Chapter 2: Girl from the Plains
"Nmm… hmm… huh, what?" groaned Robert as he slowly blinked the sleep out of his eyes. "Did… did I pass out?"
"Ah, are you awake?" a female's voice said. "I found you unconscious on the plains."
"That voice…" thought Robert to himself. "It sounds so familiar…"
Robert noticed that his vision was blurry, meaning that his glasses had been removed. He looked around before a hand wearing a black, fingerless glove held out his spectacles for him. He thanked her and put them on, briefly relieved that he can see properly again only to be surprised at whom he saw in front of him.
Standing at the foot of the bed was a young woman. She had dark green hair tied in a ponytail and a matching pair of dark green eyes. She wore a sky blue qipao, which Robert found similar in design to those worn by the Chinese. The qipao had high slits at its sides, which showed off Lyn's very long legs and appeared to be held together at her waist with an orange sash. The lady also had a pair of black fingerless gloves and a pair of brown boots on. She looked to be similar to his age, and apparently younger than Palutena's.
Robert can also see that he appeared to be in some sort of tribal hut, likely a yurt similar to the ones used by Mongolians; he can see that the walls and roof were made of animal hides and furs. The hut was also modestly furnished; in addition to the bed he rested on, he could see a small table, a shelf loaded with bowls and cups, and a few boxes.
"I am Lyn, of the Lorca tribe," the young woman introduced herself with a warm smile. "You're safe now. Who are you? Can you remember your name?"
"Oh, my name's Robert," he answered, lightly blushing from seeing Lyn before he turned his eyes away from her so he can check himself over with his hands; he was glad that he wasn't apparently injured and no longer had any blisters. "Where am I, and how did I get here?"
"No way…" thought Robert to himself. "Did… did I end up on Elibe somehow? What happened after I used the arrow?"
"Your name's Robert? What an odd-sounding name," remarked Lyn. "But pay me no mind; it is a good name. I can see by your attire that you're not from Sacae Plains. Would you share your story with me?"
"Well, it's... complicated… and it's going to be hard to believe," Robert started, unsure of how to explain it to her.
"Well, it can't be any more complicated than finding you at the spot where a huge spear of light shone into the sky," laughed Lyn. "It looked as if Father Sky was directly delivering a message from above!"
"What? A spear of light?" thought Robert. "Did Palutena have something to do with this? Not complaining here since Lyn is an amazing lady but still…"
Some voices can be heard outside. They were far away but Lyn heard them and sharply turned her head to the door of the hut.
"What was that?" she gasped before she turned her attention to Robert. "Robert, wait here. I'll go see what's happening."
She grabbed her sheathed sword and rushed out of the yurt quickly, leaving Robert by himself... or so he had thought.
"Hello? Robert?" called a familiar voice within Robert's head. "Are you there?"
Robert jumped in shock as he recognized the voice.
"Is this… telepathy?" he mentally replied. "Is that you, Palutena?"
"Yep, it's me! Thank goodness you're awake," answered the goddess, her voice in his head. "I was afraid that you might still be out. I'm here to help you out with advice if need be. You can think of me as riding shotgun while you're at the wheel."
"Ah, I see. Did you also heal me and bring me to Elibe?"
"Yes to both questions. I made sure that you survived the Stand arrow and I had a feeling that this world is one of several you really wanted to visit first."
"Ah, thanks. And I'm glad to have you with me, even if it is like this."
"Aw, don't mention it, Robert!" laughed Palutena happily, making Robert smile a bit.
About a minute later, Lyn burst back into the yurt. There was a grim look on her face, which worried Robert.
"What's going on out there?" Robert asked, growing anxious.
"Nothing good," answered Lyn. "Bandits. They must have come down from the Bernese mountains! They must be planning on raiding the local villages! I… I'll have to stop them!"
"How many are there?"
"I do recall that there were only two bandits on this map," thought Robert to himself. "Though that might be different here since I don't think two bandits could realistically raid a village on their own too easily."
"There are about five of them," answered Lyn. "I don't know if I could handle all of them, but I can't let them raid the village. You should get ready to run."
"Wait, I can help!" burst out Robert, getting off of Lyn's bed.
"You can?" asked Lyn, a bit incredulously. "Do you have a weapon?"
Robert answered by pulling his sword from his inventory; the portal made the air visibly ripple as he made the motion of unsheathing his sword.
Lyn was surprised by the sight – to her, it seem as if Robert had pulled a steel sword out from behind his back and the young man wasn't wearing a sword sheath. "I can see that you're no ordinary swordsman. I have questions for you but those can wait until the bandits are dealt with. We'll go together."
With that, Lyn grabbed a visibly loaded satchel and rushed out of the yurt. Robert checked himself to make sure he had everything before he quickly followed after her. He noticed that it was late in the afternoon.
"You were out for quite a while, Robert," Palutena said, voicing his thought out loud in his head.
Before too long, Lyn and Robert arrived at a shallow forest and hid within the foliage. Up ahead, Robert could see some rough-looking men shouting at each other and then pointing at the direction of the village.
"That's them," whispered Lyn to Robert. "The bandits."
Robert hummed in thought. "Looks like they haven't seen us yet."
"You seem to be thinking hard," remarked Lyn. "Do you have a plan for them?"
"Be careful," warned Palutena within Robert's mind. "You're no longer in Super Smash Brothers anymore. Any decisions made in battles could very well be your last."
"Right… Classic Fire Emblem and its permadeath system…" Robert mentally sighed to himself.
"There seems to be… six bandits total, and they all have axes," started Robert to Lyn. "However, five of them are actively moving around. One seems to be standing guard at their ger – he's probably their leader."
"So five against the two of us," muttered Lyn. "This is not going to be an easy battle."
"We should try to them down one by one," advised Robert. "I also have a surprise for them so we can even the odds some. And we can defeat them faster if we attack one at the same time as long as we can keep an eye out for the others. Let's wait until one gets far enough from his friends."
"It sounds simple enough," considered Lyn, as she and Robert waited for the perfect moment. "Very well. I'll protect you so stay close to me."
It took a few minutes before one of the bandits began to wander off towards Lyn's and Robert's location.
Once the bandit got close enough, Robert gave the call: "Now!"
"Huh?!" the bandit gasped in surprise.
"Hah!" Using his sword, Robert quickly slashed at the bandit, slicing him on the shoulder.
The bandit cried out in pain and clutched at this bleeding shoulder, briefly taking his eyes off of Lyn for a short moment. That moment was all Lyn needed.
"Geh!" With a grunt, Lyn quickly finished off the bandit with her own slash of her sword – only this one sliced the bandit in the throat, leaving the bandit lying on the ground, dying and choking on his own blood.
"Urk, just five more to go," said Robert, fighting the urge not to vomit at having killed a fellow human being.
"Right," replied Lyn. "We can do this!"
The remaining bandits, however, saw what had happened to their comrade and grew angry.
"Oi!" called out one bandit. "Those two just killed Jeff!"
"Let's get 'em!" called out another in response. "It's just two of them!"
