《Shadow Tales》


 A Bear, High Elf, And A Dark Elf Sit In A Bar

    ¡°Hey there, are you ready to order?¡± said the waitress with a smile.


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯d like some ale for the three of us here, Fish ¡®n Chips for the bear dude, Rabbit ribs for me an-...¡±


    ¡°Sorry for interrupting you, I forgot to mention we are out of Rabbit ribs¡­¡±


    Slightly flushed, the gnomish-looking elf waitress bowed lightly in apology.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Well, I¡¯ll take Fish ¡®n Chips too then, I guess¡­ What about you, Nash?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take red wine, dry¡­ instead of ale. And Beef Steak.¡±


    ¡°Eh...uhmm¡­¡± Looking flushed again, the waitress twiddled her fingers anxiously, fixing her gaze into the distance.


    ¡°... Is there something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Uhmm¡­ we also don¡¯t have Beef¡­ or wine¡­¡±


    Laughing at her embarrassment, I asked her to bring three orders of Fish ¡®n Chips, and three ales.


    ¡°So, three Fish ¡®n Chips, and three mugs of house ale, all good?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess¡­¡±


    Recovering quickly from her embarrassed state, the waitress smiled and rushed back behind the bar.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ I really wanted those Rabbit ribs¡­¡±


    Zivios, the three meter tall Bear-Human hybrid looked down at me. A low growling sound came from the sitting giant; my own height is five foot nine, but Zivios still felt imposing towering over me, even while sitting. ¡°Fish be good¡­Very tasty...Very heallthy¡­¡± Zivios retorted to my disappointed remark with his heavy, thunderous voice.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know, I just really wanted those ribs, man¡­¡±


    Holding his head in his hands, Nash seemed a little depressed. ¡°I miss classy meals¡­¡±


    ¡°... Don''t be such a snob, we barely have any New-Yen for this meal.¡±


    ¡°No, I''m blaming you for the fact that we have no money¡­ If you didn''t fuck up that last gig, we would have had enough for more than some damn Fish ¡®n Chips in this damn sorry excuse for a bar!¡±


    ¡°Wah... Well, I''m sorry... I was really drunk, and that damn ogre looked like he was going to attack me, okay???¡±


    ¡°GAH! He was the key to our mission, dammit! Even as a drunkard you should''ve remembered that! WAIT! Why were you even drunk in the first place?!¡±


    Avoiding Nash¡¯s queries, I pushed the conversation forward. ¡°So, what do we do now? That last job didn¡¯t get us enough cash to stay idle for too long, especially since we couldn''t hand the target in alive. Haha... I want money...¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Furious at me tuning out his question completely, Nash went on, ¡°FUH! Seriously?! I can¡¯t believe--¡±


    Our attention was interrupted, and we didn¡¯t hear Nash finish his sentence, because of the unexpected opening of the door to the bar. Two figures entered, and a somewhat cold aura filled the room. One of the figures was tall, and was fully clad in weird-looking armor, with a long Sniper Rifle strapped to his back; the other was a small girl with long blue twintails, wearing a white military-style female uniform and stockings. The two headed towards the counter and sat down.


    ¡°Hey, gimme a cup of Gin over here,¡± said the small girl.


    ¡°Right away¡­¡± replied the bartender.


    ¡°M¡¯lady¡­ You know you can¡¯t drink¡­¡± said the tall man reprovingly.


    ¡°Did I ask you to talk? Hmph~¡± pouted the girl.


    When the bartender reached to hand her the liquor, she caught his wrist, and I noticed a mist suddenly surrounding their two hands. With a firmer voice, the tall person scolded his companion.


    ¡°M¡¯lady¡­ this is not the time to make a ruckus.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine¡­¡± the girl muttered.


    The bartender hurriedly took his hand back and started rubbing it anxiously. From where I sat, his hand seemed slightly swollen and purplish, like it had a cold burn.


    ¡°Huh¡­ she seems rather annoying¡­¡± I said as I turned back towards Zivios and Nash.


    *BOOM* The wall near the entrance exploded, sending debris and shrapnel all over the nearly empty bar.


    ¡°What the fuck just happened?¡± I asked while hiding behind a tilted table that Zivios flipped just in time.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it seems like either this place is being specifically targeted by someone, or these newcomers are to blame¡­¡± said Nash with an annoyed expression.


