How It All Began

It all begins with a boy in a village in the middle of nowhere, which happens to be me. Whether this was a good or bad thing, I will never know. The village has most of the essentials that a village has: houses, people, taverns, and crazy kids on the walkways.

My name is Neo BladeMage. Not much of a surname, but we are more easily recognized by our title names, rather than a surname (it's Moran, for those who are curious). I was a tall youth, bright-eyed, and eager to learn more. My straw-colored hair and celadon eyes got me jeers from some of my childhood companions who liked to make fun of me and call me a girl. I was also an agile person, and my long legs helped me run away from them whenever they decided to stone me.

I have trained in the arts of swordfighting and magic. I was one of those strange people that weren't so frail that magic wasn't only my defense, but I wasn't strong enough to fight with a sword and shield. This left me with the option to choose both. It took a lot of discipline to attend both classes and five years, but it was worth it in the end. Upon graduation from the local school of sorcery, I was given a beaded pendant with a black stone gilded with gold. I wasn't sure what abilities it had, but I accepted it all the same. After receiving my sword and armor from the Academy of Knights (a school to find new recruits for the king's army), I noticed the runes set into it and smile. It appeared that my teachers remembered my specialization didn't focus on just one form of fighting over the other, widening my smile into a grin. It was then that all of my teachers gathered and gave me my title 'Blademage'.

I decided to test my abilities and summoned a simple creature. It was Kuriboh, a small, brown, furry little creature that could be seen as cute. I liked it, mainly because its eyes had untold intelligence behind it, and its little green paws had a strong grip, good against blinding foes. I have to admit it was kind of cute though.

My mother was so proud of me when I came him with my new regalia. She was mentally ill from trauma because of a rape that occurred, resulting in my birth and the birth of my twin sister. Whenever I came home, I casted spells of peace and stability to help her keep her sanity. It was hard to see your own mother suffer from such an incurable ailment. My sister welcomed me home with a tight hug before presenting me to Mother. The smile that lit up on her face kindled so many emotions that my chest grew tight with pride. I gave her a final hug before I left. My twin was a bit upset that I had to leave so soon, but she understood that I had an urge to go out. Also giving her a hug, I leave the village, the place where I grew up and lived for 17 years. I was glad that the spells I learned to help Mother I passed on to my sister. They would both be fine. It was now time to see the world.

Kuriboh and I enter the forest surrounding the village, wondering what I would find. I recall as many of the tales from passing travelers that visited as I could. I remember them talking about encountering raiders on the road who stole money and goods. Being 17, I felt overly confident in my abilities to defend myself against enemies.

This was just proven wrong when a troll appeared from behind a tree. Kuriboh hid behind my head, shaking with fear. I didn't blame him; from Kuriboh's point of view, who wouldn't be scared of a green, tattooed, purple-haired, troll with leather gloves with metal knuckles. I knew from the stories that this was Terra the Terrible, the troll 'guardian' of the forest. Behind him, kobolds appeared, some in the trees, some behind trees, but either way, I was surrounded. I gulped in fear, cursing myself for not being careful. I couldn't fight my way out without suffering serious wounds, but I wasn't sure how to escape. Kuriboh, noticing the odds, hid in my knapsack, which I brought to help me through my journey.

My mind suddenly lit up with an idea, which I brought to reality immediately. I point my finger at the sky and shot a spark into the air. All of them were confused and looked at it. I shut my eyes tightly as a bright flash of light exploded from that small spark. I open my eyes and rush past Terra and the kobolds, Kuriboh hanging on tight from his place inside my bag. I hear Terra curse and swear in troll, which I am glad I did not understand because I knew that it would probably be vulgar insults towards me. I manage a small smirk as I run through the forest, praising myself for my 'brilliance'.

The smirk disappears as soon as I heard them go after me. I look behind me and see with horror Terra coming after me, this time with a giant wooden club, probably what used to be a tree branch. My stupidity caught up with me again, and I crashed into a tree, not paying attention to what was in front of me. I saw stars as Terra caught up and gave me a powerful right hook in the chest, cracking a couple ribs, sending me into another tree. Kuriboh makes a worried sound from inside the knapsack. I try to cast a healing spell to stop me from being pummeled to death, but the pain was too much. The last thing I remember seeing is Terra's face in a sick grin, one that foretold more pain later. Kuriboh's paw lightly scratched my neck as I lose consciousness, unable to do much else.

I wake up in some sort of wooden cage. Hearing a conversation going on, I try hard to resist from groaning. My bag laid some way off to my left and a doorway right in front of me. From what I could understand, Terra was speaking to someone else.

Someone else asked, "So Terra, how is our prisoner behaving?"

I could only imagine Terra grinning as he said, "Very well sir. Slept like a log, he did."

The first person laughed. "Good, good. When he does wake up, you know what to do."

"Yes, yes sir. What does Terra get in return for this?"

"You'll be rewarded fairly," said the first person. From what I could hear of his footsteps, the conversation was over.

I hear Terra approaching and try to pretend to fall asleep. When you're dizzy and on the verge of unconsciousness, it isn't that hard. I hear Terra snickering as he opens the cage door.

"Wakey wakey, Mr. Magician," Terra says in a childish voice. Ugh, that guy's voice was worse than was described by the travelers that kept their sanity. Dreams were nowhere as pleasant as the reality.

I groan in reply, invoking another snicker.