"Yeah, we can take 'em!" called out a third and with a battle cry, he and the remaining three bandits besides the leader all began charging at Lyn and Robert.
"Let's take out them all out!" shouted Lyn and before Robert could say something in response, the plainswoman had already charged ahead to meet the four bandits.
"Oh no!" called out Palutena in his mind. "Lyn just charged at them!"
"Damn!" gasped Robert before he quickly rushed after her, pulling off his Poké Ball from his belt and chucking it into the air. "Mudkip, let's go!"
Mudkip materialized and landed on the ground. "Mudkip!"
"Mudkip, use Hydro Pump on that guy!" Robert called out, pointing at one of the bandits in question.
"Mud… KIP!" Mudkip took a deep breath before launching a massive stream of water from its mouth.
Meanwhile, Lyn was locked in combat against the four bandits. However, she was put on the defensive, being forced to either dodge or parry their axe strikes.
"Heheheheh," one of the bandits chuckled sinisterly with a perverse smirk as his eyes wandered over Lyn's body. "Aren't you a pretty little thing?"
"We should sell her," suggested another bandit, as he swiped at Lyn with his axe only for his strike to miss thanks to Lyn dodging it. "I bet she'd make us a lot of –"
"Forget that!" cut in the third bandit. "I want to have – HURBLUBLUBLUBLUBLUB!"
Whatever the third bandit tried to say was quickly cut off by a huge stream of water slamming into him, sending him flying away from the other bandits, relieving some of the pressure Lyn was feeling from being outnumbered.
"What the hell?!" ejaculated the fourth bandit. "Where did that come from?!"
"It came from over – GWAH!" The distraction cost the second bandit as Lyn took the opportunity to stab him through his chest, puncturing his heart, leaving him to collapse and bleed out to his death.
"Mudkip, Take Down!" Robert ordered.
"Mud!" Mudkip charged at another bandit before it lunged and slammed headfirst.
"Oof!" gasped out the bandit as he was left sprawling onto the ground, stunned.
Robert quickly finished off the bandit by rushing over to him and stabbing him in the throat, leaving the bandit to die similarly to how the first bandit did earlier. Robert gulped as he once again resisted the urge to vomit.
"Two down, two more to go," muttered Robert before his eyes widened as he quickly sidestepped a downward axe swing from the remaining bandit still in the vicinity of him and Lyn. Robert quickly punished the axe fighter for missing by cutting him in the arm, forcing him to drop his axe in pain.
Lyn quickly dove in and cut the bandit down.
"Thanks for the help," gasped Lyn, feeling a bit winded from dodging and parrying the bandits' attacks earlier.
She then turned her attention to Mudkip. "Who… or what is this little creature?"
"Mud?" Mudkip gave Lyn a questioning look.
"Later, Lyn," Robert answered, pointing to the bandit who had been pushed away by Mudkip's Hydro Pump attack earlier. "There's still one more bandit, and then there's their leader."
"Ah, right," conceded Lyn before she charged off towards the bandit, who was still coughing up some of the water.
It only took seconds for Lyn to cut the bandit down.
"Okay, he's down," Lyn said before she clutched her arm.
Robert rushed over to see that Lyn was bleeding – he could see that her arms and legs were riddled with cuts.
"That bandit leader doesn't seem to be in the mood to face us just yet," the Sacaen plainswoman said. "I think I should administer some first aid; I've gotten hit a few times."
Lyn then pulled out a ceramic bottle from her satchel and removed the cork from it. She then began gulping some of the bottle's contents down.
Robert watched as he saw some of Lyn's wounds begin to disappear. Before too long, most of the bleeding had stopped though some shallow cuts remained.
"That's a vulnerary," explained Palutena from within Robert's mind. "You can say that it's a healing potion of sorts."
"Right," mentally replied Robert. "First time I've seen something like this; normally, it'd take several days to heal from cuts."
He then turned to Mudkip. "You still good to go?"
"Mudkip!" Mudkip hopped around confidently, ready for more combat.
"All right, let's take out that boss!"
The "boss" was none too pleased to see the two people who had slain his subordinates.
"Who do you think you are?!" he snarled, brandishing his heavy metal axe. "You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast?!"
Lyn didn't say anything – she answered by slicing Batta across his torso, tearing his leather armor, clothing, and skin easily. Blood gushed out in a short wave, splattering the grass as well as Lyn's dress with iron red. Batta roared in pain from the sharp hit before he lunged for Lyn with his axe raised over his head.
Lyn quickly attempted to dodge the attack but she realized too late that it was a feint – Batta adjusted his grip and changed the direction of his swing, slamming the blunt side of his axe into her midsection hard, knocking the wind out of her with Lyn letting out a pained groan. Lyn gasped painfully for breath, clutching at her now bruised torso.
"Lyn!" Robert cried out.
"It was one thing to see it happen in a battle screen but to see it actually happen!" he thought, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he readied his sword. "But at this rate, Lyn might die – or worse! I better distract him!"
"Heeyah!" Without thinking further, Robert jumped up and did a hasty overhead swing, hoping to cut into the brigand's shoulder. However, his hope was dashed as Batta raised his axe to intercept the incoming blow.
CLANG!
Robert remained still in the air for a brief moment only to be flung away by Batta's superior strength, sending him and his sword tumbling away onto the grass, getting his pants and cloak covered with green and brown smudges from the grass and dirt.
Mudkip rushed over to him to see if its trainer was all right. "Mudkip mud!"
Robert groaned and got up, only to see that Batta was now towering over Lyn with his axe raised once more.
"This will only hurt for a moment, little girl," Batta snarled before he grinned as he eyed her downed form. "Once I'm finished with that boyfriend of yours, you'll be all mine… Your death won't be enough to pay for you killing my friends. I think I'll break you…"
Everything went into slow motion to Robert as he scrambled to grab his sword and rush back to the fight. However, just as Batta was about to slam the blunt side of his axe into Lyn once more, Lyn ducked and rolled away from him, cutting him in the axe-wielding hand with a quick swing of her sword, forcing Batta to drop his axe in pain. The axe landed with a thud just as a powerful stream of water – Mudkip's Hydro Pump attack – slammed into the bandit's face. Lyn stood tall and suddenly blurred before Robert's eyes – Lyn disappeared and two fast yet powerful slashes can be faintly seen cutting into the drenched Batta's body.
When Lyn was visible once more, she was standing back where she was before she blurred out.
"W-what?" gasped Batta as he felt his imminent death reach him. "How… how did you—"
Whatever Batta tried to say was quickly interrupted by a pained cry as large amounts of blood suddenly erupted from his body. Batta was now dead.
"… Whoa…" gasped Robert in quiet awe as he stared at Lyn, who was now standing tall with the wind blowing gently at her hair and her qipao.
"Wow," he thought to himself. "This is the sort of sight that would be in fan art… or on a game's box cover if she weren't covered in blood."
"My, my," laughed Palutena teasingly via Robert's mental link, making the young man blush. "Sounds like you're quite taken with her!"
"Very funny." Robert then turned to Mudkip. "Great work, Mudkip; this battle wouldn't have been won without you."
