Kyu: Hello! This is just a short introduction. I'm one of the two Writers of Compass that is presenting this story to you. I've been a member on Mabinogi for two years and a member of Compass for one which I thoroughly enjoy being a part of.
Vindi: I'm Vindi! I'm the other member of Writers of Compass and we're proud to present this story to you. We worked extremely hard on this one and hope everyone outside of our guild will enjoy this story.
Disclaimer: Neither of us own Mabinogi, we're simply players. Mabinogi and all mentioned NPCs belong to Nexon.
Outlaw Hunters: Chapter 1 – The New Frontier
Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!
"Hi Seumas!" he waved down to the middle aged man who spent most of his days swinging his pick axe at the solid rock that covered the ancient dragon that was buried just outside of their town.
The middle aged man looked up whole wiping the sweat from his brow to see the hound teen standing on the bridge at the top of the ditch, "Ah, Jaiden, on your way home already from school?"
"School let out early today because our teacher was suddenly called to the town officer," the young teen replied. "Made any progress with the dragon?"
"I make a little progress every day," Seumas smiled and went back to swinging his pick axe.
"I'll bring something by tomorrow afternoon from Dunbarton," Jaiden waved and heard Seumas grunt in agreement. Jaiden put his hands back into the pockets of his jacket and continued to walk towards the entrance of his town.
"I'm telling you, I saw her!" Jaiden could hear some Millentian that were setting up camp outside of town talk now as he got closer to the entrance.
His town was popular with blacksmith looking for only the best material within Uladh since the trip to Vales was long and expensive.
"There's no way you saw Nao," one of the other Millentian tossed his bag to the ground as he began to help the other set up a tent. "There's only a select few that get to see Nao and those are the people who get greeted by her in the Soul Stream. Seeing her outside of it is rare unless you obtained one of her stones."
"I did," the first Millentian claimed. "She's really beautiful! Long black hair and everything."
"You're definitely wrong," Jaiden mumbled to himself as he walked by. He passed by several other groups of Millentian who were setting up camp for the night outside the entrance to his town.
Bangor, the mining town, was basically a haven for all blacksmith across Erinn. Every day was like this with dozens of Millentian camping outside since Bangor's inn was much too small for that many people. People usually came for the materials inside the Barri Mines but they also came to meet the famous Edern.
Edern is by far the best blacksmith within Uladh, he was definitely better than the blacksmith in Tir Chonaill. Edern was well known for his weapons and item enhancements so people often came to him so they could get their gear upgraded. Every day, there would be a line outside of Edern's shop and the line never disappeared until their closing time which was never the same since Edern always wants to work until he can't work anymore.
"Thank you, come again," Edern's granddaughter waved to one of their customers as he walked away adjusting his armor. Once she stopped waving, she noticed Jaiden coming down the hill, "Jaiden! Welcome home!"
"Thank you," Jaiden smiled and waved as he continued to come down the hill. He saw Comgan was outside accepting the occasional donation from Millentian headed back outside the town to their camps. They would do this everyday since they believed Neamhain would continue to bless them during their travels and protect them from the Fomors.
Comgan had just handed a Millentian a case of holy water when he noticed Jaiden walk up and place his offering as well, "Ah Jaiden, you're home early today."
"Arawen-sensei was called to the town office so she ended classes early," Jaiden responded and gladly accepted the free holy water Comgan gave him every week.
"Thank you," Jaiden gladly accepted his weekly gift and put them carefully into his bag.
"You're graduating from Arawen's school aren't you?" Comgan questioned and saw Jaiden nod. "Sounds exciting; do you know how you're going to celebrate?"
"I'll probably start out by taking a trading trip to Belvast," Jaiden put his bag back on his back and smiled. "I've always wanted to visit Belvast and I think it'd be a suitable trip before I start my journey as a Millentian."
"Your father was a merchant wasn't he?" Comgan asked and saw Jaiden nod. "Following in his footsteps?"
"Somewhat," Jaiden scratched his cheek and smiled. "He was a Millentian first before he decided to settle here and become a merchant with my mother who was also a Millentian."
"I never got the chance to meet your parents," Comgan thought for a moment and saw Jaiden nod. "I'm sure they were great people."
"They were," Jaiden had a sad smile on his face but it didn't stay long as he shook his head and gave him a genuine smile. "Thank you again for the holy water, it'll come in handy for when I leave."
"Don't forget to come back home every now and then alright?" Comgam saw Jaiden nod as he headed across the way towards the bank and general shop.
"Welcome home Jaiden," Bryce managed to notice Jaiden walk around back towards the stairs that lead up to the housing behind the bank.