    Suddenly, the entire place turned freezing. Peeping from behind the table, I saw the bartender was missing an arm, and was literally covered in blood.''Fuck. Ok, that must have super hurt¡­ Damn, I¡¯m so hungry¡­''


    ¡°Where are those guys? I can¡¯t see them anywhere, did they buzz off?¡±


    ¡°I obviously don¡¯t know¡­ how would I? Stop with the stupid questions for god¡¯s sake.¡± Nash answered with an irritated tone.


    The waitress suddenly appeared behind the counter, tears in her eyes. ¡°Jeff no! What happened?!¡±


    Unable to answer, Jeff fell down unconscious, probably from blood loss or shock; he was bleeding profusely. The waitress crouched down, and as her hands started to emit a green light, she hovered them over his wound. ¡°No! Jeff!! Wake up!!!¡± she screamed in stress.


    The sound of guns firing filled the room. ¡®What the hell is going on?¡¯


    Going my way around the table, I walked carefully towards the blasted wall, I tried to see what, or who, was there. I could dimly discern four silhouettes in the swirling dust. ¡°Guys¡­ we got company¡­¡±


    I tried looking for my sniper rifle in the rubble near our table but ended giving up after a short glance, and just took my sword out of the cloth sheath that was strapped to my back. I deployed my Physical Force shield, a low humming sound was emitted from it. ¡®Time to get some action¡­¡¯


    Zivios lifted the table and placed it against the aperture in the wall, giving us cover. ¡°Here. Yourr toy¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, thanks man.¡± I took back my sniper rifle and aimed down the gap between the rubble.


    Through the scope, I saw the four figures that were approaching us. They looked like High elves, but something seemed¡­ I dunno¡­ off? It''s like their movement is in unison with each other¡­ but in an eerie kind of way¡­ somewhat reminding me of puppets, ya know? Meh, whatever, all the same when they''re dead I guess.


    ¡°Guys, watch out. Something feels really off with these assholes¡­¡±


    ¡°Smells of blood¡­¡± Zivios snickered, bearing his teeth, he released a growl from his gut. His paw-hands had a white, blurry and dense aura surround them. Zivios charged towards those creepy assholes, not bothering to wait for cover fire.


    ¡°Dammit man, let me at least blast a head off first,¡± I grumbled.


    As Zivios charged on all four of his paws, the pale skinned elves aimed their weapons at him and fired. Their shots bearly grazed him, allowing thick crimson blood taint his dark brown fur. He ended his charge a few paces away from them and leaped into the middle of their formation, before slamming his paw-hands into the ground.


    A pulse of pure force could be felt even from where Nash and I were taking cover. The four assholes went flying in four different directions, away from Zivios. Damn bear was taking all the glory again¡­


    Oh, one seemed to be getting up. I aimed at his head, and was about to pull the trigger when¡­


    ¡°He¡¯s mine¡­¡± The waitress, holding a blaster shotgun in her hands, walked past me and approached the dying asshole.


    Placing the muzzle to his chest--wow she''s too short to aim to his head, haha--


    ¡°Bitch, say your prayers¡­ ¡°


    The asshole was about to open his mouth--aaaand she pulled the trigger. At least let him pray if you¡¯re going to use such a cliche line, dammit...


    ¡®Ah¡­ so anticlimactic. Hmmm¡­ I¡¯m still hungry¡­ I wonder if the Fish ¡®n Chips is ready.¡¯

 And They Meet A Badass Waitress

    ¡°Yo, badass waitress, what''s your name?¡±


    ¡°W-wha..? M-my name?¡±


    Her face and eyes were all red and flushed from crying. Where did her badass attitude go?


    ¡°Yeah, your name¡±


    ¡°M-my n-name, is Cleo¡±


    ¡°Ok, nice meeting you Cleo. I¡¯m Serlim, and those two are Zivios and Nash. You shouldn''t stay out here, it''s probably not safe¡­¡±


    ¡°U-hmm¡­ t-the last p-person I c¡­ cared about¡­ just died¡­ c-can you h-help me bury him at least?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, that bartender just lost tons of blood from that, huh¡­ yeah we¡¯ll help¡±


    Heading back inside, we went behind the bar, intending to take Jeff out and bury him. Just, one, tiny, problem¡­ where da fuck was Jeff???