"Mudkip!" chirped the Mud Fish Pokémon happily as suddenly, its small body glowed brightly, drawing the attention of Lyn.
"Wait, what's going on?!" Lyn gasped as she raised an arm to shield her eyes.
"Mudkip – it's evolving!" Robert answered excitedly as he also similarly shielded his eyes.
Mudkip's form turned into a ball of white light, before the ball began to morph into a more bipedal creature. When the light faded, there stood a very different creature. It was aqua blue in color with an orange belly and a pair of orange external gills. Its fins behind its short but study legs and behind its round head were dark blue.
The Mud Fish Pokémon regarded Robert and Lyn with its small, orange eyes and smiled happily. "Marshtomp!"
"Congratulations, Mudkip – er, I mean, Marshtomp!" Robert cheered as he moved to crouch down and hug the newly evolved Pokémon. "You've gotten stronger!"
"And now, it's part Ground-Type, so Electric-Type attacks won't work on it, and it can learn more Ground-type attacks," added Palutena in Robert's head.
Lyn smiled at the creature and its master sharing a happy moment before she used the deceased man's torn shirt as a rag to wipe the blood off of her sword. She then returned her attention to Robert. "Well, that takes care of the bandits. Are you okay, Robert?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said as he got up, patting as much dirt off of his clothes as possible. "Just a bit scraped up, is all. How about you? You're the one who actually got hit by them."
"Don't worry about me," Lyn replied with a smile. "Nothing like a few doses of vulnerary and some food and rest won't fix. Now, let's clean up here and get back to my ger."
With that, Lyn walked back into the woods to gather some firewood. Robert busied himself by looting the bandits, examining and taking some of their possessions, mainly their weapons and money.
"Nice work," said Palutena in Robert's head. "It wasn't easy being put into a life or death situation for the first time, and you and Lyn made it out all right."
"Right," Robert mentally answered as he counted up the bandits' money.
"Robert, are you okay? As far as I know, this is the first time you actually killed a sentient being, right?"
"Yeah… urk!" Robert shook his head as he stopped himself from heaving once more. "There was so much blood… and I'm surprised that I'm not a total wreck yet."
"People express that sort of… trauma… in different ways," answered Palutena sagely.
Lyn arrived back with some branches and twigs in hand looking at Robert with a raised eyebrow as she saw Robert stuff the bandits' weapons into his inventory.
"What?" Robert asked rhetorically. "Those bandits won't be needing them now that they're dead but we could make use of them."
Lyn shook her head as she dumped the firewood onto the ground. "No, I don't mean that. I mean… What did you do to the weapons?"
"Ah, that." Robert then explained to her his inventory ability and how he had arrived on Elibe, answering many questions the plainswoman asked of him about his circumstances.
Lyn gave him her full attention and listened silently. Her deep green eyes detected no signs of deceit from the young man she had fought with.
"Oh, Robert," sighed Lyn sympathetically as she walked over to hug him with tears in her eyes. "To not feel the love of your parents that easily… right before your death… Meanwhile, my parents are no longer of this world. Bandits had slain my parents and most of my tribe – my family – after they poisoned our water supply. And the few survivors left chose to follow their own paths since I'm so young and I'm a woman. I've been alone for so long… that I never thought that I'd meet somebody similar to me."
"I've come to terms with it… I think," the young man replied solemnly. "I want to make the most out of my life now that I have a second chance. And I hope that your folks get to rest peacefully watching you from… wherever they are."
He then got up and touched the bandits' ger with a hand. A portal opened up on the ground and the ger went into his inventory as if it had sunk into a sinkhole.
"If anybody else asks, let's just say that it's some special type of magic," he said, trying to lighten up the heavy mood. "There are people who would probably kill to have somebody like me on their side."
"That is a powerful ability," remarked Lyn, wiping the last of her tears off on her arm. "You could hold a lot of food, medicine, and weapons between the two of us! Very well, I promise to keep your secret. Though I do have my doubts that people would believe it unless they see you doing it."
"I do recall that the people of Sacae are known to be honest people," said Palutena to Robert's mind. "I can safely say that Lyn seems to trust you a lot."
"It is probably the sort of bond shared because of combat and both of us having something in common," Robert mentally replied, recalling how both he and Lyn, in their own ways, lost family and their homes.
Lyn and Robert quickly assembled a funeral pyre and hauled the bandits' corpses onto it. Lyn, using a hunting knife and a flint stone, ignited the pyre. After a long while, the bodies were cremated as best as possible given the makeshift nature of the pyre. Robert then had Marshtomp to douse the burnt remains with its Water-Type attacks and then Robert used earth magic to bury said remains, showing off more of his magic to Lyn in the process.
"Well, that's that," Robert said quietly as he returned Marshtomp to its Poké Ball.
Lyn noticed Robert's expression. "You okay, Robert?"
"Yeah. Just that… It's the first time I've killed a human being," he answered.
"I see…"
Lyn went over to put a hand on his shoulder. "Be glad that you and I survived. And the fact that you're having thoughts like that shows that you're still human. Plus, with the bandits gone, the village can rest easy."
Robert gave Lyn a small smile. "Yeah."
"Good, now let's go home. It's getting dark and I'm sure you're hungry."
The sun was setting when Robert and Lyn arrived back at Lyn's yurt. It was there that Robert received some news from Palutena.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Palutena started in Robert's head. "Since you've done a great job training up Mudkip so far that it evolved, I'm thinking of sending over another Pokémon. Got any requests between the two left?
Robert remembered the Charmander and Pikachu Palutena had mentioned before he was brought to Elibe. With a brief moment of thought, Robert had his answer.
"Let's go with Charmander," he answered.
"Okay. Hold out your hand," ordered Palutena.
Robert did so and sure enough, a sphere of light materialized above his open palm. A Poké Ball landed on his hand. After staring at it in a few seconds, Robert sent out Marshtomp from its Poké Ball.
"Marsh?" it queried, confused on its being sent out.
Robert answered by showing Marshtomp the Poké Ball. "Palutena just sent me a new teammate!"
The Mud Fish Pokémon quickly shared Robert's excitement. "…Marsh!"
The trainer then threw the Poké Ball into the air. "Go!"
The Poké Ball opened in midair and in a burst of light, a small, lizard-like creature landed on its two, clawed feet. The Lizard Pokémon saw Robert and Marshstomp with its large, turquoise eyes and smiled happily as the flame burning on the tip of its tail glowed brightly against the darkening sky.
"Charmander char!" It cried out happily before it leaped at Robert.
"Whoa!" Robert fumbled but caught the happy Fire-Type Pokémon. "Glad to meet you, too, Charmander! Welcome to the team."
Palutena giggled, enjoying Robert's happiness. "Take good care of Charmander now, Robert."
"I will, Palutena," Robert promised.
Lyn, who had been watching the exchange quietly, became excited, too, and moved to the now bigger group. "Wow, I've never seen a creature like you before. A fish walking on legs on land is one thing but to see a fire-tailed lizard now?"
She rubbed the Lizard Pokémon's head gently with her hand, making Charmander coo with joy.
