Tag: Version 2

“I’ve thought this for a while now, but the two of you really don’t smell normal.” Klaus spoke up a while after they left their temporary camp.

“Wow. Do we smell nice at least?” Ignis retorted, only half joking. He was a bit of a clean freak so he hated smelling bad.

Klaus rolled his eyes, and took the hint to drop the subject. It was good that Stella hadn’t heard his comment, as she wouldn’t have let it go as easily. To those who didn’t know better, it would look as if she had a personal vendetta against Nihil for some reason. Then again, none of the rest of the group ever tried to stop her – except Ignis, of course. However, Nihil mostly just ignored it as he seemed to know something about it that the others didn’t.

“So where are you guys from? You can’t have always been thieves, surely?” Lunam inquired after dropping back from the front of the group.

“That’s what we’d like to know.” Ignis muttered under his breath, a tinge of frustration coming through.

“That is to say that we were constantly on the move as children, and so we’ve never had a fixed location to call our home.” Nihil quickly covered for his friend, shooting him a warning look.

Ignis hurried to agree, instantly regretting his slip of the toungue. He was glad that Nihil was a quick thinker.

“Oh? Your parents must have had an interesting job, then. Are you two brothers?” The last question was asked somewhat dubiously, as the two really didn’t look anything alike.

“Haha, no we’re not.” Ignis laughed. “Our parents were business partners, so we naturally became close. They were merchants, you see.”

“Ah, that makes sense then.” Lunam smiled in understanding. “By the way, ever since I heard about it, I’ve been curious … what did you guys steal from the Royal Guard?”

At this, the duo suddenly felt as if the entire group had shifted all their focus onto their answer. It seemed that the two wouldn’t be able to dodge the question.

“That’s something we won’t say.” Nihil refused point blank. They weren’t going to be travelling together for long, and he didn’t see any need to tell them.

“Well that’s rude.” Stella muttered loud enough for the entire party to hear.

“There’s no reason to tell you, and it’s none of your business.” Nihil replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

“No matter what you say, we are currently travelling together. Does that not mean we have a right to know?” Klaus asked, naturally taking his leader’s side.

“Afraid that’s not enough of a reason.” Ignis replied lightly. “Knowing just might put you in even more danger.”

Giving his friend a strange look for the overly dramatic statement, Nihil quickly let it slide. It never ceased to amaze him just how innocently the guy could lie through his teeth. Then again, he wasn’t any better himself.

“Hmm … ? Is that so?” Lunam responded slowly. “And if we were to say that we didn’t care?”

“It wouldn’t make any difference.” Nihil put it simply.

“Fair enough then.”

“Lunam! Why are you letting him be so rude?” Stella angrily confronted her sister. “I don’t trust them! They’re probably just lying to us!”

“Enough! They’re correct, it really isn’t any of our business. We can’t force them to give up their secrets. Can you honestly say that we’ve fully disclosed everything about ourselves too?” Lunam pointed out to her sister in an effort to mediate the argument. After she spoke as such, the conversation quickly turned to other topics.

Slowing down, Nihil and Ignis put some distance between them and the adventurers.

“What should we do now? I’m starting to think that this wasn’t a good plan after all …” Ignis asked his friend worriedly. “The vibe you give others has never been good, but that Stella acts as if we murdered her father or something. It almost seems personal.”

“I’m used to it by now. Honestly, it’s not their fault – I am an unnatural existence after all …” Nihil replied indifferently.

“No you’re not! If anything you’re the most natural existence of all of us!” Ignis angrily refuted his friend. He really hated that Nihil genuinely believed that about himself.

Nihil just smiled gently at his friend. He knew that this man was probably the only one who would ever feel that way about him, despite knowing the truth. Honestly, he’d thought that he had long since given up on even trying, but ever since Ignis had accepted him, a small part of his heart had slowly started to get his hopes up once again.

“Since we’re headed in the same direction, we might as well stick with them. I’ll try to get along with the group better to make this easier on you.” Nihil replied, dodging the subject of his origin.

Choosing not to say anything, Ignis indicated his agreement and the two swiftly returned to the main group.

* * *

Along the way to the ruins, the adventurers hunted magical beasts and stole their gems. These gems were the coalescence of unrefined magical energy in the beasts’ bodies. It sustained their lives, but it was also a very valuable resource for other species. They were often used to create storage gems just like the ones used in the inn, and the amount of space they could support was directly proportional to the strength of the magical beast that nurtured it. As such they were very valuable. However, the danger posed during their collection (especially for the higher quality ones) was not to be looked down upon.

Magical beasts were different from Mysterious beasts. Mysterious beasts had intelligence at least equivalent to a human, and they could speak the common tongue of Axis so communication was possible. They could also train in magic or cultivation. In contrast, magical beasts were dumb, wild animals that actively sought out the other species to fight. They were instinctually attracted to the refined magical energy contained in a person’s body, knowing that it would be highly beneficial to their strength. However, they couldn’t train to independently increase their strength, so stealing it from the other species was their only option.

Villages were always surrounded by walls precisely due to the existence of magical beasts. Without their protection, the people inside would be massacred every night by wild hordes attracted to the large congregation of refined energy.

For the most part Nihil and Ignis stayed out of the way of the seasoned adventurer’s group as they fought, but sometimes they acted as bait to lure the prey into a trap or ambush. It was interesting for the two men to watch how such a large group of people worked together in perfect sync. It was clear that they had worked together for a long time, and that they all respected and trusted each other with their lives.

Merry, Alexis and Lucas were all long range type fighters. Alexis used a bow, while Merry used a rifle. Just like the two girls, Lucas was an elf. His weapon of choice was a crossbow. As such, they stayed at the back of the group and covered the rest of the party with supportive fire. They would pay close attention to the opponent and strike devastating blows at just the right time.