    The body was missing. From where it should have been lying, a trail of crimson liquid led to the back-room. Me and Cleo both wore a bewildered expression, and we followed the trail back to the locker¡¯s area. Oh, and Cleo was crying¡­ so much¡­ when she saw that trail¡­ my head hurt¡­ can¡¯t handle crying people well¡­ such a nuisance...


    A few moments later, we found Jeff. He was lying on the floor again, unconscious, I thought¡­ The wound seemed like it was bleeding slightly less than before, but he was still bleeding his literal life out. Haha~¡­ Those puns¡­ I need to stop.


    Nash was trying to avoid the blood at all costs. It was kinda funny looking at him dancing from side to side to avoid the crimson colored liquid, all while wearing a disgusted look on his face. Well, enough with the comic relief. ¡°We should probably get this going or we¡¯ll probably get attacked again. We don''t know what''s going on outside at the moment, so I think we need to hurry up¡­¡± I suggested.


    *sniffling sounds* Zivios sniffed audibly ¡°Smells¡­death¡­Jeff...dead¡­ ¡°


    ¡°Did you just sniff the air to determine if he''s dead?¡± Nash looked at Zivios in disbelief, only to receive a mild snicker from Zivios, who had apparently proved himself superior to a High Elf.


    ¡®Oh, did I forget to mention that High Elves -- well, pretty much all the ¡°Pure Blood¡± races -- are extremely racist? So yea, they are. Nash isn''t that bad, though. He''s quite the open minded elf¡­ in all sorts of ways¡­ If memory serves me right, he is the son of a pretty famed elven family. I don''t really know much beyond that though.¡¯


    I crouched near Jeff, so I could tell if he was, indeed, dead. I put my hand on the artery in his neck. He didn''t seem to have a pulse, nor was he breathing.


    ¡°Yeah he''s dead alright¡­ Sorry for your loss, I guess¡­¡± Cleo just cried uncontrollably for a while. After stopping her tears and regaining her senses, she again asked us to help her bury the dead man in the yard out the back of the bar. We draped a tablecloth that was nearby on Jeff¡¯s body before we carried it outside.


    ¡°Oy, Zivios, care lifting him up? We don¡¯t want all of us busy carrying him¡­¡± I suggested.


    ¡°I am not! going near all that blood, so you¡¯ll have to do it yourself¡­¡± Nash insisted with a disgusted look.


    Zivios beared his teeth at us and snarled in a shallow tone. ¡°Fine¡­¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    As he picked Jeff up, a small metallic lump fell into the crimson pool beneath him. The unexpected sound made us all stop in silence for a moment, and look dubiously at the item that was covered in blood.


    It seemed like¡­ a key? I picked up the item and inspected it. Apparently, it was indeed a key, like those old, ragged keys that open armored basement doors that have all kinds of old, creepy, and long-forgotten loot inside. It felt slightly ominous, for some reason¡­


    ¡°Hey Cleo, does this seem familiar to you?¡±


    ¡°N-no¡­ I n-never saw that key before¡­ b-but this building has a basement w-which I n-never saw open¡­ It might open it¡­¡±


    I thought to myself - Jackpot! Haha, I knew it! Never underestimate the instincts of a greedy Dark Elf! Well¡­ I don¡¯t really know if there¡¯s actually any loot inside. After all, this is a bar¡­ and I doubt this place has any dark secrets buried beneath the stones¡­ I¡¯m getting less and less excited about this whole possible loot thing¡­


    ¡°Ok¡­ We¡¯ll check it out after we bury this guy.¡±


    Fast forward, we buried Jeff in the backyard of the bar. Everything feels eerily calm for some reason¡­ I have a bad feeling about this¡­ Nah¡­ Let¡¯s go search for loot!


    ¡°So, do we search for food first? ¡®Cause I''m dying of hunger here¡­ Oh, is our Fish ¡®n Chips ready?¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you a moron? No way we can eat right now.¡± Nash retorted angrily.


    ¡°Ah!!! No~... I left it cooking¡­¡± Said Cleo.


    Cleo darted off towards what was the kitchen area¡­ I need something to eat, or I¡¯ll die of hunger¡­ Well, better search for things anyway, at least find something we can take with us for later.