"You know," Lyn remarked. "You do kind of look like a father with a happy child in his arms."
Robert laughed in response. "If that's the case, then I've really got to make Charmander big and strong along with Marshtomp, too! Now, let me cook something up! I can't have you do everything here, Lyn!"
He was as good as his word. Robert quickly found out that Palutena had awarded him with plenty of Hearts after exterminating the bandit squad and evolving Mudkip, so he wasted no time pulling out his smartphone to access the Multiverse Shop app and using a sizable portion of his Hearts to buy several things, including a foldable table, lanterns, flashlights, some folding chairs, a portable stove, multiple cooking pots, a rice cooker, a wok, a frying pan, tableware, and several food ingredients such as raw chicken, broccoli, and a sack of rice. As Lyn watched Robert get and set the equipment up with wonder and amazement, she tended to the nearby campfire which kept the area around her yurt lit with the help of Robert's Charmander, who knew a Fire-type move.
"That is such a strange… object," remarked Lyn with wonder as she watched her new friend use his smartphone. "To be able to do so many things."
Robert hummed in thought as he reviewed his purchases before consulting a cooking recipe on the smartphone's web browser. "Well, you could say that it's like… a very special magic tome or artifact, to keep things simple."
After about an hour, Robert was finally finished cooking the food and was now setting the table, which was now brightly lit by one of the lanterns. "Okay, food's ready."
Some grumbling can be heard from his friends' stomachs as Lyn, Charmander, and Marshtomp made their way to the table and took seats on the folding chairs.
"Ooh, let's see what you've made!" said Lyn excitedly. "It smells so good!"
Marshtomp and Charmander let out their own cries of excitement; they had become impatient with hunger, especially with the delicious scent wafting around outside of Lyn's home. Charmander was in fact openly salivating.
Robert plated up the food and gave each table's occupant a plate. Each plate was loaded with a healthy mound of white rice topped with a helping of boiled broccoli and large, deep fried chicken chunks coated with a thick, dark reddish-brown and spicy-smelling sauce. The dish was topped off with a sprinkling of chopped scallions and tiny sesame seeds.
Lyn, Charmander, and Marshtomp all looked at their helpings with awe as Robert got seated with his own helping of his creation.
"This dish here is Zuo Zhongtang ji," explained Robert. "Or General Tso's chicken; it was apparently named after some military leader of some bygone era in my home world. You can think of this dish as some sweet-and-spicy deep fried chicken with broccoli – that's the green vegetables – and rice."
"I guess having level 99 in the Cooking skill from RuneScape helped me make the meal rather easily," Robert thought to himself. "Even though the dish itself doesn't exist in the actual game."
"Wow…" Lyn gasped as she looked over her food, appreciating how it looked despite only having the lantern and campfire for light. "This looks like a dish only rich merchants or nobility could afford."
"Well, I don't know about that," Robert chuckled modestly. "It's not considered an expensive dish at home but I can see that being the case here since as far as I know, I'm the only one who could make it. Now, let's eat before it gets cold."
"Right!"
With that, Robert, Lyn, Marshtomp, and Charmander began to chow down their meals. While Robert was happily enjoying a taste familiar to himself, he earned a lot of praise from his companions. Predictably, they asked for seconds and Robert was all too happy to give them some more.
The party then cleaned up and had the table and leftovers stored away inside of Robert's inventory before going inside of Lyn's yurt with satiated bellies full of food and water for the night. Robert had recalled Marshtomp and Charmander back into their Poké Balls and rolled out a newly purchased sleeping bag. He slid in and, after a few minutes, went to sleep at once.
"Thank you, Mother Earth and Father Sky, for letting me make a new friend," murmured Lyn quietly in her bed as she felt sleep close her eyes.
The next morning, Robert woke up early to see Lyn busy packing some of her things into her satchel.
"Oh, good morning, Lyn," the young man said. "Are you going somewhere?"
Lyn looked at Robert in the eye. "You plan on traveling, right? Well, I want to travel with you."
Robert was pleasantly surprised and was curious. "Wait, really? Why me?"
"Well, I can't help but feel that I can't leave you alone anyhow. Not after we learned quite a bit about each other. And after yesterday's battle, I now know that I won't become any stronger by just sitting here all alone. Robert, tell me that you'll train me, that you'll let me travel with you!"
Robert couldn't help but smile happily at her – happy that he'll have Lyn's company for this journey on Elibe. "I'll be more than happy to have you on this journey."
"You will?" gasped Lyn, mildly surprised at Robert's easy acceptance of her before she happily returned the smile and suddenly joyfully hugged him tightly. "That's just wonderful! Thank you! Oh, thank you! I'll be your peerless warrior and you'll be my… hmm… what exactly could you be? You have some idea on tactics, you can use magic, and you have that storage ability and can somehow get things from another world."
Robert blushed from the happy hug and thought for a moment. "I guess you could call me a strategist though logistics support is more accurate."
Lyn separated herself from Robert and nodded at the man's explanation. "In that case, you'll be my peerless strategist, and I'll be your peerless warrior!"
Lyn and Robert had a simple breakfast of eggs and bacon, while Robert's Pokémon got Pokémon food. Packing up afterwards had been a simple affair once Lyn got her essentials inside of her satchel since she requested Robert to try to bring along her yurt using his inventory ability. Similar to how he had stuffed the late bandits' ger into his inventory in the previous evening, Robert stowed Lyn's yurt safely away inside of his pocket dimension storage.
The site where Lyn's yurt once stood was now cleared out; the only thing that showed human activity was the remains of an extinguished campfire.
With that, Lyn and Robert set off, going southeast.
"So, Lyn, where are we going?" Robert asked.
"We're going to Bulgar," answered Lyn. "We're going to get some supplies for the long journey. Bulgar is the nearest trading hub – and the biggest – in Sacae."
Robert pulled out his smartphone from his pocket and selected the maps application. He was pleased to see that it worked and was now showing him the map of Elibe. Two markers were displayed on Sacae Plains: one showed the phone's location (or where he and Lyn were) and the other showed the location of Bulgar.
"Looks like we could get some training done in the meantime," Robert said as he patted the two Poké Balls clipped onto his belt.
"It's almost time for the next battle," he thought to himself.
Their trek through the grassy plains indeed took a while on foot. Robert took the opportunity to have Marshtomp and Charmander out with him so that they could not only walk with them but also get some training in, with Robert paying some extra attention to Charmander due to his being new to his team. At Palutena's suggestion, Robert also practiced his elemental magic with his Pokémon, allowing his Pokémon to train even faster now that they have somebody to practice their moves with. Similarly, he got some swordplay practice with Lyn as well as gave Lyn some practice fighting magic foes. He also took the opportunity to just chat with Lyn and even took a few photographs of Lyn, himself, his Pokémon, and the windswept plains using his smartphone's camera.
Before Robert knew it, it was late morning as he scrolled through the new photographs on his phone when Lyn called out to him. "Here we are! Bulgar, the biggest city in all of Sacae. Let's get our supplies here."
"Sounds good to me," Robert replied as he recalled Marshstomp and Charmander back into their Poké Balls and stowed his smartphone away in his coat pocket.
