《Elven Garden》 Prologue 0 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- '' Just what did I do to deserve this ? Were my choises really that bad ? '' Somewhere in this vast world, an abyss was unfolding. The trees were dead, animals where nowhere to be seen and a huge labyrinth of thorns covered the biggest part of the abyss. As if it was a place forgotten by god the silence filled the darkness. Inside this vast labyrinth of thorns there was a place where, as if it was a miracle the thorns that covered the whole place allowed a ray of sunlight to pass and fall on the ground where an only white rose grew on the almost rocky ground. A dripping sound could be heard and red droplets fell on the lonely rose. The drops that were falling from time to time came from above, from a place where the sunlight couldn''t reach. There stood a man half naked only wearing a tattered pair of black pants. Tattoos could be seen on the body of the half naked man, as if they were trying to form a flame they covered his body in their black color. Only a part of his face was left uncovered from the tattoos, while he had a big scratch passing through his right eye along with his black long hair falling close to his neck the person could not move. The thorns were crushing his arms and legs making it impossible to move. Blood drops were coming out from his right eye moving down to his hair and finally falling on the white rose that was already half red. As time past and nothing happened the person was staying still, unable to move with an almost dead expression on his left eye he was breathing heavily staring down to the lonely rose. '' What if people could re-live their very decisive moments..... would they make the same choises? '' Wondered the person in the bindings as if asking the lonely rose that was covered with his blood. After a little while as he was watching the small white rose, light bubbles began to fall from the ceiling as if it was snowing slowly till they reached the ground and disappeared on the rocky floor. The binded person slowly looked upwards with only his left eye and the mud that was gathering on his face from all the blood and dust blocking most of his view, he whispered... " An angel ? " The view he had was that of a ten.. No maybe twelve years old girl ? The girl was glowing as if she where the sun that didn''t exist inside this abyss, along with her angel like wings that were on her back. She was slowly floating closer to the man with the tattered clothes as she looked him in his eye with a face that expressed confusion. " So... It is finally my time to leave this world isn''t it ? " " You.. What is thee name ? " " My name ehh ? Well.. Who knows. I forgot my name a long time ago. " The little girl changed her expression that showed confusion at first into a serious one. As she approached the man to get a closer look she noticed the white rose as a drop of blood fell once again on it. She got near the rose and carefully cut it from the twig. Once again she got close to the sealed person and asked. " Why are you here ? " Surprised the person he answered to the question. " Well... It''s a long story. Are you sure you want to listen ? " " Hmm " Was the answer the little angel gave and then the man began to explain what had happened in his life. It was quite the tragic story, the story of a hero who saved mankind only to be betrayed by the ones he trusted and had sworn to protect. In the end of the story he then explained how they sealed him here. It was cruel.. No that should be called beyond cruel... The seal he was in was one that forbid him from dieing. With nothing to eat while starving. With nothing to drink while being thirsty to death and unable to die from blood loss while being hurt all over. The girl looked at him and said. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. " Poor thing... " " I don''t need your pity.. What i want is to finally be released from this curse. Please I beg of you finish this miserable being. " The girl stared at the person with her glittering eyes as he looked back at her with almost dead eyes. " But. Somewhere inside you there is still the will to live. Do you want to live ? I can free you from the bindings that seal you. " " Even if you release me from those bindings nothing will change.. Humans are greedy even if they don''t remember me now they will probably do the same thing some day... I hate it. I don''t want to feel this way.. Hatred will only lead to more hatred. So please, instead of releasing me just kill me and let me rest in peace. " As the man said that the girl could only sigh at what she had heard. After a while of thinking she asked. " Then how about you get rid of your humanity ? " The man opened his eye wide as he looked at the little girl''s smile while holding the rose on her hand and smelling it as if it had a nice fragrance on it. " Impossible... For someone like me who only knows how to fight and love those who betrayed him I can''t get rid of my humanity... " " I understand as you are more human than them " The girl answered as she smiled at him. " But, I won''t take away your feelings or anything. I ''ll take something else though.. If you are willing, will you sacrifice your human form ? " The man was stunned at the sight in front of him. He could only stare at her with nothing but a confused expression. After a few seconds the man slightly laughed and said. " If it''s only going to be the form then I don''t care what I lose... I just hope that I ''ll be able to cry in the other world. Since my tears have dried out in this place and I cant cry my feeling out anymore. " The girl could only laugh at what she heard and said. " My name is Gaia, the world is me and I am the world. With my power I bestow you my blessing. May it help you in the future. " After that, she went in silence for a moment and with a low voice she whispered to the person''s ear. " It is going to hurt a little but it will only be for a moment. " As she said that the rose in her hand transformed into a sword and pierced the heart of the man. As time passed slowly and his life flashed in front of his eyes, a whisper came from Gaia. " Good night, Iryl ! " The man died there and his body withered inside the labyrinth of thorns along with the lonely rose. END of Prologue. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Notes: Ehh.. Hello, this is the author speaking.. Preety obvious I guess. Well, this is only the prologue and I don''t really know what to write here to be honest... So I ''ll just inform you about how several stuff work so that there won''t be much confusion. FIRST: When you see those things " ... " It means that someone is talking. SECOND: When you see those things '' ... '' It means someone is thinking. THIRD: If I forgot something please inform me by leaving a comment. I am this Fanfic''s author FrozenArrow sometimes there is a chance that you might see my name as FeatherClown so don''t pay much attention... Well, anyway this is the first time I ''m uploading something.. Hope you liked it and stay tuned for the upcoming chapter 1 this Wednesday. PS: I ''ll be changing the point of view from third to first person and the opposite. So if you think that''s a problem just inform me in the comments. Bye ! A New Life ch: 1 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- '' Where am I ? If I remember correctly... I should have died. Even at death i can''t move.. It is getting hotter as time passes. Is this hell ? '' Those thoughts passed through Iryl''s mind as he couldn''t see and stayed in silence. As time passed the place he was at, was getting hotter and hotter. Unable to move Iryl tried to call for help. " Uwaaa! " '' What the hell was that ? '' Iryl slowly tried to open his eyes that were watery from tears for some reason. What he saw could not be easily explained. The first thing he saw were the hands of a person, judging from the way they looked they must have been a woman''s hands, but that wasn''t what caught his attention. What caught his attention was the house that was burning down and the fact that the hands of the woman that was holding him were stained in blood. Once again he tried to speak, as if to say that it''s dangerous in here and we should get out. For some unknown reason to him he couldn''t move so he thought that maybe he was still in bindings. " Uwaaaa! " The woman heard him crying and she turned his face towards her while moving him in her arms. What Iryl saw was the face of a beautifull woman with crystal blue eyes and silver silky hair, she had deep dark circles under her eyes and her pale white skin was filled with blood in different spots. The woman tried to smile at me while making a wry smile with tear drops in here eyes. After staring at me for a little while she said. " Good boys are not supposed to cry! " After that she whispered something that Iryl couldn''t understand and slowly he began losing his consciousness. As he was falling asleep he turned once again his gaze at the woman that was holding him and saw her smile once again as his eyelids closed he heard her whisper once again. " Goodnight Iryl... " All Iryl could think was one thing.. '' Another goodnight.. '' Before his consciousness completely drifted away Iryl heard a loud voise saying. " There they are ! Quickly come help me ! They might still be alive ! " Time passed by and Iryl began to slowly regain his consciousness. After a while he opened his eyes and to his surprise what he saw was a wooden roof with a small green lamp on top of it. he tried to turn his gaze around and what he saw was that he was confined in a wooden cage, or so he thought at first. After analysing the situation he thought no cage has the roof open... After a while he tried to move and all he could do was move his limbs that were too close to his head. '' Why can''t I move ? I can move my limbs but they feel to stiff to move around... Guess I ''ll have to ask '' " Uwaaaa! " '' Why ? Why can''t I talk ? '' As he thought that, footsteps could be heard somewhere at the background and after a while a person appeared. What Iryl saw was an old man with long blonde hair falling down to his shoulders and green eyes. Well he couldn''t say he was handsome or anything.. Since he was an elder.. But, if you had to compare him with other elders one could say that he was far more good looking than them... The only thing that made him different from the other elders were those two pointy ears that made Iryl think.. '' What the hell is up with those ears ? '' After the old man saw Iryl making a weird expresion on his face, he got his hands closer to him and held him up. '' Why is he so big ? Is he a giant or something ? No, no, no calm down... There is no way possible that giants exist... '' As Iryl was lost in thoughts, the man took him in his arms and moved away from the wooden cage (Iryl''s imagination). The scenery that was unfolding in front of Iryl was that of a house with rocky walls and wooden floors the decorations were little with only a few paintings hanging on the wall. A small fireplace was in the corner of the room and there was a staircase on the other end. A door could be seen at the far end of the last of the three walls along with a big window next to it, since Iryl couldn''t see the last wall that was behind the back of the elder with his eyes, it was impossible to know what was there. Apart from the wooden cage... Is what Iryl thought. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. " You have been sleeping for quite a while haven''t you little boy ? " Is what the elder asked while smiling with his gaze focused on Iryl. Iryl tried to move his hands up and down and soon enough stoped doing that cause he felt tired... After that a cry came out of him. '' Why can''t I move or talk ? What the hell is wrong with my body ? '' " Uwaaa! " " There! There.. Dont cry now little boy! " '' Who is crying old geezer ?? '' Is what Iryl thought while he couldn''t speak. Before the old person was able to calm him down the door was knocked heavily from the outside. (SFX) BOOP BOOP ! " Sage-Sama! Please open up the door. We must discuss about the matter with the boy that was resqued the other day from the building on fire.. " Is what the person outside the house said and so a long talk between the geezer and the other man began. " There is nothing left to discuss about this matter.. " " But.. Sage-Sama, the boy has white hair.. You should know very well what that means.. " " Of course I am awere of what that means. And that''s one more reason why I should raise him up. " "But, Sage-Sama at your age raising up a child.. Whouldn''t it be better for him to grow up in a familly among the rest of the clan ? " " You should be aware that this will prove impossible in the future. Just what do you think he would think when he finds out the difference between him and the others ? Ehh ? Do you say that you will take responsibility for that as well ? " The man outside hesitated for a while and then said. " Then will it be alright for him to grow up with an old person like you ? " " Who are you calling an old person ! You fool ! " " But.. Sage-Sama you are going to be 367 years old in this year.. " " Hoho! I'' m still in my days of youth.. Well, let it be. It will be easier for him to grow up here either way, and I ''ll make sure he grows up to be a fine man. " " If that is what Sage-Sama thinks is better.. Then I don''t plan to go against your will. " " If that''s all then go home already! " " Yes.. Then have a good day.. " The man said with a dissapointed voice and sighed as he left. The elder turned his gaze away from the door and looked at Iryl while saying. " Grow up to be a fine man Iryl.. That is what your mother would probably want after all.. " Iryl looked at the old man with a puzzled look on his face. After that the old man sighed and turned his gaze towards the window as he stepped closer to it. When he got close enough to be able to see the outside world, Iryl''s eyes opened wide as he saw the scenery that was forming outside of the window. A small village with about ten to twelve houses that were spread here and there while the giant trees where covering most of the view and a river that was passing among the buildings and trees. But, that wasn''t what made Iryl really surprised. What made his eyes open wide was his appearance... '' Noooo ! Noooo ! Noooo! There is no way in hell ! How did this happen ? '' " Uwaaa! " " Oups! Looks like it''s feeding time lil'' boy! " The old man turned along with Iryl and headed over to the small kitchen that was on the last wall. But, that didn''t matter for Iryl.. What he saw was what he had reincarnated into... And that was... '' No way in hell... Why? Why into a baby ??? '' END of chapter 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s notes: Hello once again! Ehh.. I don''t have much to say to be honest I just hope you enjoyed and will stay tuned for the next chapter! PS: Sorry, if my grammar isn''t that good. English is not my native language and google translate is a pain to use... Oh! I almost forgot someone asked me when will the chapters be coming online. The chapters will be coming online every Wendesday and Sunday so stay tuned! PS (Into the PS): Awesome.. <-- (Surprised) I made the PS bigger than the notes... See you this Sunday! The Past Of The Elf Society Chapter: 2 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It has already been around 9 years since Iryl found out he has turned into a baby and thus reincarnated. For those long five years that he could hardly do anything alone, he was raised by the village''s elder who saved him from the house on fire when he was only a baby. The elder in those five years taught him many things about the world he was reborn into, such as the elves history and the different races that existed all around the world. Aditionally, another important lesson he taught him was how to speak and write this world''s language which was quite hard for him. Other than that, the elder taught him mathematics which was inexplicably easier than the language lessons for him. Among the many things the elder had taught him there was that one thing that the elder was always forcing him to take more seriously than all the other subjects. That was the value of life! All in all he passed those five years inside the house along with the elder learning almost everything he could about this world. As the elder''s house was quite far away from the rest of the houses.. Like 1 or 2 kilometters... He almost never met other people. It''s not like Iryl wasn''t allowed to go out and meet other people or anything. But, whenever he saw other people and they noticed him they almost always turned away from him or some of them smiled at him and left with fast steps. Another thing was that he has never seen other children around his age near the house. Although he knew the reason and for that he had to thank the elder for the history lessons that made him aware of what his existance meant to this world.. In the past of the elf society, around 200 years ago they were about to perish. With a population that didn''t exceed over 40 elfs in the village a certain elf was born. Elves are usually born with silver or blond hair. But, he was different. He had white and straight long hair that were accompanied with his deep red eyes. According to the elves history, his looks weren''t the only differnce he had among other elves. He was by far better at using magic than them and exceeded in archery. Even though elves are naturally born with talent in the area of magic and archery they couldn''t even compare to his magnificence. The elf trained day and night to master his skills. In the morning he would hunt using his bow to make his scope reach the peak of his skill. While in the afternoon he trained his body to be as hard as a rock with the toughest exercises he could thing of. Soon enough he understood the concept of magic which was formed by manipulating the movement of the spirits. That led him to train his spirit manipulation technique late in the midnight. In the meantime the other elves were lazing around while doing everyday chores and little hunting just to survive the day, most of them thought of him as a crazy person trying to make his life harder when they saw him train. And that''s when a hestoric day came in the elf society. " I ''ll be leaving this place for a while. " Is what the different elf said to the little elves that were gathered in the center of the village. " Why ? " As the different elf heard that he said with a smile on his face. " I want to travel around the world! To experience stuff that noone of us has ever seen. " The other elves looked at him with opened eyes. Among them one elf that used to be the time''s elder said. " You should be aware that if you leave the village there will be no way of returning back here. As an isolated place from the outside world this place only has an exit.. But, no entrance can be found. " At that sentence the elf said. " If there is a way out then there is bound to be a way in. Our ancestors must have found that way in and built the elf society here. " After hearing that the elder said. " Well if you think that this is the road you should follow then do as you wish... " The different elf went to his house and prepared several things before his departure. And the following day he was ready to leave. As he headed towards one of the waterfalls whose waters were falling down in what looked to be like a lake from up there, he saw the vast world that was unfolding in front of him from the edge of the waterfall. The sound of the running water hitting on the rocky sides before falling down was one of the things he could hear. As he turned around he saw his familly looking at him with their faces filled with tears as if he was about to die... Well, elves have really strong bonds with their familly and loved ones, so he could understand their feelings. Once again he turned his gaze to the vast world and while taking in a deep breath he jumped in the waterfall. Soon enough the man''s adventure began! But that''s a story for another time... 100 years had past since the man left and the elf society was in a situation far worse than what it was when the man was still in the village. Out of the 40 elves that were on the village when he was born there were only about 20 elves left. " Elder what should we do ? The time is coming closer as the moon is turning more and more red... At this point the elf race will be eradicated in another 20 years if this situation continues.. " At that statement the elder could only sigh while saying. " And what do you think we should do ? Is there a way to fix this situation huh ? " The elder shouted back at the young man that asked him. And then continued. " If only that man was here... " " Elder by that man you don''t mean.. " " Yes, the one who left the village 100 years ago... If only he was here, he would definitely be able to solve this problem.. " When the two elves were discussing the current matter, loud voices came from outside. " Who are you ? Why are you here ? Are you with that damn monster''s side ? " At the sound of commotion otside the elder and the young man went out of the small house to see what happened. What they saw surprised them enough to burst out in tears of joy. " Man, I''m returning after 100 years and what I see is people of my clan marking me with their bows... " " Insolent fools! Pull your bows down.. Can''t you see that he is similar to you ? " Is what the elder said and punched a young elf on the head. After the elves saw the elder hitting one of their friends they were dumbfounded. The elf that was hit by the elder then said. " But elder, I haven''t seen someone like him among our clan before.. And why does he have white hair ? " " Insolent brat.. That is because that man left the elf society before you were even born! " The dumbfounded elves could only stare in surprise at what the elder said.. And that is when the man said. " Yo gramps! How were things for the past 100 years over here ? " The elder smiled wryly and answered back with a tone of annoyance but also relief. " Who are you calling gramps !? Kid! " The two men laughed and after a while the elder made a serious face and asked him. " So did you finish your adventure in the outside world ? " " Yea, pretty much.. The outside world is more interesting than what I thought it would be. " " Hahaha! Then come child! Today is gonna be a feast for your return! " The man smiled at the elder a little and then took a serious pose and asked him. " Gramps.. Before we move to the celebrations, tell me what happened to the village.. It''s been 100 years and I can''t sense more than 20 people around the area.. What happened ? " The elder''s face paled as he heard those words coming out of the white haired man. The people around the elder could only grind their teeth and clench their wrists. " You see.. The past 20 years that you were away a monster came out of the cave near the mountain. That monster didn''t kill us to feast on us but instead it proposed us with a deal.. " The elder paused for a moment and the white haired man could feel the frustration on the air. After that small pause the elder continued. " The deal was that it wouldn''t kill us if we agreed to sacrifice a villager every year as a way to avert his hunger at the day of the Crimson Moon. " " Hoo! Now that makes sense why I can''t feel the presence of the remaining members of the clan.. But, to think that a monster would force the Elf race into a corner.. " The white haired man turned his gaze from the floor as he was thinking of what he should do to solve this situation towards the youngsters that were gathered around and said to them. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. " If only your parents weren''t lazy when it came to training and hunting, you wouldn''t be in this kind of situation right now.. " At his words, bubbles of anger burst on the heads of the youngsters who changed expression right away, glancing menacingly down the white-hair elf.. " How dare you insult my parents! " " Wait! Idiots! He is not someone whom you can take on as you are! " Needless to say that his words were futile while the kids rushed to attack the white haired man in anger. But, what could be seen on his face was only a small smile as he lifted his fingers and said. " Fall on the ground. " After moving his finger towards the ground, all the youngsters who tried to attack him were face down on the ground. As if he was able to manipulate the gravity itself he moved forward towards the youngsters where he pulled up the one closest to him from his leathern top and made him fly towards the village where he fell on the roof of a house while saying. " Come back after 1000 years if you want to fight me! " He turned his gaze towards the other youngsters and with a cold stare he asked them... " Is there anyone else who wants to give it a try ? " The kids didn''t give him an answer and only moved their heads left and right as if they were trying to tell him that they didn''t.. " Good! Now that I'' m back the village is going to change! I can''t bear to see my clan perish like this.. First population problems and now it''s an uncommon beast... " The elder made a puzzled face and asked the man. " Uncommon beast ? " " Ohh that ? Right, right you people don''t know since you were isolated for a life... " The man sighed and explained briefly. " In the outside worls the so called monsters are called beasts and are categorized in different categories based on their characteristics. This one is a rare case since it can talk and is categorized as uncommon.. Well there are tougher beasts in the outside world so it shouldn''t pose much of a danger. " At his words the people that were gathering from the commotion that happened a few moments ago could only stare at the words of the white haired man and after a small pause of silence, some of the elves began to cry while others were dumbfounded and could only smile wryly at his words.. But, those weren''t tears of despair those were tears of joy. Because, after so many years someone with enough power to face that beast had come to save them. Little did they know what was to come in the near future... The elves prepared for a banquet for the man''s arrival and the night passed by as they celebrated till the morning. The following day was the long awaited day of revenge! As the day was closing to it''s end and the sun was going down the crimson moon was rising in the sky and the elves were heading towards the cave where the beast was residing. " Will it be alright ? " Is what an Elf asked the white haired man and to his surprise came the answer with a loud voise. " Listen up people! I will now demonstrate you the power that we from the Elf race can possess! " An applause could be heard from the elves on the background as they reached the entrance of the cave. " Get out here! You beast that made my familly suffer! " The man shouted and to his surprise the beast answered. " You who dares to come and shout outside my cave shall be my next meal ? " " Who are you calling a meal you freaking monster ? And that place belonged to my races since a long time ago along with this whole place.. To call it your cave. Such insolence! " The beast that looked like a snake with wings at the size of an elephant came out of the cave and looked at the white haired man as of he was a bag of flesh. The rest of the elves were frozen from fear as they looked at the monster and that''s when the white haired man said. " Pay close attention my familly! At what we, from the Elf race are capable of! " The man reached out his hand and at the place where only thin air could exist, the space dispersed and a small hole of blue particles appeared. The man placed his hand in it and pulled out a magnificent bow made out of a wood that sparkled as he moved it. The snake didn''t let the man complete his move as if it knew that he was dangerous and attacked him with the intent to swallow him up. The man made a small smile, as he saw the snake coming forth and then disappeared. Stuned the snake looked around to see where he was at and then voice came from above. " Where are you looking at dumb snake ? " As he pulled his bow a light blue arrow appeared. And before the snake could turn it''s face around the light blue arrow pierced through it''s head and killed it in one shot. The elves could only stare in amazement as they saw the one sided fight of the white haired man against the monster they couldn''t even dare to oppose. Amazing! Is what most elves thought as they were walking back to the village. That''s when the man stopped. The other elves that followed him stopped as well behind him and that''s when an elf asked him. " Is something wrong ? " " tsk.. " Is what the man murmured and then said... " Yes! There is! What''s with this sorry a** state the village is currently at? Heh ? " The rest of the Elf race were stunned at what he said. Then the courageous Elf asked. " What do you mean ? " With a puzzled tone in his voice. " Exactly what I said.. Since when did the Elf race become unable to fight against such an easy opponent ? I traveled to many places and all they were saying about elfs was about how admirable their strength is.. What exactly do you call admirable in this chaos huh ? We are close to extinction as a race and what I can see is the most lazy race around... Did you get full of yourselves since we had a bit of history on our backs ? " At the man''s words the Elfs were dumbfounded.. And the courageous Elf said once again. " But.. " " There are no (but''s) starting tomorow I am taking command of this place! I am going to bring back the glory that the Elf race once had! Is there anyone out there who wants to oppose my opinion ? " Is what the man said as he turned his gaze to the elves. The elves like the other night waved their heads in harmony right and left. " I didn''t hear an answer! " " No sir! " Is what the elves said and then listened to him saying. " Good! Now, let''s see ! Firstly let''s solve the population problem.. Find your partner for a life before the next week! " " Huuuuuh ??? " Is was the answer of the elves that heard their new commander give out his order. Once again the man turned his cold gaze towards the elves and said. " Is there a problem ? " The elves flinched and said... " No sir... " Soon after that, the man made the Elf society flourish through his dictatorship ways of ruling for over 70 years and with his vast knowledge, he made sure that several rules are passed down in the Elf society even after his death so that they won''t perish.. Even though some of them are kind of extreme... And now after 100 years of this man''s dictatorship the elves society has reached an outstanding increase in population of about 100 elves! In the end that man disappeared, some say that he died and others believe that he went to travel again. Well the point is that this man''s name came to be known in the elves history as the devil wearing an angel''s mask and his name was.. Shin Randel. '' And that''s where I come in... A person with the same hair collor as the tyrant that saved the Elf society... Sometimes, it makes me wonder is it really a coincidence that I have the same hair color as him ? '' Is what Iryl thought as he let out a deep sigh.. And that''s when he thought. '' How come, gramps knew such a story of the past with such detail ? Well whatever.. I should head inside soon, gramps said he had something important to discuss.. '' Iryl barely knew that this discussion would mean the end of his accomodation with the elder and the beggining of his outside world experiences. The unknown, the inexplicable, the world outside the small house. END of chapter 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors Notes: That sure was a long chapter... I impressed myself.. Well, it''s been a long week! Thanks for the patience and here is chapter two! Hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next chapter this Wednesday ! The Departure Ch: 3 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " What is it gramps ? Did you have something to discuss ? " " Is that the way you speak to the one who raised you ?! " Iryl heard the old man saying that, as he stepped through the door of the house while holding a huge basket of freshly cleaned clothes. The young man walked towards the staircase that was leading to the upper floor of the house along with the basket and headed upstairs belching. " Calm down geezer! It''s not like we don''t know each other is it ? " The old man was mumbling to himself as he was processing the words of the young man. " Now I understand.. We ''ve known each other for almost nine years it''s not like we are strange... HEY! Who are you calling a geezer you insolent kid! " A laughter could be heard from the floor upstairs. While the old man was fuming over the past conversation he sighed and took the tobacco pipe that was lying on the table in front of him and slowly inhaled a deep bubble of smoke. Meanwhile, Iryl was placing the clothes into a cupboard on the second floor. As soon as Iryl finished placing the clothes into the cupboard he headed downstairs and said to the old man with a serious gaze on his face. " So what did you want to discuss dear grandfather ? " The old man opened one of his closed eyes and looked towards Iryl. What stood before him was a young boy around the height of 135cm. As time passed the young boy stared towards the elder with a gentle but sharp gaze on his face. His short white hair were floating a little in the air, as a small gust of wind came through the open window in the room. As for his eyes, they were crystal blue the same as his mother''s who died in the fire seven years ago.. What they made one think, if they looked him in the eyes for too long, was that they were an endless river ending up a botomless lake. As for his clothes he was wearing a light yellow fabric to cover his torso and black leather pants at his bottom. His feet were covered with a pair of sandals and each of his hands with a line glove. The last thing that was completing his ¡°stylish¡± clothing was a small silver ring on the last finger of his left hand. " Come boy, sit down. " Said the old man and pointed towards the chair with his gaze to Iryl. Iryl swiftly sat down on the chair and waited for the old man to start talking. After a little the elder began talking. " Iryl.. The time has come for you to leave this place. " Is what the elder said and after a while Iryl made a sad face. " So it is time to say goodbye isn''t it ? " " Yes. As you are aware this year you will be nine years of age and according to the Elven Law.. " The elder made a sad face as he stopped talking and looked towards Iryl. Among the many things that he had taught him one of the most basics was the Elven Law. The Elven Law was made from that devil Shin Randel about 100 years ago in order for the Elf race race to survive. And among those rules of the elf society there was this one rule that forced the elves to leave the village for 7 years. What that rule said was.. All elves that are nine years old must train outside the village in the Elven Continent for seven years. '' Well.. It is understandable why he forced them to train. Since the elves were pretty lazy in the past. But, it is still too much... To send nine year old kids out in the wilderness where monsters roam and force them to survive for seven years.. '' All Iryl could think about this weird law was one thing.. '' Either the man who wrote the Elven Law was crazy or the Elves of his time were extremely lazy.. '' " Indeed I am aware of the law dear grandfather. " Is what Iryl said before he continued what he was saying. " After all these nine years I am deeply indebted to you who raised me with such mirth(=joy) and tought me all those things about the wolrd, and even though we are not even blood related I ''ve always thought of you as a father.. " The old man was staring at Iryl and whereas he couldn''t hold his pulse, he let a couple of tears flow to his crummy old-cheecks. " Ohh.. Iryl, after all these years you have grown to be such a kind and noble young boy... Your mother would be so proud of you " The old man headed towards Iryl and hugged him tightly while saying the above.. The boy was a little bit confused as the old-man was screaming at him the previews days about how lazy he was and how the other kids would easily laugh at his mess... ''Seems like someone got too old for this stuff hahaha'' Iryl though making off a quick smile up on his shoulder.. After a small amount of time had passed the elder wiped his tears and went upstairs. Meanwhile, Iryl was preparing a leather backpack with the bare necessities for his journey. As he was ready to leave the house the elder came from upstairs while holding a long wooden bow. " Here take this. It will surely be of use for your journey.. " " But.. Grandfather this is.. " " Yes.. This is the bow I used back in the day. And now it is time for you to inherit it! " A faint aura could be felt coming out of the long bow as Iryl placed it in his hands. There were also letters that could be seen carved on the wooden bow. They were probably hieroglyphics that were used to enchant and allow magic to flow into the bow. " Is this a magic bow ? " " Yes it is. And it will help you grow along with it. As it did for me! " Iryl smirked and placed the bow on his back as he headed outside. After reaching the small wooden gate that was the entrance of the small garden he turned his head back and thanked the elder concisely. " See you again in seven years gramps! " The thought that passed through Iryl''s mind wasn''t the same though.. '' A bow huh? It would be better if it was a sword... Aditionally I ''ve never used a bow before.. Well ! It is better than nothing! '' " Hey! Who are you calling gramps! " With a small smile on his face Iryl finally left the small house and headed towards the village where he would meet with the other youngsters for the first time and start his first adventure! '' Ehh! So this is what the village looks like! '' Iryl was lost in the wonderful view of the village area as he entered through the small gate. To his surprise, the village was quite the lively place. Unlike the small house which was isolated from the village for some reason.. This place was bursting with life. Houses could be seen here and there, some were even merged with trees and looked like a tree house. In the middle of the village a small well was placed and several elves were using it at the time. After staring at the village for a while stuned by it''s beauty Iryl heard a voice coming from a young lady in a house. " Come and get your health potions! Only 3 silver Crowns each! " '' Huh?! So they even sell those kind of stuff? '' A little bit of time passed before Iryl regained his composure. After observing once again the surrounding area with a fast glance, Iryl began to head towards the biggest building he could see. '' That building must be the one that gramps mentioned! '' The building he was headed towards was the one that all elves around his age would gather in order to leave the village for training.. And that building was nothingother than the bank... Well, it was a bank in name but it was used for other purposes as well.. Such as a school in the mornings and a spot gathering through out the day for the elves to buy and sell things. That was also a system that was made by Shin Randel who brought the current currency of the Elf society as well... '' That man sure did some amazing stuff... '' As Iryl was lost in thought. Several people were looking at him. Some of them were even mumbling. " Hey, isn''t he.. " " Shh! He ''ll hear you! " All that Iryl could think as he passed through the streets was one thing.. '' Yes... Like I can''t already hear you... So idiots my gosh'' When he reached the huge building that all the other buildings in the vincinity couldn''t even compare to it, he saw a man sitting on a log who was reading a book. As he aproached him the man closed the book he was reading, stood up, and quickly turned his gaze at Iryl and asked. " Are you perhaps Sage-Sama''s.. ? " Before he could finish his sentence Iryl answered with a smile on his face and a slight bow. " Yes, I am the Elder''s grandson. My name is Iryl nice to meet you. " " No! No! The pleasure is all mine! I am Darel and I work in the bank house. I ''ve been waiting for your arrival! Now come this way Iryl-Dono! The other youngsters are waiting for you. " (Author speaking: -Dono is used in order to adress someone with respect.. Probably. ) " Please, address me more casually. No need to use honorifications towards someone younger than you. Don''t you think Darel-San ? " (Hello it''s the author again...: -San is used to address someone older with a bit of formality. ) The man was probably around 30 to 35 years old. He had long blonde hair falling down to his back and green eyes. The man, was also wearing a pair of glasses and a robe with several symbols in the Elf language on it. He was probably a mage or at least he looked like one. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. " Then.. How about Iryl-Kun ? Will that be sufficient ? " (Author speaking again: -Kun is used for a more friendly tone. I am only sure of that..) " Yes. That sounds ok.. But, I ''ve been getting chills down my spine since a while ago ? I wonder why is that happening..? " Iryl could feel the stares of the villagers on his back, the fact that they were looking at him and even mumbling from time to time.. Even though, he pretty much knew the reason behind the stares... Well, it couldn''t be easily ignored. " Isn''t it just your imagination Iryl-Kun ? Hahaha !? " '' Yea.. I sure hope it was.. '' Is what Iryl thought before stepping inside the huge building with Darel-San. What Iryl saw as he went into the bank house was a bunch of elves gathered. Some of them were laughing while others were crying as they hugged their loved kids that were about to leave the village for a long time.. But, everything changed once he entered the house. The elves that were gathered there suddenly turned their gaze towards him, immediately stopped whatever they were doing and just stared at him.. '' What are you lot staring at.. It''s not like I am death god or something.. '' Is what Iryl thought but, before he could complain in his mind Darel made a statement. " Ghmm! To all elves that are gathered here to leave for the training camp please head to the room you have been told to go to prepare for the journey. " '' Training camp... What is this a picnic ? '' Iryl made a small smirk on his face as the thought passed his mind but, before long Darel said to him. " Now! Now! Iryl-Kun head over to that room for the preparations. " Iryl nodded and began heading towards the room he was told. As he walked through the elves gathered over there, they just looked at him with disconcerting eyes but he paid almost no attention to it.. He began getting used to it.. Most of them were probably parents or guardians who were just worried about their kids.. That must have been the reason they gave him that kind of look. After arriving at a certain room of the bank house Iryl opened the door and took a look at the inside. There were five elves in the room and they seemed to be around his age as well. The three of them were guys while the other two were girls. Two of the guys were looking similar.. No that was to little to describe them they were completely the same.. Both of them had short blonde hair and blue eyes. But their similarity didn''t end there as they were wearing the same clothes as well! The only thing that could make them differ from one another was that one of them was wearing glasses.. Apart from them one of the girls had pretty green eyes accompanied with her long shining silver hair. From the grimace on her face she was probably the dere kind of person.. As for the other girl she had long kight green hair, no it could be called lime I guess along with two big green pupils. Her face was reddened for some reason and she seemed to be the shy type of person. The last one was another guy who was sitting in the corner of the room away from the rest of the elves. He looked different from them as well.. The difference was too big though.. It could be compared with Iryl''s kind of difference.. The young boy had black hair and red eyes. '' Unlike, the other elves he is different and maybe isolated too '' That kind of thought passed Iryl''s mind but, before Iryl could say something one of the two identical guys, more specifically the one without glasses, said while looking at him. (Author here again: If you don''t know what dere is please google it.. I am getting tired of explaining things..) " Ohh! You must be the infamous Iryl! The white haired devil''s son! That''s what they call you around the village. " " Devil''s son ? " Iryl answered in a whim before the guy without glasses said back to him. " What you didn''t know ? " But, before he could finish his sentence a voice came following from behind. " Hey Dan! That''s rude of you. What are you calling someone you have just met ? " The guy in glasses gave a light bump on Dan''s head and forced him to bow a little while saying. " Forgive my brother Dan. He is an actual airhead and a straightforward at that. My name is Ken. The tsundere over here is Aprilia and the tomato red is Lilith. " '' Uwaa.. This one is a serious sadist.. I have better be careful..'' After hearing his answer the other people began with their complains.. " Who is tsundere huh ?? " " Who are you calling an airhead huh ?? " An answer to the second question came from Aprilia.. " Shut your mouth Dan! " " Yes, madam.. " And then, following the shy Lilith, said. " Everyone.. Cal-l-l-l-m dow-n-n-n.. " Iryl was quite surprised at the conversation among the others and broke into a laughter. " Hahaha! You guys are really funny. " At his response the elves stopped their chit chat and Dan said. " Man.. You are really different from what I imagined you to be.. To be honest, I thought you would be someone as scary as hell.. " " Haha.. " '' Is that the kind of feeling I give off ? '' Before we could continue our conversation the black haired guy who was in the corner of the room began moving towards us. Suddenly, the atmosphere around the other guys changed as they moved one step back for him to pass.. He went right infront of Iryl and looked down at him with a sharp gaze.. The young man was around 5 centimeters taller than Iryl and unlike the two brothers and Lilith who were 5 centimeters shorter than him and Aprilia who was at his hight, he was way too tall.. Iryl returned the sharp gaze with a puzzled face as a drop of sweat could be seen going down his neck. He gulped once and then a little amount of time passed in silence. The black haired guy moved his hands upwards and Iryl made a step back. But before he could get away the black haired guy placed his hands on Iryl''s hair and shuffled them.. " ...That''s a weird color.. " '' You are the weird one... '' That thought passed through Iryl''s mind and before he knew it the black haired guy went back to his corner.. After a little Dan said to Iryl. " That was Luke. Well.. How should I put it he is quite mysterious and scary at that.. People say that he was cursed and his hair turned into this black color.. " At that comment Ken gave Dan another light bump and said. " Please don''t listen to him you might catch his stupidity.. He is just an unsociable person that''s all there is to it.. " '' Yea.. That''s a real sadist for you... '' " Who are you calling stupid ? Stupid Ken ? " The two brothers went back to their quarrel after that.. But, that didn''t last for long as the door of the room opened and Darel came into the room. After coming in, he began his speech. " Hello everyone! Most of you already know me but I ''ll introduse myself once again. My name is Darel and I work here in the Bank. I am not going to hold you here for too long I am just going to give you some brief information about the outside world. " Darel paused for a second to take a breath and then continued. " First of all, let''s start from where you should go. As you know the village is in the south part of Elven Garden. If you head towards the west part around 15 kilometers from here there is a camp over there where the elves gather for their seven years of training. Even though that place has it''s own rules it is going to be safer to be with others during those seven years.. " After taking another deep breath he continued once again with his speech.. " Secondly, you must never approach the north and east area of Elven Garden.. There are powerful beasts residing in the north mountain area and the east is filled with poisonous plants. So you have better not enter those areas.. That''s all dismissed! " '' Heeey! That''s all ? What the hell ? Only that much of info.. Those guys are really irresponsible.. '' After his brief explanation of the outside world Darel told us to head over the gate of the village where we would leave from.. As we walked towards the village gate several elves came by and said their goodbyes to the others.. And that situation made Iryl think. '' So gramps isn''t coming I guess.. Well, whatever I ''ll be seeing him in seven years either way! '' After thinking that his gaze went towards Luke who was walking in the back . '' I wonder why noone came to say goodbye to Luke.. But, it would be improper to ask.. '' As we reached the gate of the village, the gate began to open and we could see the outside world. What unfolded before us was a vast forest and with an awe atmosphere around us Dan said. " Let''s go everyone! Our adventure begins! " And so we left the village behind us and began heading towards the training camp. END of chapter 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Notes: Hello again! This is the author speaking, since now we didn''t have any action scenes and I was thinking something is wrong.. But! Not to worry in the next chapter this Sunday there will be some action !!! Stay tuned for the next chapter! A Fierce Battle ch: 4 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. (Author: Before the chapter starts a I want to inform you that I ''ll be droping the honorifics.. I gave it a lot of thought and though it was a hard decision to make, it might prove problematic in the future. I won''t remove them from the previous chapter (because I am lazy..) but, I won''t be adding them anymore. Pleasy enjoy Reader-San.) ___________________________________________________________________________ Iryl and his five newly made friends have left the village for over 5 hours and have covered about one third of the total travel. A small silence was moving along with them but that didn''t last for long when Dan began with his complains.. " Are we there yet ? " To his question Ken gave him a straight answer.. " We haven''t even covered half the way... Be patient and walk. " " Ehh ? But, I am tired of walking already.. We have been walking all day and what anyone can see in this place is trees, trees and even more trees... " After Aprilia heard Dan complaining she mumbled in a low tone.. " And what did you expect to see ? This is a forest you know..? " But, that didn''t pass by Dan''s ears.. " Huh ? What did you say ? I definitely heard you say something Aprilia! " " Shut up! You really are annoying! Idiot Dan! " " Whaa ? The one who is calling the other idiot is the idiot! " And that''s when the sadist came into the conversation.. " Sigh.. Kids these days sure have a lot of energy to waste.. If you can talk that much then you should walk that much more.. " Meanwhile, Lilith tried to calm them down, only to be shouted at.. As for Iryl he was walking with a small smile on his face looking at the four friends having their quarrel. As he was smiling he turned his face over his shoulder to were Luke was and said to him. " Funny bunch aren''t they ? Luke...? " '' Hey! He is not here! Since when did he leave ?! '' Astonished Iryl at how little of a presence Luke had he stopped walking and said to the others.. " Hey.. Everyone.. I don''t mean to disturb your conversation but.. We ''ve lost Luke.. " The others turned around their heads mechanically as if they were robots and said. " Eh..? " Silence filled the place for a few moments and that''s when Dan began to panic.. " Uwaa!! Wha..Wha-t should we do ? Who knows what might have happened to him.. He must have been lost or even worse he might have been eaten by m-m-monsters.. " As Dan was panicking Ken caught him shoulder from behind and as Dan turned around to look at him a punch came flying into his face.. After falling on the ground, Dan with a teary face said. " That''s cruel brother.. " " What good will it do to panic ? Let''s start searching before the night falls.. He can''t have gone that far away.. " Everyone nodded at Ken''s words and began searching for Luke... An hour has already passed since they began searching and no trail of Luke was found.. The sun was starting to set and everyone was tired. But, they didn''t stop searching and kept heading backwards towards the way the came from.. That''s when Iryl who was a little bit further from the others inside the forest found him... The problem though was that.. What he saw wasn''t a lost person searching for his companions but a young man sitting on his knees while staring intensely on a flower... " Heeey Luke! What are you doing ? Everyone was dead worried !? " The young man turned his face and looked towards Iryl who was coming closer to him. After turning his gaze towards the flower once again he answered without a care about the world.. " ...Flower watching.. " '' Did he just say.. Flower watching ? Did I hear it right ? '' After listening to his answer, Iryl was lost in thought for a while trying to process the information he had just acquired.. Luke turned his gaze towards Iryl once again and changed his expresion to one that looked like it was saying.. Is something wrong ? After that, Iryl regained slowly his composure and let out a big sigh of relieve.. At least he found the missing person. With no time to lose he made a signal to the others that he found him so that they would stop searching and come over. After a short amount of time everyone was gathered to where Iryl and Luke were, Dan headed towards Luke to start firing his complains but before that could even happen, Luke stood up from where he was sitting and turned 180 degrees to look at Dan who was right behind him.. With the height difference and the unintentional scarry look on his face Luke asked.. " ...Is something wrong..? " Dan gulped once and said with a trembling voice.. " No-o-oo.. No-thing is wro-ng..? " As he said that he turned 180 degrees around as well and with fast moves he went to where Ken was and asked him. " So... What are we going to do now it''s already starting to get to dark.? Right..? " At his almost trembling question Ken gave his answer.. " Sigh.. It is true that it will be harder to travel at night so how about making a small camp fire for the night ? We ''ll catch our lost pace tomorrow. " Everyone apart from Luke who was in his own world along with the flower he was staring intensely at.. Agreed to his opinion and began preparations for camping. As Iryl was moving some sticks that he had gathered for the fire he passed next to Luke and that''s when for the first time since they began preparations for the camp Luke said something to him. " You know.. Flowers are amazing. They can go on and on with living under the harsh weather conditions even though they look so frail.. It really is amazing.. " Just with that he turned his gaze back to the flower and stared at it with his deep red eyes.. '' That guy.. Is he a weirdo or an airhead.. Man. I can''t understand what goes through his head at all.. '' That thought is the one that passed through Iryl''s head as he looked at Luke''s back and stared at him with a confused expresion on his face.. Before long he went back to his assignment and so on the night came upon them... The night was long and they took turns looking at the fire to make sure that it won''t be extinguished.. As for now the one to watch over it was Iryl.. He couldn''t do much so he just waited for his turn to pass. '' I wonder if the others are sleeping.. '' " Haaaah.. Psouu.. " <-- Dan.. '' Guess they are.. '' As Iryl was bored he went to where Luke was.. Luke was sleeping with his back on a branch of a giant tree while holding his relatively big backpack strongly in his hands. Iryl moved closer and just looked at him sleeping.. '' Even though he is a weirdo he sure can sleep peacefully.. '' But, before he could even finish his thoughts Luke suddenly opened his eyes that were glowing red in the night wide and quickly turned his gaze towards Iryl. Iryl with a few fast steps he went backwards and fell on his back.. '' Man.. That really surprised me.! What is it with this guy ?! Really... I thought I was going to die from a heart attack.. '' But before Iryl could regain his composure Luke opened his mouth. " ...Wolves.. 