Klaus, Lunam and Stella were, of course, close quarter fighters. Lunam wielded dual blades, while Klaus simply transformed into his wolf form and fought with his fangs and claws. Stella fought with steel gauntlets that gave her punches more strength and power. These guys could all fight without worry because they trusted Merry, Alexis and Lucas to cover their backs when they needed it, and their role was to draw the opponent’s attacks to them in order to allow the rest of the party to fight freely.

Claude, Linley and Archer were demons that specialised in mid-range and restraint techniques. Claude had mastered the whip, while Linley and Archer used throwing daggers and other hidden weapons, such as traps and wires. Their job was to restrict the enemy’s movements from a distance, assisting both the close-range and the long-range fighters. Linley and Archer had a pair of jet black eyes, wings and a tail. However, Claude‘s wings and tail were blood red, but he also had a pair of matching horns. This difference in colour indicated that Claude had a weaker bloodline than the other two, however the presence of his horns indicated that one of his parents had an especially strong bloodline. In addition to this inconsistency, he had purple irises hidden behind his tousled brown hair. This colour clearly revealed Claude’s half-demon status.

Finally, Paul, Clark and Carl were sensory type support cultivators. They were all humans who had specifically heightened each of their senses so they could hear, smell and see things in greater detail than specialists in other fields. This was especially impressive, since humans started at a lower start line for all these attributes than any other species on Axis. They also focused their cultivation on healing so that they could better support the fighters. However if they were forced to fight, they were rather adept at using poisons.

Their job was to keep an eye on their surroundings while everyone else fought, so that the party wouldn’t get ambushed while they were distracted. After the battle was over, they and Stella would tend to any wounds that had been incurred during the fight.

In this manner, the group could split into 3 smaller teams and take on multiple enemies. Both Nihil and Ignis were impressed by their teamwork.

Ignis was especially surprised when he learned that Stella was a skilled healer. Mage healers could use spells to heal wounds, so it was somewhat easier as long as they had the knowledge and imagination necessary in order to perform said spells. However, cultivators had it harder. They had to use their own internal energy stimulate the patient’s cells to heal themselves, so the amount of concentration necessary was a lot higher. Plus they were doing it blind as they couldn’t sense any energy other than their own.

A mage could naturally manipulate energy outside of their body. As such, using the patient’s own energy to control the healing process was simple for them. However, there was a danger when using an energy source other than the patient’s as their body could end up rejecting the foreign power and instead make the wound worse. It was only possible if the healer’s internal energy had a neutral attribute, which was very rare.

Attributes for mages were much clearer than for cultivators. For mages, while they could master any kind of magic as long as they could imagine it, the spells that matched their own attribute would be much easier to imagine and would also require far less power. There were many types of attributes. The basic ones being water, wind, fire, earth, light, dark, and lightning. However there were also rarer ones, such as: space, time, speed, food, poison, different combinations of the various basic elements, etc..

However, attributes for cultivators were slightly more subtle. Unlike mages, a cultivator’s attribute wouldn’t necessarily affect their fighting capabilities too much. However, only those without an attribute or a matching one would be able to heal a patient. That being said, if a person had an attribute, they wouldn’t normally bother to learn the healing technique at all since the uses for that knowledge would be severely limited. Instead, they’d focus on learning to fight.

A cultivator’s attribute was still important for them to be aware of, though. If utilised properly, they could find a corresponding weapon that would feel a lot more comfortable and easier to wield. For example, a fire attributed cultivator would normally feel more comfortable with a close range weapon, while water and wind type cultivators would normally be more at home with mid or long range weapons respectively. Earth types would also normally have very good defence, so close range weapons or shields would probably be a good fit for them as well.

Attributes were similar to blood types in many ways, one of which being that there were many who believed that specific attributes would affect the person’s personality. However, just as with blood types, there was no evidence to prove that theory, and there were also many outliers that didn’t follow the trend. Take Stella for example, she had a pretty hot-blooded temperament, and just based off her personality and fighting style she would normally fall under the ‘fire’ attribute. However, she could heal others of different types, so she must have a neutral attribute which some would claim to mean an indifferent attitude to most things and an unruffled demeanour.

After each battle, Nihil and Ignis were in charge of dismantling the magical beasts’ bodies and removing their core from the centre of their chests. They volunteered to do so because the beasts’ meat just so happened to be super delicious. If stored and cooked properly, the unrefined magic in their bodies would remain and help with a person’s cultivation. It wasn’t nearly as useful to mages, but the exceptional flavour more than made up for it. The hides and bones were also useful in crafting various armours and weapons, so none of the remains would be wasted and they could net a tidy profit at the same time.

While they got to work with the dismantling, Nihil and Ignis took the opportunity to talk privately.

“It’s a good thing that these guys are headed to the same place we are.” Ignis commented cheerfully. “They should be good camouflage for us.”

“While it has worked out well for us … Ignis, I’m worried because it’s been several weeks since you last ate that. We need to find the next available opportunity to slip away otherwise you won’t last much longer.”

“I told you yesterday that I’ll be fine for a while yet. It’s not worth the risk of the group seeing us.” Ignis replied with a gentle smile.

“Stop that. Even if they did happen see us, it wouldn’t be the end of the world as we can simply leave the group. This is only a temporary arrangement anyway.” Nihil responded testily. “Besides, I’ll need your help if something happens, so you have to be in top form.”

Giving up with a small sigh, Ignis smiled and relented. So later that night, Nihil woke his friend while it was his turn on watch.

“Now seems like it’ll be the best opportunity that we’ll get, so make sure you eat your fill, ok?” Nihil insisted, worried about his friend.

