Nine Realms or Homeworlds existed within the game YGGDRASIL, the realms of the World Tree overseen by the Norse Gods.
Asgard Home of Valhalla.
Niflheim, World of Fog and Mist.
Muspelheim, the Land of Fire.
Midgard, of the Mortal Realm.
Jotunheim, of the Giants.
Vanaheim, of the Old Gods.
Alfheim, World of Light.
Svartalfheim, of Earth and Stone.
And Helheim, Land of the Dishonorable.
Each of these realms were massive, around three to four times the size of Tokyo with the difficultly increasing the farther one explored until only the keenest of players were able to survive. It was more likely for players to die before even arriving anywhere close to the outer reaches of the realms, making the known and challenging areas far more popular for those unwilling to brave the uncertainties of the Nine Frontiers. Midgard, the beginner area of the game for example had the highest population due to lower leveled monsters and enemies, and yet still had a substantial number of experienced veterans.
After all, YGGDRASIL's forums were filled with content regarding Midgard and its then recent addition of the Land of Shadows. Compared to a challenging dungeon already known and wildly discussed to contain revolutionary equipment and drops, the uncertainty and danger of exploring the furthermost regions of YGGDRASIL was lackluster at best.
Instead, to the dismay of the developers wishing to drive player expansion and colonialism in YGGDRASIL, player focus had shifted towards the 'expansions' which the developers were forced to lie about creating. Ambiguous answers and half-truths aside, the entirety of YGGDRASIL's developers had no idea how to explain anything substantial without feeling any embarrassment for taking the credit of another. In fact, a few developers even ended up laughing in bitterness at the result of constant interviews and chose to retire from the public scene.
The silence of the developers only filled players with even more interest in these new expansions. The Nine Realms and the Nine Hidden Raid-Bosses in their dungeons, the first of which had appeared in Asgard.
The Holy Utopia rivaling the grandeur of Valhalla.
The white marble-like walls that led to a massive inner gate, pristine and made with heavy oak, and the Knight of the Sun who stood defensively before it, hailing forth the rule of his King.
The Holy Kingdom of Camelot.
A fortress first discovered in a remote corner of the realm that had once only contained infertile lands. Passed the gates and passed the sentries that stood at attention atop the lookouts, and into the citadel was a medieval-like landscape of cobblestone and thatch, the recreation of a memory of a young girl's youth. A town called Bristol, where a girl was raised to be a boy. A boy to be a man, and a man to be a King.
The memories that were stored and only remembered, and the feelings within them, they were all expressed within the Holy Kingdom. An Ideal Kingdom of a King who served the people.
Arturia Pendragon, the King of Knights.
She who was known also as King Arthur of Britain.
Keeper of the Oaths of the Chivalric Path.
Arturia snapped the arrow in her hand, the two halves dropping to the ground with an audible thud, her eyes narrowed.
To fight on the side of Justice and the Righteous, to maintain the Vows of Knighthood.
Defenders of the weak, friends of the people.
That was Chivalry, an obligation born from character.
"You who hides in the shadows," Her voice was neutral, the sharpness of it piercing through the silence of the forest. "Are not fit to talk in my presence. Will you not show the honour begetting of men and reveal yourself, or will you continue to slander yourself as a baseless assassin?"
She was angry, but she wasn't fluent enough in using crass language to know that her insult meant nothing to her opponent.
As expected, no response came in reply, for what assassin would care for what their targets thought of them? Honours and morals meant nothing. In fact, it was impractical. If one possessed the benefit of placement, why would they face their opponents on an even ground when they possessed the advantage?
Silence resounded in the area, only Vincent's coarse breathing echoing out, yet the man himself hardly noticed. He was too busy staring. Too entranced.
The woman that had saved his life was beautiful, her hair the colour of golden wheat, her slender face, a light complexion that denoted her soft features, making her appear frail. And yet, she was anything but frail. The dignity and aura exuding from her was causing his legs to tremble in reverence.
Knight.
No, not just a Knight.
Holy Knight?
Paladin?
Many job classes existed in the world and Vincent himself could be considered to have two at the moment. High Noble, and Apprentice Sword Master. Similar to YGGDRASIL whose job types were categorized into Base, High, and Rare, the job types Vincent possessed could be categorized as High. In YGGDRASIL, each job type allowed players different amounts of level caps, Base level to fifteen, High to ten, and Rare to five. In which case, the max levels Vincent could work his job class towards was a max of ten each, granting him twenty levels when considering his current job types. Unless he found other job classes in the future, this was his predicted job limit, but then again, finding and learning extra job classes were far easier for the Humanoid races which possessed the majority of job classes.
Humanoid races also possessed racial levels, but the base racial level of humans were generally lower amongst all races. Therefore, their ability to hold multiple classes was more important for consideration when gauging a Human's strength both in the New World and YGGDRASIL.