Lyn and Robert walked past the tall ramparts and entered the city itself. While the city wasn't too crowded, there were indeed many different people either hawking their goods or browsing and trading for them. There were also some craftsmen in the city, such as smiths making metal weapons. Most of the people he saw were Sacaen thanks to their choice of clothing, which were similar to those worn by the Mongols in his home world. The differing clothing often denoted foreign merchants who were either looking to sell some of their wares or were looking to resupply for the journey ahead, or mercenaries who were taking the opportunity to rest while on their assignments.
Lyn and Robert bought some dried meat, vulneraries, a few waterskins, and a few extra weapons. Robert used some of Lyn's gold to buy himself a brown traveling cloak before he discreetly bought a knapsack as a way to hide his inventory ability to some extent while still storing some of their newly purchased goods. He also converted some of his Hearts into gold coins to reimburse Lyn.
They were then idly browsing through some handmade jewelry when a man's voice rang out to them.
"Oh, my heart! What a dazzling vision of loveliness!"
"Hm, that sounds like Sain," Robert thought to himself, looking up from a bracelet.
"It's about time for the next battle," added Palutena.
Robert and Lyn had just put down a patterned woven bracelet they had been examining and were just about to leave only to see a young man with brown hair and green armor hastily jumped off of his horse, dashed to them, and got on one knee in front of Lyn. Robert noticed that a few nearby bystanders who were watching were also trying to stifle their laughter.
"Wait, O' beauteous one!" pleaded the man amorously. "Would you not favor me with your name? Or better yet, your company?"
Robert laughed as a certain thought rang loudly in his head. "Oh my god, that's just like how Brock does it in the Pokémon anime!"
Lyn looked at the man flatly. "Where are you from, sir knight, that you speak so freely to strangers?"
"Ha! I thought you'd never ask," the man crowed proudly as he put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest, striking what he believed was a manly pose. "I am from Lycia. I hail from the Caelin canton, home to men of passion and fire!"
Lyn remained unimpressed. "Shouldn't that be 'home to callow oafs with loose tongues'?"
The man laughed flirtatiously, not at all upset by her insult. "Ooooh, you're even more lovely when you're cruel!"
Lyn grabbed a laughing Robert's hand and began to lead him away from the jewelry stand. "Ugh, let's go, Robert. I've nothing more to say."
The green-armored man was speechless as he watched Lyn walk away with the black-haired man in tow, presumably to continue shopping. Not a second too soon, a man with brown hair and red armor and on a horse rode up to his green counterpart.
"Sain, hold your tongue!" ordered the red-armored man crossly.
"Ah, Kent, my boon companion!" responded Sain with a sheepish grin as he got back on his horse. "Why so severe an expression?"
"If your manner were more serious, I wouldn't have to be so severe! We still have a mission to complete, Sain!"
"I know that. But how could I remain silent in the presence of such beauty? It would have been discourteous!"
"What do you know about courtesy?!"
Just then, Lyn and Robert walked up to them, having finished shopping.
"Excuse me!" called out Lyn to the two cavaliers. "You're blocking the road. If you would be so kind as to move your horses…"
"Of course. My apologies," replied Kent as he had his horse move aside.
Lyn nodded approvingly. "Thank you. You, at least, seem honorable enough."
Kent got a look at Lyn and blinked before he leaned forward from his horse to take a closer look at Lyn just as Lyn and Robert were about to walk past them. "Hm? Pardon me, but… I feel we've met before."
"The plot thickens," Robert muttered to himself.
Lyn looked at red-armored cavalier incredulously. "I beg your pardon?"
Sain elbowed Kent indignantly. "Hey! No fair, Kent! I saw her first!"
Lyn clicked her tongue in anger upon hearing Sain's outburst and grabbed Robert's hand once more. "It seems there are no decent men among Lycia's knights! Let's go, Robert! I've run out of patience."
Robert chuckled and followed after her. Mentally, he was trying to psyche himself up for the impending battle.
"Wait, please!" pleaded Kent trying to stop them but to no avail; the two were ignoring them. "It's not like that!"
Kent turned to Sain.
"Sain, you lout!" he hissed sharply.
"Huh? 'Not like that'?" Sain parroted, confused. "I thought you were –"
"I am NOT you!" cut in Kent as he turned his horse to the city gate. "Come, we must follow her! I suspect she might be –"
Without another word, Kent raced off on top of his horse, heading in the direction of Lyn and Robert.
"Be what?" queried Sain before his eyes widened in realization. "She's our mission? You're joking! Wait!"
With that, Sain raced off, too, on his horse.
Outside of the city walls, Lyn and Robert were planning out their next destination of their journey. They were poring over the map application in Robert's smartphone.
"Okay," said Robert, nodding in assent. "So our next stop is going to be that sword altar."
Lyn smiled at Robert's agreement. "I'll even teach you the prayer for the – wait a moment."
The plainswoman stopped Robert from walking further and scanned the nearby trees; she heard multiple sets of footsteps and rough shouting.
"Oh no!" she gasped before she grabbed Robert's hand once more. "Could it be those two knights? No, those aren't their voices… These men are out for blood! Run!"
The duo raced one way only to see that a group of bandits had jumped out of the nearby woods in front of them, prompting Lyn and Robert to draw their swords. One of the bandits, which Robert deduced was the apparent leader, approached them. The bandit had graying hair and a scar cut across his forehead.
The scarred bandit chuckled evilly as he leered at Lyn. "Aren't you the pretty one! Your name is Lyndis, is it not?"
Lyn felt her eyes widen in shock and fear and her blood run cold. "What did you call me? Who are you?!"
The bandit ignored her questions and shook his head in mild disappointment. "Ah, such a waste. An absolute waste. The things I'd do for gold…"
He then brandished his axe. "Ah well, time to die, darlin'! C'mon out, boys!"
Even more bandits jumped out of the woods and quickly scattered, ready to seal off possible escape routes.
"There's too many of them!" gasped Lyn before her face became contorted with grim determination. "But I won't give up!"
"Yeah," agreed Robert, unclipping one of his Poké Balls from his belt. "We can take 'em!"
Just before Lyn and Robert could begin the fight, a familiar voice called out nearby. "Hey! There she is!"
"What?" Lyn looked back to see that the two cavaliers she and Robert met in Bulgar had arrived.
"Whew," gasped Sain. "Finally caught up…"
The green-armored cavalier surveyed Lyn's and Robert's immediate surroundings. His more cheery expression quickly changed into a more serious one.
"You there! What is your business?" he barked at the nearby bandits as he readied his lance. "Such numbers against a girl! Cowards, every one of you!"
"You!" gasped Lyn, recognizing the cavaliers. "You're from –"
"We can discuss that later," interrupted Kent, readying his sword. "It appears these ruffians mean to do you harm. If it's a fight they want, then let them look to me!"
"Stand back," argued Sain. "I'll take care of this!"
"No! This is my fight," declared Lyn. "Stay out of my way!"
"Well, I can't just stand here and do nothing…"
"Stop arguing, you guys!" called out Robert before he threw his Poké Ball into the air. "We have a fight on our hands! Go, Charmander – get ready for battle!"