“Sure, I won’t hold back though so I hope you have enough mental energy.” Ignis replied only half jokingly as he got out from under his blanket.

Walking a short distance away from the camp, Nihil turned to face his friend. “Here should be fine. We still need to keep an eye on the group’s surroundings after all.”

Subsequently, he held his palm out to face the dense canopy overhead. A strange flickering appeared in the centre that gradually strengthened into a roaring green flame. As he did this, a long, midnight blue fox’s tail suddenly appeared at the base of Nihil’s spine. Since he didn’t seem surprised by this, it was clear that Ignis had known about it for a long time.

Another second passed and the flames had reached a strength that almost made them seem liquid. It was at this point that the last strange sight of that evening then appeared: the flames got even brighter and turned into a stream that rushed towards Ignis’ open mouth. He was somehow managing to suck in and swallow all of the burning flames without damaging his throat at all.

It was clear that neither of the two men were the ordinary ‘humans’ that Diei Noctis had assumed them to be.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Nihil concentrated all his power into his palm. He ended up gripping his wrist with his left hand as he forced as much power as he possibly could into the fire ball. This wasn’t a normal mage’s flame. The concentration of power had to be much denser for Ignis otherwise it would lose it’s purpose. On top of that, Ignis hadn’t eaten in a long time so he would need a lot more fire than usual. This was going to drain most of Nihil’s mental energy.

For a mage, the amount of external energy they could use was entirely dependant on their mental energy. The more they had, the stronger the spells they could use. Also, they could only manipulate the world’s energy for as long as their concentration and mental energy lasted.

As a result of this, Nihil’s physical energy wouldn’t drain, but his mental power would take a severe toll. He also wouldn’t be able to focus on his surroundings, so he left that job up to Ignis. His friend was much better at sensing danger than he was anyway.

After a good 15 minutes of Ignis rapidly absorbing the green flames, he had finally eaten his fill. Opening his mouth to thank Nihil, Ignis’ eyes widened and the words caught in his throat. Catching his friend just in time, Ignis prevented the boy from collapsing hard onto the ground. Ignis had promised not to hold back, so he had used up almost all of Nihil’s mental energy.

Since it was Ignis’ turn to be on watch after Nihil, he calmly picked his friend up and laid him down on his camp bed, covering the tail with his blanket. Smiling sadly, he whispered a small thank you to his sleeping friend.

After that, he returned to their original spot and covered the rest of Nihil’s shift as well as his own. His watch would only last for the next couple of hours until dawn so he worried whether his friend would be able to get enough rest before having to wake up and move on with the rest of the group at that point.

At this time, neither of the friends managed to notice the suspicious pair of eyes that had been watching this entire exchange.

After the two groups chatted for a bit, the Royal Guards moved to another area to search. Nihil and Ignis took this chance to shift their positions as well. All this time they had been crouching in the undergrowth, without moving a muscle, for fear of being discovered. However their fears were well placed it seemed, as the moment they shifted even a tiny bit, a voice called out to them.

“Who’s there?” It was the girl who’d spoken to the guards first.

Glancing at each other, the two men sighed and stepped into view. Pixie cut shared a shocked look with her sister.

“Speak of the devil …” Muttered a man from the unnoticed group in the back. He had a full beard and moustache hiding his mouth, and small, black, beady eyes. His entire appearance was very unkempt, but he was surprisingly clean – despite all the fur. Yes, fur. He was a canine type Mysterious Beast. This meant he had grey ears; retractable claws; a long, fluffy tail; and his salt and pepper hair indicated a wolf ancestry. However, he was currently in his human form, so it was hard to tell his exact breed for certain.

“So, I hear that the Royal Guard is after you two.” The older girl commented pointedly.

“Apparently so …” Nihil responded ambiguously.

“Why’d you piss them off?” Pixie cut jumped in.

“Because we have a score to settle.” Ignis replied before Nihil could stop him.

The black-haired girl lifted an eyebrow at that statement but, noticing the annoyed look on Nihil’s face, she ultimately didn’t follow up with the obvious question.

“What are you going to do? Will you call those guards back, or will you let us go?” Nihil asked, relieved that the conversation didn’t go south due to his friend’s blunder. He surreptitiously shifted his stance, preparing himself for a fight if it was proved necessary.

“That depends … What would we get in return for letting you go?” Pixie cut responded somewhat aggressively, noticing the subtle movement that Nihil had made.

“Our gratitude?” Ignis quipped to lighten the tense atmosphere.

Pixie cut shot him a look, and just scoffed at his irresponsible comment, rolling her eyes and looking away in disgust.

“Fine. Why don’t you just state your price and we’ll see if it’s worth it.” Nihil replied, his mood getting worse by the second.

“You guys can’t be too simple if you’re able to escape from the Royal Guard – repeatedly at that. How about you join us on our trek to the Ancient Ruins in the deserts of Sheol? I have a feeling that we’ll achieve a whole lot more with you two around, than without.” The black-haired woman suggested innocently.

Her sister’s reaction to those words was priceless. The shocked and appalled face she showed was so expressive, that even Nihil had to press his lips together in order to hide the smile that was currently trying to escape. Ignis didn’t even bother hiding his laugh.

“Why would you want two strangers, wanted by the Royal Guard, to join you on such a perilous journey?” Ignis laughingly asked. He was suddenly intrigued by this unreadable woman in front of him.

“Just a feeling.” She replied, spreading her hands out in a gesture of feigned bewilderment.

This time Ignis was stunned into silence, she would risk the lives of her entire group based on just a feeling? Smiling in defeat, Ignis caved to this odd woman’s request. He looked questioningly at his friend, indicating that he was fine with the proposal so it was up to him.