    ¡°Let¡¯s search for things we can carry with us¡­ Or we¡¯ll die of hunger afterwards¡­¡±


    ¡°My¡­fish¡­hungrry¡­¡± Zivios had a frustrated expression on his bear face. It was kinda funny actually, ever seen a sad bear? It''s downright hilarious! Of course¡­ I didn¡¯t laugh in his face, ¡®cause he would smack me into the wall or something. I wanted to avoid getting bear-smacked¡­


    When Cleo returned from the kitchen, she told us that she was going to get her change of clothes and went back to the locker area. Wait, what''s up with my food? I guess it burned or something¡­ Damn I''m hungry¡­ On a different note, I liked that maid outfit, would¡¯ve been awesome if she kept it. I bet Nash had some ideas about it¡­ Okay that¡¯s a dangerous area I¡¯m treading, I should get on with the looting!


    Nash, Zivios and I searched the place clean. All we could find were a few canned vegetables, canned tuna and canned borscht¡­ WHAT THE HELL IS CANNED BORSCHT???? Oh, but Zivios seemed happy about that one,so I guess that worked. The rest of the food was either almost stale veggies, or fish¡­ No wonder Cleo was so embarrassed, they didn¡¯t even had bread.


    Finishing with the kitchen, we went searching in the locker area. There were 8 lockers in total, arranged in rows of 4. Cleo had already finished changing her clothes: she was wearing a white tank top, short jeans and black stockings decorated with a kitten sample on their top end¡­ Ok, I ain''t judging, but this is fake jailbait right here. She looks like a loli idol for fuck''s sake, just missing the typical happy-go-lucky attitude.


    Cleo then reached into her locker, taking out a double headed war axe¡­ with a heart inscribed to the head¡¯s eye¡­ Its length was about 2 and a half feet, while Cleo was around 4.3~¡­ Fuck it, I¡¯ve seen weirder stuff! I don''t even want to ask.


    ¡°OK! now that you''re done, I¡¯ll just break into a few lockers and check if there¡¯s anything of value for us before we head towards the creepy basement.¡± Not waiting for anyone to retort to my decision, I went ahead and started breaking into the nearest locker. A few minutes later, all I could find in those lockers were a few random clothes, some tattered rags and basically just random miscellaneous stuff which were insignificant at most.


    ¡°Uhmm¡­ There¡¯s also Jeff¡¯s locker at the side here¡­ it''s ¡®hidden¡¯ behind the door¡­¡± She seemed very embarrassed and slightly perturbed¡­ He won''t be needing his stuff anyways.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s convenient! Thanks, Cleo.¡± Apparently, when the door was opened you couldn''t see that locker. I think it was on purpose, so that random people who entered the room wouldn''t notice it too easily¡­ Sneaky bastard.


    Hacking my way around the lock mechanism of the locker, I opened it in a quite anticlimactic manner. It was almost too easy for a ¡®hidden possible loot locker¡¯! Inside, aside from a few casual clothing in the locker, it had a fancy looking lighter. The lighter had a rectangular shape, and it was inscribed with some random swirly patterns. Also, I found a weird looking tome inside. It had an old looking leather cover, and it had weird-looking symbols inscribed in a spiral at the center of that cover. It emitted a faint glow, almost unnoticeable. Moreover, the weird symbols started to move when I looked at them for too long¡­ Ahghh¡­ Magic stuff makes my head hurt¡­


    ¡°Hey, Nash. Come look at this.¡±


    Nash inspected the book for a few moments, opened it and went through the pages, he seemed to be mumbling stuff to himself, maybe talking to his shamanic benefactor, a ¡®Divine Guardian¡¯. After a little while, Nash said he can¡¯t really do much with the weird tome, and decided handing it over to Cleo. She was slightly startled, receiving something that belonged to Jeff. The book¡¯s faint glow seemed to be more brilliant than before when she held it. Inspecting the book, she wore a puzzled look on her face.


    ¡°I-I think I can learn some fire magic from it¡­ n-nothing very impressive though¡­¡± her high pitched tone was somewhat disappointed it seemed.


    ¡°Go for it, nothing to hold you back here¡±. Taking a moment to learn the new spell, Cleo read through the appropriate pages, like Nash, she seemed to be silently mumbling and talking to something that wasn¡¯t really there¡­ Man, Shamans are weird¡­


    After a little while of that weird shaman stuff, Cleo held her hand out, and conjured a small, fiery orb, it was slightly brighter and bigger then a lighter¡¯s flame, definitely nothing impressive.


    ¡°Good enough, I guess? We got a basement to look into, so let¡¯s hurry now, shall we?¡±


    Everyone nodded in agreement, following Cleo¡¯s lead towards the basement¡¯s door.