out in three different directions, the center prong going out at twice the length of the other two, with a pointed tip, and a large brown and sky blue beetle-shaped shield on her other arm, her feet and hands free from the feel of any glove or boot.
She looked around, wondering why no one else was around, as usually at least one other person was in the station, but she was the only one. The girl shrugged and stepped out into Ellenia. She noticed it was about as empty as the station, but she was used to an empty city more than she was an empty boat station. But, that was less of a concern to her, as she sped out of the city, using her hasted feet, eager to get to the festival, hoping to pick up a good Identity. She quickly passed through Perion, and reached the outskirts of Kerning, but, instead of being a rundown construction site, it was a few pieces of the construction site sticking out of the sand.
She examined it, out of curiosity, and realized that she was in trouble.
Now, the plot starts...