To the two cavaliers' amazement, the red-and-white ball opened up to release Charmander.
"Char!" The little lizard Pokémon cried out as it landed on the ground, poised for battle.
"What in Saint Elimine's name is that creature?!" gasped Sain.
"Charmander, Flamethrower!" ordered Robert.
"Char!" With a cute battle cry, Charmander breathed out a powerful stream of fire right at the now frightened bandit.
"Wind!" called out Charmander's trainer as he threw a ball of wind into Charmander's Flamethrower attack, strengthening it and speeding it up.
The enhanced Flamethrower attack slammed into the bandit, ending with a powerful explosion.
This time, Kent was shocked. "Such power…! From a creature that looks very young, it's already strong enough to rival some seasoned mages!"
"Lyn, take out the bandit over there!" called out Robert.
"Got it," acknowledged Lyn as she charged towards the bandit he pointed out.
Kent turned to Robert. "Robert, was it? Command us. I am Kent, knight of Lycia. My companion is Sain. We will follow your orders in this battle."
He turned to Lyn once she defeated the bandit. "We'll join your battle and follow yours and Robert's orders. Would that be acceptable, milady?"
"Yes, it is," Lyn accepted. "Let's go!"
After a minor mishap due to Sain attempting to impress Lyn, Lyn, Robert, Charmander, Marshtomp, Kent, and Sain managed to defeat the bandit group. The battle had been a lot easier thanks to Kent's and Sain's assistance. Both Kent and Sain were impressed with Robert's tactics and his Pokémon.
"Blast…" gasped the now dying bandit leader, who had been cut and burnt by Lyn and her allies. "There was only supposed to be a lone… girl…"
The bandit leader slumped on the ground, dead. Lyn examined the man's corpse.
"That's the last of them!" she confirmed. "Nicely done, Robert!"
"Thanks, Lyn," Robert replied before he turned to Marshtomp and Charmander and returned them to their Poké Balls. "Nice work, you two! Have a good rest."
"And now, for these knights of Lycia." Lyn then faced Kent and Sain. "You were going to share your story with me?"
"Yes," confirmed Kent. "We have ventured from Caelin, in Lycia, in search of someone."
"Lycia… That's the country beyond the mountains in the southwest, isn't it?"
"Correct. We've come as messengers to the lady Madelyn, who eloped with a nomad some nineteen years ago."
"Madelyn?" gasped Lyn, finding the name familiar.
"I remember this story," Robert thought to himself. "It seems to be following the game's canon so far."
"Our lord the marquess of Caelin's only daughter," answered Kent. "He was heartbroken when his own daughter would abandon him so. Eventually, the marquess simply declared that he had no daughter."
"And then," continued Sain. "This year, we received a letter from Lady Madelyn. It said that she, her husband, and their daughter were living happily on the Sacae plains. The marquess was ecstatic to learn that he had a granddaughter of eighteen years. I remember the smile on his face when he announced that he'd suddenly become a grandfather. The granddaughter's name was Lyndis. This was also the name of the marquess's wife, who had passed away at an early age."
"Lyndis?" Lyn repeated the name softly, not believing the significance of her own name.
"I don't blame her," said Palutena within Robert's head. "To not have family anymore only to find out that there could still be family out there would be a big shock to anybody."
Sain nodded to Lyn as he solemnly continued the story. "That she should bear this name thawed the marquess's heart. Now, his only wish is to meet his daughter's family at least once. This is why we're here. We didn't know that Lady Madelyn died a few days after sending her letter – we only learnt this shortly after arriving here in Bulgar."
"But," added Kent. "We also learned all was not lost: her daughter yet lives. We heard that she was living alone on the plains… I… I knew it immediately. You are the lady Lyndis."
Lyn recalled how Kent took a closer look at him back in Bulgar. "Why would you think that?"
"Your resemblance to your departed mother is remarkable."
"What?" gasped Lyn, curious to know more. "Did you know my mother?"
Kent shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry to say that I never met her directly, but I saw her portraits in Castle Caelin."
Lyn sighed as she took the information in; it was a lot to take in. "To the rest of my tribe, I was always Lyn. But when I was with my parents – when it was just the three of us, I was Lyndis. It's all so strange; I was all alone in the world, and now, I have a grandfather."
There was a moment of silence from the men to allow Lyn to contemplate over this new information. Lyn's eyes widened as the young lady remembered something.
"Wait!" gasped Lyn. "That bandit! He called me Lyndis, too!"
"What?" gasped Kent in disbelief. "How could he have—"
"He was a henchman of Lord Lundgren, wasn't he?" cut in Sain, scowling.
"Lundgren?" queried Lyn. "Who's that?"
"He's the marquess's younger brother, which makes him your granduncle," explained Kent. "Everyone assumed that Lady Madelyn was gone forever. This made Lord Lundgren heir to the marquess's title."
"To be blunt, milady, your existence is an obstacle to his ambitions," added Sain seriously.
"That's…!" spluttered Lyn. "But I have no interest in inheriting any title!"
"Unfortunately, your granduncle is not the sort of man to believe that. I believe the attempts on your life will persist."
Lyn grew worried. "What should I do?"
"Accompany us to Caelin," answered Kent. "Continuing on this way is dangerous."
"I feel I have little choice," groaned Lyn, shaking her head. "I will go with you."
She turned to Robert. "Robert… I'm sorry. This changes everything."
Robert shook his head. "Life can be like that sometimes – it can have surprises both good and bad."
"But still… what do you want me to do?"
Robert put his hand on Lyn's shoulder. "It's your journey, Lyn. Only you can truly decide how it ends. And as your friend, I'll be there with you."
"Eh?" Lyn gasped, surprised by Robert's answer. "You… want me to decide? Of course, your companionship would do much to ease my journey, but… it's going to be so dangerous."
"Well, the journey being dangerous means that I can't in good conscience leave you alone right now. Based on what those two knights said about Lundgren, I'm inclined to believe them – in my home world, I've heard real-life stories of people willing to do heinous acts, not caring if they're doing it to their own family or people who trust them."
Lyn once more was taken aback by Robert's opinion that she was momentarily speechless – she looked like she was about to cry at the thought of people being that heartless or cruel to each other.
"You'll come? Truly?" asked Lyn once she had recovered.
Robert put on a brave smile for her. "You don't need to ask me again – I will be more than happy to come and support you on this journey. We wouldn't be alone in this either – Kent and Sain are helping us and I have my Pokémon, too. Plus… I can't exactly steal your house since it's in my inventory, you know."
Lyn laughed at his joke and returned the smile, glad to have her friend. "Thank you… for your friendship and your aid!"
"Sounds like you got yourself quite a few support points there, Robert," laughed Palutena teasingly.
"Oh, lay off," Robert laughed mentally, blushing a little.
Lyn then turned to Kent and Sain who both had smiles on their faces from seeing Robert and Lyn interact.
"At the very least, Lyn's got a good friend on her side…" thought Kent. "And a powerful one at that."