The current situation was no different.
Even if Arturia appeared somewhat frail in Vincent's eyes, he wasn't ignorant enough to call her weak.
Her armours were regal, rolls of silk and fur mounted over an intricately designed steel-plate armour, standing out in stark contrast to the dull scenery of the forest.
It was why the job classes of Holy Knight and Paladin first appeared at the forefront of Vincent's mind, for the Roble Holy Kingdom was famed for its Paladin Order. Still, it didn't make sense. His family's status and title in the South was a Noble Duke of the mid-land between the North and South, as such, he was privy to information from both domains.
The Paladin Order of the North indeed possessed the strongest Paladins of the Roble Holy Kingdom, and amongst them existed Remedios Custodio, the number one in the Order. And yet, staring at Arturia, Vincent was certain that whatever level of power Remedios was at, there was no comparison between the two. Even the recent declaration by the Holy Queen to the South insisting that Remedios Custodio possessed the Holy Sword of the Roble Kingdom's National Hero seemed more like a joke to Vincent's eyes than ever at this point.
The Sacred Weapon of the Sword Maiden in some upstart Paladin's hands?
Vincent didn't want to tarnish the views he had on his Kingdom's national Hero so easily. Besides, he had met Remedios before and she wasn't the most pleasant of company, the sword at her waist too unassuming to him to be anything related to the Holy Sword of the Kingdom.
Instead, just by comparing aura alone, Remedios couldn't compare even with her fake Holy Sword.
The woman before him was someone Vincent had never seen or heard of before, not even in the Nine Colours, the Roble Holy Kingdom's strongest.
As such, who was she, and why was it that a woman of her bearings would protect him without profit? No matter how upstanding and traditional his family's ideals and principles were, they weren't fools ignorant of the world. Motive and greed were always hiding beneath warm exteriors, perhaps the current situation was no different.
Upon thinking of this fact, Vincent's mood dipped as the reverence in his eyes for the woman before him gradually faded.
In the end, Vincent was already aware that the time of honour and chivalry had already passed. As such, he resolved himself to meet whatever demands this woman would have of him for saving his life.
It was the way of the world.
Equivalent exchange.
And yet, no such thoughts were running within Arturia's mind.
Instead, what occupied her head were mixed feelings. She understood that she was already acting out on her own without consent or notification to her master and creator, but she couldn't stand by and watch any longer. It was against her principles, and her bottom line had been provoked when the honours and ideals she represented were besmirched by what she perceived as a mere assassin.
She could understand their profession and specialization to attack in the shadows, but she couldn't respect them for it. It was one thing to face her in person and state his views in opposition to her own, and it was another to voice out opposition without the will to reveal one's self.
Originally, she had left the Mausoleum on behalf of her master to help scout the area for any dangers and to also search for her master. As such she had dispersed her Knights around the vicinity to cover more ground while blatantly ignoring Nero who decided to return to the mausoleum after her scouting was done. After all, Nero had once ruled as an Emperor and understood that her ability alone wasn't enough to compete with Arturia and her knights, so she magnanimously left the task to them.
Within a couple minutes, an entire three-kilometer diameter was scouted out around the Mausoleum, and yet still no sign of her master. Therefore, Arturia and her knights pushed out of the known perimeter in different directions in hopes of locating their creator, but that didn't mean that she didn't have contact with them.
Her classes included Knight, Holy Knight, Paladin, Sword Saint, Sword Master, and most of all Ideal King.
She would stand for her convictions and beliefs without hesitation, for that was who she was.
"Will you not reconsider your choice?" She asked once into the soundless forest.
No reply.
She sighed, her narrowed eyes closing as she sensed another incoming arrow.
But this time, she didn't take any actions. The arrow that had arrived in front of her face suddenly deflected to the left, tufts of her hair blowing in the wind as she reeled in her magical aura. Everything was all too trivial at the moment.
When she had first caught the arrow aiming for Vincent's life, she was a tad apprehensive because she didn't have a gauge on the strength of the enemies in this New World and as such, had bolstered herself with her innate magical ability. Now though, she realized that she was merely overthinking things.
Another arrow fired and the same result occurred as she opened her eyes.
She was the Raid-Boss of the Holy Kingdom of Camelot.
A King.
Her armour and defense was too high of a level for even moderate leveled magical and physical attacks to do any harm to her let alone a mere arrow imbued with no magics or special properties.
"You've made your choice," she said, before entirely dismissing her opponent. "Your name will not be remembered."
Her opponent was hiding in the shadows, making it difficult to pinpoint his or her location as Arturia didn't possess a high enough reconnaissance and independent action skill, but she knew someone who did.
Tristan, I leave it to you.