6 of them.. " '' Ehh.. What is this guy saying ? '' " ..Quickly.. Wake the others.. " Without a lot of thinking Iryl answered.. " Eh. Ah! Yes! " It is not like he was surprised.. Since he had fought beasts far stronger than mere wolves in his previous life.. It was just that his personality was a little childish.. No, fragile would be a better way to put it. In his previous life, Iryl was a man who never talked much and was almost always in deep thinking, so he gave out an aura of a serious and difficult to aproach person.. The truth though behind his "facade" was that he was... A person who could easily be aproached and make friends with... But, one thing that proved to be fatal in his personality, was his overly large sense of justice.. Because of that he could never decline a request that was given to him nor say "no" to people who asked something of him.. And thus that was the way he was tricked and placed in bindings.. But, that''s a story for another time.. The good thing about the new Iryl though.. Is that after reincarnating something changed inside him.. His sense of justice didn''t disappear but, he no longer was the same.. It can''t be easily explained with words the thing that changed inside of him.. But, as humans say. You can''t make the same mistake twice.. Back to the present now! Iryl fast went back to where the others were sleeping and tried to wake them up. The problem was that the others were half asleep and weren''t in shape for a fight.. As they didn''t expect anything to attack them in the outskirts of the forest they didn''t pay that much of attention to it.. But.. That was a fatal situation.. With only Luke and Iryl the enemy overhelmed them in numbers. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. " ..It''s too late... We ''ll have to do something about it without them... " Iryl took the bow out of his back and prepared an arrow... Or at least he tried.. As he didn''t know how to use a bow it looked like he was struggling with it.. and then Luke mentioned. " ...If you don''t know how to use it... I can do it... " " It''s ok.!? No need for help.. " Iryl said that and he almost cut the string of the bow... " On a second thought you can use it... " With a deep sigh Iryl passed the bow that the Elder had given him to Luke. With a deep breath and a firm pose Luke prepared the magic bow to fire.. And that''s when Iryl thought.. '' If he has the bow then I... Ah! '' " Luke! How will I fight ?! " " ...No need.. " '' What''s with that rediculous confidence he has.. '' " ..If you want a weapon.. You can get one from my backpack... But... I doubt that it will be helpful.. " '' What is this guy saying.. He has his own weapon and instead of using it he prefers to use my bow... '' The wolves made their appearance and surrounded them.. The problem was that Iryl had yet to take the weapon from Luke''s backpack.. " ..Go... I ''ll hold them off.. " To his word Iryl ran towards to where Luke''s bag was like the wind. But, before he could reach it a wolf appeared before him! The wolf growled and showed it''s fangs to Iryl. He couldn''t move from where he was, but his gaze remained sharp and ready for a brawl with the wolf. As he was prepared to fight with his hands against the fangs of the wolf that was infront of him an arrow passed right next from his eyes and pierced the wolf''s head.. The animal fell on the ground and blood began flowing out of it''s head. It was an instant kill.. Iryl turned his gaze to the direction where the arrow came from and what he saw was Luke nodding him to keep moving.. Once again Iryl turned his sharp gaze towards the backpack and with fast and silent steps got to it. In the meantime, Luke had his bow once again ready and pointed on the side of the wolves as he waited for Iryl to get ready.. All he did while waiting was glare towards the wolves. But, that didn''t mean the wolves did the same.. After witnessing their companion''s death, they focused on the main danger who was Luke. With quick movements they surounded him and just moved in circles around him. As Luke didn''t know where to look and the darkness wasn''t of any assistance, he was at a clear disadvantage.. That is when one of the wolves attacked him from the side! With a quick turn to the side he pointed the bow towards the wolf''s neck and fired! The arrow flew in the air and pierced through the neck of the beast after that it fell on the ground dead.. The problem was that before he could prepare another arrow, another wolf jumped from his other side on him! Luke managed to turn around in time and blocked the wolf''s fangs with the wooden bow.. The both of them lost their balance and fell on the ground from the impact. Luke was below the wolf and the wolf had its fangs stuck on the wooden bow! With his sharp claws it scratched all over Luke''s body. All Luke could do at the moment was grind his teeth from the pain. Blood began flowing out of the wounds that the wolf''s paws had cut through and ripped the skin. The wolf didn''t have the slightest intention of letting Luke counter nor recover and got his paw upwards in order to cut his throat and finish the fight. Luke closed his eyes as he saw the wolf preparing for the final strike and then... Blood was spilled all over the place.. All Luke heard was a voice as he had his eyes shut.. " Why are did you close your eyes in the middle of the battlefield ? " Luke slowly opened his eyes to the sound of a familiar voice and what he saw made him freeze and feel a chill down his spine on the spot.. Iryl stood infront of him with a sword that was filled with blood in his right hand, the wolf that was cleanly slashed in half with the sword had died in an instant.. All Luke could do was stare at Iryl.. " ..Who ?... " With a fast answer Iryl moved his hand towards Luke''s side and said.. " What do you mean who ? It''s me! Hurry up and get up! " Luke''s senses immediately came back to him and allowed him to grab Iryl''s hand. He quickly prepared his bow with an arrow and had Iryl cover his back. Even though he was still astonished that Iryl could accomplish such a feat when he couldn''t even properly draw a bow.. To him it felt like Iryl was another person while holding a sword.. And that''s true, because once Iryl got hold of a sword he completely changed personalities.. He maintained a serious expresion with a sharp look in his eyes as his mind went blank.. All that was left was the enemy and how to deal with it. No unnecessary thoughts passed through his brain. What one could feel if he was close enough to him during the time of a battle was a cool and steady aura. That is also one of the reasons that made him a genius sword master in the world he used to live in. A tough fight took place for the next ten minites and both Iryl and Luke were extremely exhausted. The others had yet to show up.. As the main campfire from where Luke slept were quite far from each other they might have not even woke up yet... Blood and dead wolf bodies were all over the place. In the middle of them all, stood two men.. No children.. With their clothes covered in blood and their bodies covered with small wounds.. Luke couldn''t maintain his balance as he was injured far more heavily than Iryl, the first wolf''s sharp claws did some serious damage on his body.. He fell on his back and exhaled some big bubbles of oxygen. Iryl on the other side was still on his feet while relying on the blood covered sword to stand. Luke made a small smile and said. "...It''s over..! " " Not yet! " But, to his surprise Iryl said the above.. The smile on his face got pale as he heard what Iryl said and asked.. " ..What do you.. Mean..? " " I only counted five kills.. " The thought came back to him as he remembered what he himself had said before.. There are 6 wolves.. But, along with the one he killed first there were only five bodies... Big footsteps could be heard coming from inside the forest.. The earth trembled with each step. And the faces of the young men went pale once they saw the beast that unfolded behind the trees.. With a gulp Iryl prepared his sword and got in a fighting pose.. While on the other hand Luke was on the ground.. Tears began flowing from his eyes as he helplessly stared at the beast infront of him.. The beast was a Dire Wolf from what Iryl had read in a book and was four.. No, five times bigger than a regular wolf.. " ... It''s.. Hopeless.. " Iryl turned and looked at the trembling Luke behind him. Well, it was expected.. Given the situation they were currently into. He once again turned his gaze towards the beast and thought while preparing for battle.. '' Will I have to use that ? If I do, I don''t even want to think about the backlash.. Guess I have no choise.. '' Iryl turned his gaze once again to Luke and said to him.. " Listen up Luke.. After what you ''ll see don''t say anything to anyone about it.. Just say that we beat the monster infront of us.. " Luke was trembling and all he could do was nod.. The thought that passed his mind was that he would get killed either way so what Iryl said to him sounded like paranoia.. Once again, Iryl turned towards the beast and with a deep breath he mumbled.. " .. Sword Master''s First Ability... Wind Slashing.. " After that he disappeared and only smoke was left from the place where his body was.. A huge cut was made in an instant on the Dire wolf and blood began to flow out of it.. Iryl was using the trees to recoil himself as he kept cutting through the flesh of the beast again and again, after several seconds had past.. The beast fell on the ground and only it''s corpse remained there.. Iryl ceased his technic and went to his original spot.. With his body trembling and the sword on his hand he turned around and began heading towards Luke while trembling.. Each step he made from Luke''s point of view looked like it was more painful than any wound he had on his body.. As Iryl made his way almost infront of Luke he stopped.. " Are you.. Alright Luke..? COUGH! " SFX: Crack! The sword broke into hundreds of shards as it fell from Iryl''s hand.. While Iryl had blood vains popping all over his body. He coughed some blood and fell unconscious on the ground infront of Luke... END of chapter 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s notes: Here it is! Chapter 4 is finally up! As usuall I don''t have much to say.. Thanks everyone for your support and the comments! I always take my time to read all of them and answer most of of the times! Ehh.. I don''t think I forgot anything >.> so I ''ll be stopping here.. If you guys have questions about the series or don''t like something just leave a comment and I ''ll try to answer them if possible! Once again thank you all for the support and see ya this Wednesday! Wounds After The Battle! Ch: 5 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A week flew by after the fight among Iryl and Luke took place against the wolf pack.. After the fierce battle the six elves were lucky enough not to meet other enemies in their journey towards the training camp... As soon as they were nearing at the camp, they saw the elves that were premature residents of it welcoming them with surprised looks. The first reason for that was because there were a lot of elves going there this year.. As the normal was about 2 - 3 elves per year. This time it was double the amount.. The second reason was because of Luke''s and Iryl''s presence among the team.. The third and last one which made them even more shocked and some of them even worried was because Iryl was unconscious and was currently being carried by Ken on his back... As they finally arrived at the camp''s entrance Lilith with a face filled with tears said while she was gasping for air.. " Please.. (sob).. Sa..ve.. Iryl.. (sob).. " The elves at the camp tried to calm down the teary faced Lilith as they took the unconscious Iryl from Ken''s back and headed inside the camp to tend to him.. They placed him in leaf bed inside a wooden hut that the elves had made. After a short amount of time a female elf rushed inside the hut and headed with fast steps towards the patient. She was wearing a green dress with leaf patterns all over it, she had green eyes that what they whould make one think was that they had a flower pattern with four petals in the changing deepness of green. As for her hair she had long blonde hair that were braid like. Overall, what one could see is that she was a kind person emitting a kind motherly aura around her. As she went closer to where Iryl was, an elf that was already there and helped bring him in said as soon as he saw her. " Oh! Mirana you are here! Quickly! Come take a look at him it looks quite bad..? " Mirana saw Iryl''s body that had it''s veins almost ready to burst. Then she turned her gaze towards Iryl who was making a face showing that he was in deep pain while on top of that being unconscious.. She slightly opened her mouth and wishpered.. " That''s qruel... Just what brought him to this state.. " " Can you do something to help him ? " Asked worriedly the other elf that made the previous question.. " I ''ll try my best.. " Answered Mirana and moved her hands over Iryl''s chest as she casted a spell. " Ohh! Spirits that reside in the nature. Grant this servant of yours your power! " A green soothing light appeared in her hand and covered Iryl''s body. The blood veins that covered Iryl''s body slowly began to turn smaller revealing his pale white skin.. Iryl then regained his calm breathing and relaxed a little.. While on the other hand Mirana sighed.. " Sigh.. Looks like it worked.. " But, that wasn''t the end of it.. Before, she could even finish her sentence, the veins on Iryl''s body began to pop out again and returned back to the way they were before.. Iryl once again in pain kept struggling against it.. " Why..? Why isn''t it healed..? It should have eased the burden on his body.. " Little did Mirana know that the backlash from the skill Iryl used shouldn''t be taken lightly.. Three more days have passed since their arrival at the campsite and Mirana kept healing Iryl''s body with only a little bit of rest.. Big black bags could be seen bellow her eyes, as for the other elves who tried to convince her to rest for a little... She refused to let a patient in pain for her to rest... Finally after three whole days of continuous healing, Iryl''s body went back to normal and the veins stopped showing up.. She could finally listen to him breath normally with no more pains and spasms. Now Mirana knowing her efforts weren''t in vain, she fainted on the spot cause she hasn''t slept in three days. On top of that she continually kept casting her healing spell that exhausted her even further.. Back to the present now.. As mentioned before, seven days have passed since Iryl and his five friends arrived at the camp. Somewhere in the camp in a simply made wooden hut Iryl was resting on a bed made out of leafs, a sun ray passed through a small hole in the roof and fell softly in Iryl''s eyes. Annoyed Iryl from the sun light falling in his eyes he slowly moved his almost trembling right hand to cover them. At the same time as he covered them with his hand he felt something woven touch his skin close to his eyes. Without losing time he opened his eyes and took a look at his hand. What he saw was his hand covered with bandages all over up to his shoulder. He then tried to stand up but as he tried to move he felt a staggering pain all over his body along with the woven feeling his hand gave off.. Iryl then realised that all his body was covered in bandages and not only his hand... As he understood that he couldn''t move from the pain and was only able to look upwards he asked himself in a low voice a question.. " Where.. Am I..? " Even though he asked, noone answered him.. All he heard though was a small moan as something moved around his chest area... After a little time a figure began to appear in Iryl''s view and the pain in his chest area eased a little. What unfolded in Iryl''s view was Mirana who slowly opened her eyes and gave out a big yawn.. She then turned her gaze towards Iryl only to meet his clear blue eyes. She blinked twice and rubbed her eyes as if she didn''t believe what she saw.. Then Iryl made a smile and said. " He..llo..?! " Mirana then turned her gaze towards his chest and back to him.. Understanding what had occurred she blushed red and began to panic.. Mirana then in panic mode stood up and with fast steps she tried to go outside while saying.. " Eh!. Ah..! Sorry!! " But as she said that she tripped over something and fell on he butt.. Iryl only stared at her clumsiness and thought to himself.. '' What a clumsy girl! '' Mirana once again blushed even redder this time and stood up. After sweeping the dust off of her clothes like the wind she went outside of the wooden hut.. Several minites later a commotion could be heard outside of the small hut.. And then a loud voice came along with the person running into the hut.. " Iryl !!! " The loud voice was none other than Dan''s who rushed quickly next to him and began bombarding him with questions.. " How are you ?? Are you in pain anywhere ?? Do you need more bandages ?? " '' I already feel like a mummy... '' Ken went behind Dan and rubbed his fists on his head while saying.. " Can''t you see that you bother him idiot... " " Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! " Iry was smiling wryly as he saw Ken (bully) Dan while taking him away from him.. He then turned his gaze towards the other people who made their entrance into the hut and came close to him. Lilith who came in right after Aprilia asked him. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. " How do you feel ? " " Well.. So-So I guess.. " She then made a sad expresion on her face and looked down.. Before Iryl could reassure the sad Lilith Aprilia couldn''t hold it in any longer and asked.. " But.. That was amazing! How did you beat that dire wolf ?? " A sparkle could be seen in her eyes as she stared at Iryl.. The other people in the room which consisted of Mirana and two other elves whom he wasn''t familiar with waited for his answer with their eyes and ears wide open... Iryl then sighed and said. " Didn''t Luke tell you what happened ? " Aprilia then turned her gaze towards the corner of the room where Luke was sitting on a chair.. When Iryl saw Luke he could only think of one thing... '' Since when was he there ?? Just how little of a presence does he have..? It can be quite scary.. '' Aprilia then turned her gaze back to him and said. " Well.. That guy ever since we found the two of you has given only one answer about what happened there.. " --FLASHBACK-- Two minites after the fight with the dire wolf was over Luke held the trembling Iryl who had been having spasms in his hands and didn''t know what to do.. That''s when the others arrived at the scene. After seeing the corpses of the wolves and smelling the thick smell of blood in the air Dan was about to puke while Ken just spout out one thing.. " Just.. What happened here..? " In the middle of it all what they saw was Luke holding Iryl in his hands while trembling.. Tears could be seen in his eyes and blood all over his body.. " Luke! What happened ? " Luke then turned around and saw Ken and the others rushing over to where they were.. He then said with a trembling voice while crying.. " Iryl.. Iryl was... " As soon as they got close enough to them they took Iryl away from Luke''s hands and tried to calm him down. They applied some first aid on him enough for his wounds to heal with time.. Their biggest problem though was Iryl.. As they didn''t know what to do about his condition or how to heal him Ken said. " We must go to the camp.. As soon as possible! " The others agreed and helped Luke to stand up.. As for Ken he took Iryl on his back and asked Luke who seemed to be in a calmer state now than before.. " Just what happened over here ? " The trembling Luke then answered.. " We just.. " " Just ? " Said Aprilia. And then Luke continued.. " We just.. just killed the enemy in front of us.. " --FLASHBACK END-- Aprilia then said. " This guy.. No matter how many times we asked about what happened he just said that you killed the enemy in front of you.. " '' So.. So he didn''t reveal what he saw.. Well! That''s good to know... '' Aprilia with no more patience she once again asked with glittering eyes... " So ? What happened ? " Iryl took a deep breath and gave his answer.. " Nothing much.. We just killed the enemy in front of us! " He then smiled slightly and silence filled the room... After that small silence Lilith was holding Aprilia back who had veins popping on her forehead.. " C-C-Calm down.. Aprilia.. He.. He is a p-p-patient! " " One punch! Just let me give him one good punch! " Iryl just kept smiling and after a while he turned his gaze towards Luke who was just staring at him from his chair.. '' This person.. Even though he is a little weird.. I can really put my trust in him. '' SFX: Ghmm! One of the elves that was sitting close to Iryl cleared his throat and said. " You must be Iryl. I have heard quite a lot about you.. My name is Arvin! This is Narxus and Mirana. " Iryl then spoke in response. " Nice to meet you I am Iryl. " Then his gaze went towards Mirana who was sitting further from the other two as if she was trying to hid herself.. When he recognized her he said. " Aren''t you..? The clumsy young lady from this morning ? " With her face slowly becoming red Mirana said back to him.. " I-I-I''m not clumsy!! " With the other two elves breaking into a laughter at the conversation and Iryl having a small smile form in his face, Arvin said while trying to calm down from his laughter.. " Man.. That was something! But Iryl did you know that this clumsy young lady has been healing you for three days non-stop in order for you to stay alive..? " '' Well.. I wouldn''t have died but, it would take around a month probably to heal.. That''s impressive I must say! '' That thought passed through his mind and then he said with a sincere face towards her. " Thank you very much! And I am sorry for the trouble I caused.. " Then Mirana gave shyly her answer. " No.. Don''t worry about it..! " '' She really reminds me of Lilith for some reason.. '' Silence broke in the room once again and after a while Arvin took the initiative to speak as he stood up. SFX: Ghmm! " I don''t know the reason why you don''t wish to tell us what exactly happened in that night but I hope you will be able to explain properly in the near future. After all we are comrades aren''t we ? " Iryl made a kind of complicated expresion as he nodded. " Uhm.. " Then a smile appeared on Arvin''s face as he said. " Now then everyone! Iryl needs to rest for his injuries to recover! Back to our tasks! " What Iryl could think from presence of the new individuals that came along in the hut was that they must have been important elves in the training camp and Arvin gave off a feeling of leadership as well.. The others then one by one made their leave leaving only Luke and Iryl in the hut. After a short while Luke stood from the chair he was sitting and headed towards the exit. Iryl then hurriedly spoke to him before he could leave. " Luke about that day.. " Luke then stopped him midway and said before making his exit. " You... You are not from this world are you ? " Iryl froze at his words while all he could do was stare at Luke''s back as he left the hut... END of chapter 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Notes: Hello everyone! First of all I would like to thank you all for reading so far! Secondly if you people have anything that you dislike or find hard to understand even grammar mistakes please let me know so that I can fix it in the future ^.