“I suppose that’s fine …” Nihil answered after a while. “Those ruins are on the way to our destination, anyway.”

“Oh?” The black-haired woman responded, but didn’t elaborate any further. As such, Nihil felt no need to clarify.

“If we’re to be travelling together, I suppose introductions are in order … My name is Nihil, and that idiot over there, is Ignis.” Nihil gestured to his friend who was already starting to fool around with the rest of the group.

Rolling his eyes, Nihil wondered why he was even friends with Ignis in the first place. He always seemed to be so happy-go-lucky and it was often tiring to be around him. But then again, maybe that was precisely the reason – his personality was a perfect balance for Nihil’s own introverted nature. If Ignis was any less outgoing then the two wouldn’t have even spoken to each other in the first place.

“It’s a pleasure to be working with you. My name is Lunam. My sister, over there, is called Stella, and these guys behind me are, Carl, Clark, Paul, Archer, Linley, Klaus, Claude, Lucas, Alexis and Merry. We make up Diei Noctis.” Lunam responded, gesturing to each relevant person as she said their names.

The wolfish man from before had turned out to be called Klaus. Also, Alexis and Merry had both been mistakenly identified as boys previously.

Feeling a vague twinge of guilt, both Ignis and Nihil re-evaluated the two girls. They were both elves that had short, mousey-brown hair, and they were wearing the more practical leather leggings that were similar to their own. This, combined with their obscurity within the group (due to the overpowering presence of the two female leaders) caused them to be overlooked by the two companions. Thus, they had been lumped together with the guys.

After a closer look, the two were found to be tall and very beautiful. Their beauty was more subdued than the two party leaders’, but they didn’t lose out at all. Due to their native environment, elves were always powerful and a good ally to have in a fight.

As their names were called out, each person had muttered a brief greeting with a small nod, and soon the introductions were over. They made for an intimidatingly large group of 14 now that 2 extra men had joined the party.

A few hours passed, and Ignis had already merged with the group since his playful antics unconsciously caused everyone to relax their guards around him.

Nihil however, was an entirely different story. His anti-social nature put him at odds with the group on more than one occasion – more often than not, Stella was an invested party in these disputes. Eventually, everyone gave up trying to talk to him entirely, and just left him to his own devices. Ignis and Lunam were about the only ones in the group that could stand talking to him for longer than about 2 minutes, and even with her, it was obvious that she was forcing herself to do so, since she was the one that had invited them in the first place.

Nihil, for his part, really didn’t care what these adventurers thought about him. He wasn’t about to change his personality – especially not for a group of people that he had no intention of staying with for any longer than absolutely necessary. As such, an equilibrium was quickly established within the group.

* * *

Later that evening, the group stopped for the night when they came across a clearing. Despite the large area, the trees’ canopies still managed to completely obscure the sky, save for a few tenacious stars visible through the leaves.

After setting up a few rudimentary tents, it was discovered just how painfully lacking the adventurers were when it came to skills in the kitchen. For lunch, the group had just eaten dry rations while still on the move, so the two friends were still blissfully unaware up until this point.

The disaster started with Clark and Klaus (supposedly the better cooks in the group) inadequately clearing the undergrowth when trying to start the fire, and ended with some perfectly good meat charred and unrecognisable on the end of a twig. It was a wonder how they’d managed to even survive as long as they had. Especially since nights got super cold in this area, plus a fire had the additional effect of warding off the weaker wild animals and magical beasts – potentially saving the group a lot of effort when guarding the camp at night.

Looking at the depressing lump of charcoal while also being a picky eater, Nihil decided to save his tastebuds and just cook for the group himself. Not having to worry about revealing their location to the Royal Guard anymore, he was glad to finally be able to set up a fire and cook a proper meal.

Seeing this, Klaus’ ears and tail drooped a little in embarrassment, while Clark’s visible cheek had reddened slightly (his other cheek was hidden behind his blonde fringe). However, naturally no one was more surprised by this hidden talent of Nihil’s than Stella.

“Wow! Who would have guessed that you’d be the chef.” She commented sardonically.

Not wanting to cause an argument by acknowledging the tone in her voice, Nihil just accepted the compliment – backhanded though it was. Taking his lead, Ignis also pretended not to hear it, and responded in a bright tone.

“I know right!? This guy can do just about anything.” He gushed jokingly.

“Oh? What is he especially good at, then?” Lunam asked, genuinely interested.

“Languages and history.” Nihil replied shortly, choosing to ignore the phrasing that excluded him from the conversation.

“Oh? So you are good for something after all then.” Stella piped in antagonistically, her mint green eyes flashing under the flickering light of the fire. “I would have pegged you as just a weak idiot. I guess it wasn’t just blind luck that allowed you to escape capture.”

Nihil didn’t seem to care what was said about him, but Ignis was the one who got offended instead.

“You don’t even know him, why would you say something like that?” Ignis berated Stella. He then turned to his friend. “And you shouldn’t just let people say stuff like that about you.”

Stella snorted and turned away. She then spoke up with her back still turned. “Maybe he should prove to us that he’s not an idiot, then.”

In the end, Ignis somehow managed to convince Nihil to demonstrate his skills. This portrayed itself in the form of a bard’s song.

Ignis played the flute, and added depth to the sound with a small foot drum, while Nihil played the mandolin and sang.

First, he sang a lively tune of the golden era of the guilds. The flute kept a jovial melody, and the drum had a pleasantly fast pace to it. Nihil told tales of the brave and daring feats of the more prominent guilds. One of them was about a young girl who had stumbled onto a foreboding secret. If she revealed it to anyone, then she would be discovered immediately, as the enemy had spies everywhere. As such, the girl decided that she should train and train to get stronger. When she finally felt strong enough, she set out on a mission. She was determined to save her guild from the deep rooted corruption that she had discovered.