"Good, good. Time to play now. Wakey wakey," he says again, this time shaking up the cage. Too weak to move much, I slid and crashed into the bars of the cage, banging my head badly, increasing my dizziness. The second time, out I fell from the cage. Opening my eyes a bit, I notice Terra towering over me. Tilting my head upwards, I then see Terra grinning down at me; not a pretty sight after all I went through so far in the course of only a day.

He makes a sick, giggling sound and says, "Oh good. What game do you want to play first: run around, or play dead?" He then forces something into my mouth. I would say that it was good if this stupid troll's slimy hand wasn't suffocating me in the process. Strangely, I felt better energy-wise. Coughing, I reply, "I think I'll choose play dead. Now die!" I thrust a dagger hidden in my sleeve into the troll's heart. He bleeds black blood, but he remains standing and grinning.

"Nice try, little man, but this is how you play," he replies back, pulling his arm back for a punch. I try to brace myself, but I still felt weak. I wait for the blow, but it never comes. Instead, Kuriboh dashes out of the bag and pushes against Terra's fist. Somehow, he managed to find the strength to do such a feat.

Glancing at Terra's face of shock, I dash towards my bag and draw my sword from its sheath. I summon my all of my anger, concentrating on the thrust of the blade. The pendant around my neck (which I forgot about) glows and activates the runes on my sword.

Terra shifts his attention from Kuriboh to the now-glowing runes. His eyes widen with a fear of death coming upon him. He screams, "I don't want to die!"

I reply coldly, "Then you should never have terrorized travelers passing your way. Or even better, you should never have been born." The sword drives through Terra with such force that it sent him to the wall behind him. As his life leaves his eyes, my own eyes widen with shock at what I just did. The sword drops from my hands, suddenly numb. Kuriboh has a worried look in his eyes as he floats over to me. The black troll blood dries, leaving an ugly stain on the stone floor.

I don't remained incredulous for long when I hear a female voice saying, "Hey, you! Once you're done, mind getting me out of here?" I turn to where the voice came from, behind a door. Opening the door, I see an armor clad female in chains. She had long brown hair, her eyes blazing with fury. Shooting me a look full of annoyance, she says, "Took you long enough. Now get me out of these chains!"

My initial shock gone, I retort, "Why should I? I don't even know who you are."

The girl stands there, fuming. I started to turn to leave when she pleads, "Wait! I'll tell you anything you want to know as best as I can. Just get me out of here."

I turn back, noticing the despairing look in her eyes. I then notice a sword and shield on the opposite wall, the crest of the House Moran on it. "Tell me who you are first. Then I'll get you out."

She bites her lip, probably debating on whether or not she should tell me. "My name is Kanan the Swordmistress, a guardian of House Moran. Terra killed my comrades and took me prisoner. The troll said something about giving me as a gift to his master, but this master refused me," she says after a sigh of surrender.

While she was speaking, I secretly used my magic to unlock her chains. I say cheerfully, "Well, now that the troll is dead, let's go."

She pulls against the chains to try and bring me back but falls over due to the sudden lack of resistance from the chains. Standing up, I notice how slim she is and the power in her muscles despite it. Picking up her shield and sword, she walks past me quickly and stops. Turning around, she asks me, "Do you know the way out of here?"

Kuriboh dashes away from us immediately and goes down a hallway. I run after Kuriboh, not understanding that he was leading us towards the exit. Kanan follows too, too surprised to do anything else.

We all make it outside into the sunshine. I stand there, absorbing the rays of warmth on my skin again, breathing in the fresh air. Kanan nods a curt thank-you before walking off.

I grab her arm and turn her around. "Hey, the kobolds in this forest outnumber you at least 200 to 1. If you don't plan on dying, I suggest we stick together."

Kanan pulls her arm back and glares at me. "I'm not with you. I'm heading back to Castle Moran to report the accident."

"And how will you get out of the forest?" I reply immediately. "You're just as lost as we are, and you won't survive a day in this forest without food."

Kuriboh makes a small whimpering noise as Kanan thinks about this for a moment. "Fine. I'll stick with you and your little furball until we leave the forest," she decides coldly.

I sigh and walk past her, trying to figure out which direction we were going in; it was hard with all the tree coverage. We all stop for a moment in a clearing to try and straighten things out.

"You're not just a swordsman, are you?" Kanan asks suddenly during this short break.

I turn to her slowly, my expression black. "No, I'm not," I say. "I learned how to use magic as well as the sword."

Kanan nods thoughtfully. "So that little furry thing that is with you is your familiar?"

I answer with a nod, wondering what she was thinking about. "His name is Kuriboh, not little furry thing," I comment, not really speaking specifically to her.

I look at the sky and notice that it was getting darker. I head back into the forest where we entered the clearing. Kanan yells, "Where are you going?"

"To get some wood for a fire," I reply simply, picking up some twigs and branches off of the ground and bringing them back to her.

"That's going to attract attention, you know," she remarks.

I shrug. "What's more important, having our energy up with some warm food or trying to not to be caught by kobolds on an empty stomach?" With no reply, I smile to myself, too far away for Kanan to notice. It made sense to not build a fire, but my appetite clouded my judgment.

Either way, the night went on peacefully as Kanan drifted to sleep while I stayed up with Kuriboh to watch the stars, not remembering when it was that we fell asleep.

Author's Note: Well, that's the end of Chapter 1. At the end of each chapter, I will say which cards I used in that chapter. On the Internet, if you go to and search for the card, you may be able to see how I based the character off of him/her. My character descriptions aren't that good, so looking at the card may be helpful in visualizing the character

As for the list, here it is:

Neo the Magic Swordsman

Kuriboh

Black Pendant

Terra the Terrible

Kanan the Swordmistress