^ . Hmm.. Did I forget something ? Well whatever! See you guys this Sunday hope you enjoyed this chapter! ( Even though it didn''t have much going in.. ) PS: I remembered what I forgot.. I was thinking deeply of how the rating system worked.. (before I burned my brain) As I am new to the site I didn''t search too much so if someone is kind enough please let me know if you know something by leaving a comment bellow. Anyway see you! A Blacksmith ? Ch: 6 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Several seconds have passed since Luke made his exit out of the wooden hut and Iryl was just staring blankly at him making his exit. After a little, when Luke had already made his exit and Iryl realized had occurred, he said to himself.. ¡® No! I can¡¯t stay still.. If he exposes my secret.. I.. I¡­ I can¡¯t let that happen yet! ¡® Iryl with his pained and injured body couldn¡¯t help but try to chase Luke who had already left.. Even though he knew that it would be in vain and it would only cause his wounds to reopen he could only try.. Intense pain was all he felt as he kept trying to stand.. The bandages color changed from white into a deep crimson red as he made painful movements in an attempt to stand up. Even though his body ached and cried as if it was begging him to stop.. He forced himself to stand up and began walking towards the exit. With a trembling body and slow steps he moved forward.. Each step was accompanied with a staggering pain through his body, blood came out of his mouth as he coughed and made it to the hut¡¯s exit... With his blood stained body and a trembling hand he opened the wooden door and sunlight fell on his entire body that had a reddish color.. Iryl quickly covered his eyes and turned his gaze towards the camp.. After a little he regained his vision in order to search for Luke.. As he turned his gaze right and left in search for Luke he was awestruck as his gaze turned towards the camp. What unfolded in front of his eyes was more than a simple camp¡­ ¡® What part of this resembles a camp..? It looks more like a second village than a camp.. ¡® In the middle of the camp was a lone large tree that was similar to an oak it had big long wide leaves that covered the area around the tree, the base of the tree was surrounded with marble tiles that made it shine out as the center of the camp! As for the rest of the camp small wooden huts were all over the place that looked similar to the one Iryl was resting in.. Apart from the wooden huts there was also a small smith and a training area where elves could be seen training. Iryl was speechless as he looked around because he didn¡¯t really expect the camp to be like this.. Once again he went back to searching for Luke after spotting him he turned his body towards him and tried to walk.. Before he could even make a single step a voice was heard. ¡° Kyaaa! ¡° From the way it sounded it was a feminine voice that made the scream.. Iryl turned his gaze towards the female elf that had her hands on her mouth as she saw him covered in the bloody bandages and just formed a small smile on his face.. Once again he turned his eyes towards Luke who had already stopped walking and was now staring at him.. That was probably because of hearing the female elf shout¡­ ¡° Luke! ¡° Iryl shouted and once again began walking towards him with his pained body.. Luke made a surprised expression as he saw Iryl standing. But.. He just stood there waiting for Iryl to come closer.. After making another step though Iryl¡¯s body couldn¡¯t follow his iron will.. He fell on the ground and with a huge cough, a small pool of blood formed on the ground¡­ Some of the elves that where in the area rushed over to help him but Iryl refused their help.. Once again he stood up and headed towards Luke.. After a while he finally made it close enough to him and whispered in his ear.. ¡° We need to talk.. ¡° ¡°.. You really¡­ Are.. Crazy aren¡¯t you..? ¡° ¡° Heh..! ¡° ¡° So..? What do we have to talk about..? ¡° ¡° Are you.. (COUGH).. Joking with me..? ¡° Iryl coughed up some more blood and caught Luke¡¯s shoulder.. As he whispered once again.. ¡° Are you.. Also from another..? ¡° But, before he could even finish his sentence Luke gave him an answer.. ¡° Yea.. That¡¯s right.. You and I are both deferent from them.. You should rest for now.. Don¡¯t worry¡­ I won¡¯t blow your cover yet.. ¡° ¡° What do you mean.. Yet..? Ahh..? ¡° Iryl¡¯s body and mind could no longer follow his iron will and without losing time his consciousness left his body.. The mindless now Iryl lost his footing and began falling towards the steady ground.. Before he fell Luke caught him with his hands and whispered into his ear.. ¡° The two of us will have a tough time from now on.. ¡° It has already been 10 days since the conversation between Iryl and Luke took place. And now there he was in the wooden hut having his last check up.. Needless to say, that it was Mirana the healer of the clan that did his check up.. ¡° How do you feel ? ¡° ¡° Perfect! ¡° And then she patted him on the chest.. ¡° Ouch! ¡° ¡° How is that perfect ? ¡° ¡° Well¡­ ¡° Iryl then stood up and with fast steps he began heading towards the exit. ¡° Thanks a lot Mirana! ¡° Mirana then saw him off as she watched him from behind before saying.. ¡° Come find me any time if you are in pain or not.. ¡° She couldn¡¯t finish her sentence and Iryl had already left before she knew it.. She could only sigh to herself.. ¡° (Sigh).. Ahh! And call me Big Sis while you are in the camp! I am.. ¡° And once again she sighed to herself as she thought.. ¡® This boy.. He is quite interesting. ¡® Turning back to Iryl. He was now out of the wooden hut checking his surroundings! ¡® Where should I go first..? ¡® As that thought passed through his mind a familiar voice was heard from his right side. ¡° Ohh! If it isn¡¯t Iryl ? Man are you now alright ? Can you go anywhere you want now ? ¡° Not to mention the familiar voice came from Dan who was alone.. ¡® Guess Ken is not always with Dan huh..? ¡® ¡° Hello.. Dan. Yes I am fine now.. ¡° ¡° Huh..? So you are fine now! OK! Let¡¯s go my friend let me show you round! ¡° Iryl now was being dragged around by Dan who kept showing you everything briefly.. First, he showed him the area around the wooden huts while saying.. ¡° This is the wooden houses where we reside. The wooden hut where you were is the only different building around.. ¡° He stopped shortly and then once again he kept talking.. ¡° Iryl.. You know you really are lucky.. To be able to pass all this time alone with a beautiful nurse.. No¡­ I am not jealous at all¡­ ¡° ¡® So that¡¯s what he was secretly thinking.. ¡® And then he followed with his answer.. ¡° Nothing special happened¡­ ¡° ¡° So something happened huh..? ¡° ¡® Ehh! How did he manage to come to that ? ¡® ¡° No.. I think you are mistaken.. ¡° Don¡¯t worry Iryl.. You don¡¯t have to make excuses I understand.. Being alone in a wooden hut with a beautiful girl for over 15 days.. I understand.. ¡° ¡® No! You don¡¯t understand anything at all¡­ ¡® Well. Truth to be told, if someone who was in a wooden hut alone with a beautiful nurse for almost half a month and nothing happened.. (Ghmm!) ? Author. The point is that though Iryl was in the wooden hut with Mirana the whole time he was too immersed in his thoughts to think about other staff.. His future conversation with Luke for Iryl was of outmost importance.. ¡° Well.. What else is there to see ? Surely this isn¡¯t the only thing the camp has right ? ¡° ¡° Yea.. Let¡¯s continue.. ¡° ¡° Uh? Dan you sound kind of.. ¡° ¡° Don¡¯t mind.. Don¡¯t mind.. ¡° Iryl couldn¡¯t help but thought.. ¡® Well, he will be alright soon enough.. ¡® A little latter, Dan finished showing Iryl around the camp.. Even though he showed him around the residence area, he didn¡¯t go neither at the training area nor at the small smith. ¡° Well! I have to go run an errand. You should be fine on your own. I advise you to go over the training area. You will have to go sooner or latter.. ¡° ¡° Do you happen to know where Luke is ? ¡° ¡° Luke ? Ahh.. He must be at the smith.. He is always making those weird weapons that no one is using.. ¡° ¡® He must be making swords.. ¡® Once he waved goodbye to Dan, Iryl began heading towards the smith. As he was walking several elves could be seen doing chores around the camp. Some of them were cleaning and others were moving different objects all over the place. As he approached the smith, he heard heavy sounds of metal being hit coming from the smith. ¡° Good morning! ¡° Iryl said as he entered the smith. Inside the smith were three elves working on the iron. Iryl saw an older man in the smith who was shouting at Luke. Luke was making a weird face as he hit the metal with an iron hammer.. Then the old man said as he was shouting.. ¡° No! No! That¡¯s wrong! What are you doing! Are you trying to destroy it! ¡° Iryl didn¡¯t know what to say as he looked towards Iryl and the old man.. Soon enough the other elf stopped his work and cleaned himself from the sweat with a towel. Then he went towards Iryl and said. ¡° Hello. Is there something you need ? Did your bow break..? ¡° ¡° No.. that¡¯s not it.. ¡° Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Before he could finish what he was saying the other elf stopped him and said.. ¡° Ohh! You.. You must be that guy who came here in heavy injuries.. And that hair color.. ¡° The other two stopped their work and turned their view to where Iryl and the other elf were. Then Luke opened his mouth. ¡° ¡­Iryl! What are you doing here..? ¡° ¡° As promised I came here to talk.. ¡° ¡° Luke! Are you going to leave the bow in the middle ?! Every blacksmith has to finish his works before leaving the forge! ¡° ¡°..You can finish it.. Either way it would be a failure¡­ ¡° ¡° Luke! ¡° Luke ignored the old man and went towards Iryl.. As he went closer the other elf took the hammer and went to finish his work on the forge. The old man then gave an angry look towards Luke but he ignored it.. ¡°.. So what did you need to talk about..? ¡° ¡® This guy.. ¡® ¡° Well.. We should go somewhere more private I guess.. ¡° The two of them left the small smith and began walking. Soon enough they reached a place where there wasn¡¯t anyone and began their conversation.. Without time to lose Iryl said first. ¡° First things first.. Are you also from another world..? ¡° Luke had an expressionless face and said back to him.. ¡° Well.. More or less¡­ ¡° ¡® What is that supposed to mean..? Is he even serious about this..? ¡® ¡° So.. How did you end up in this world..? Which world did you come from ? What did you do in the other world ? ¡° Iryl fired questions at him and Luke responded. ¡° Take it easy.. Let¡¯s see we will do it like this.. For every answer you will have to answer one of my questions.. ¡° ¡® This person.. Even though he looks innocent and absent minded he has quite the brains.. ¡® ¡° I am surprised though.. To be honest I thought you were an airhead.. ¡° ¡° I get that a lot.. For some reason¡­ ¡° ¡® So he was an airhead after all¡­ ¡® After a small pause Luke took the initiative to talk.. ¡° Hmm.. Let¡¯s start from which world we came from.. Oh! I just got an idea how about we tell each other which world we came from at the same time..? That way we won¡¯t be able to easily hide info from each other about the world.. If we both came from the same world¡­ ¡° Iryl gave it some quick thought and then replied. ¡° Ok.. Sounds logical.. Then.. Once I count to three we both say the name of our previous world¡­ ¡° ¡° ¡­ ¡° ¡° Then, one.. Two.. Three! ¡° At that moment they both said the name of their previous world. ¡° Avarith! ¡° ¡° Avarith..! ¡° After listening to each other silence filled the air and then as they looked each other in the eye.. ¡° Pfftt.. ahahaha! ¡° They both laughed to the point where tears formed in their eyes.. And then Iryl said.. ¡° Man.. That surprised me! I didn¡¯t expect us to be from the same world.. But, that sure makes things easier.. ¡° ¡°..Yea, indeed things are now easier.. ¡° ¡° What do you mean..? ¡° ¡° Well.. I was quite famous in our world.. ¡° ¡° Huh.. I guess I am not the only one then¡­ ¡° ¡° Eh..? No I am pretty sure that your jaw will fall once you listen to who I used to be¡­ ¡° ¡° Haha.. I have to say the same thing back to you.. ¡° As they were talking they exchanged glares with each other as they had no intention of telling each other first who they used to be.. And then an idea came to Luke.. ¡° Then since we were both famous people.. How about we say our names at the same time.. Same as before¡­ ¡° ¡° Ok.. Sounds fair to me.. Then.. ¡° Once again they counted and said their names.. But, this time the result wasn¡¯t the same as before.. Iryl said as he heard Luke¡¯s name.. ¡° What did you say.. You.. Are you really that legendary blacksmith..? ¡° ¡° ¡­ ¡° Luke made an angry face as he said back to Iryl.. ¡°..famous ? I ¡®ve never heard of your name before.. ¡° ¡° Well.. That is logical.. In our previous world we were not even close to the same era.. I was born about 300 years after your death.. ¡° ¡° Then.. Tell me your story and how you came here and then.. I ¡®ll decide what will happen from now on¡­ ¡° ¡® That¡¯s what you would expect from a legendary blacksmith! ¡® ¡° Well.. I guess that¡¯s only fair.. But, it is going to take some time.. ¡° ¡° It¡¯s ok.. That is far more important than other things.. ¡° Iryl then took his time explaining to Luke who he was and the way he came to this world.. Several hours passed since he began telling Luke his tale and it slowly came to an end. Then Luke gave him his response.. ¡° So.. And there I thought that only I met a tragic end.. Those bastards.. Humans are always this way huh..? No matter what era it is, they will always do anything for themselves. But, there is one thing that troubles me.. ¡° Iryl just heard what Luke said and couldn¡¯t help but ask.. ¡° Yea.. In history books that I have read it said how they executed you.. But, I am more curious about what troubles the almighty blacksmith than the past !? ¡° ¡° Don¡¯t anger me.. Well.. What troubles me is that this Gaia brought us here at the same time with a similar way.. I mean do you think that it¡¯s a coincidence that two well known people like us just came from the same world and coincidentally met each other in this one ? ¡° ¡° Well.. You do have a point but let me ask you.. Do you believe in fate my friend ? ¡° ¡° Fate huh..? If there is such a thing as fate then that is what probably brought us both here.. And it is quite cruel isn¡¯t it ? ¡° ¡° What do you mean..? ¡° Iryl didn¡¯t understand the meaning behind Luke¡¯s words.. But, then Luke explained.. ¡° What do I mean..? Isn¡¯t it obvious..? I am a blacksmith.. You are a warrior.. Then why did we have to be elves¡­ The point is.. I can¡¯t make bows.. All I know how to make is swords.. And you even though you are a warrior.. You can only fight with swords not bows.. ¡° To his question smiled and then said with a happy expression. ¡° Then.. Isn¡¯t that what fate is for ? You are a blacksmith I am a warrior! If you make me weapons I fight.. ¡° Then Luke formed a small smile on his face, but before long it disappeared and he said back to him.. ¡° In this place.. No matter how much I want to make swords it doesn¡¯t even matter.. Elves don¡¯t use close range weapons.. Didn¡¯t you see at the small smith.. They didn¡¯t even bother to talk about swords.. Traditions and sh*t.. All they asked you was if your bow broke.. And that old man¡­ He doesn¡¯t even know how useful a sword can be.. ¡° ¡° Then.. How about you forge them in secret..? ¡° ¡° That won¡¯t work.. Even if I make them in secret.. One day they ¡®ll find out. And they will no longer let me use the forge.. ¡° They both had their heads low and then Iryl made an evil smile as he laughed.. ¡° Ha.. Hahaha¡­ Ha..! ¡° ¡° ..What¡¯s wrong.. You scare me a little Iryl.. ¡° Luke couldn¡¯t help but ask him.. ¡° Hey.. Luke..! You really used well the bow last time didn¡¯t you..? ¡° ¡° Well.. For some reason I can use the bow in this world as if it was a part of me.. ¡° Then Iryl¡¯s sinister smile came back as he said.. ¡° Then how about we do this.. ¡° He then explained his newly formed plan to Luke as he had a devil¡¯s smile on his face.. ¡° Ho! I didn¡¯t expect you to be so daring.. Interesting! Then it¡¯s settled..! ¡° With their plan now set in stone. They both kept a devil¡¯s smile on their face as they said to each other.. ¡° I am sure it¡¯s going to turn things upside down! ¡° ¡° Ahh.. Man.. How long has it been.. I can see the sun setting.. Well.. let¡¯s start with the basic preparations for now.. ¡° Iryl said that and with a nod, they both went on their way.. Little did they know that they had some praying eyes listening to their conversation from the shadows¡­ And then an unknown voice could be heard in the small alley whispering.. ¡° Those two.. I can¡¯t believe my ears¡­ ¡° End of chapter 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author¡¯s Notes: Hello everyone! First o all I am sorry for the late release.. I usually upload in the morning but I was away for the weekend.. Well, I guess it can¡¯t be helped.. Hope you don¡¯t mind.. But, I will take this opportunity and say it now, even though it¡¯s a little early.. I will be leaving for vacation soon, If my memory serves me correct I think it¡¯s going to be at the 24th of the month.. The point is.. I won¡¯t be back for two weeks and I won¡¯t be able to upload chapters from where I ¡®ll be.. But! That doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t do nothing.. I will keep writing the story and according to how much progress I ¡®ve made during my vacation, I ¡®ll be uploading once again when I am back home.. For now.. Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it! The story took another turn as another person from another world joined in! What does Iryl and Luke plan? You will know in the next chapter! PS: For those of you who wonder about their past life, their past life will be coming in the future as they get into different situations! Once again thank you for reading if you find something boring or wrong please do tell me in the comments bellow! Power Badge! Ch: 7 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One day has passed since Iryl and Luke made their introductions. It was now morning, the sun had just risen in the horizon and a morning silence was filling the training camp. Somewhere in the camp two young elves made their exit out of a wooden house stretching their cramped joints.. Those two were none other than Iryl and Luke! " Ouaa.. That sure was a long night.. " Iryl couldn''t help but yawn before saying the above.. And to his comment Luke gave his answer. "...That was.. A nice sleep.. " Iryl then gave him a glare as he was thinking.. '' What part of it..?! You were snoring all night! '' The reason the two of them came from out of the same house was because the two of them had already made arrangements from yesterday for Iryl to reside in the same wooden house as Luke. What they thought was that, this way it would be easier for them to prepare for their future plan and allow them to leisurely talk about the past with no problems. When they made that choice Iryl had yet to know that Luke''s snoring could wake up an elephant.. " Luke.. Did you know that your snoring can wake up an elephant ? " "..I don''t snore.. " " No! No! You really do snore and a lot at that! " As they were walking Luke stopped and turned his face towards Iryl.. With a scary look on his face he said.. "..I said.. I don''t.. " Frightened Iryl agreed with a nod.. '' This guy.. Something must have happened in the past.. '' Once again they began walking with Luke at the front. Though Luke had a scary expression on his face in the inside he was thinking.. ''...Do I really.. Snore that much..? Is that also the reason.. When I woke up in the other world.. Other people were looking strangely at me.. '' In the other world.. When Luke was sleeping all other living being couldn''t bear being close to him. Let alone sleeping.. The two young elves kept going their way without talking.. Suddenly, Iryl tried to break the silence. " Hey Luke. You are pretty tall aren''t you ? " "..So what about it...? " " Hmm.. Well.. I read in books that you used to be a dwarf..! So I thought.. " Before he could even finish what he was saying Luke stopped, turned around went close to his face and with an angry look on his face said.. "..So ?? What did you think..? Is there something wrong about my height..? " a drop of sweat came down from Iryl''s neck as he said.. " No.. Nothing.. " "...Then.. It''s ok.. " Once again Luke turned around and began walking as if nothing had happened.. '' Dwarfs are really mysterious.. Have to be careful not to anger them.. I should write it somewhere.. Rule number one never talk about height with dwarfs.. '' Iryl was afraid to ask anything else and so they just walked in silence.. But that didn''t last for long. Luke for one more time stopped and said. "..I am going over to the smith.. As planned I will be resigning from blacksmithing.. " That''s right a part of their plan was that Luke would resign from the blacksmith''s job.. With his skills he would make an excellent archer. And that would also prove useful in their future plan! "..You should head to the research facility.. There you will learn more about.. Your elven body and acquire a power badge.. " (Author: I am not sure if it should be called research facility.. But, if you think something more fitting can go there please do tell me!) " Then.. I ''ll see you later. " '' I wonder what a power badge is.. '' The two young men went each their separate way with Iryl heading over to the research facility and Luke heading towards the small smith. Several minutes have passed and Iryl finally reached his destination. " This must be the place..! " With nothing to lose Iryl opened the wooden door while saying in a cheerful manner. " Hello and good morning! " In the facility an astonishing amount of elves were gathered more than 15.. Iryl couldn''t help but be curious about what they were doing. 13 elves were sitting on the wooden floor doing something similar to meditation, while one of the other two was observing their meditation. The last one was a familiar face for Iryl as he turned his gaze towards the door to see who came in. Some of the other elves who were meditating also turned their view towards the door, only to be shout at from the instructor.. " You must be.. Iryl wasn''t it ? " Said the elf that was writing something on a papyrus with a quill that had black ink dripping from it. " Yes! If I remember correctly you must be.. Who was it again..? " A small laughter could be heard from the meditating elves as the instructor''s voice echoed in the room. " Silence! Don''t lose focus! " The angry instructor made the other elves get back to meditation without much effort. " Well, it isn''t that surprising that you don''t remember who I am. After all we only met once in Mirana''s hut. " The elf infront of Iryl had silver silky hair accompanied with his strange eyes. One of them had a blue azure like color while the other one had a deep reddish color. He looked quite young and handsome, enough that other elves would be jealous of his looks but, he also had this mature aura around him as if it was saying " I am the boss around here. ". " Let me introduse myself once again. My name is Narxus! I am also the top researcher of this place. " Iryl was a bit surprised that he called himself a researcher and the top one at that.. But before he could make a comment Narxus continued. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. " By the way! This place might be called a research facility but don''t be mistaken. This place is more or less like a school.. Here you can learn about the variety of spirit abilities, you can meditate in order to increase your spiritual affinity and more or less learn about magic and it''s possibilities! " Iryl''s ears moved from excitement as he heard about magic! He couldn''t help but ask.. " How can I learn to use magic ?! " His eyes were sparkling as he was waiting for Narxus to answer. " Heh! From your face I can see that you are interested in learning how to control the spirits. But, I ''ll have you know that not anyone can do that. " Iryl''s excitement didn''t decrease at all when he heard Narxus words. With a small frown then Narxus said. " Well. Let''s get you a power badge first! We ''ll have a better look at your body''s energy with that. " With that said Narxus went into a smaller room and waved for Iryl to follow him. Iryl quickly followed him with excitement all over his face.. When Iryl got into the small room Narxus told him to close the door. The room was quite small, with a diameter of 4x4 and it only had enough space for a table and two chairs to fit in. One of the walls was filled with drawers. " Come sit. " Narxus told Iryl to sit as he waved his hand towards one of the two chairs then Iryl sat on a chair and waited for Narxus who was searching the drawers as he was mumbling to himself.. " Low level. Low level.. Ah! There it is! " He then turned around and immediately sat on the chair. He then opened his palm and passed the object he had taken from the drawer over to Iryl. The small object looked like a flat card.. It was finely made out of what seemed to be stone and had some engravings on it. Iryl didn''t hesitate to say. " That is.. " " Yep! A power badge. With this one can measure how much internal and external energy he has. " " And that is.. " " Right! You don''t know what that is.. Do you..? Honestly.. What do they teach kids in the village.. " '' Even though I ''ve never went to it.. '' With a sigh then Narxus made a brief explanation. " Well.. To put it simply your external energy is how much muscle strength your body contains. It can also be improved through training of the body. But there are limits to it.. As for the internal energy it is the thing we also call spiritual affinity! It has no limits as to how far it can improve but in the end it all depends on one''s will and strength of mind.. Your spiritual affinity can increse through meditation! Meditation though is hard and it can prove dangerous depending on the place it is done and for how long.. " '' So it is something similar to Qi from my old world. I guess it won''t be that hard! '' " Teacher what do you mean when you say that it can be dangerous ? " Narxus then paused for a moment.. In that moment what was goign through Narxus mind.. '' (Sob) Finally.. Someone who recognised me as a teacher has appeared.. (sob) '' Excited now Narxus replied.. " Listen here now little Iryl to this T-e-a-c-h-e-r! First of all when you meditate you practically communicate with the spirits around you! Most spirits are peaceful and won''t cause you problems when you meditate. But! There are several spirits that will try to consume your mind and control your body... Depending on the place you are meditating you can find a lot of different spirits. For example if you are meditating near a lake you can find more spirits affiliated with water there. But, that doesn''t mean that you will only communicate with water spirits it only means that most of the spirits in the area are affiliated with the water element. Do you understand now ? " After his explanation Narxus was gasping for air.. " Well.. I get what you mean more or less! Thanks for the lesson teacher. " Narxus then calmed his breathing as he was thinking.. '' Ahh!! He called me teacher again.. What a nice feeling! '' " Ghmm! Now then let''s see how much energy your body contains! " Said excitedly Narxus and passed the power badge over to Iryl. Iryl took the small card like badge in his hands and said.. " How do I use this ? " " Ah right.. I am guessing that this is the first timme you see one isn''t it ? " Iryl made a sad expression as he agreed.. " Well. It''s quite easy. All you have to do is to leave a blood fingerprint in the circle on the right edge. That way it will be bound to your energy and the numbers shown will be changing according to your progress. This is a low level power badge so it can only show up to level 100 but I ''ll tell you in detail later. Go on use it! I am quite curious of the result! " '' So that''s what he is waiting for.. Well, nothing to lose! '' Iryl then bit his finger and a little blood came out of it. Without losing time he placed his finger on the small circle and left a fingerprint. A