At this point, the music turned mysterious. The pace picked up, causing the listeners’ heart rates to increase accordingly at the same time. The flute and the mandolin seemed to induce images of fighting, while the steady beat of the drum made people think of the steadfast protagonist.

She hatched a plan to lure out all the fraudulent members one by one. In the process, she discovered their reasons and it tested her own loyalties. However, she remained steadfast to her own morals, and when she was finally done she chose to leave the guild. None the wiser to what she had done, she was hunted down as a traitor by the very people she had done so much to protect. Loosing faith in them, she decided to start her own guild with a few of her most trusted companions.

The music turned melancholy, with the flute crying out wistfully in disappointment. No one present was even breathing at this point, as everyone could almost feel the heart break that the girl must have felt at losing her home.

Eventually, she became so powerful that her previous guild had no choice but to give up their pursuit of her. However some higher ups couldn’t let what they saw to be their greatest shame, escape quite so easily. As such, they plotted against her and poisoned her own people against her. Only her most loyal friends remained by her side, each protecting her from harm. Her husband especially, because he knew that it was no longer just her life that he’d be protecting. He ultimately failed to protect his beloved, but he delayed it long enough for her to give birth to their son.

There was a slight pause in the music. It was almost as if it was a moment of silence for the loss a such a noble life. First the flute started up again, then the mandolin. Each instrument added more depth to the song, until Nihil’s magnetic voice started narrating again. This time the music seemed a little angrier and more vengeful.

Growing up to tales of his mother’s tragic life, the son was not quite so forgiving as the mother. The father, for his part, was devastated at his wife’s death, and also wasn’t of any mind to forgive them. The two plotted against the treacherous guild, and eventually brought it down. The elders that had played the biggest role in the girl’s death, upon learning the truth, fell into despair and killed themselves out of guilt.

The music finally mellowed out again, but no one was relieved. Not a single note seemed as if they were happy after their revenge.

To try to create a world where this wouldn’t happen again, the father and son worked to forge a new country, and joined the guilds together into 3 co-operative ones that worked together to protect Axis as an alliance – instead of the chaotic time where the land was in a constant state of warfare. These three guilds created came to be known as the Adventurer’s Guild, the Mage’s Guild, and the Warrior’s Guild. They were still some of the most prominent forces in the world to this day.

As the story got to this point, the tempo picked up again and the tune got livelier. Happier times were coming their way.

The boy eventually married and he and his descendants naturally became the royal family of their newly formed country, Avalon. The Royal Guard was formed to act as a police force in Avalon, but the royal family didn’t want to restrict the residents’ freedom to defend themselves, so they limited the number of laws that they would enforce. The atmosphere quickly turned to that of a party, and the adventurers were soon tapping their feet in time to the music as they swayed and danced along.

At this point, the music slowly trailed into silence as Nihil thought that it would be a good place to stop and settle down for the night. Only when the music had completely faded away, did the group wake from their trance.

There was silence for a long time as everyone was stunned at what had just happened. None of them would have guessed that the two unassuming people in front of them, would be such skilled bards. Each and every one of them had been so absorbed in the song, that they hadn’t even noticed the rapidly diminishing light.

Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder startled everyone out of their daze. Since none present were mages, this effectively signalled the end of their campfire and they all hurried to get into their tents to pass the rest of the night. Before going to sleep, though, the group made sure to decide the seven people who would cover the night’s watch in hourly shifts.

* * *

As everyone was packing up the camp the next morning, Stella and Lunam approached the two boys about their song.

“Who came up with the tale you wove last night? It was very moving, but didn’t seem to have any basis in fact.” Lunam asked, genuinely curious.

“Oh? Which parts did you have a problem with?” Nihil asked caustically, however it was hard to tell, since his expression and tone didn’t change at all. “None of it was fiction, you know.”

“I thought you were supposed to be good at history … it seems that you are an idiot after all …” Stella replied snarkily.

They had always been taught in direct contrast to what these two boys were saying now. It was only natural that they’d trust their version more than what two complete strangers were trying claim.

Not wanting to cause a scene, Nihil just gave a perfunctory reply and moved away from the crowd. Following his lead, Ignis soon left as well.

“Jeez! Haven’t they realised who taught them that ‘history’ that they’re so adamant is true? You didn’t even tell them the whole story and they’re already declaring it to be false!” He cried once they were some distance away. After a pause, he continued to press his friend. “Why didn’t you mention that they caused the Great War in order to solidify their control over their newly formed country?”

“I didn’t think that would go down well. Up until that point, they had tried their best to follow their own morals and did what was right by them. However, I cannot condone that particular action of theirs – even if it did work out in the long run. They should have cared more for the billions of lives lost in that pointless and avoidable war.” Nihil replied in disgust.

“But, at least the Non-Aggression Pact between the different species came about because of it. As a result, relations between the races on the continent have been much friendlier since – even half-breeds aren’t an uncommon sight now.” Ignis replied. He agreed with his friend, but he couldn’t overlook the good that the Great War had done for the war-ridden continent.

“That wasn’t their doing, though. They couldn’t even stop a war that they’d started themselves.” Derision and disgust dripped from Nihil’s voice as he mocked them scathingly.

It was rare for his friend to be bothered by something quite this much, and Ignis wondered if it had anything to do with his past – maybe his family had been involved in that mess somehow. However, he knew that it wouldn’t do much good to ask, as Nihil would be even less likely to know the answer.