"Ibbie is by the entrance," Jaiden saw Bryce snap out of his confused daze just before he thanked Jaiden and darted for the entrance to their town. Jaiden chuckled as he shook his head and walked up to his door.
He unlocked the door and walked inside to the dimly lit room that wasn't too small nor too big. He put his bag down by the door and flicked on the light to look at the home he'd been in all his life, and the home he was preparing to leave in just a few days. He pulled off his jacket and hung it up by the door before yawning loudly and stretching until he heard that satisfactory pop in his back.
He walked into his small kitchen and reached into his fridge to pull out the food that Jennifer would always leave for him so that he wouldn't starve himself that night. He wasn't the best cook in the world and Jennifer found out about two years ago when he almost burned down all the housing by accident. Ever since then, Jennifer wouldn't let him cook and would always leave food for him in his fridge that was always freshly made.
He felt that it was still warm so he gladly walked over to his small dining table, unwrapped his meal, and began to eat in silence. He was used to the silence now since he'd been eating by himself for several years now but then he still longed to be surrounded by family. Sure, he met plenty of people when he went commercing during the summer but once fall settled in and the market turned to produce, he would stay in Bangor to focus on training.
"I leave the day after tomorrow…" Jaiden spoke quietly to himself as he stared at a picture on the wall directly across from him. "After I trade to Belvast, where should I go?"
He sat there quietly as if waiting for an answer but he simply chuckled to himself and rubbed his head, "I really do need to get out. I'm talking to myself again."
Jaiden finished the rest of his meal in silence before he began his afternoon routine. He usually started with push-ups and sit-ups along with pull-ups before going out and heading towards Port Ceann to do some solo training. It was quiet there so he could always focus but there was the occasional person who would go there to collect shells or fish.
Port Ceann had shut down a few years ago after a trading ship had been lost at sea after being attacked by a notorious band of bandits and when people heard of the incident, they stopped traveling the Ceann route.
It seems as if in the last few years bandits have been increasing in number and stealing from caravans on a weekly basis so trade was decreasing and that was affecting the market. Nowadays, it seemed like most Millentian had to become traveling merchants to help keep the markets stable to avoid problems for the lower classes.
Two Days Later
"Be careful out there Jaiden," Digo warned as he always did as he helped strap down the last of the goods Jaiden had picked up to trade. "Are you sure you don't want to wait for another party to come through so you can join them?"
"I'll be fine on my own Digo," Jaiden sat the reigns of the two horses and wrapped them firmly around his wrist. "I'm officially on my own now, a Millentian."
"It's just kind of hard to believe," Digo rubbed the back of his head. "I remember when you first joined your mother and father on a commercing trip. You were so little and had no idea what you were doing when watching your father pay Ducats to trade goods."
Jaiden laughed in embarrassment, "I was only five, what else did you expect? I'm seventeen now, I understand it now and with this load, if I can make it to Tara, I should make double what I just paid."
"Tara?" Digo went pale. "I don't think you should be going to Tara, you've heard of the bandit raids haven't you? They're getting worse.."
"I'm sure I can handle it," Jaiden pat his side so that Digo saw his two swords. "I'm pretty good at dual-wielding and I handle a lance pretty well, there's no need to worry about me Digo."
Digo looked at Jaiden for a long while before he sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Send a messenger owl when you get there so we know you're safe, okay?"
"Sure," Jaiden smiled and snapped the reins. He watched the horses begin to walk and he looked at Digo, "Thank you for taking care of me up until now! I'll be back!"
"You better come back in one piece Azakai!" Digo shouted.
Jaiden flashed his usual grin before snapping the reins again to make the horses move faster. He bypassed the many Millentian camping outside and ignored the mumbling they did as they noticed that he was trading alone.
"Is he insane? Does he want Herbert to catch him?"
"Forget Herbert, what about Charlene?"
"Don't forget Shackleton, he may be small but he's terrifying."
Jaiden ignored their mumbling and continued onward towards Dunbarton, Uladh's number one trading center. It was always packed with traveling merchants selling their own personal products and was the base for their economy but due to the sudden increase in bandits and their attacks, Dunbarton was starting to become more and more vacant with each passing day.
The trip to Tara would be a long one and Jaiden knew this. Probably the hardest part would be traveling through Sen Mag Plains which was basically a haven for bandits, at least that's the most recent rumor. Sen Mag Plains was barren and barely anyone travels through there in order to avoid the place.
He sighed heavily as his horses went along the road towards Sen Mag Plains and with not much to admire, he simply thought about the ever expanding world he had just entered as a amateur. He knew he was going to meet dozens of other young Millentian like him and that thought alone got him excited.