"That would explain why Lyn had no interest in me," Sain mentally chuckled to himself. "She already has somebody with her."
"Before we go to Caelin, I want to see an altar where a sacred sword is enshrined in. It's just east of here. People of Sacae go there to pray for the safety of a long journey," said Lyn.
Sain became curious. "Oh, how quaint!"
Kent hummed in thought before he replied. "The teachings of Elimine have the most followers in Elibe. It is nice to see that, here at least, the ancient customs are still observed."
The group made their way to the outskirts of Bulgar, which lay outside of the main city's walls. There was much to talk about for the four: Lyn wanted to know more about her grandfather while Kent and Sain wanted to know about Robert, his relationship with Lyn, and his Pokémon.
They had just arrived at the shrine when a villager accosted them. She looked worried as she focused on Lyn.
"I beg your pardon, milady," said the village woman. "Are you headed east? To the altar?"
"Yes, we are indeed," confirmed Lyn.
"Then you must hurry and help the priest there," the villager pleaded. "I saw a band of ruffians head in there not long ago. They seemed intent on stealing the altar's sacred sword!"
The news drew gasps from Lyn, Sain, and Kent.
"The Mani Katti…" whispered Lyn before she grew angry. "They're going to steal it? I cannot allow this to happen!"
"You look like a virtuous group. Please help him!" requested the villager.
"Lyndis, what are you planning?" asked Sain as he readied his lance.
"If you go to the priest's aid, you'll need to prepare," added Kent.
"Right," agreed Lyn before she turned to Robert. "Say, Robert, there are some homes to the south of us. Perhaps we should go there and question the residents as well as warn them about the bandits."
Using Kent's and Sain's horses, the team moved quickly to the other villagers, warning them to stay inside while they deal with the bandits. Along the way, they heard some information about the shrine.
Robert surveyed the shrine from an abandoned fortress once he and the others finished speaking with the villagers. He was using a pair of binoculars.
"Looks like there are several bandits guarding the actual entrance to the shrine," he warned to Lyn and the cavaliers before passing the binoculars to the others to let them have a look. "It might take too long to actually go over there and take them down."
"Yes," agreed Sain, once he had his turn with the binoculars. "I can see the cracked wall one of the villagers mentioned."
"Hmm…" Lyn hummed in thought. "What can we use to break the wall down?"
Robert considered his options.
"We could use the axes that we took from the bandits we defeated," he suggested. "But we could always use the axes for later. The other option would be to have Marshtomp break the way in."
"Break the way in?" repeated Kent, confused. "How would it do that?"
"Let's do it, Robert," agreed Lyn, prompting Robert to nod.
Robert threw his Poké Ball into the air. "Marshtomp, I need your help!"
"Marshstomp!" Marshtomp materialized in front of its trainer.
Inside the shrine, most of the bandits were idle. Nothing had apparently happened while their leader, a man with brown hair and stubble and dressed in red, was at the altar.
"Nobody even raised a hand against us," said one bandit, taking a few practice swings with his axe.
"This village should be easy pickings once we're done with this place," remarked another.
"What's taking Glass so long?" grumbled a third. "Why hasn't he gotten the sword yet?"
"Damn it!" growled Glass. "I still can't get the sword out of the sheath!"
CRASH!
Suddenly, rubble flew everywhere as part of one of the shrine walls collapsed. Several chunks of stone slammed into a few of the bandits, knocking them out or bruising them.
"What the hell?!" ejaculated Glass in surprise as he looked at the broken wall just to see the odd, bipedal fish-like creature standing at the hole in the wall with its arm raised… along with a group of armed people ready to take him and his bandits on!
"All right, everybody," called out Robert. "Let's take them all down!"
"Right!" Lyn, Kent, and Sain affirmed before they charged in, followed by Robert, Marshtomp, and Charmander.
Thanks to the surprise entry courtesy of Robert's Marshtomp, the bandits were easily defeated, leaving the bandit leader alone at the altar. The bandit leader was still attempting to unsheathe the sword in vain.
"You there!" barked out Lyn to the bandit leader. "Why are you trying to take the sacred sword?"
"I am Glass!" crowed the arrogant bandit leader in reply. "The gods fear my name! My swordplay is peerless! And if I want this sword, this sword I shall have!"
"Have you considered that maybe the sword doesn't WANT to be pulled by you?" asked Robert rhetorically. "It IS a sacred sword after all."
"Damn those spirits! It's a sword made for a swordsman of my skill! It shall be mine!"
"Good heavens," sighed Palutena in Robert's head. "He sounds like every one of those Saturday morning cartoon villains."
"I think he might be compensating for something," said Robert aloud with a knowing smirk, drawing snickers from Sain before he turned to Lyn.
"Alright, Lyn, the floor's yours," he said. "Show that wannabe what a real swordfighter looks like!"
"Got it," agreed Lyn before she charged in to face Glass.
Glass wasn't too pleased to see that the plainswoman was the one to face him and made his displeasure known. "Who do you think you are?! What chance do you think you have against me?!"
The duel didn't last long before Glass was defeated by Lyn's superior swordplay and was left lying by the altar, leaking blood onto the floor of the shrine.
"There, that takes care of him," Lyn said as she rubbed her sword against the now dead bandit's shirt, wiping the bandit's blood off of it.
"Nice work, Lyn," complimented Robert as he commandeered the fallen bandits' weapons. "That guy was all about brute force but you showed him. Looks like some of our training's starting to show!"
He then pulled out a brown bottle from the bandit's corpse, opened it, and waved his hand over it to waft the scent of its contents. "Huh. That bandit must've been cocky or he forgot that he had a vulnerary on him. Welp, that's more for us!"
He closed the bottle of vulnerary up and stored it away in his inventory.
Just then, a nearby door opened up. An elderly man walked in dressed in blue robes and hood. He was the priest of the shrine.
"Ah, your clothing," gasped the old man as he noticed Lyn. "Are you of the Lorca tribe?"
Lyn nodded in reply. "I'm Lyn, the chieftain's daughter. Are you hurt, sir?"
"Not at all," the priest answered, shaking his head. "Thanks to you, I am unscathed. You have my gratitude."
"And the sword? Is it safe?"
The priest turned to the sword in question, which remained in its sheath on top of the altar. "Yes, I have sealed the sword safely away. Until I remove my spell, the sword cannot be drawn – not even the strongest man could hope to unsheathe that sword, let alone some bandit."
He then began to quietly mutter something as he focused his attention on the sheathed blade. Robert, Lyn, Kent, and Sain wondered if the priest was offering up a prayer or uttering a magic incantation. After several seconds, the priest returned his attention to the group.
"Now, as a token of my gratitude, I shall allow you to lay hands upon the Mani Katti," he declared with a pleased smile as he moved to the side of the altar. "Touch the blade's pattern, and pray for a safe journey."
Lyn felt her eyes light up in excitement. "Oh, thank you so much!"
She quickly made her way to the altar. With a slightly nervous deep breath, Lyn closed her eyes and gently placed her fingers upon the patterned sheath.
Nobody except Robert could predict what happened next. As soon as Lyn's fingers touched the sheathed blade, light began to emanate from the blade. Even the priest was surprised as he audibly gasped.