Due to Avalon’s royal family’s meddling, neither of the two could clearly remember their pasts before a certain number of years ago. Ignis could remember short snippets and scenes, but none of them were his own memories so they didn’t quite feel real to him. On Nihil’s side, he had managed to remember the time around when he was born, then nothing until he was ambushed in his sleep and dragged to the same place where Ignis was. However, even these vague memories had only recently resurfaced after a lot of effort on his part.

This was one of the reasons behind their trip – Ignis wanted to learn the truth behind what happened to him, and what he could have possibly done to end up in a place like that as young as he had. Nihil, though, didn’t care too much about recalling his memories. He just wanted to prevent similar circumstances from happening again, and to help his friend recover from the entire ordeal. Harassing the Royal Guard was just an added bonus they had on the side to provide some entertainment.

Just then Nihil recalled the morning’s breakfast’s scene when Ignis had practically inhaled all the food in his sight. As a result Nihil had made enough food to feed a small army – maybe not even one all that small.

“Ignis, you must be getting hungry by now, I could -”

“Nah … I should be good for a while yet at this pace.” Ignis interrupted.

At his friend’s insistence, Nihil decided to leave the matter for the moment, but he was far from dropping it entirely.

Seeing his friend give up, Ignis quickly ran to the front of the group before Nihil could change his mind. They planned to finally leave the forest by early afternoon that day, so the entire group ended up increasing their pace again at Ignis’ accidental prompt. They would be passing through Avalon’s more densely populated central region on their way to Sheol and it’s ancient ruin.

There were many similar ancient ruins all over Axis, but these were the only ones that had managed to survive the harsh environment of Sheol. Plus, it was also the only that hadn’t been fully explored. In fact, they had hardly been explored at all due to the ingenious traps that were still very much active several millennia after the previous owners had died. Supposedly they had ancient writing scrawled on almost every surface, so even though it was dangerous it was still a popular spot for scholars and tourists to visit. After all, even just one sentence from the outer walls would be highly profitable if someone managed to translate or accurately transcribe it.

Ancient writing had a strange affect on the minds of the people looking at the symbols. If the person didn’t already know the language, then no matter how accurately someone copied the symbols (be it by using a crystal capturer to directly take a photo, or by painting) the replicated images would always look fuzzy and out of focus. Due to this effect, there was a research building that was constructed nearby, so that scholars could research the language directly and try to uncover the ancient secrets hidden within.

Aside from that, it was a popular destination even for northmanni tourists due to it’s beautiful architecture and scenery next to the oldest surviving oasis in the desert.

Not to mention that there were always foolhardy adventurers seeking to try their luck at finding the correct path into the ruins proper. From the conversations within Diei Noctis, it appeared that this group fell into the last category. For no obvious reason, Stella and Lunam seemed convinced of their ability to safely get in and out of the deepest part of the ruin. It was yet to be seen if this confidence was well founded, or if it would remain as their arrogance in underestimating the traps.

Rustling leaves could be heard just before the sounds of trees having their branches snapped off rang out into the unusually cacophonous night. However these sounds were all drowned out by the clattering of armour from the men chasing two figures in front. Their dogs were all barking and growling as well, as if they were trying to threaten their prey into finally stopping and giving up.

The first rays of moonlight gradually peeked between the trees and vaguely illuminated the two figures forms. One was a man of average height with dark hair, half hidden beneath a black cap, and piercing golden eyes. If there was more light, it would be seen that his hair wasn’t actually black, and was in fact midnight blue in colour.

The second figure was slightly taller and his hair and eyes were both blood red, giving him a rather demonic feel despite not having any of the features a typical demon would normally have. His name ‘Ignis’ definitely captured the essence of his appearance. Unlike his friend, Ignis had no cap on so he was clearly revealing his hair even in the low light.

The two both wore similar clothes: soft leather leggings, dark brown in colour; ankle height black combat boots; and olive drab cloaks over a dark top. They both also had leather vambraces covering their forearms, and they both wore chunky ruby rings on their right ring fingers over their fingerless hunting gloves. The strange thing was, that neither of them seemed to have a single bag with them – not even a money pouch attached to their belts.

Just then, the two being chased suddenly seemed to disappear. However the armoured group didn’t seem overly shocked by this, as they just hung back a second to allow the dogs to take point as they sniffed around. It was clear that this wasn’t the first time that they’d lost their foes.

Suddenly, one of the dogs seemed to catch wind of the two’s scent again and barked out a warning before giving chase. The pursuers’ armour only served to be a massive hinderance while they once more clattered through dense foliage and close knit trees. Noticing that they’d been found again, the two ahead took full advantage of their greater mobility and once again disappeared from their pursuers’ view.

Unfortunately, this time the two ended up stumbling down a steep ravine and into a deep river. Luckily for them, this also served to confuse their pursuers, and the dogs lost track of their scent.

Deciding that it was best to stay put for a while, the shorter of the two gestured to Ignis to stay quiet and low. Eventually, the armoured group tired of giving chase to an invisible enemy and decided to regroup and try searching for any traces once morning finally arrived. They had been chasing the two for over a week by now, without time for even a single break, and since it was only just gone dusk the traces of their fall were easily missed by the weary soldiers.

“I think they’re gone now, Nihil.” Ignis whispered to his companion beside him.

After waiting a while longer, Nihil finally agreed and the two crawled their way out of the river. Stepping onto the bank, the two looked down at their sodden clothes and sighed in frustration. There was a small village nearby, but they had originally planned on avoiding it – wanting to be seen by as few people as possible. Unfortunately, their current situation bade them to go and find an inn for what remained of the rest of the night. That way they could clean themselves up and put on a fresh set of clothes. They’d also be able to have the first warm meal and soft bed that they’d had in quite a while.

* * *

“We’d like to book a twin room for the night, and if a bath could be brought to our room as well, please, that would be much appreciated.” Nihil addressed the innkeeper behind the bar once they located a suitable place to stay.