He wanted to be able to join a group of people who were strong and brave enough to fight against the bandits running rampant through Uladh but he knew that Millentian's now were too scared to even fight a pack of wolves so they would be useless against bandits. He wanted to meet people bold enough to fight against the bandit bosses that were taking over and stop them from destroying anything that was left over.
"Make a guild or join a guild…" Jaiden looked up at the passing blue sky as he thought aloud. He knew joining some existing guilds would be difficult since their requirements were nearly impossible to meet as a rookie. There were few guilds brave enough to fight the bandits but others were just formed to travel together when it was safe to travel.
"I think I'll make a guild," Jaiden smiled to himself at the thought of becoming a guild leader much like his father was. He had always been told that he had all the qualities a good leader had and Arawen would always praise him for that. He nodded to himself, "I'll definitely make a guild that'll defend normal humans and Millentians against bandits."
Having said it a second time, he was definitely going to make his own guild. He knew that most guilds didn't form until there was at least five people involved so meeting people willing to join him in his fight was probably going to be the hard part. He sighed as he thought about the different people he would fight and wondered how strong some of them were. The most common class people associated with was the Warrior or Knight class when it came to combat while normal humans went ahead and began Carpenters, Cooks, Apothecaries, basic constructive type classes to help support those in combat.
"Alchemists are rare from what Arawen-sensei said," Jaiden mumbled as he rubbed his chin. "Having a Battle Alchemist would be nice. Even a Mage and Fighter would be pretty neat too. What about a Cleric?" Jaiden continued to mumble. "If I get one person per class, that's a decent enough size isn't it?"
"Way to go!"
Jaiden looked up in time to see a grizzly bear be knocked onto it's back, dead, with a young girl standing at its feet who was breathing heavily and drenched in sweat as she stood shaking with the heavy sword in her hand.
"You did good Vindiara," the man with her rubbed her head and smiled at the young girl.
She was panting still when she looked up at him and smiled, "Thank you Father."
Jaiden saw his horses were slightly uneasy at the dead grizzly bear slightly in the road and he clicked his tongue to calm them down. He waited for a little bit until they calmed down and stopped walking which caused him to become slightly frustrated, "I didn't want you to stop?"
"Oh sorry," the girl's father walked over to the edge of the road and dragged the grizzly bear off the road with ease. "Pardon us, we were just hunting and I was helping my daughter with her fighting."
"It's fine," Jaiden smiled and looked at the girl who was attempting to fix her hair quickly enough as to impress him, at least that's what he was thinking in his head. He watched her finish fixing her hair but when she turned and made eye contact with him, she blushed slightly and turned her back to him entirely, "You're pretty strong, I'm sure you'll be a great Warrior one day."
"See, even he thinks so Vindi," the father noticed his daughter blush beet red and he chuckled. "You'll have to pardon her, she's shy."
"It's fine," Jaiden looked at his horses and saw they didn't seem as scared anymore and snapped the reins again. "I'll be heading off now, it was a pleasure speaking with you."
"You too," the father replied as he smiled and waved. "Be safe while trading, bandits are more and more active these days."
"Thank you for the warning," Jaiden called back before looking ahead and seeing the path through the woods that led into Sen Mag Plains. He'd only heard rumors about the place but he never traveled through it since they always warned students not to pass through Sen Mags to get to Emain. Both paths to Emain Macha from Dunbarton were both dangerous so only travelers brave enough to take the three hour trip through Sen Mag Plains would go.
Jaiden sighed heavily as he stretched and looked at the bareness of Sen Mags. He'd never been through the area but he heard about the aura it gave. He always thought people over exaggerated when they said it felt like your skin was crawling as you passed by the destroyed houses and craters that lined the road. People said that you could see the spirits of those who died in the tragedy still lingering around their houses. Others say that some of the souls are trapped in Peaca, the dungeon where all the survivors were locked away and left to die.
Even though it was still early in the afternoon and the sun was still high, Sen Mags had an eerie darkness about it as the grey clouds hung overhead and let only a few rays of sunshine come through the clouds. He looked towards the sky as his horses kept walking along the road, "Jaiden Azakai, the guild leader of…"
Stealer Killers, Protectors of Peace, and Hunters. These three names were the only names that used to fight off the bandits before they became too powerful. Stealer Killers protected Belvast from the pirate bandits and were successful with their mass numbers. Protects of Peace were the largest of the three since they were in charge of the trade that happened within Iria. They had so many numbers that at one point, their main location used to be nicknamed Peace City but after the bandits teamed up with the Fomors, it turned into Metus.