small light engulfed the engravings on the power badge and numbers appeared on it. As the light disappeared Narxus said. " This.. This is..! " End of chapter 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Notes: Hello everyone! Once again, thanks for reading hope you enjoyed it! But, I have to say that I didn''t really like the way the previous chapter unfolded.. It was pretty raw and several things weren''t really planned... So.. I have to apologize for that. Apart from that, I find it important to inform you that I ''ll be rushing to finish volume 1, before I leave for vacation. I don''t know if it will turn to be a good idea but I hope it will.. I have pretty much an idea of what I ''ll be putting in the upcoming chapters so stay tuned for the next chapter! PS: Next time! The Plan! The Plan Or Not..! Ch: 8 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Narxus couldn''t believe his eyes when he saw what was written on the power badge. Iryl as well couldn''t believe what he saw.. A short while after the light disappeared from the power badge Iryl couldn''t help but ask out of curiosity. " Eh..? What does this mean ? " " This is.. " Narxus didn''t give an answer as he was still uncertain of where to begin.. As for the power badge what was written on it is.. ***Low Level Power Badge*** External Energy Level: ??? Spiritual Energy Level: ---- ***Low Level Power Badge*** (Author: I ''ll be using this way to show what items such as the power badge are saying.) Iryl was staring at Narxus who was still immersed in deep thinking as he was looking at the power badge.. With hesitation in his voice Iryl said. " Excuse me.. Narxus..? If you don''t mind can you explain to me as well..? " Narxus then turned his gaze towards Iryl as if he was a robot and said.. " Rare.. Rare find.. " " Eh..? " " You.. What is wrong with your body ?! It doesn''t make sense.. " SFX* (BAAAM) Narxus hit his hands on the table and got up from his seat. His actions startled Iryl a little but soon enough he rushed towards the drawers and once again began searching.. " Mid level.. Mid level... Where is it got damn it..? " Iryl waited patiently as Narxus was searching the drawers and then.. As if he found a lost treasure Narxus''s eyes lit up.. He then quickly rolled and once again he sat on his chair.. " Now! Use this power badge! " With a happy expression and a grin on his face Narxus passed the new power badge to Iryl.. " This is..? " " A mid level power badge! When question marks show on a power badge it means it''s level measuring is insufficient for your power! So you need the next in chain. For example the low level power badge can measure up to level 100. The next in chain which is the mid level power badge can measure up to level 1000 and so it goes on.. " '' Eh.. That''s quite a useful item! I wonder how it is made.. '' Before Iryl could ask another question Narxus said.. " Now! Now! Go on use it! " For one more time Iryl placed his finger that was dripping of blood on the small circle and a stronger light than before engulfed the whole room. ***Mid Level Power Badge*** External Energy Level: 687 Spiritual Energy Level: ---- ***Mid Level Power Badge*** Iryl was staring at the numbers while thinking of one thing.. '' Guess that''s normal..? '' But then he turned his gaze towards Narxus who was having spasms as he was trying to say something.. "...6..8..7...68..7...687.. No way! That impossible! How can a brat have 687 external energy ?! Not even the best hunter of our camp has half of his external energy..! " His gaze then reverted back to Iryl.. As for Iryl, he was now sweating as he saw Narxus staring at him. Once again Narxus stood from his seat and went over to where Iryl was.. The problem was that this time from Iryl''s point of view it looked like a zombie crawling over to him.. As he saw the (zombie) Narxus closing in Iryl fell from his chair and crawled at the edge of the room.. Too bad for him, escape was impossible the room was too small for him to move freely! Narxus caught him from the arm and touched him all over his body.. " How is it possible ?? Just where do you hide all these muscles for your external energy to be so high ?? " " Please.. Stop! Show mercy..! " Iryl was crying out like a small animal that was being struggled as Narxus examined his body all over.. After a while, Narxus stopped his (examination) and went back to his seat... " Ghmm! Eh.. You can come sit if you want.. " Iryl was trembling in the corner of the room as he heard Narxus.. All he could say though was one thing.. " You are cruel.. How could you be so cruel.. " Iryl went slowly and hesitantly back to his seat.. As he sat Narxus opened his mouth. " But, that really surprised me! I still don''t understand though.. How can your body''s external energy be so high and yet you have no muscle at all? " '' That''s harsh.. Does that mean that elves think that external energy is all about muscle ? '' Narxus continued with his monologue.. " Is there anything else apart from muscle for one to increase his external energy.. Well that will be the only logical explanation for yours to be so high. So ? " " So..? " " What did you do to increase your external energy ?! " Narxus eyes were sparkling as his gaze was pinned on Iryl.. " Well that is.. External energy refers to a kind of energy outside of the body when internal energy refers to the one inside the body.. So.. Doesn''t that mean that external energy is the energy we use and form around our body ? Sure enough muscle is an important factor but.. Energy is energy, muscle is muscle.. Why do we have to connect those two together ? " Narxus was left with his mouth open.. He was staying still like a statue at the words he heard.. He then placed his hands on his forhead covering his eyes as he screamed.. " AAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! " '' Ehh..? '' Iryl was scared from his reaction and curled over the edge of the room as he said.. " Are you.. Ok..? Narxus..? " Narxus then looked at his hands with a sour face as he said.. " So many ears.. How could I.. Someone like.. To not have noticed such a simple thing.. " '' Ehhhh ?? '' " Brilliant! Just imagine the possibilities! But, how did you figure such a method of training..? " " Well.. When you meditate you just collect the energy around your body and place it in yourself.. Isn''t that common sense? " Iryl had a perplexed look on his face as he saw Narxus.. " What do you mean when you say meditate ? Meditation is used in order to communicate with the spirits around you and increase one''s spiritual energy.. How can you use meditation to... No.. No way.. What if you don''t use it to speak with the spirits, but collect energy.. Seal it in your body.. And then.. " He suddenly stopped and turned to look towards Iryl.. " You.. You are a genius! To come up with such a method.. " '' Genius? Isn''t that supposed to be basic logic..? Oh! That''s right this is another world.. What else will I see.. '' Iryl sighed and then said as he went back to his seat.. " Well.. Enough about external energy.. What I am more interested in is the internal energy! Huhuhu! If my external energy is that strong then my internal energy must be as well! " " Well... That is.. " Narxus had a kind of sad expression as he said.. " When the power badge shows ---- (Author: Didn''t know how to express this..) It can mean two things.. " " Two things! " Iryl''s eyes were now sparkling with excitement as he was waiting for Narxus to keep talking.. " Sigh.. " With a sigh then Narxus continued.. " Well, allow me to educate you a little in order for you to understand what it means.. " The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. With that said then Narxus began his lecture. " First of all I need you to understand one basic thing. As you know elves gather and communicate with the spirits. That in itself is very common. But, there are also cases that elves can not communicate with the spirits.. Those cases are rare though and are being called Non-Spirit Collectors.. " Iryl mumbled as he was listening.. " Non-Spirit Collectors... " Then Narxus after talking a deep breath continued with his speech.. " In contrast to them most elves are Spirit Collectors. And that''s also the basic rank for internal energy.. Even though we can have an unlimited amount of internal energy the higher it goes the tougher it is to acquire. The highest amount ever reached though was from the person who also made the ranks.. And that is none other than Shin Randel.. " '' Shin Randel.. That person again.. He must have been really strong! '' " He separated the ranks in nine different categories that are like this.. " Narxus took a paper out of his pocket and passed it to Iryl. What the paper said was the ranks in order from bottom to top.. ***Paper*** Spirit Collector Spirit Controller Spirit Expert Spirit Master Spirit Ancient Spirit Sage Spirit ruler Spirit King Spirit God ***Paper*** As he inspected the paper Iryl gulped once and said in a low voice.. " Spirit.. God.. " But that didn''t pass Narxus ears as he said. " Hmm! Amazing isn''t it ? For a person to reach spirit god ? Not one elf has ever made it up to that rank! Only him.. " " Ehh..? What is the highest rank an elf from our village has ever reached..? " " Don''t tell me.. You don''t even know ?? You have been living with the sage for so many years and you don''t know ?! " '' Sage..? Does he mean gramps ? '' " By Sage.. Do you mean gramps..? " Narxus couldn''t help but be shocked at Iryl''s words.. " Gra.. Gramps... Pfft!! Hahaha! To think that someone would call him gramps.. Yea.. That gramps of yours is a monster more or less.. An avarage elf would reach up to spirit controller or expert at most.. Even I am only a spirit master. Yet he, he managed to achieve the rank of a spirit sage! It''s not such a small feat. " Iryl was astonished to think that the Elder was such a powerful person.. " So.. In terms of spiritual energy how much does he have in the spirit sage rank ? " Surprised Narxus said.. " Well.. It is between 500-600 levels of spiritual energy, but still it''s a tremendous amount.. Let me ask you.. Do you know what spiritual abilities are ? " " No idea at all.. " "...Well, when one reaches the level cap of his rank he must obtain a spiritual ability in order to rank up. That ability defers to each person. And that ability is also carved on your body. " Narxus then stood up and turned around as he removed his leather top.. In his back though could be seen four different tattos. All four where circle shaped and had a word in them. The words were also carved in elvish language. As for where the tattos were placed one was in the middle of his back and the others around it.. One above and two at the sides. Before Iryl could say anything Narxus said. " That is the symbol of the contract that one makes with the spirits. Each circle is equal to one contract. And every contract is with a different spirit! " Iryl was staring in awe.. and then he asked. " So how does it work with the spirits ? Can you freely use their abilities ? " " Hahaha! That is a very nice question! Allow me to explain. The first spirit ability is always random. You can not select with what kind of spirit you will make a contract with.. The most usual spirits are those connected with the four elements. Earth, fire, water, wind. But, there are exceptions! An example of that is Mirana. " '' The nurse..? '' " Mirana has made her first contract with a life spirit. And thus her spirit ability is heal. The word in her back is also HEAL. " '' Ehh! So she is special! '' " Those are very rare exceptions though the chances of making a contract with a spirit other than the four elements is about 2%.. " " After one makes a contract with his first spirit it becomes a hardle to make contracts with other spirits.. Because of the first contract the spirit resides in your body and allows you to use it''s power. But, when you have to rank up you have to seek out more spirits! And once you find one compatible with your other spirit, you have to fight it. If the spirit is the one that wins, it gains control over your body. And if you win you gain another spiritual ability to use. " Iryl was astonished at the information he had just gathered and with his eyes wide open he asked. " Then, what about me ?! What does that mark means ? " "..." Narxus was silent before he said. " In your case the first thing it can mean is, that you can not gather and communicate with the spirits and therefore be a Non-Spirit Collector.But, this is the most improbable case.. The other thing it can mean is that your spiritual energy has yet to awaken.. Elves spiritual energy usually awakes around the age of 10 but there have been cases that it took up to twelve years to awake.. " When Iryl heard Narxus say those words was feeling like the world was about to crumble in front of him, he lost the happiness in his eyes and made a sad face.. But then, Narxus tried to cheer him up. " Hahaha! Don''t worry I am sure that your spiritual energy will show up soon! Even if it doesn''t with your talent in external energy you will be a great hunter! " " Teacher.. That didn''t make me feel better at all... Well, I ''ll be off now thanks for everything! " Iryl tried to make a smile as he opened the door in order to leave the small room. And before long he had already left, leaving only Narxus in the room.. Narxus couldn''t help but murmur to himself.. "..A genius huh..? " END Of Chapter 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author Notes: Hello everyone! Hahaha.. I tricked you! This wasn''t the chapter where the plan is revealed!.. Well, it was supposed to be the other half of this chapter but, I had no time to write at all! >.< I am trying my best to make it into something of your liking.. Ehh.. I don''t think I forgot anything.. Ah! Yea there was that.. This Wednesday is supposed to be the last day that I ''ll be uploading before my vacation. But! There is a chance that I will be uploading in other days as well. Depending on the time I''ll have to write I wish to finish volume 1 before I leave. Well look forward to the next chapter See ya! PS: Next time... The plan again.. Or so I hope... The Plan! For Real This Time! Ch: 9 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *IMPORTANT* There is important information in the author''s notes please read! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A little time has passed since Iryl made his exit from the research facility.. Now, he was sitting on a bench near the facility thinking of what he should do! " Sigh.. " '' To think that my spiritual energy has yet to awaken.. It''s a little disappointing but, it can''t be helped. I''ll just have to wait.. '' With that thought in mind he stood up from the bench and said. " Well! Whatever! Where should I go next ? " As he said that he turned his gaze towards a place were a lot of elves were gathered and without losing time he went closer to observe what they were doing. Once he was close enough to observe, what he saw was several elves preparing their bows with arrows while waiting for the instructor to give out the signal to shoot. All the elves that were ready to shoot had a similar slender body and with a firm posture they were showing off their elegance. " Fire! " At the instructor''s signal, arrows left the bows and flied towards the scarecrow targets. All the arrows that were shot hit their target! But, only 2 or 3 of them have made a clear hit on the red mark of the scarecrow. As Iryl observed he said in a low voice. " That''s impressive.. " Among the elves that were training one of them made eye contact with Iryl and before long, he lost interest and with a small grin on his face as if trying to show off he turned back and prepared the next arrow. '' Uwaa.. What a jerk.. He didn''t even hit the mark on the target.. Well, whatever I guess this is the training ground..'' Iryl''s guess was right, here elves were training their accuracy and strength while using the bow! After observing them for a while he approached the instructor and greeted him. " Fir.. " " Hello there, is this the place where I can train my body ? " The instructor paused what he was about to say and turned towards Iryl. And with a bright face he answered him. " Hello young one! " The instructor would have been in his fifties if he were human. But, since he is an elf with his looks he must be around 150 years old at least. His appearance was that of a middle aged man with short red hair and a lone red eye. As for the other one.. He was wearing a black eyepatch to cover it. A huge cut was marked on his face, starting from his forehead going down to his neck. The middle aged man said after greeting Iryl. " Indeed this is a place where you can train.. " He then made a kind of.. Sour and sad face before he continued.. " But, only for elves with an external energy of 50 or above.. If you lack the strength to draw the bow then there is no way you can train here.. You should do some exercising to build up some muscle. Then, when your external energy reaches 50 you can come back.. " Iryl smiled at the instructor''s words and then spoke what he had in mind. " Then I suppose I am more than qualified to train here! " He then took his power badge out of his pocket and passed it to the instructor. The instructor was left with his mouth open as he looked at the badge and then back to Iryl.. After that he rubbed his eye to make sure that the numbers he saw were true and then said. " 6..687.. No way.. " '' That reminds me of Narxus... A little.. '' The instructor then stood up and made a step closer to Iryl.. Iryl took a step back.. And the same thing happened foor 5-6 more steps... Then the instructor rushed towards Iryl and as if he knew what was about to come Iryl dodged the incoming instructor.. After his attempt to catch him failed the instructor said.. " Don''t worry! I am only going to check your body..! " " No! No! No! I ''ve heard that before.. " But the instructor didn''t stop and kept trying.. Iryl magnificently dodged every time the instructor came close to him.. The elves that were training had already stopped long ago and were left with their mouths open as they saw the instructor having trouble to catch one person.. For them the instructor was like an unstoppable war machine.. Make him angry and you are dead meat.. And now! In front of them that very same instructor was trying to catch a person they have never seen before with a smile on his face... '' This person.. If he catches me I will have to go through another scary experience... No! Never! I refuse to get caught! '' With that thought in mind Iryl kept running and dodging around for more than ten minutes.. Finally the instructor got tired and stopped chasing him.. " I understand.. Huff huff.. I won''t chase your anymore... Huff huff.. So.. Stop running.. Huff huff.. " Out of breath the instructor finally gave in.. And now Iryl stood in front of him while shivering.. " For real..? " " Yeah.. Huff huff... I am too old for these stuff.. " '' Uwaa!! He called himself old! Gramps never once called himself old..! '' " Then can I have my power badge back..? " A drop of sweat could be seen coming down from Iryl''s forehead as he asked the instructor to return him his power badge.. " Eh..? Yeah, sure.. Sure..! Come and take it! " " No! No! You can just throw it.. Don''t worry I''ll catch it..! " " Tsk.. " The instructor left the power badge on the box he was sitting and stood up while clapping his hands.. " Ok maggots! Those who stopped training should start running around the village.. Hmm.. 20 rounds should be enough! " The elves that were there began to sweat.. And one of them said hesitantly. " Isn''t that a bit too much..? We won''t finish before the night falls.. " " Oh! Good point! You run 30 laps for complaining! Now get running! " " Ehhh ?? " " Do you want more ? " "...No Sir.. " " Anyone else who has any complains ? " The elves then shook their heads and without saying anything they began running like the wind... That made Iryl think. '' Poor things.. '' Iryl then went over to the box and took his badge back. His gaze never once slipped away from the instructor.. (I wonder why..) " So.. What was your name again.. Ah! That''s right.. Iryl wasn''t it ? Let me introduce myself.. People around here call me Gill so feel free to use that name.. " " Senior Gill then.. " Answered Iryl as he heard the instructor''s introduction. " So Iryl. What does a mons.. Ghmm..! What did you need from me..? " '' Old man that was too obvious.. '' That thought passed Iryl''s mind and as a vein popped on his forhead he said in a low voice.. " Who are you calling.. " But before he finished his sentence he sighed as to relax and tried to smile.. After that scene he answered to Gill''s question. " Nothing in particular! I was just curious of what elves here did for training.. That''s all! " " Then how about you give it a try ? With your external energy I am sure that it will be more of a game than training.. " " Eh.. Sure. I don''t mind but.. " Iryl hesitated for a moment but quickly finished his sentence. "..I don''t know how to use a bow..." With that last sentence the instructor''s jaw fell on the ground.. But, before long he just laughed it off while saying. " Pfft.. Hahahaha!! Is that so ? Well! There is always a first time for everything! Come I''ll show you how it''s done! " Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The instructor then, went to where the elves that were currently running trained and picked up a bow that was lying on the ground. After picking up the bow he went over to a small tent and with his left hand took a pouch filled with arrows. Iryl was watching his actions from a five meters distance.. Then the instructor said as he moved towards the training area. " Listen up Iryl! There are three things a good archer needs to have.. First is accuracy! Nothing can not be achieved if an archer lacks accuracy.. Through training of course one can have it perfected.. " The instructor then took an arrow out of the pouch and made a firm posture as he prepared for the show.. " The second thing an archer needs is to have a cool head! If you can''t concentrate on what you want to shoot down then there is no point in trying.. " Gill then took a deep breath and steadied his aim towards a scarecrow that was at least 50 meters away from him.. He then released his hand from the bow string and the arrow flew in the vicinity! As the arrow approached the scarecrow, it hit on the center where a red mark as small as a fingerprint was.. But, that wasn''t all, with lightning speed two more arrows followed behind it and each of them pierced the arrow previously shot! The instructor then exhaled and turned towards Iryl who was left with his mouth open.. " The last thing one needs.. Is guts! Remeber that! And it''s not only needed for archery huhuhu! " The instructor for some reason had a sinister smile which made Iryl feel a little creepy.. Then, he passed the bow and an arrow to Iryl while saying. " Now! Give it a try! " " Ok.. " Iryl then picked up the bow and got an arrow ready! He held the bow with his right hand and the arrow with his left and as he stretched the string of the bow a problem occurred.. SFX: Ting!! The string from the bow broke.. " Arara.. " The instructor went over to Iryl and took the bow from his hands. After giving a fast examination over the bow he said.. " Hmm.. The string must have been too old! Wait here I''ll get you another one! " He then went over to the small tent and got another bow he once again passed the bow to Iryl and encouraged him to give it another try.. For one more time Iryl took the bow and got ready to shoot.. For one more time the string broke and Iryl was sweating.. After trying for a while the instructor said.. " This is the seventh bow.. Let''s just leave it at that... Sigh.. " The instructor lost all of his hope! Without giving it another try Iryl said in a low voice. " Well.. I can just use swords can''t I..? " But that didn''t escape Gill''s ears. " Swords ? Ehh.. I don''t think that you will be allowed to go out hunting with them.. " It felt as if an arrow pierced through Iryl.. When the instructor mentioned that he won''t be allowed to go out hunting if he is going only with swords he couldn''t help but ask. " Why..? What is wrong with using swords ?? Why is it that only bows can be used for hunting ?? " The instructor gave a light frown and said.. " Hmf.. (Author: That''s the frown right ?) How exactly will you hunt while using a sword ? Befor you even manage to get close to your target it will have already fled! " '' What kind of logic is that ??? Is he mocking me ? Is he mocking the swords as a weapon ?? '' " So are you telling me to just stay idle in the camp ? " " Well.. That is.. Yes! Just do that! I am sure you can help around the camp.. Well, until your spiritual energy awakens at least.. If you have a strong combat spirit contract I am sure they will let you join the hunt for assistance.. " '' As if that''s enough.. Well whatever.. It can''t be helped, guess I''ll just have to improve my swordsmanship until my spiritual energy awakens.. Hopefully it won''t take long.. '' " Well, at least can I use the training area ? " " Of course! As long as you don''t use any bows that is! " '' This old man.. Once he heard that I can use swords.. Well I''ll let it pass.. It doesn''t matter either way I can''t use bows.. '' " Ehh.. Are there any swords in the tent ? " " No! Not even one! " '' Why are you so happy when you admit it... At least show some remorse god damn it! '' Iryl couldn''t help but suppress his rage.. He then said back to the instructor! " Well, I''ll just have to make one.. " " Do you even know how to make swords ? " " Nope.. Not at all! But, I know someone who can! " And with that said Iryl left the training camp and went to search for Luke. Time flies by and it''s been 4 years since the group arrived at the training camp. The two brothers Dan and Ken became part of the hunting group. Ken was a specialist in wind magic. He already had 2 spirit contracts at the age of 13! As for Dan.. Even though he didn''t excel in magic his archery was advanced in level. Aprilia also joined the hunting team. She didn''t excel in neither magic nor archery but she had an incredible amount of combined skills of water magic and archery! That also got her the title Spiritual Archer. Lilith didn''t join the hunting group and just did chores around the camp. Even though her earth related magic was far superior to that of Ken''s she couldn''t bear the killing part of the hunt.. The only ones left now are Iryl and Luke.. Luke''s fire magic was out of the world he already had 3 spiritual contracts which made him the youngest elf to ever achieve such a feat.. His archery was also at a level similar to that of the instructor Gill.. And thus he was recognised as the leader of the hunting group..! '' Who would have thought that Luke had such a talent.. Well, that''s better I guess.. Having strong allies isn''t that bad at all.. But.. '' " Hey! Iryl! Are you done with the dishes ? If you are done can you carry these boxes filled with medical herbs over to Mirana ? " " Yes! I''ll get it done soon! " " Then I''ll be leaving it to you. " As for Iryl.. Four years have passed and his spiritual energy had yet to awake.. All he could do were three things.. Train, meditate and chores.. '' Just how long do I have to bear with this.. I am starting to get tired of it.. Not to mention that the training is inefficient.. Well, at least my current body can withstand the first advanced sword skills.. '' Even though Iryl never showed his badge to anyone.. What it said was one thing.. ***Mid Level Power Badge*** External Energy Level: ??? Spiritual Energy Level: ---- ***Mid Level Power Badge*** END of chapter 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s notes: Hahaha! No plan for you guys. :P (The true reason behind those titles is because I don''t know what to use for a title >.