“I reckon, you’ll be needing more’n that …” The slightly rotund man raised an eyebrow and drawled in the thick accent that was common in these parts. “We ‘ave a communal bath that’d prob’ly suit y’all better.”

“Just the tub will do us.” Ignis replied genially before Nihil could say anything. “We’d probably just make a mess of the larger one, anyway.”

“Right enough, I s’pose.” The old man responded with a smile, and then proceeded to the more serious business of how much everything would cost.

To his credit, the innkeeper selected a decent sized room, and gave them a huge tub to wash up in. The basin had a tap that released a stream of perfectly heated water from an enchanted gem connected to a separate space. Once done, the dirtied water would enter a different gem (fitted at the base of the tub) that would store the liquid until a worker could activate and empty it into the village’s drains. These gems essentially acted as storage containers that were filled and emptied, by the staff, on a day-to-day basis. They could store anything within a certain cubic volume, but for the purposes of this bath they only stored water. However, as the space inside these gems was only insulated and time still existed, it basically only acted as a very good thermos and the water wouldn’t stay the correct temperature indefinitely. These specific gems had enough space to hold 3 times the volume of the bath they were attached to, which indicated that they were of a reasonably high quality.

After they both felt clean and refreshed, they changed into clothes similar to the ruined ones from before. Strangely Nihil still chose to wear his hat even though they were indoors. They then headed down to the main bar area to grab a bite to eat before returning to their rooms.

Upon entering the large room, Nihil chose a table in the corner due to habit. In this position, he could easily keep an eye on everyone in the room (including those entering and leaving) without drawing suspicion upon himself.

Flagging down a waitress, the two men placed their orders and sat back to patiently wait for their meals to arrive.

Just then, a group of 12 adventurers entered the room. They quickly moved to the largest table in the room. Given their number though, they still had to move one of the smaller tables nearby in order to sit together. The core of the group appeared to be the two attractive women in the back.

The older of the two had long, black hair that reached her waist even while styled into a braid that ran down the centre of her head and traced along her spine. She looked to be around 19 years old, and wore the same, tight-fitting leather bodice and flared battle skirt that her companion wore.

The second girl had short, silver hair that had been styled into a pixie cut. She looked around 18 years old. There was something about their facial features that looked similar, which made Nihil wonder if they were sisters – despite their differing skin tones, hair, and eye colours. The black haired woman had a very pale and delicate skin tone, with piercing blue eyes. However pixie cut had a dark, bronzed tone to her skin, and her eyes were a fresh mint green.

Feeling eyes being trained on them, the two turned and looked over at the somewhat aloof man that had been assessing them. However, before either party could speak, the waitress returned, bearing a tray laden with the food and drinks that the two men had ordered. This successfully distracted the golden eyed man, and everyone refocused on their own groups and actions.

Ignis let loose a long, satisfied sigh once he’d finished wolfing down his food. Even Nihil allowed a small smile to play at the corners of his lips, having fully appreciated the warm, hearty meal. Leaving some coins on the table, the two returned to their room to bed down for the remaining few hours of the night. Neither of them spoke once they’d settled down, as they both knew that they’d have to be up and out of the village before the sun had even completely risen into the sky.

* * *

The next morning, the two snuck out of their beds just as the first rays of light were dancing over the horizon. They had expected to be the only ones awake at this point, but were surprised to see the two female adventurers from the night before, already seated at a table in the main restaurant area. They were eating a light boxed breakfast and chatting to each other as the two men walked in. From the looks of it, their meal had been prepared for them the night before.

The four people gave each other a polite greeting with a nod of their heads, and Nihil and Ignis walked straight out onto the street. They needed to make up for lost time, and put some distance between them and their pursuers. It was likely that this village would be the first place that they checked – if they weren’t already here.

Stretching to get rid of the last vestiges of sleepiness from their bodies, Nihil and Ignis made their way to the village gate. As it was still early in the morning, the large main gate was shut and locked tight. However, after speaking to one of the guards on duty, she readily opened the smaller sally port to allow the two men out of the village walls.

Looking towards the sunrise barely visible through the huge tree trunks surrounding the village, the two headed East once again. They crossed the river and re-entered the forest, being careful to cover any traces of their passage. Sometimes they seemed to disappear from view, only to reappear again almost instantly, much further into the dense foliage. This was the same trick they’d done the previous night and was very useful in their attempt to shake their pursuers.

* * *

Later into the morning, the two made a sharp right turn, correcting their bearing so that they were now headed South. They were ultimately heading South-East, but were wary of travelling in a straight line and possibly giving away their destination to those behind. Once they knew where they were headed, it would be a simple matter to overtake them and set a trap. Naturally this was something that the two wished to avoid.

Just then, a gruff voice travelled from between the leaves. “Excuse me, but have you seen a pair of men looking to be around 20 years of age?”

Before the intended party had time to answer the question directed their way, a slightly belligerent female’s voice spoke up. “I don’t know why we’re even bothering to look in this area – we have eyewitness reports saying that they were headed East. That also coincides with the direction we saw them travelling last night.”

The woman’s last statement revealed the two of them to be scouts from the party of pursuers that were after Ignis and Nihil the previous night. From the sounds of it, they were still after the two men and the eyewitnesses that she mentioned were probably the guards at the gate from that morning.

“They might have changed direction to foil our pursuit.” The first voice answered somewhat testily. “We also have people searching the West and North just in case. Of course, our main force is still pursuing East.”

“Umm, I’m sorry to interrupt … but, does one of the men you mentioned have blood red hair and eyes, and the other have piercing golden eyes with dark blue hair?” A lilting voice questioned the arguing pair.