Hunters. Hunters was the guild Jaiden's father previously led that protected Uladh. He always admired his father when he was a guild leader, he never showed how scared he was in order to keep those around him confident. They fought against bandits without hesitation and never lost because they knew the true meaning of teamwork.
"Hunters Reborn?" Jaiden thought out loud but then shook his head. He wanted to use the name of his father's old guild in the new one he was creating but he didn't want it to be too obvious. He was sure that the name "Hunters" would spread like wildfire and just adding "Reborn" to the name would instill a new hope into the citizens of Uladh but once they found out it was just a bunch of rookie Millentians with a dream, they wouldn't be supported like the original Hunters were.
"I'll think of something eventually," Jaiden shrugged and kept his horses moving forward. He knew he had a little ways left to go until he made it to Emain Macha but he wasn't in a rush. He wanted to enjoy the scenery, once he saw some, of the new world he was a part of. He wasn't sure what he would do once he got to Emain Macha and he wasn't entirely sure if he would even stop. He knew Emain Macha was basically a haven for up and coming Bards since Nele was one of the few Grandmaster Bards in Uladh. Bard was more for performance nowadays rather than assisting Millentian in their journeys and helping them get a sudden increase in an aspect of their physical strengths while they played their instruments.
The latest thing nowadays though seemed to be new students being interested in puppetry. The Grandmaster Puppeteer Huw was finally opening up and teaching lessons to those who were willing to learn how to craft their own puppets and fight alongside them. Apparently puppetry required a lot more work than people originally thought so people dropped the class quickly but others stayed faithful to it and were still training underneath him now.
However, neither of these things interested him so he decided to only stop for a break once he arrived by the fountain, then venture onward towards Blago Prairie that would lead him towards Tara, capital of the Aliech Kingdom. Jaiden had never traveled to Tara but he knew it was the largest city and a place he'd never been.
"If I can make it through Blago, I should be able to make it to Tara just as it's sundown and find a hotel to stay in," Jaiden thought aloud as he pass by a vineyard and waved to the people gathering and replanting in their fields. He saw there was a worried look on the faces of the first family he passed but by the time he came across the second house, they were out of sight.
"That's strange…" Jaiden thought to himself as he pass by the house that seemed to be locked up. He noticed his horses had slowed down and when they stopped completely, he looked around. He didn't see anything or hear anything abnormal, at least not at first.
The next few seconds happened too quickly as several bandits came out from hiding and quickly rushed Jaiden. He didn't have time to react to anything and before he knew it, a bag was pulled over his head and he was knocked out.
When he awoke the first thing he smelt was the dampness of the stone walls that surrounded him and the foul smell emanating off the cave's inhabitants. He shook his head and tried to ignore the throbbing pain right above his left temple but it was excruciating. His vision was blurred for a moment but once it cleared he saw his wrist were chained together and he was behind steel bars with an ogre holding a massive hammer down the hall.
"It looks like the show can begin now!"
Jaiden's eyes opened slowly to find himself in a room full of bandits dressed in their signature uniforms and his eyes widen at the sight in front of him. One of the bandits, the leader who was distinguishable by his clothing, was standing in front of Jaiden holding the father he'd run into early by his hair.
"Father!"
Jaiden's blood ran cold when he when he heard the familiar sound of the man's daughter, Vindiara, and felt her struggling to break free. The two of them were tied together to a wooden post but both could still see what was about to happen.
"Honestly, running around and slandering our name as bandits," the boss pulled out his own dagger and held it to the father's neck. "What kind of fools do you take us for if you think we're going to let you get away with that kind of crime. You do know, nowadays, slander is punishable by death old man."
"You bandits really are nothing but a group of lowlives! You steal from the innocent! You destroy towns! You kill the innocent!" the father shouted and yelled out in pain when he received a kick in the ribs.
"Father!" Jaiden knew the Vindiara was in tears now as he felt her struggle more against the ropes.
"You really are annoying," the boss stepped on the father's head and looked at Jaiden. "Now you, you're an interesting one. I mean, who trades in a party of one or if all anymore? I mean, how stupid do you have to be to travel alone with a wagon full of goods? You were basically asking us to steal from you, right boys?"
"Right!" his subordinates smirked in agreement.
"Now, I don't think I'll kill you because from the looks of it, you're still a rookie," the boss pointed the tip of his dagger at Jaiden. "However, if I catch you commercing by yourself again, killing you will be just as easy as me doing this."
Jaiden and Vindiara watched in horror as the bandit lifted the father by his hair and ran the blade across the neck without flinching.
"Father!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as she tried to get free. "Father! Father wake up! Father!"