<) Well, apart from the title.. Here is chapter 9! I didn''t have much time so I am sorry if it contains raw stuff.. Once again thanks for reading! And I have to make an important announcement! This will be the last chapter (probably) since I''ll be leaving this Friday for vacation.. As I said in the previous chapter there is a small chance that I will upload one more chapter before I leave. Even though I won''t be able to finish volume 1 since it needs at least 2-4 more chapters I will write the remaining chapters on my vacation and upload them when I am back all together! I think that I will be away for 2 weeks up to 20 days.. I don''t know the exact date that I''ll be back but it should be around the 10th of the next month! Until then, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it and I''ll be back soon! PS: If I can upload the next chapter it will come out on Friday and the title will be Spiritual Contract (This is not a scam..)..(I mean it!) Spiritual Contract! Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Time goes by and Iryl¡¯s endless days of chores never seem to end. First thing in the morning, he would always go to the training area. There he almost always beat the scarecrow using a sword made of wood! Apart from beating the scarecrow he always trained his body to be in good shape. After finishing his morning training he went all over the camp and did several chores for the elves. Some of them included cleaning clothes or washing dishes and such things. While the more laborious ones were farming, cooking and moving stuff around the camp. Late in the afternoon he always meditated in order to raise his spiritual and external energy. Even though the spirits never seemed to react to his meditation, it helped him relax after a long day of chores. Once the night fell, Iryl always felt exhausted from the hard day of work. Sleep would always come and take him away without him even realizing it. While Iryl was having a hard time dealing with chores, Luke and the others (apart from Lilith) were honing their skills while hunting! Sometimes they would be away from the camp for over a week. And every time they came back they were always stronger than before! That way, Iryl and his friends were passing their time in the camp. Four years have passed since their arrival and they are now all full fledged members of it! But. Those days are soon to be over. ¡° Hey Iryl! Come and help over here with these boxes! ¡° ¡° Coming! ¡° ¡° Iryl can you wash the dishes ? ¡° ¡° Give me a moment. ¡° Iryl was going all around the camp doing chores for the elves. It was a normal day for him. But there was a slight difference.. As he was moving a bag filled with vegetables he heard a voice. ¡® Do you want some water ? It can help you relax! Accept the water.. ¡® ¡° No thanks.. I am alright! ¡° As he gave his answer he turned around to see who asked, but there was no one behind him.. ¡® So.. I am starting to go senile from the chores huh..? ¡® Once again, Iryl turned back the way he was going in order to finish his job. But, as he was walking a drop of sweat went down his neck and another voice whispered in his ear.. ¡® Are you sure you don¡¯t need a little water..? It will make you feel nice and refreshed¡­ ¡® Annoyed now Iryl turned back and gave his answer in a loud voice.. ¡° No, I don¡¯t want to drink any water.! Will you leave me alone already.!? ¡° But, there wasn¡¯t anyone behind him.. The place he was currently at was a central road of the camp and naturally there were a lot of elves gathered around.. The elves that were gathered around the place saw him shout and turned their gaze towards him. Some of the elven ladies were slightly laughing behind their hands while others just ignored it and went back to their work. Among the people that were laughing one took the initiative to ask.. ¡° Hey Iryl! Did the heat got to you too ?! If you don¡¯t feel fine you should rest a little. It¡¯s not good to overwork yourself.. ¡° A familiar voice rang in Iryl¡¯s ears as he heard the elf speaking. It was indeed someone whom he had helped dozens of times with several different chores, during those four years. ¡° Mister Oliver! I am sorry for the commotion, I might be a little tired but I can keep going.. I think.. ¡° ¡° That¡¯s not good! Not good at all.. You should rest well so that you can finish your assignments faster! ¡° ¡°¡­¡± Oliver then went closer to Iryl and took the bag filled with vegetables from his hands. ¡° Here! Let me take care of it for you. It¡¯s not far from where I am heading anyway. Go rest for today.. Everyone deserves a little rest after all! ¡° Iryl frowned a little and then he said. ¡° Thank you Mister Oliver. I¡¯ll be heading over to my house then.. ¡° ¡° Ok take care! ¡° Iryl waved goodbye and then made his way towards his wooden house. During the way, not only the one who spoke to him before but several others joined in.. ¡® Are you going to rest..? The grassland is the best place to take a nap..? ¡® ¡® Don¡¯t forget to leave a candle lit before you sleep.. ¡® ¡® Do you want to play with me..? ¡® ¡® That old man was really tiresome¡­ ¡® Iryl was steadily getting more and more annoyed as he heard the voices in his head and couldn¡¯t hold his mouth shut any longer.. So he mumbled in a low voice.. ¡° Will you shut up already.. I am about to go mad you know..? ¡° But, the voices didn¡¯t stop there. Even if he begged it made no difference to them.. They just ignored him and kept talking about random stuff.. ¡® I can fly! Let me take you to the sky..! ¡® ¡® A bath.. I need a bath.. ¡¯ ¡® How about a game between us..? ¡® Iryl couldn¡¯t even walk properly due to the loud noise the voices whispered all together in his head. Soon enough he tried to catch his balance while hanging on a wooden wall. But, to no avail.. He felt his head was about to burst and fell on the ground.. ¡° Please.. I am begging you stop talking.. It hurts.. IT REALLY HURTS!!!.. ¡° As he said that his consciousness began to drift away.. The loud noise made from the whispers slowly faded away and Iryl was finally alone in the blankness of his mind.. He couldn¡¯t move, think nor feel anything.. He just floated in nothingness. Iryl slowly opened his eyes only to find his self floating in a white space. He could neither move his body nor think straight about the situation he is currently into.. ¡° Where am I..? ¡° without thinking much of his surroundings he just blurt out what was on his mind.. After several seconds a voice rang in his head. ¡® Mortal.. Are you aware of whose presence you are currently under ? ¡® Iryl could hear a voice similar to the other ones he heard. But, he could understand that something was different from all the other.. Unlike them, this one was clear. It didn¡¯t pause when asking a question nor did it say something that would confuse him.. It was a normal question.. Yet, it held enough force to make one tremble and hold their breath in for several seconds.. After Iryl heard the voice, he almost immediately gathered back his thoughts and hurriedly answered without much thought. ¡° No.. No idea at all! ¡° ¡®¡­¡¯ The voice didn¡¯t say anything for a while but, it gave of a feeling that if it was a person it would make a dumbfounded face and fall on his knees.. After the silence, he (or she) opened his mouth and said. ¡® I see... Mortals these days have no sense of respect for a being in a league higher than them.. Well, I¡¯ll let it pass since I am the one who made contact with you first... What is your name mortal..? ¡® Iryl slightly understanding a bit more of what kind of situation he was currently in, decided to be a bit more formal with the person he is talking to. ¡° In the place I come from, I go by the name of Iryl. Oh mighty being.. I request that you also share your name with me. ¡° '' Arrogant mortal.. I can sense disrespect in your words.. '' A drop of sweat formed on Iryl''s forehead as he heard the words of the unknown being. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. " No.. No! No disrespect at all! " '' Hahaha! Relax mortal. No, Iryl I suppose.. The reason of your coming here is not to fight me but to make a contract.. '' Iryl was pretty much silent as he kept hearing the other person talking. Once he finished his mouth couldn''t resist but ask. " Contract..? " '' Yes.. I was impressed! For someone who doesn''t even have a spirit contract to have such resistance over the spirits is unheard of.. I have seen many people being able to reject their first spirit contract with the first spirit they meet, but none of them could resist the pain and temptation of the second one or third.. In certain cases I have seen people reject up to 10 or 15 spirits but that''s the limit... '' The spirit paused for a moment before finishing what it was saying. '' And here you are.. A person who rejected over 100 contracts enduring both pain and temptation. Until you fell on the ground.. Now, tell me Iryl, how did you reject them all..? And most importantly, why didn''t you accept any of them ? '' With a tone that indicates interest the spirit finished what he was saying and was now awaiting for Iryl''s answer. " Ehh.. Even if you ask.. I can''t really explain. I just heard random questions like ''Come play with me'' or ''do you want a glass of water ?'' but, I had work to do and just declined their offers.. After a while, I just ignored them and before I knew it the pain took over me.. Besides, who are you anyways..? And why am I even here ? Where is this place..? " ''...'' The spirit didn''t speak for a while so Iryl took the initiative to speak again but was cut off. " Hello! Excuse.. " '' Ahahaha! Mortal.. No Iryl my future benefactor.. '' As the spirit talked the place around Iryl began to change. A vast grassland appeared out of nowhere and Iryl fell lightly on the grassy soil. About 5 yards away from Iryl a small tree grew out of the ground. The tree''s growth didn''t stop there, it kept growing more and more and after several seconds it was already over 5 meters tall. Green leaves like those of an apple tree made the tree look fully grown and, as if it was spring, small silver fruits began to grow. Upon taking a closer look Iryl found out what the silver fruits were. " Clocks ? " The moment he said the word the blue sky was filled up with thousands of clocks of all kinds and shapes. With his mouth slightly open and an awestruck face Iryl wishpered once again. " ..Amazing.. " '' Isn''t it ? '' As if to remind him that there was someone else there as well the spirit broke Iryl''s admiration of the spectacle that was unfolding in front of him with its answer. Once more with amazement in his voice Iryl asked.. " Just who are you..? " '' Huhuhu! For I, I am one of 73 spirit gods that rule over all of the spirits. And my name is Zyth the Spirit God of time! '' (Author here: If you believe you have a more fitting name for the spirit god leave it in a comment bellow and if I like it more I''ll be changing it.. I couldn''t come up with a fitting name... I would prefer it if the first letter is ''Z'' Thank you dear reader.) Without stopping there Zyth kept up his speech. '' Mortal! Ghmm.. I mean Iryl! I brought you here in order to form a contract with you! I was amazed by the feat you showed me and so here I am to ask you.. '' Zyth took a deep breath and with the most serious voice he had ever spoken so far said. '' Iryl.. Do you accept me as the main spirit that will reside in your body ? '' Without losing time and in a serious state of mind Iryl replied. " If that means that I will get stronger then.. Zyth.. I accept you as my main spirit! Now come! " Iryl opened his arms wide waiting for the impact from accepting the offer. ''...'' "..." '' What are you doing..? '' " Ehh?? Aren''t you supposed to enter my body..? " '' Sigh.. '' A sigh was all Iryl heard and after a while he turned red from embarrassment and irritation.. Seems that Zyth wasn''t one to let it pass, as he said in a voice low enough for Iryl to hear.. '' Pfft.. Did he think that I would literally enter his body..? What is he, an idiot..? '' " I heard that! Bastard, you tricked me! " '' Tricked you ? No that''s not it.. This is my world. Anything that happens here doesn''t affect your real body.. Well.. I suppose that the tattoo must have formed on your body since we finished the contract.. But, since your consciousness is here you didn''t feel the impact from it forming... Anyways! Since we are finished here I''ll be sending you back to your world. I''ll see you soon! '' With that last sentence a void appeared under Iryl''s feet and he fell into the endless black.. Before he fell he was able though to utter some words.. " Wait a moment! I have more questioooooooo.... " '' Ahh.. I am tired.. This generation¡¯s mortals are too tiresome.. Well. To think that I would make a contract.. But more importantly.. '' Zyth paused for a second before he said in a loud enough voice. " What are you doing here Erevel..? " " Araa.. I was found out ?! " " Wandering into someone else''s realm without being noticed..? Who do you think I am ? " " Uwaa.. Big brother Zyth is angry.. " Said Erevel in a childish manner.. Before she added. " But, this is rare! For big brother to make a contract.. And as a main spirit as well! Are you sure about this..? Your benefactor may not be suitable for you..? " " Only time can tell.. Besides I can break the contract if need be.. " (Author: Is that a pun..?) " Ehh..? The penalty for breaking a contract is quite harsh big brother! " " I am aware of it, I am aware.. And I do hope that I won''t have to.. " With that last sentence the two spirits finished their conversation and silence filled the spirit god Zyth''s realm.. END of chapter 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s note: Hello my fellow readers! First of all I want to apologize for the long wait.. I had a pretty eventful summer to be honest and I was away for far more time than I expected.. So once again I am sorry.. The second thing is that I don''t know if my vacation was tiring or relaxing... I seriously can''t say.. I am more physically tired than mentally... Well, the point is that I couldn''t write during the summer so I haven''t made any progress as I said I would.. Well, that''s one thing! What I plan for now is to go back to my regular pace of 1 chapter in Wednesday and one in Sunday. I will take my time with the first volume and finish it in a way that both I and hopefully you as well will enjoy! As for the last news of the day I finally got a proof reader!!! A friend of mine said that he would like to do the proof reading for me correcting mistakes and maybe add some comments of his own.(He is far better at english grammar than me I think..) Since he doesn''t have an acc on the site I will not reveal an ID until he makes one. Before I close those long author notes I want to give full proof credits to my first proof reader who was also (coincidentally) a friend of mine but had to go serve in the army and couldn''t do that for me any longer. Full PC for AthanatoszZz up till now and hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you this Sunday! PS: My old proof reader didn''t have an acc either but it would be a shame to let it pass like that xD Underestimated! (Part 1) Ch: 11 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " Where.. Am I..? " With that sentence Iryl opened his eyes wide only to see several blurry figures around him. With his eyesight not working at its best, Iryl closed his eyes and focused on his ears. " Iryl! What''s wrong ? Have you come to your senses ? " A familiar voice resounded in his eardrums and he slowly gave an answer without opening his eyes in order to see who it was. " Is that you big sister Mirana ? " " Yes! How does your body feel, does it hurt anywhere ?! " For some reason Mirana¡¯s voice showed slight excitement, but that didn''t really matter for Iryl at the moment so he just gave a straight answer. " Eh.. Apart from my eyes I think I am ok..? " " Eh? Ah.. Let me check them for you! " As Iryl regained his balance of mind, he understood that there was something different between the usual Mirana and the current one. Her voice showed enough excitement to make her look like she was out of it or absent minded.. So before opening his eyes Iryl took the initiative to ask in an almost childish way. " Ehh.. Is there something wrong.? " " Eh?! Ah.. No there is nothing wrong! It''s just.. Just that... " No matter how one looks at it she was clearly hiding something.. And that made Iryl feel a bit more cautious about the current situation. So he unconsciously muttered. " ..Just..? " " Well.. You will understand if you see it.. So let me check your eyes... " '' I have a bad feeling about this.. '' Iryl slowly opened his eyes and the blurry scene had yet to leave his eyes.. '' What''s wrong with my eyes god damn it.. I can''t see a thing.. '' With a bit of hesitation Mirana asked about the condition of his eyes. " So..? Can you see now..? " " No.. Not a thing, everything is blurry.. Ohh! It starts to clear up.. Really slowly though... " Iryl kept his eyes closed for 5 more minutes and when he felt that he would be able to see, he opened them slowly.. His vision has been restored and he blinked twice before saying.. " Ehh.. What are you all doing here..? No.. More importantly.. Why are you staring at me..? " In the corner of his eye, close to his right shoulder but further down his arm without reaching his elbow, Iryl saw some kind of patterns resting on his previously pale white skin. There was a mix of colors that included yellow, orange, black, and a little red.. With orange and black as the two main colors filling his arm. With the help of his left hand Iryl tried to move up the white sleeve of his silky shirt in order to take a better look at what was on his arm but froze as he saw his left hand.. " What.. Is this..? " Iryl paled as he inspected his left hand. The previously white skin was now partly covered in similar colors as his right shoulder.. With the blur finally gone now and his eyesight completely stabilizing he took a closer look at the patterns that were filling up his left hand.. What he saw was gears.. Hundreds of orange and black gears connected to one another.. Around the gears was a reddish glow that once it got more than a centimeter away from the gears turned into a pale yellow and mixed in with Iryl''s pale white skin beautifully. The gears were forming a spiral around his left hand and it was getting thinner the closer it got to his palm. Not too thin but enough for someone to say that it was less than the rest of his arm.. Upon reaching the upper side of his palm it got a little thicker and formed a bigger circular gear that connected with the smaller ones. Unlike the rest the inside of the gear wasn''t filled with colors such as orange or black. What filled the gear was the original white of his skin as it embedded nicely with the rest of the gear. In the middle of the circular gear was a far smaller one that extended with far smaller gears that were connected to each other holding up a pointy needle that was showing towards Iryl''s middle finger. On the opposite side of the circle another needle smaller than the other one pointed towards the orange gears. After talking a closer look Iryl saw what seemed like letters where the two needles pointed. Not only there, but all around the circular gear small letters almost invincible to the naked eye were engraved on his skin. After inspecting the letters Iryl muttered to himself.. "..XI..XII..?.. A clock..? " The words Iryl spoke didn''t escape Mirana''s sharp ears and soon she spoke. " So you also think it looks like a clock huh..? " "..Eh ? Ehh..? " Iryl broke out of his daze and looked around him.. " Uhh.. What are you all doing here..? " Before Iryl could open his eyes the small room was already filled to the brim with elves.. They didn''t make any noise and were as silent as the furniture of the room, so.. As he focused on his tattoo''s he didn''t even realize he was surrounded by others.. They also didn''t interrupt his as he was inspecting them expecting an answer as to what they were.. One absent minded elf among the group opened his mouth and said.. " What are we doing..? " (AN: He answered the question with a question!?! Facepalm) "..." Once again the same elf asked with a questioning look.. " So.. What are those..? " '' Like hell I know.. '' " Ehh.. Good question..? " After Iryl said the above all the elves in the room made a poker face and stayed in silence.. Before anyone could say anything a loud voice came from outside.. " OUT OF THE WAY!!! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!!! " Along with the voice Narxus rushed into the room pushing the rest of the elves out of the way.. Upon seeing Iryl resting on the bed or more precisely the tattoos on his body he almost jumped next to him throwing Mirana out of her place... He quickly grabbed Iryl''s hand and began inspecting the tattoos while asking over and over.. " Are you ok ?! Does it hurt anywhere ? Do you know what these are ?! Why did they suddenly apear on your body ?! " Drool could be seen dropping out of his mouth as he was more intrested in the tattoos than the person himself.. With a small glint in his eyes and a wicked smile on his face Narxus pinned down Iryl and began unzipping the buttons on his shirt while saying.. " Get naked! Haha! " Reminded of his previous experience with Narxus, Iryl immediately crawled to the corner of the room while screaming.. " NO!!! Someone! Anyone! Save me!! " Narxus had a wicked grin on his face as he neared Iryl.. " Escape is futile..! " In the elves¡¯ eyes Narxus was a mad elf who tried to inspect Iryl.. Nothing more nothing less. While in the eyes of Iryl Narxus looked like a demon who was grinning and oozing out smoke from his face having his demon like red eyes marked and ready to eat his meal.. As Narxus moved his hand closer, Iryl made a terrified face showing how scared he was.. The next moment a punch came flying into Narxus''s face and made him fly out of the window... The sound of breaking glass could be heard as he literally passed through the window while spinning in mid air.. " What do you think you are doing IDIOT NARXUS!! " Mirana who was pushed aside before couldn''t hold her anger in anymore and forced Narxus out of the room... " Huff.. Huff... Fuu... " After breathing heavily for a while Mirana went back to her normal self and asked Iryl.. " Are you ok..? Iryl ? " " Big sister Mirana.. Scary... " Like an arrow, that last word pierced Mirana''s heart and she fell on her knees.. Never once had Iryl said that to her.. As he also was unaware of that kind of strength... While on her knees she was murmuring something again and again that no one could hear.. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. '' I.. I am scary... Iryl called me scary.. '' 10 Minutes later... In the small room or cabin.. There were currently 4 elves. One of them was none other than our protagonist Iryl who was resting on the bed. The others were: Mirana who was sulking (for who knows why..), Narxus who had his head filled with gauzes and a large bruise was visible on his cheek.. As for the last person it was the previous leader of the elf group Arvin who had stepped down as the leader after Luke took over the hunting group and was now assisting around the camp. Narxus took the initiative to speak before the others.. " Get naked.. " After he finished his two word sentence Mirana was being held down by Arvin as she kept shouting.. " I CAN''T KEEP IT IN AFTER ALL... Narxus.. I''LL KILL YOU!!! " " Calm down Mira! That''s not what he means! " Narxus was traumatized from the earlier incident and like the wind he left Iryl¡¯s side and was currently trembling in the corner of the room.. As he was trembling he murmured to himself.. " Monster woman... " Thankfully Mirana''s sharp ears didn''t catch that and before a new incident occurred Iryl opened his mouth. " I don''t think it is what you think big sister Mirana.. I believe Narxus wants to inspect my back. " Narxus said in a trembling voice as he heard that. " Iryl..! Of course why else would I want you to undress..? " The three elves went back to their original seats and I said as I was removing my shirt. " I believe that the tattoos expanding on my body are an after effect of my first spiritual contract.. " As Iryl removed his shirt more tattoos showed up. The gears covered both of his shoulders and went all the way to his back. But before moving there what was interesting was the tattoo that extended on Iryls front side.. The gears passed over his shoulders not touching much of his neck if not at all. The gears connected like strings over his left side where his heart was located.. More gears where passing like a thin line from his left rib cage and connected to those coming down from his shoulders. But, what was the most interesting was the giant gear clock that looked like being held up by the rest of the gears located on his heart. Upon seeing all those tattoos on the front of his body the people around him were awestruck.. Or more precisely they didn''t know what to say for something they have never encountered before.. " That''s one hell of a tattoo you got there.. Just what kind of spirit did you make a contract with kid.. " Narxus not knowing how to express it he tried to laugh it off by making a small joke.. Iryl didn''t even bother answering and turned prone on the bed and showed them his back. Iryl turned his gaze to match that of the elves and as soon as he saw their faces he understood that there must have been something similar on his back.. Eaten by curiosity Iryl couldn''t help but ask.. " How is it..? " The three elves chuckled and Arvin took the initiative to explain.. " Well.. How to say it... It''s.. Amazing.. I''ve never seen something similar to this.. " '' That''s not what I asked for.. '' " Is there a word ? " The elf took a deep breath before he gave an answer.. " Well.. There is but.. there isn''t one as it should.. Apart from the word in the mid circle, with the help of the tattoos that are covering your back all eight circles that are supposed to form as you gain more spirit contracts are already formed.. The only thing missing from them are the words. " '' Well.. That''s obvious isn''t it..? I only made one contract.. There is no way that all eight contracts would be finished at once.. '' Arvin didn''t stop there and he kept talking. " Still.. This is amazing... What kind of spirit did you make a contract with for it to change your body so much.. " '' Technically it didn''t change me.. I just got a lot of tattoos on my body.. '' Even though Iryl didn''t want to expose the information that he made a contract with a spirit god. He couldn''t hide it easily, so he tried to change the subject.. " Well.. What is my main ability ?! I am really.. Really curious about it! " The three of them made a perplexed expression as they thought deeply.. Before long Narxus said.. " It must be some kind of healing ability like Mirana''s.. I can''t explain it else, I need more information on the spirit.. " '' God damn it! Just tell me the word already.. '' " Healing ability..? But, that doesn''t make sense..? " As Iryl said those words he realised that he would regret it after seeing Narxus eyes lit up and his grin reaching over his bruised cheek.. A drop of sweat went down Iryls forehead as he thought.. '' He got me.. '' Thankfully the other two had question marks showing above their heads while Iryl and Narxus were watching each other immensely.. Mirana couldn''t take it anymore and asked.. " What''s wrong you two..? You have been stari.. " As she was talking Narxus made her stop as he said. " Mirana, Arvin can you let me and Iryl talk in private for a little ? " Mirana frowned but soon Arvin took the initiative to speak.. " I don''t know what you two want to talk about but I am sure it''s something to do with your spiritual contract. And I also understand that you wouldn''t want others to know.. Isn''t that right Iryl..? " Iryl didn''t hesitate to nod but didn''t speak.. Arvin closed his eyes for several seconds before opening them once again and said.. " If I were still the leader I would look further into this but since I no longer am I will give you 10 minutes. Let''s go Mirana. " " Ehh?! Why ? Do you want me to leave Iryl alone with this maniac ?! " (AN: I don''t wish to use foul language so I am trying my hardest in order to find other ways of explanation..) " Mirana! We are leaving! " Arvin said in a fierce voice and Mirana nodded. Before they left she gave me one last look and I just smiled wryly.. As soon they left Narxus said. " Now.. " Before he could continue Iryl stoped him while saying.. " It''s not a healing ability is it..? It must be close but it isn''t right..? " " Yes. It can be said it''s close and it could be easily misunderstood for one but it isn''t.. " " So you took a gamble when you said that you thought it was a healing type.. " " Well.. I was 90% sure that it wasn''t but I lacked evidence. So.. I made a small trap. But, you are smart enough to be considered a genius so I didn''t think you would fall for it so easily.. " Iryl chuckled slightly before he opened his mouth. " I didn''t expect it so I had my guard down.. " Narxus made a small grin as he gazed towards Iryl.. Before long Iryl asked the most important question. " But, let me ask you mister Narxus why did you expect that I would try to hide my ability in the first place ? I mean is there a reason for me to hide it..? " Narxus closed his eyes as he said. " A reason huh..? " He then opened his eyes and said in a serious manner. " I know about it.. " " About it..? " Iryl didn''t understand what he meant but soon Narxus added. " About that little plan of yours and Luke. " END of chapter 11 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Notes: Hello everybody! Thanks for reading the chapter. Hope you enjoyed and I also hope that you will read the next one as well :D The next update will be this Wednesday! The next chapter might be a little smaller sadly. :/ Underestimated! (Part 2) Ch: 12 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere inside the Elf camp, into a small shack two figures stood in silence staring intently at each other. One of them slightly opened it''s mouth and asked in a low voice only for the figure opposite to him to hear. " For how long..? Since when did you know about it..? No, more importantly, how much do you know ? " " Calm down Iryl. It''s not like I''ll expose your secrets.. Now.. I am not that cruel am I..? Geez.. And give it a rest with that stare.. For god''s sake.. " The two figures that were none other than Narxus and Iryl took a deep breath and sighed.. After that, Iryl spoke in a calmer way than before. " I understand Mister Narxus.. So how much have you heard ? " " Well.. To be honest, when I saw you rushing out of your way covered in open injuries only to speak to Luke.. It seemed quite weird.. " '' Well... Anyone who saw that would probably think it was weird.. '' " So.. How do you know about what we plan to do..? " " Oh.. Well. I saw you walking around with Luke once you got out of the monste.. Ghmm.. Mirana''s cabin.. After that, my curiosity took the better of me so I followed the two of you.. That''s when I heard about it.. " '' Did he listen to everything..? Does he know that we are not from this world ?! '' Iryl once again took a deep breath and asked in a serious manner.. " So..? How much do you know about our conversation..? " " That''s quite the scary look you are giving out little Iryl. " Iryl unbeknown to him was making quite a scary gaze.. But, in this situation he didn''t really care about it. " Well.. I haven''t heard a lot but one thing I am sure is that you are planning to leave the continent of Elven Garden.. Right..? " Iryl couldn''t help himself and asked with a small wry smile on his face and a drop of sweat going down towards his cheek.. " Is.. Is that it..? " " Huh..? " Narxus had a confused expression on his face while he asked.. " What do you mean is that it..? Is there something else more important than this..? It hasn''t been a single elf that wished to leave apart from that moving calamity.. Shin Randel was the only elf that had ever left the continent before.. Do you even recognize how much of an impact this will have in the elf society..?! Not to mention that it won''t be only you but Luke as well..? Do you kids even realise what you are trying to accomplish ?! " After saying all that Narxus''s breathing became heavy.. Iryl on the other hand was truly relieved.. '' Thank god he only heard about that part... From what he says I don''t think he knows that we are both from another world.. Well, that''s a relief... '' When he was thinking, Iryl gave off a feeling of being in his own world.. But, that didn''t last long as Narxus brought him back.. " Hey.. Hey Iryl! Do you even listen to what I am saying..? " " Eh.? Ah.. Yes.. I was listening.. " Narxus gazed at him with a doubtful expression and then said.. " From the way you are acting I guess that was only a small part of your conversation.. And the most important part was already said.. " " W~W~What might y~y~you be talking abou~t~t Mister Narxus..?! " With a glint of interest Narxus said.. " Hehh.. Now I really want to know!? Will you tell me lil'' Iryl ?! " Changing from his relaxed state Iryl made a serious expression and with a gaze that expressed a lot of seriousness he replied.. " I am sorry Mister Narxus but that is something I cannot allow even you to know.. It is something that I will take to death no matter what happens.. " Narxus gulped once and said.. " It''s alright.. If it is something so important that you will take it to the grave.. I won''t insist.. But, as for the two of you leaving.. " Iryl gulped once before gritting out of his teeth.. " I want to see it.. " Narxus made a questioning look as he gazed at him.. And then Iryl continued.. " I want to see the outside world! I want to travel to all places! I want to explore! An adventure is what I seek..! " After saying what was on his mind Iryl began to breathe a bit more heavily as a small smile formed on his face. Narxus on the other hand had a serious expression on his face.. After taking a deep breath of air he said back to Iryl.. " It''s impossible.. I won''t allow you to leave with such a naive way of thinking.. All this time.. I have been observing you, and I know, how hard you worked. The fact that even though you had no talent using the bow or magic you never gave up.. But, even so.. Even though your external energy is abnormally high and I believe even your spiritual energy will get eventually even higher... I cannot allow you to leave.. Because.. Because even your ability cries out that you are not fit to be a fighter! " " Huh..? " Iryl was let with a stupid expression as he asked.. " Just what does the word in my back say.. " Narxus took a deep breath and exhaled as he said in a low voice.. " ..Growth.. " Silence filled the room once again and Iryl was currently in deep thought of the meaning behind the word on his back.. Before he could say anything Narxus broke the silence by saying.. " I believe it has to do something with time.. Maybe plants can grow faster or something.. Even injuries might be possible to heal who knows.. " " Is that the reason why I can''t go out and join the hunting group..? " " Well.. As you know elves that can heal are scarce.. We only have Mirana with her healing ability and now you with an ability that can possibly heal others as well.. So you leaving the village won''t be permitted by the higher ups.. Moreover, Luke is the current leader of our camp.. You two will be treated as ''important'' existences for the village.. " Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Iryl couldn''t hold it in anymore and replied back.. " Mister Narxus.. I am going to be honest with you.. I can''t stay in a place where I feel caged. Even if the world doesn''t agree with me I don''t really care... " Iryl now had a deadly look on his face as he stared deep into Narxus eyes.. From what Narxus said he was forced to remember his past where he was literally placed in a bird cage.. Only from that Iryl was traumatized and disliked the feeling of not being free to do what he wished. Narxus, affected by the aura Iryl gave off, took a step back and then sighed. " I don''t know what made you think that because you will be important in the village they will put you in a cage.. But don''t get me wrong. Healers are an important existence in our village and you will only be praised if you stay.. " Iryl broke his deadly stare and stopped emitting his aura as he gritted his teeth.. " Even so.. I.. I.. " After thinking for a little he just sighed and said.. " Well.. For the time being it''s not important what I''ll do in the future.. But, for now I think I''ll just try to understand my ability a bit better.. " " That''s good to hear! I am sure as you grow up you will understand the meaning behind my words.. And I know you will pick the best choice there is! " Iryl nodded when he heard what Narxus said because he didn''t wish to drag this conversation any longer and just closed his eyes for a brief moment.. " By the way Iryl.. Since when were you able to feel spiritual energy!? And why didn''t you say anything..? " Iryl opened his eyes and just let out a questioning ''Eh?'' before he said.. " I am not really sure.. I checked my spiritual energy like a week ago and it was the same as ever.. I wonder how..? " Iryl got the power badge out of his pocket and just stared at it silently.. " Hey Iryl.. Hey.. What does it say..?! Come on, don''t be like that and show me too! " With a blank expression on his face Iryl moved the badge towards Narxus who was dying of curiosity... " Let''s see! Let''s see..! " Narxus stared at the badge as the color of his face went pale.. ***Mid Level Power Badge*** External Energy Level: ??? Spiritual Energy Level: 289 ***Mid Level Power Badge*** The two elves wore pale expressions on their face as neither of them knew what to say... " Mind.. Mind explaining what this is..? Iryl my student..? " " Student..? " Iryl couldn''t help but have sweat running down his neck.. A vein popped out on Narxus''s face.. His face darkened and a grin that indicated his anger appeared. He was silently laughing as he asked Iryl in a low tone.. " Ha..Haha..Ha... Since when..Ha.. Since when did you need a new badge Iryyyyl..?! No.. More importantly... Why didn''t you say anything..?! Ehh... Iryyyyll..? " "..." Iryl didn''t respond for a while and as he saw Narxus was clearly foaming steam out of his mouth he said. " Well.. I didn''t check it... Ha..Hahahaha...Ha..? " Narxus was making his way closer to Iryl who was obviously moving backwards.. " Iryl.. Your teacher is really angry right now.. " Iryl was already cornered and had tears forming on his eyes as he cried out... " AAAAHHHH!!! I am sorry! I am sorry! I am really sorry!!! It''s not that I was scared enough to not inform you!!! It is definitely not that!!! Spare me Mister Narxus!!! " With Narxus grabbing Iryl from the shoulder and his face looking similar to a demon.. He was ready to do whoever knows what to him.. When suddenly the door burst open and Mirana made her way into the room.. " Alright!! Five minutes are finally over! Did you two fin.. Finish... Fi.. " With a dumbfounded face Iryl and Narxus were staring at Mirana who paused what she was saying and was now also staring back at them... With a fast thought Iryl opened his mouth.. " ..Help... " Taking only a moment for Mirana to process the message, she made heavy stomps as she moved closer to them.. What could I say.. If Narxus was a demon in Iryl''s eyes then Mirana was... Hmm... The Grim would be a good comparison.. Probably.. " Wait.. Wait Mirana... It''s not what it looks... " Narxus tried to protest but to no avail.. " WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING IDIOT NARXUS!?!?! " SFX: Crash!.. With a clean uppercut on his chin Mirana sent Narxus flying towards the roof of the small room... He passed right through the roof and his lower body was stuck there limbless like a lamp on the roof.. "..." ''...'' All the elves present were left speechless and thus a new legend was born... END of chapter 12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Note: Ahh.. Finally it''s over... My hands are numb... Ehh..? What did I have to say again.. Oh! Yea.. Apart from me nagging, this is the fastest chapter I''ve ever written... It''s also the most rough in my opinion.. The past three days have been hell.. I had a lot of things to do so I was kinda pressed on time.. Well, I hope the chapter was not so hard.. If it was please do leave a comment where you think it is and if possible point out where.. Once again I am sorry for the poor writing and thank you for reading.. Thank god I will be able to write with ease the next chapter... See you this Sunday! Multiple Personalities? Ch: 13 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " Sigh.. " '' Why did it have to end up like this.. '' '' No.. I know why... I was a fool.. A fool to even think for a moment that I am different now.. That things could change.. That I could forget my past and be my real self... But.. But, after all no matter in which world I live in.. Elves, humans.. It doesn''t matter... Since, after all everyone fears it.. '' A lone elf shed tears and whispered to no one in particular. He stood in a clearing having the summer breeze wave his hair along the grass on his feet.. While the moonlight fell on his teary face. It has been almost a week since Iryls spiritual energy had awakened and he was now helping around the camp... That''s right, the elves that consisted of the hunting group refused to let him join them even though he had a spiritual ability.. Even though Luke their leader wasn''t against it.. More precisely he wanted Iryl to join them... With Luke not being the best speaker around the camp, he couldn''t persuade the opposing elves to let him join and so.. It ended in a vote. A vote that all the camp took part in for some reason... In the end, the opposing elves won the vote. They had the majority of the camp on their side because Narxus and Mirana was on their side... Those two didn''t want to let Iryl go for their separate reasons.. Narxus didn''t wish to let Iryl go only for him to have more time experimenti *Ghmm!* researching on Iryls ability.. As for Mirana it was something simpler.. Far more simple... She didn''t wish for Iryl to get hurt so.. She ended up in the opposing team.. Apart from the important figures that joined the opposing team, part of the reason he wasn''t allowed to join the hunting group was because Narxus disclosed to the public.. Or the elves that Iryls ability was a kind of healing type. This resulted in all the elves that agreed to let him join go over to the opposing team... Leaving only Iryls first friends apart from Lilith who was opposed from the beginning. Luke, Ken, Dan and Aprilia tried to persuade the other elves that Iryl could be a great asset in their hunting forces, but to no avail... And thus here we are once again with Iryl doing chores around the camp.. " Sigh.. " Iryl was currently wiping clean a bowl with a small towel. The place he is in is a big shack that most elves think of it as a tavern for them to dine and rest. The inside looked like a normal tavern with a lots of wooden tables and chairs. Some small decorations here and there but nothing special.. There was one thing that could be considered special though and that was a huge head of a bear on the wall behind the bar. " Sigh... " Iryl sighed again as his mind went around the events that took place a few days ago.. " Hey Iryl! Don''t be so depressed man.. Your depression makes the food look bad! Come on it''s not like you to be depressed for so long.. " The one who spoke to him was an elf called Serth. Similar to Iryl he was also not allowed to join the hunting group.. Serth was two years smaller than Iryl and even though he joined the camp two years ago he is pretty much.. Useless.. He always tries to be as lazy as possible.. Sleeping most of the day, eating whenever he can.. And most of all never works.. Even the first spirit he made a contract with is a lazy one... According to him it''s an earth spirit that allows him to use it''s power once a day... After that it sleeps.. " Hearing that from you doesn''t make me feel better... " " That hurts! Come on it''s not like the end of the world! There are other things you can do, right? " " That''s right Iryl! You are always welcome to help me here in the tavern you know! I always need a second hand around here you know..? " The one who spoke after Serth was Oliver. The elf that Iryl has been helping the most around the camp. Apparently Oliver was also the one managing the tavern. He could be called the Owner! " Mister Oliver.. I appreciate your offer. But, I am not fit for those kind of jobs.. So, I will have to decline.. " " What are you talking about Iryl! All these years you have been a great help around! " Iryl just shrugged it off while saying.. " Haha!.. Your words please me Mister Oliver but I will still have to decline.. " After a small silence and the two elves looking worriedly at Iryl, he finished wiping the dishes clean and said. " Ahh.. Now that I am finished I will have to excuse myself.. I''ll be leaving through the backdoor. " Serth couldn''t hold his curiosity in and asked. " Why?! Isn''t the front door fine as well ? " " Mister Narxus will be coming soon.. Tell him I finished earlier and went over to Mirana''s hut.. " " Why would Narxus come all the way here? " Asked Serth the curious elf.. " Well.. You''ll soon know!.. " Answered him the owner of the tavern Oliver. " Then I''ll be off.. " " Have a nice afternoon! And Iryl.. Don''t let it get to you.. " Iryl gave a wry smile at Oliver and made his exit towards the inner side of the tavern. " So.. Why will Narxus come here..? " " You will see in a moment.. " A cloud of dust filled the air out of the big shack as a figure hurriedly made his way into the tavern.. " Huff.. Huff.. Is.. Iryl finished..? Huff.. " That figure was none other than Narxus.. Without waiting for an answer he kept talking.. " I came.. Huff.. To.. Pick him up.. Huff " Serth was confused.. Pick him up..? Was what he thought. Oliver answered with his usual uninterested voice.. " He finished earlier today.. He said he would be going to Mirana''s hut... " But even before he finished his sentence Narxus was already ou of sight heading towards Mirana''s hut... '' Fast... '' Is the thought that passed through Serth''s mind... Meanwhile, Iryl was aimlessly walking around the camp thinking of what he should do from now on.. '' Sigh.. At least I escaped Narxus''s experiments.. Now.. What should I do.. '' Iryl kept walking for a while saying ''hello'' or ''Good afternoon'' from time to time to the passing elves.. As he kept going around he suddenly realised that he has reached the outskirts of the camp. In front of him was now the wooden wall that surrounded the camp.. '' I reached the wall huh..? Ahh.. I so want to go outside... '' The wall in front of him wasn''t so tall. It must have been around 4 metters at the most. And with Iryl''s physical prowess he could easily climb his way past the wall.. But, there were those invisible shackles that kept him from leaving. On the corner of his eye Iryl saw a small tree around 3 metters tall next to the wall and once he turned his gaze towards it a small lust for meditation was what he felt. '' Guess I can do some meditation to take my mind out of it.. '' He made his way towards the small tree and sat under the place where its branches covered the light rays from the setting sun. Iryl closed his eyes and placed his hands on his knees. After taking a big breath he let the air out of his lungs and focused on his inner spirit energy.. As he did that unlike the time he had no spiritual contract, he felt his consciousness fade away. But, he soon shrugged it off thinking it was because he had a contract with a Spirit God.. Soon after, Iryl found himself lying on a grassy field under a large tree. He blinked his eyes for a moment before opening them wide open at the spectacle before him. Once again, he found himself under the large tree that had little golden clocks sprouting on its branches. While on the blue sky clocks of various shapes colors flew aimlessly around. It took Iryl but a moment to realise where he was. And that was.. " Zyth''s realm..?! " Without a moment''s waste an answer came from nowhere... '' Did you call me-nya?! '' But before Iryl could open his mouth he kept talking. '' Oh! If it isn''t Iryl! Took you long to come here! What were you doing these days..? '' The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. " Zyth.. You sound kinda excited..? What happened to the serious aura you usually give of..? And what''s with the ''nya'' ?! " '' Nya? But I am my usual self! What is so weird-nya?! '' Iryl couldn''t help but sweat slightly.. Even in this other realm.. So before he completely lost his sanity he asked.. " Did you hit your head on a rock or something Zyth..? " '' What do you mean-nya? I am perfectly fine-nya! '' And now Iryl was on the ground ready to give up life.. But! Before he was able to do so Zyth solved all of his problems.. '' Oh! I almost forgot it-nya! We have a split personality-nya! '' Iryl was still on the ground.. Way to confused to even understand what was going on... After several moments he managed to organise some of the information he gathered and noticed something out of place. So he hurriedly asked. " Wait! Wait a moment.. We..?! There are more except of you?! " '' What do you mean-nya? Of course there are more-nya! '' Iryl was once again lost in his world.. '' More? Eh.? What? I am starting to go senile finally.. Zyth the almighty and serious Spirit God has split personalities?! '' " Eh.. Just to know.. How many of you other than the first Zyth I met there are..? " '' Hmm.. There are seven of us in total-nya! '' " Seven..? Ahh.. I am really starting to go senile.. So.. Can I talk with Zyth for a moment..? He has some things to explain.. " '' The other Zyth-nya? But I am Zyth! '' " Ahhh... This will get us nowhere.. By the other Zyth I mean the.. Serious one..? " '' Impossible-nya! '' " Why..? " '' Well-nya.. Today I am in control-nya! '' " Ehhh! Isn''t that egotistical? " '' Why-nya?! '' " Well you don''t let the other one take over.. Or something..? " '' But.. Today is Wednesday so I am in charge-nya! '' " Is that so.. Does that mean that tomorrow someone else will take your position? " '' Nya! But of course! I only take over at Wednesdays-nya! '' " Eh.. Is that so? So when will the normal Zyth take over? " '' But I am Zyth-nya? '' " Ahhhh! This will get us nowhere... By other I mean the one I spoke to last time? Does that help..? " '' Ohh! You want to speak with the main one-nya? '' " Yes! That one when can I speak to him? " '' Sunday-nya! That is the day he takes over-nya! '' " So I have to wait for answers until it is his turn huh.. " After thinking for some a while Iryl took a deep breath and asked.. " Hey Zyth! How can I leave this place..? In the first place why am I even here ? I was just trying to meditate... " '' Leaving already-nya? But you just came-nya!? '' " Well how should I say it.. I just want to meditate you know? " '' But you already do-nya? '' " Eh..? But I can''t meditate with my mind focused on something other than it can I? I mean that''s the basics right?! " '' Technically yes-nya. But, when you form a contract with someone like me-nya, you meditate while you are here as well-nya! '' " Ehh.. Is that so..? " '' Of course-nya! '' Iryl took a deep breath and after some thought he sighed.. Once he was calm enough he proceeded to ask more questions. " Hey Zyth. As a split personality do you have a name different from the main one? " '' Why would I-nya? '' " Well.. Isn''t it inconvenient? I mean having seven.. Personalities and everyone being Zyth is kind of weird isn''t it? " '' Now that you say that-nya.. Well-nya. After our control time is over we fall asleep and the next one takes over-nya! So we never need to interact with each other-nya! '' " Then... If you are asleep how do you even know that there are six more of you..? " '' Nyaaa! But, once we fall asleep it''s like seeing what our other selves are doing-nya! How did you think I knew your name-nya? '' " Well.. Now that you say it.. It does make sense.. Anyway we will need a name for you.. I can''t go calling all of you Zyth.. My mind will break down eventually if I keep at it.. Haha.. " '' A name-nya..? '' '' Then how about Zythnya-nya? '' " Ehh... That sounds.. Kinda weird.. You need something more.. Fitting for your personality... How about Cat ? " '' Catnya-nya? '' " No it is Cat! " '' Catnya-nya!? '' " Ughh.. Fit yourself.. So about the others what kind of personalities do they ha.. " SFX: Ding~Dong! Ding~Dong! The clocks around the realm started ringing loudly one after the other. '' Look like my time is up-nya! '' " Hey! What do you mean!? It has only been several minutes since we started our conversation! " '' Time flows differently in my realm-nya! A full day in here is 2 hours long-nya! In your realm it sould be around 12-nya! '' " Twelve.. What are you talking it was around 7 o''clock when I began meditating.. It can''t have been five hours in the real world right?! " '' No time to explain-nya! It is the next one''s turn-nya. And looks like you will have to stop meditating here-nya! The next one doesn''t want to meet you-nya.. '' " Doesn''t want.. Wait! I still have questions! " '' Can''t be helped-nya! Well I''ll be sending you of-nya! Come visit me again on Wednesdays-nya! If what you want is answers you should as the main one-nya! And.. Thanks for the name-nya.. '' " Wait! Wait a moment cat!! " '' It''s Catnya-nya! See yaa-nya! '' Before Iryl could even say anything more, a black hole appeared under his feet