“That’s them! Have they been this way after all then?” The gruff voice asked eagerly.

“No they haven’t.” Just as she caused a couple of surprised grunts from the two, she continued. “We stayed at the same inn last night and I sensed a strange feeling from them, so I was wondering if it was those two.”

“Hmm, they’re probably still heading East then.” The man mused somewhat disappointedly.

“Might I ask why the Royal Guard is pursuing them? They looked like decent enough folks, but it would worry me if they turned out to be heinous criminals.” The girl trailed off in a disturbed tone. Ignis could almost picture the scene, two pretty women (for, by now, he’d worked out that these two were from the large group of adventurers the previous night) worriedly exchanging looks with each other, and the poor guard frantically trying to reassure them.

“Don’t worry, you weren’t in any danger … they’re just some petty thieves that have caused some trouble for us.” The man replied hastily. “They’re constantly harassing our troops, and finally the higher ups have decided to take action against them. But they only seem to target the Royal Guard – there have been no reports of civilians being affected at all.”

“Those rapscallions always seem to manage to escape our pursuit, despite not having any real power. They’re sneaky little buggers, and they somehow seem to know this area better than we do.” The female guard cursed angrily. She had been one of the guards from the previous night, and had been especially pissed off that they’d managed to escape, given that some of the items that they’d taken this time around had belonged to her. This also explained her foul mood at having been delegated to searching this area.

Just what did those guys take? The two adventurers wondered in amazement. It was rare to see the Royal Guard deployed for something like that, as it was generally treated as something trivial. Normally the higher ups would view it as an ‘if they can take it, then they deserve it’ matter. The two women were instantly intrigued by the seemingly ordinary men that they’d met the night before.

It was no easy thing to steal from the Royal Guard, nor was it even a crime, strangely enough. As such, they would only pursue it if it was something of national level importance. There were only three major crimes that ever resulted in a manhunt like this one: 1) obstructing the Royal Guard in their duties to the crown; 2) Murdering a member of the Royal Guard/Family, as this was considered treason; and 3) anything to do with slavery – be that buying, selling, owning, or even just transporting them. The Royal Guard were peace keepers. They monitored the entire country, and if any dangers cropped up (a particularly violent person, an invading country, slavers, etc.) they dealt with them swiftly. Even if their target wasn’t technically a criminal, if they were causing enough of a disturbance, the Royal Guard would still act. However, they overlooked petty disagreements, even murder if it was only on a personal scale.

Smaller crimes such as these, would be handled by the local police, and dealt with on a case-by-case basis. This freed people up to take care of themselves for the most part, and if the motive was just, then even murder could be consequence-free even for common citizens. Things only usually got dicey if nobility got involved, but since the local police was made up of volunteers from the general citizenry, they often ended up united against the nobles if a spat ever did occur.

Above all, this was a world where the strongest fist was the most ‘righteous’. This meant that the continent was pretty chaotic, and yet it was somehow peaceful in the grand scheme of things.

This situation could only come about because of the type of continent it was. Every person, in every race (be they Human, Dwarf, Elf, Dragon, Mysterious Beast, or Demon) had the potential for either learning Magic or for Cultivation. Magic was the process of manipulating external/worldly energy; and Cultivation was the process of manipulating internal energy. When a child reached puberty, they could choose a path to follow. However, once they decided which sort of energy they would learn to manipulate, they couldn’t change their minds, nor could they train both at once. As such, there were various tests that they could undergo in order to figure out which one they had a higher aptitude for.

Although everyone had the potential for either path, the same could not be said for their aptitudes. This meant that there were an awful lot of people who couldn’t get past the earlier stages, and they were referred to as ‘Northmanni’. These people lived their lives eking out a living through the important but less ‘glamorous’ jobs. They were the ones who worked the fields, reared cattle, ran inns, etc.

The few who did have the talent to pursue being Cultors, had other ways to earn a living. These talents often made up the elites in the army or were nobility. Others also became adventurers, seeking treasure or lost secrets from ages long since passed. There were also jobs such as: Alchemists, who brewed pills and elixirs to improve healing, restore stamina, etc.; and Enchanters, who engraved runes into an item, and instilled it with energy to power the spells created, these could be used to improve battle power, improve defence (either of the item, or the user), and so much more. For example, the water gems from the inn were made by enchanters, and they could only maintain the temperature of the water for a long time once they’d been processed.

“What should we do if we do happen to encounter them again? Is there a way we can contact you?” The same lilting voice from earlier spoke up. This voice belonged to the dark haired girl from before.

“This is an SOS button. If you break it, it will send a signal to headquarters, and it will ping your location to us. This one is one we are handing out specifically for sightings of those two.” The male guard’s voice explained after a moment of rustling.

SOS buttons were fairly common, and most people would have at least one on themselves at any given time, but those were general purpose ones for when they needed any sort of rapid response. The fact that they were handing out special ones specifically for sightings of the two guys they’d met the previous night, shocked the two girls.

“This is a lot of effort and cost to spend on catching two northmanni. They must have thoroughly pissed off the higher ups, huh?” A different voice commented at this time. This was probably the silver haired girl’s voice.

“The details are confidential, and even we don’t know much. What we can say, though, is that those two aren’t to be messed with as things seem to have a way of working to their favour -“

“That’s giving them far too much credit.” The female guard interrupted her colleague snippily, rolling her eyes for good measure. “They’ve just been slippery, and have decent luck. For two northmanni it’s only a matter of time before we snatch our stuff back and hand them over to the higher-ups.”

Her vicious tone seemed to be too strong for just having had a few of her items stolen, so the dark-haired girl had the sneaking suspicion that there was perhaps more to the story than the two Royal Guardsmen had let on.