Lyn heard the priest's gasp and opened her eyes. "What? Did—"
She quickly noticed where the glow was coming from.
"The sword…" she gasped. "It's… glowing."
The priest recovered from his surprise. "It's the power of the spirits. Lyn, they have looked into your soul, and they call out to you."
Lyn was puzzled at the meaning. "What does that mean?"
"You are its rightful owner," the priest explained. "You are to wield the Mani Katti."
Lyn's mouth flapped uselessly as she tried to figure out to say – the plainswoman couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"No… I can't… I couldn't," she protested weakly.
The priest shook his head in reassurance. "It is the sword's wish. If you require proof, draw it from its sheath."
Still in disbelief, Lyn slowly and gently began tugging the sword out of its sheath. She quickly discovered that the blade came out very easily, as if she were pulling with a single, fluid motion. As more of the blade was exposed, the brighter the glow emanating from it became.
Robert, Kent, Sain, and the priest watched in awe.
"It came out… effortlessly," said Lyn breathlessly as she gingerly held the gleaming artifact.
"I never dared hope that I might meet the wielder of the Mani Katti in my life," said the priest. "I am indeed fortunate to see your sword reach your hands."
Lyn was soon deep in thought thanks to the priest's words. "My sword?"
After a few more seconds, the Mani Katti stopped glowing, and then Lyn sheathed the sword.
"It is time for you to go, Lyn," said the priest gravely. "You face a great many ordeals. Grip that sword, and meet your destiny head-on."
"Yes…" answered Lyn. "Yes, sir!"
Outside of the shrine, the men got a good look of Lyn's newly acquired weapon up close.
"So this is the Mani Katti," remarked Sain appreciatively. "A blade with no equal."
"Not quite, Sain," Robert thought to himself. "The Mani Katti does have a sister blade – but that's a bit unfair since that would imply that the Sol Katti would be an equal to the Mani Katti, assuming the Sol Katti is just like in the game, that is."
"Plus," added Palutena in Robert's head. "There are probably stronger swords out there in the multiverse. But within this realm, the Mani Katti is a mighty sword, all right."
"This is all so unbelievable," said Lyn. "Perhaps the most famous sword in all of Sacae… now in my hand."
"It's not so strange," replied Kent. "In fact, many legends tell similar tales. Special blades all over the land call out to their proper owners."
He then looked at Lyn in the eye reverently. "And yet, when I saw you draw that blade, Lyndis… I felt something extraordinary. That sword was waiting for you. You were meant to draw it."
Lyn looked away in embarrassment. "Stop it! I'm… I'm nothing special!"
"I've heard of such a tale myself, Kent," recounted Robert. "In that story, a king died without an heir to his throne. Shortly after he died, a sword magically appeared, its blade sheathed in a large stone. There was an inscription on the stone proclaiming that whoever pulls the sword out of the stone shall become the new king. Many people came to draw the sword, but they all failed – nobody could even make the sword budge a little. Eventually, a young orphan named Arthur came to the sword in the stone. He managed to pull the sword out easily, thus making himself King Arthur."
A sudden thought occurred to Robert – one that made him smile with mirth.
"Lyn, you did say that the sword is famous throughout Sacae, right?" he asked, chuckling.
"Yes, that's right," Lyn replied, wondering about Robert's train of thought.
"Then, perhaps you might become the Queen of Sacae," Robert finished, still chuckling. "Long live Queen Lyndis!"
"Now you're just being silly!" Lyn blushed at the idea but couldn't help but join in laughing with Robert.
Sain laughed as well before he got onto the ground to kneel before Lyn in an exaggerated manner. "All hail Queen Lyndis!"
Kent said nothing, but his exasperated smile said everything.
Once the group stopped laughing, they noticed that the sun was beginning to set.
"How about we have a celebration dinner?" Robert suggested.
"A celebration? What for?" queried Kent, puzzled.
"Well, you two found the true heir to Caelin, Lyn now knows that she still has family out there in the world and now has a new weapon in a sacred sword," Robert answered.
"That is true," remarked Lyn.
"Then what exactly can we have for dinner?" asked Sain. "We don't have the supplies to have a proper celebration feast."
"Leave that to me, Sain," Robert reassured, prompting an excited look from Lyn.
"Oh, you're cooking?!" she gasped. "I'm already getting hungry!"
"How good is his cooking?" asked Kent, curious.
"Oh, it's amazing," answered Lyn. "It's so delicious that you'd want more of it right away!"
"Now I'm getting hungry, too," remarked Sain, his stomach now audibly growling.
"Very well then. We shall have Robert's cooking," agreed Kent.
"It'll take a while but hopefully, it wouldn't be too dark out once I'm done," promised Robert as he began to pull out a table and cooking implements from his inventory.
"I don't think I could get used to the sight of that," remarked Sain on Robert's inventory ability.
"Neither can I," agreed Kent as he watched Robert pull out various food ingredients. "But it is useful nonetheless."
A while later, Robert had finally finished preparing the evening's feast. A delicious scent wafted around their campsite, much to the pleasure of Lyn and the two knights. Lyn, Kent, Sain, Marshtomp, and Charmander all gathered around the table. There were two loaded pots.
"Whoa," gasped Sain as he looked towards one of the two pots. "What is that white stuff?"
"That's rice, Sain," Robert answered. "It's a type of grain. Here, the rice is steamed. It goes very well with the stuff from the other pot."
"It smells wonderful!" complimented Lyn as she looked into the other pot. "I can see cooked chicken and sausage pieces!"
"Indeed," agreed Kent. "From appearances alone, you could give even court chefs much to think about, Robert."
"Haha, thanks," said Robert. "What we're having tonight is chicken-and-sausage gumbo – it's a stew – and rice. Now, let's eat before it gets cold."
And thus, the group's celebration feast began, the table lit by lanterns as the sun slowly sank below the horizon. There was much merriment among the four people and two Pokémon as they enjoyed Robert's cooking.
A few days later, within the stony walls of a large castle a long distance away from Lyn and her group, an old man sat on its throne, glaring as he admitted a messenger soldier into the throne room.
The messenger nervously told the old man the news. The old man's glare intensified with baffled fury.
"What?" the old man barked with disbelief. "Madelyn's daughter is still alive?"
"Uhh… yes, Lord Lundgren," addressed the soldier, trying to remain calm. "The girl is traveling with Kent, Sain, and an unknown man. What are your orders? If we let them be…"
"Bah!" scoffed Lundgren. "I've heard that northern Bern is full of bandits. She's just a girl. She'll not survive her journey here. I'm more concerned with my older brother. His life must be ended quickly. The poison… There must be no blunders."
"Yes, m'lord," reported the soldier. "He suspects nothing and continues to drink it. The marquess's death, due to no doubt 'sudden illness', is not far off.
Lundgren chuckled evilly as he rose up from his seat, raising his arms at the air, feeling assured of his apparent victory. "Soon… Soon Caelin will be mine!"
Hope you've enjoyed the second chapter! Feel free to leave a review if you like!