One of the skills of the Ideal King, the ability to communicate with her subjects on a mental basis, a sub set of a commander-class skill set.
"By your orders, your majesty."
The far sight of an Archer class was not to be underestimated. No matter how far Tristan was from Arturia, he was still able to accurately spot the man hiding in the trees. Moreover, although his job-class could be labelled as Archer or Sacred Archer, it didn't mean that he attacked with arrows.
He was the Knight of Lamentation, one of sorrows and regrets.
And his attack was one that was far from ordinary.
The signing of pain, of laments, the arrow that fired from the string of a harp.
Failnaught, the arrow that had never once missed.
In YGGDRASIL's standards, it was a single-target unblockable attack that could only be survived by tier seven class magic that allowed users the ability of Greater Teleportation.
It was an attack that created a vacuum of air that launched forward.
No matter the obstacle, and no matter how the enemy attempted to dodge, it was inescapable unless one was able to get out of range or shift dimensions.
The assassin in the trees stood no chance.
From the moment Arturia had turned her back on the assassin, the assassin had long since fallen to the ground, landing with a heavy thud from atop a distant tree.
Vincent had been breathless moments earlier, yet now he was forced to take in a heavy breath of air. He couldn't understand what had happened. One moment Arturia was facing his attacker, and in the next his attacker had died the moment Arturia turned her back on him.
He was left stupefied, but before he could reflect on it, he realized a pair of curious teal-eyes were staring down at him.
"I-I thank you for your benevolence," he stuttered out in a daze, trying his best to force the trembling of his body to stop. "I'm willing to listen to any request on behalf of your intervention."
"Request?" Arturia asked puzzled. "It almost seems like you wish to reward me," she said offhandedly, surprising Vincent who shuddered as if lightning had struck him.
"Is that not the case?" He asked uncertainly, the disbelief evident on his furrowed brows.
It was too unreal. He had never met anyone in the Roble Holy Kingdom who would do something without a motive. Even the Holy Queen may only come to his aid to gain his loyalty and a footing into the South. If the woman before him hadn't come to his aid for any sort of benefit, then what had caused her to step out?
"Will you really have me repeat myself for something so trivial?" Arturia asked, a rare smile coming to her lips as she realized that she didn't need to currently display the dignity of a King, but a Knight instead. "Besides, someone with your strength of beliefs should understand why it is that I would step out against injustice. For it is part of my duty."
The commandments of Chivalry, and the oaths of a Knight.
To fight on the side of the fair and the just.
Vincent fell silent, seeing for the first time that it wasn't just his family that held on to such impractical ideologies such as Chivalry. But there was no way that he couldn't remain suspicious of Arturia's origins. To begin with, the concept of Chivalry wasn't something known throughout the world and had only been introduced to the Roble Holy Kingdom through its national hero that had disappeared long ago. It was only those that had fought by the Holy Maiden's side that understood the concept behind it. As such, Vincent couldn't help but speculate which line of blood Arturia stemmed from.
He shook his head, a feeling of satisfaction taking root within him.
Regardless of what he thought, he was just glad that he and his family weren't the only ones to cling onto tradition.
"Then on behalf of myself and the Berferd Family, I thank you for your aid," Vincent composed himself and bowed in the proper manner of a Noble.
Unexpectedly, Arturia responded in kind, bowing in a similar manner as she had dealt with all types of aristocracy in her rule in Britain. It was just that her manner in responding to Vincent's gesture only furthered his suspicions of her origin as no commoner could understand the etiquette of nobles.
Which family did she come from? Vincent couldn't help thinking as Arturia inquired about his current state. Of course, Vincent held no information back from his saviour and explained everything, causing Arturia's expression to crease.
"You said you came with others?" She inquired of him.
He nodded his head dispiritedly. "I'm not sure if they're alive or not. I ran from them in hopes of drawing away our attackers, but aren't sure if I was able to draw all of them towards me."
Arturia nodded her head. "A valiant effort, but now isn't the time for rest," she said in praise, her intentions evident.
"You mean you'll help me?" Vincent asked softly.
Arturia stared for a moment longer before confirming Vincent's question with a nod.
She didn't know where Shirou was or what he was doing, but she had faith in her master. The only reason she and her Knights were still searching for him was because of their loyalty and the emotions Arturia felt, yet now a situation had arisen. Besides, a phrase had appeared in her head as Vincent had explained his situation.
It wasn't wrong to help others.
She was certain that her master would understand. It was a heartfelt sort of feeling.
Thanks for Reading, and thanks to my newest patrons: Bryan, Martin, Soul D, Gp 08, Void Golem, Mars, John B, and Sam!
P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious
Next Update:
Holyman: August 13, 2018
Fate-In Time. August 18, 2018