"Now then," the boss took a handkerchief from one of his men and slid his dagger back into its holster. "I'm going to let the two of you go and once you leave here, never let me see you in my territory again, okay?"
"You bastard!" she screamed.
He sighed, "Someone shut her up already, please!"
"Gladly!"
All the bandits in the room turned at the unfamiliar voice and were knocked back by a strong gust of wind that knocked them into the four walls of the room. Jaiden and Vindiara both looked away from the powerful gust and once it subsided, they both turned to see two teenagers standing side by side.
"It turns out you were right after all," the teen with silver hair and light cyan eyes said with a heavy sigh as he unsheathed both his swords and went into a fighting stance.
"I told you Skeith," the girl followed his example.
"You're better off standing back, you're useless anyway, Sheba" he said before running at the bandits coming for the two of them. With ease, he was able to counter and defend himself while wielding his two swords against the bandits that attempted to attack.
"Shush." she responded.
Both Jaiden and Vindiara felt the ropes drop from around them and they both looked at each other in confusion as to how the robes came undone. However, after being freed, their rescuer appeared out of thin air with his spiky golden hair and pointy ears defining him.
"An Elf?" Jaiden saw the Elven teen look at him.
"I am an Elf. My name is Divine. I'm a Battle Alchemist in training at the moment," the teen smiled before loading his cylinder and hitting several bandits with a strong burst of flames.
"A Battle Alchemist Elf?" Jaiden watched the Elf and Human teen battle against the bandits that were in the room before he was pulled out of his fascination by the girl named Sheba shouting for the two of them to follow her out.
With slight hesitation, Jaiden made a break for the door but was halfway across the room when he saw Sheba go pale and try to run. He turned in time to see an ogre had entered the room and was now holding his hammer above the head of Vindiara.
"Look out!" she screamed.
Vindiara looked up and her eyes widen in horror at the sight of the spiked face of the hammer that was above her. She was already frozen in place in horror and couldn't bring herself to move. Just as it was beginning to be brought down, she closed her eyes and moved her arms above her hoping it would stop it.
When she didn't feel herself become crushed in the next two seconds, she looked up and saw Jaiden holding the hammer up above the two of them using his back.
"Are you crazy?" Vindiara shouted at him as she saw the painful grimace on his face.
"Are you okay?" he asked through a strained voice as he struggled to hold the hammer up against the ogre.
"Huh?" she looked at him in disbelief.
"I asked," Jaiden buckled for a second but still kept the hammer up, "are you okay?"
"How can you worry about me when you're the one in trouble?" she shouted at him in annoyance but her voice cracked as tears filled her eyes. "Why are you even protecting me?"
"Because," Jaiden started to push upwards against the hammer, "when someone needs protecting against a bandit, I'm going to be there to help!"
"Look out!" the bandit boss shouted to the ogre but it was already too late. The ogre was blasted into a wall by Divine's water cannon.
The white haired teen caught Jaiden as he fell and lay him down flat on his stomach, "This looks pretty bad. Sheba, I need you to cover us for a minute. I'm going to try and heal him enough so he can walk since I won't have time to fully heal him. Divine you help."
"Sure," Divine stood up with Sheba and they looked around constantly at the fallen bandits and at the ones struggling to get back on their feet.
"Are you okay?" Skeith looked at Vindiara as his hands began to glow a faint blue color. He put them over Jaiden's back and saw him cringe, "It's okay, just stay still."
"Don't worry about me, just make sure he's okay!" Vindiara watched Jaiden cringe in pain for a few moments before he seem to relax.
"He'll be fine," Skeith watched his wounds begin to close slowly and once most of them were closed and Jaiden was pushing himself back onto his feet, he pulled his hands away. "I'll heal the rest of your wounds later, we just need you to be able to move enough so we can get out."
"Thank you," Jaiden stood up and it was clear he was still struggling slightly. He looked at Vindiara and saw her stand up, "You're okay."
"What kind of idiot are you?" she shouted.
"Skeith!" Sheba shouted.
Skeith turned in time to see the bandit boss was running at the three of them with a sword in hand. He quickly stood to his feet and countered by grabbing the sword out of his hand and piercing it through his chest.
The bandit looked down at his sword that was now piercing him through his chest and looked at the five teens in front of him, "Damn you outlaw hunters...we thought we got rid of all of you."
The five of them stood in silence as they watched the bandit fall onto the ground cold.
"Outlaw hunters…" Jaiden echoed the bandit.
"What were you doing commercing by yourself you idiot?" Skeith turned and looked at Jaiden.
"Outlaw Hunters," Jaiden lit up at the name. "That's what I'll name it!"
To Be Continued