and for one more time he fell into the endless abyss while his consciousness went back into his real body.. The sun had long since left and the training camp was filled in darkness. All the camp apart from where Iryl was meditating that is.. After Iryl was forcefully sent out of Zyth''s.. Or Catnya''s realm he slowly opened his eyes in the same meditative position he left his body in. The place he was resting on was a little bit more lighted than the rest of the camp. As if he had just woken up from his sleep.. Iryl gave off a big yawn and rubbed his eyes while streching his shoulders in order to wash away the sleepiness in his face.. As he regained most of his senses he asked a questions in the elves that were gathered around the edges of the light.. " What..? " None of the elves answered.. Some of them were staring at him while others had their mouth slightly open while looking above him.. Apparently, the hole camp has been gathered.. And among the elves that were gathered there Narxus made his way towards Iryl while asking in a shaking voice.. " Did.. Did you do that..? " Iryl half asleep answered in his drowsiness.. " Did.. What..? " Narxus pointed above him and Iryl slowly turned his face upwards.. The small tree that he used to cover the sunlight had fully grown and now looked like a tree over hundreds of years old.. Even the wooden wall behind it has been consumed into the massive tree.. The giant tree instead of fruits had small green and yellow light bulbs bursting out of the brunches lighting the area around the tree. In the meantime, fireflies and other small insects were attracted to the light and flew around the tree. Even birds had already made their nests here and there and were sleeping peacefully under the little light.. After a few seconds Iryl couldn''t help but say.. " Ehhh..? Sorry... I might have caused this... " The elves just kept staring at him sitting on the now grassy floor as he smilled wryly and scratched the back of his head... END of chapter 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Notes: Not much to say.. Here is the new chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! I really enjoyed writing this one to be honest... Well! Apart from that! Thanks for reading next chapter will be up this Wednesday and sorry for not uploading earlier this one.. I was away and had a really tough day.. Haha.. Ha... ( Soul flies out of my mouth... ) Anyway.. Once again thanks for reading and bye! Look forward for the next one as well! PS: Multiple personalities wasn''t on a whim! ( Lies...) And I don''t lie! Fear Of The Unknown! (Part 1) Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The whole camp was gathered around the outrageously large tree that lit the night. Most of the elves were staring daggers at Iryl while others just couldn''t take their gaze off the tree.. '' ..Hey... It''s not like I knew this would happen... '' Is what Iryl would like to say but the words just couldn''t leave his mouth so in the end he just said.. " Ehhh..? Sorry... I might have caused this... " He kept a wry smile on his face and scratched his head with one of his hands as he wasn''t sure how to react about it.. The elves just kept staring while Narxus who was in front of him said.. " Now I understand... " Narxus gaze almost immediately changed from confused to a serious one and without losing time he grabbed Iryls hand.. A drop of sweat could be seen running down on Iryls neck as he understood what this meant... " You seriously can''t be thinkin... " But before he could finish his sentence Narxus was already running his way through the elves while laughing maniacally and saying.. " TO THE EXPERIMENTATION FACILI... GHMMM* TO THE LABORATORY!! AHAHAHA!! " " Help!! Someone!! Help me!! I don''t want to be a test subject again... Nooo..." That way, all the elves that were gathered there that night were left in the black as they kept staring at the gigantic tree.. Iryl and Narxus on the other hand were currently stuck.. Or what seemed to be stuck in a small alley.. Iryl was holding a wooden wall, part of a shack while Narxus was pulling Iryl from the legs while saying.. " We.. Are going.. To the LAB!! " " NEVER!! Over my dead body!! " " Then it will.. Be.. Meaningless! " The two of them had no intention of backing down so in the end, (10 minutes later) they were both exhausted on the ground.. " Huff.. Huff.. Then, let''s just talk it out.. Here... Is that fine..? " Narxus backed down! Ghmm* In the end Narxus was too tired to keep up and since Iryl would be able to escape if the struggle kept going on any longer.. He decided that his best choice was to talk it out.. " Huff.. Yes.. Huff... It is fine, if it''s only talking... Huff.. " So... With that said and done the two elves sat down on two nearby logs opposite to each other. Without losing time Narxus spoke first. " So.. What was that back there..? A silvery mist was forming around your body and whatever it touched had it''s growth greatly accelerated.. Did you know about that..? " " To be honest Mister Narxus I have no idea what that was.. " Narxus opened his eyes in surprise because he thought Iryl was conscious when he was meditating. " What do you mean..? You mean you didn''t have control over it?! " At those words Iryl shook his head and said.. " No! No.. That''s not what I meant.. The thing is that this thing will most likely always happen whenever I meditate from now on.. " As he finished his sentence Iryl lowered his head and had his fists clenched. Even though, he wished to hide the truth behind his spiritual contract he wasn''t sure for how long he could keep it up.. Narxus on the other hand saw that Iryl was being troubled by something and knew that it must have had something to do with his spiritual contract so he gave a long sigh and said only to ease Iryl. " Sigh... It''s okay if you want to hide things about your spiritual contract.. But, it wouldn''t hurt to open up to someone at least.. Geez.. " When he finished what he was saying Narxus shot up from the log he was sitting on and said. " Man.. It''s not like me to back down so easily.. Well whatever.. If you feel like you want to talk about it with someone I am always willing to help! " Iryl was still sitting on the log while staring down on the road. His eyes were wide open and several thoughts passed from his mind.. '' This person.. Just wants to help me.. If only.. If I told him.. '' '' No if I tell him I am sure that they will treat me differently for better or for worse.. Like in my old world.. '' '' But if only.. If only he understands... '' '' In the end.. I am a coward at heart... No matter what I do I can''t trully open to other people.. If it is him.. I am sure he... '' After a long time of thinking and Narxus being at the end of the small alley Iryl whispered.. " ..I understand... I''ll tell you.. But, promise me one thing.. " Narxus all this time had his ears open and heard him loud and clear. Before Iryl could turn his gaze from the ground Narxus was already sitting once again on the log... '' Fast... '' " Anything! I will promise anything!! " His eyes were sparkling and the grin on his face was the biggest one he had ever made so far in front of Iryl... With a slight frown Iryl said. " Very well.. I wish for what I am about to say to stay only between me and you Mister Narxus. " If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. His eyes were staring straight into Narxus''s eyes and his gaze was that similar to a beast ready to eat its prey.. Narxus gulped once and said. " I.. I understand. I will take what you tell me to death.. " With that being said Iryl blew out the air in his lungs and with a small sigh of relief he began explaining what was going on with his spiritual contract.. Half an hour later Iryl said the last words of his story. How he first made the spirit contract, what he talked about with Zyth. The fact that Zyth is a Spirit God, his multiple personalities, what happens when he meditates and lastly about the tree where he meditated.. Narxus listened to the whole story without uttering a single word. And once Iryl finished he said while holding his jaw which was resting on his left hand. " I see.. So that is what happened... " " Don''t forget about your promise.. " Narxus made a small sincere smile before noding. " Don''t worry! I won''t say anything. But, to think that you would make a contract with a Spirit God.. That sure is impressive.. " " Ehh?! You know something about Spirit Gods Mister Narxus? " Iryl asked surprised and much to his suspicion Narxus said with a frown.. " Well.. Not much about them. All I know is that they are one of the higher ranked spirits if not the highest among the spirit world... Apart from that I think that they make spirit contracts with Elves that have at least 8 spirit contracts... But, I don''t think that''s your case.. Those tattoos in particular. Right..? " Narxus said the last sentence jokingly with a small grin on his face.. A moment later, Iryl gave a slight nod back at his words before turning his gaze away.. The two Elves remained in silence for a few more moments, then Narxus asked him another question only to break the weird silence that floated in the air... " So.. What are you going from now on..? " " Even if you say that.. I don''t really know what I should do.. " " How about forming a second spirit contract? If my memory serves me correct your spirit essence must be in the late two hundreds! " " Well.. I thought of that... But, I can no longer feel the spirits around me.. (AN: Not that you could before >.>) " " Ehh..?! Is that so..? But when you were meditating under the tree I could see the spirits gathering around the aura your body gave off... And there were a lot of them.. I couldn''t count them to be honest.. " Narxus shrugged at his last words and Iryl said. " Well.. I don''t know what you are talking about.. But, as I said before when I meditate I think I am going in a different dimension than ours.. Or so I heard from Zyth.. I don''t know what is happening with my body here when I am there... " " Another dimension huh..? Well! Anyway, what are your plans for now? " Iryl didn''t say anything for a while and thought about it while gazing upwards where the stars lit the sky.. " Hmm.. I don''t know.. Maybe I will leave the camp? " " Hahaha! What are you talking about Iryl? Leave the camp? They won''t allow.. No, I won''t allow it either! Even if you try to run away, I don''t think that you will be able to escape from the hunting group! So remove those thoughts from your brain and decide what you''ll be doing from now on! You are always welcome to help me with my study.. Or you can help Mirana if you want... " " I know Mister Narxus... But, I think you already know about what I plan for the near future.. And if anything what I need now is experience.. Living here will only slow me down... " " Even so.. I still won''t allow you to leave... Anyway! Think about it a little more before you decide.. I want your answer by the end of the week.. Hey! Iryl do you hear me?! " Iryl was lost in his thoughts about what he should do from now on so he didn''t pay much attention at Narxus.. Soon enough he closed his eyes and gave out a long sigh.. " Hey!! Iryl are you listening to me?! " " I understand Mister Narxus.. " " Huh..? " " I will decide by the end of the week.. Even though I don''t think my mind will change.. " He once again looked at the starry sky and thought.. '' A life without fighting huh..? Well.. It could be nice... '' " That''s all for today.. I am quite tired so I''ll be taking my leave now.. " " Eh..? Ahh.. Sure. Good night.. " Iryl made his way towards his shack and Narxus sighed as he saw him leaving.. " Seriously.. What a troublesome child... " And so, the night came to a close as Iryl was resting on his leaf bed inside the shack he occupied.. '' A life as a caged bird.. Huh..? '' END of chapter 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Notes: Hello! Hello! Ehh.. Here is a small chapter.. To be honest I didn''t have much time to write.. Lately, I have a lot of stuff to take care off.. (Preparations for College..) So I am sorry for the small chapter... Anyway thank you for reading hope you''ll stay tuned for the next chapter coming out this Sunday! Leave a comment if you have questions! I always like reading your comments :) Anyway! See you this Sunday with a REVOLUTIONARY CHAPTER!!! Bye!~~ Fear Of The Unknown! (Part 2) ch: 15 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a certain place.. A place that looks like a clearing that a certain forest surrounds. A massive castle that is made out of bright white and silvery marble can be seen. Inside this castle in a certain chamber, a chamber so big that would make even a king feel jealousy over it had it been decorated... A lone person was sitting on a single chair that looked completely out of place inside the room. That person was flipping the pages of a book that had no words in it. But, that didn''t bothered him in the least.. He earnestly flipped page after page with no end in view. What stood behind him was a massive window that was letting natural light come into the room. The light rays fell on his back and warmed him up inside this monotone room.. The person himself, had dark black hair that made the light rays that fell upon it disappear into them like an abyss.. His skin was white bad had a light tan on it. Probably from the light rays that fell on him. As for his eyes a deep tint of green that sincerely focused on the empty book in his hands.. The person himself looked to be no older than 25 years old with little to no facial hair on his face. As for the look on his face.. Anyone who saw him would think that he was completely absorbed in the book he is reading. That''s what it looks from the outside.. But, for the person himself other thoughts pass through his mind.. '' ...What am I doing..? '' '' This book is empty and yet why does it feel like I already know the contents of it..? '' Time keeps flowing but nothing changes the current situation.. The person himself doesn''t really care about anything so he just keeps on thinking.. '' Why do I keep flipping pages.. Even though the book is empty.. And this place.. Why does it feel so familiar... '' '' Ahh.. Now I see... This book is like me.. Empty.. I can''t remember anything, I can''t feel anything, even my name.. '' '' What was it again..? Just who am I..? '' He kept flipping the pages of the empty book earnestly for what felt like eternity for him but it didn''t matter for him.. He just kept going on and on with it.. Because.. For as long he kept turning the pages the feeling of emptiness was being washed away from his heart.. But, that didn''t last long and he finally flipped the last page of the book.. A sudden emptiness filled him and several thoughts crossed his mind.. '' It''s over... What do I do now..? Why am I even here..? '' While lost in his thoughts, the light that came in from outside slowly went away.. As if the sun had already set long ago and now the darkness of the night had taken its place.. '' Should I start over..? Maybe the emptiness I feel will go away that way.. '' With that thought he turned the book around and looked at the cover. It was a dark brown made out of thick leather. On the cover, letters were carved on the leather.. He tried to make out the words but no matter how much he stared at them he couldn''t make the words because it was too dark for him to see.. After a while he gave up on his vision and moved his left hand over the cover to feel the letters.. The letters were carved in a language that he was familiar with so he quickly made out their meaning.. " The Tale Of.. " He stuttered at first and stopped midway through.. But, once again he said in a clear voice.. " The Tale Of Elvet Loran... " As soon as he said that red light fell on him from behind that most probably came from a crimson moon. The letters on the cover were now visible to him.. But, that didn''t matter for him as he was lost in thought.. '' Elvet Loran.. Could that be my name..? It feels so familiar.. '' (AN: The tone on Elvet is on the second ''e'') Suddenly, the door that was all the way to the other side of the chamber burst open and a figure began making its way towards him.. The one who was heading towards him was being covered by the shadows of the room so the person on the chair couldn''t make out if it was a man or woman.. Only the little noise of footsteps could be heard. From the sound alone he couldn''t tell if it was a man or a woman.. But, that didn''t bother him at all.. Even as the other person made his/her way towards him he was way too focused on the cover to pay attention to the other person.. After a while the figure made it all the way up to him.. It just stood in front of him about 30 centimeters away from the dim red light.. Elvet who was sitting on the chair turned his gaze upwards with a look that indicated his emptiness and said. " Who..? " The figure made it''s way into the dim red light with one step and frowned.. It was a girl most probably in her early twenties. She had azure blue eyes and blond hair that had a golden tint on them. Her face was beautiful enough for her to be misunderstood as a doll.. The young woman opened her mouth and said with her soothing voice.. " What.. Did you forget me already Elvet..? " Elvet stared at her for a moment and then opened his eyes wide open.. A smirk could be seen on the woman''s face that didn''t fit her appearance.. " Sylvia.. Why..? " " Why? Why what Elvet? " She tilted her head to the left as if to show that she didn''t know what he meant.. And so the man continued.. " Why did you do this to me..? Weren''t we friends..? No.. Even though I never told you I were in lo... " The woman named Sylvia suddenly hugged him and paused his words in the middle.. She then said with her calming voice.. " You know Elvet.. Ever since we met.. I''ve always... " She stopped there and didn''t say anything more.. Elvet slowly raised his hands and let the book fall from his hands in order for him to hug her back... But before he could return the embrace.. The book fell on the floor and he felt a staggering pain in his chest. The man screamed out in pain and looked downwards towards his chest area only to see a small dagger piercing his heart.. The dagger was held by none other than Sylvia who was still embracing him with her other hand.. A small smirk could be seen on her face as she closed near his ear and whispered only for him to hear.. "..Hated you..! " Elvet opened his eyes in shock! But, before he could react, vines appeared from the floor and dragged down into the floor.. Before he was completely consumed by them he cried out in pain.. " SYLVIA!!! " The woman just smirked silently back at him without saying another word.. " AAAHHHHHH!!! " Back at the camp inside a small shack a certain elf shouted as he woke up.. " Huff.. Huff... Why..? " Tears began to form on his face as he uttered those words.. He tried to calm himself down while thinking.. '' It was a dream.. Only a nightmare... Nothing more.. Relax... '' But, it wasn''t easy.. His breathing slowly got better but he couldn''t get himself to stop crying.. " Why..? Why are the tears.. Hic.. Why..? " The elf kept crying and several minutes later he finally managed to calm himself down.. Now, laying on his bed he just thought to himself.. '' Memories of the past should stay in the past... So why now..? Of all times.. Why now? '' He himself didn''t know why he had this dream.. Even though he knew exactly what the meaning behind this dream was.. '' Does that mean that I must never forget..? Do I have to live my current life with those memories in place? I don''t want.. I want to forget... Please let me forget them! '' The elf once again had tears forming in his eyes as he shouted.. " WHY ME?! Just let me forget already!! God damn it..! " The elf that was crying in his bed once again was none other than Iryl.. He had a weird nightmare which contained fragments of his previous life. As if to remind him to never forget what they did to him.. The young elf got control of himself only after an hour or so and stood up slowly from his bed.. His eyes were red from crying and his body felt heavy.. While clinging on the wall he moved himself towards the makeshift toilet of the shack and washed himself up with a bucket of water. After that nightmare his body was filled with sweat from head to toes so he had to thoroughly clean himself up.. Once he finished bathing he turned his gaze towards the stabilized water and took a look of himself.. " ..I look horrible.. " Iryl prepared himself for another day in just a quarter after bathing and was now ready to leave his shack. With a deep breath he opened the door and thus another day began.. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. In a planting field inside the camp, a bunch of elves were plowing the ground. Some of them were using earth magic making their work a bit easier. While others were doing it the manual way. Among the elves that were doing it the manual way one elf stood out. With his long white hair flowing gracefully in the air and reaching down close to his chest area. The elf worked in earnest while ignoring the stares of several elves around him.. He didn''t bother to chit chat with others because he was lost in thought. '' I wonder what that dream really meant.. I am starting to forget about it... And why was the book empty..? '' But, the time he was lost in thought didn''t last long as an elf approached him.. " Hey!.. Iryl! Good morning my dear friend! " Iryl escaped from his thoughts and turned to look at the elf. " Ohh! Serth did you decide to finally work?! " " Nah.. The old geezer in the tavern forced me to join! He said something along the lines of ''those who don''t work don''t eat! Now go help in the fields with your ability!'' And so he threw me out of the tavern.. " " Pfft! That sounds more like him.. Haha.. Anyway, so you decided to help? " Serth frowned and said while scratching his chin.. " Nahh.. I am just trying to find my way out.. But, with all those stares it''s tough to find a loop hole.. " " Haha! What can I say.. That is more like you.. " As the two elves were having their little chat an elf shouted at them.. " Hey! Seth! Don''t disturb the others from their work! Hurry and finish your own part! " " Yes.. I was on it... " With a whisper then Serth added.. " So.. You heard him I''ll be going back... " " Keep up the good work!? " With that last sentence and before Serth could return back to his work, one of the three main gates of the camp slowly opened and the hunting group came in slowly.. From Iryls location a huge boar could be seen being dragged through the gate. It was most probably what they caught this time. Several elves who were working on the fields paused their work and went over to take a better look and assist them in any way possible. Of course among them was Serth who dragged Iryl along.. (AN: Just for cover right?) The two elves went closer and took a better look at the giant boar. It was even bigger from up close. From the size alone they can probably feed the whole camp for a week with it.. At the front, Luke gave brief commands to the gathered elves of how to take care of the boar. His face though had a solemn expression. The reason for that was most probably the casualties they faced.. Iryl didn''t bother Luke with his work, since he knew that being the leader of a group has a lot of responsibilities he just stayed there and stared at the gigantic boar.. '' I wish I could also fight one of those.. '' As his mind wavered at the possibilities his gaze went towards the gate. There a cart that carried the injured elves passed through.. Five elves were seriously injured while three walked near the cart with some light injuries.. Iryl opened his eyes wide when he saw Aprilia being on the cart with heavy injuries on her body.. A hole in her abdomen was being heavily covered in bandages to stop the bleeding but to no avail.. Apart from that one heavy injury some minor injuries were on her body. From scratches to bruises.. The other elves on the cart weren''t in a better situation either.. Some were even had missing limbs.. With a frightened look on his face Iryl rashed towards the cart.. Ken who was walking next to the cart had his right arm filled in gazes that were soaked in his blood. Iryl saw Ken and rushed over to ask what happened.. " Ken! What happened?! Why is Aprilia so heavily injured!? And what happened to you hand?! Is Dan okay? " Iryl was in shock but Ken just shrugged it and said.. " Calm down Iryl! Dan is okay.. As for Aprilia... " His face paled and he said in a low voice.. " It was my fault.. I got carried away and thought that I could do some serious damage on the boar.. But, suddenly it changed its focus on me and almost rushed me over.. " Ken lowered his head even more and clenched his fist.. " ...Because of me.. Because of me! Aprilia pushed me out of the way and took the hit for me.. " Tears filled his eyes but he held them back.. And with his left hand he quickly wiped them out.. " Hey Iryl.. Your ability is a healing type right? " " Eh..? " " Your ability.. Your spiritual ability is a healing one right?! " He shouted the last words and three elves turned towards Iryl and and Ken.. Serth was also next to him.. " Well.. I can''t say for sure... But, it can probably heal.. " With a firm expression on his face Ken added.. " Then! Try it on me.. If it works then you can probably heal Aprilia as well! " Several elves were gathered at the scene and Luke turned his gaze towards us.. " I don''t know Ken.. It might not work... I haven''t tried healing others yet.. " With a nod Ken unwarped the bandages around his right hand and blood began to slowly flow out of the open wound.. That attracted even more attention on them.. " Come on Iryl! Please! I know you can do it.. If it''s you.. " Iryl took a look around him and paled at the pressure the elves surrounding them gave off.. He closed his eyes and said in a low voice.. " All right.. I''ll try.. " " Thanks Iryl! I knew I could count on you! " Iryl moved his hands slowly towards Ken''s hand and closed his eyes.. He focused on his inner energy and with the palms of his hands he tried to manipulate it. His inner energy flowed out of his hands and turned into a light silver.. Like a mist it covered the wound on Ken''s right hand and slowly the wound began to close.. " Oh!! Look Iryl it really is working! The wound on my hand is closing.. But, the pain as it does is really unbearable.. Ahh... It hurts.. It really hurts!!! " Ken cried out and Iryl paled as he saw Ken''s hand.. The wound had indeed closed up but his hand was starting to age.. " Why.. But, I stopped pouring energy into your hand a while ago.. So why doesn''t it stop.. " " IT HURTS!!! IRYL PLEASE STOP THE PAIN!!! " Ken cried out as his whole hand began to age.. Not only the wound that was located clost to his palm, but now even his palm and elbow began to age.. The flesh was filled in wrinkles and his muscles were dropping.. The aging marks were getting closer to the upper side of his arm and Ken cried out in pain.. Iryl didn''t know what to do and had tears forming on his eyes as he looked right and left.. The elves around them were in deep shock and no one moved.. Iryl tried to speak but he couldn''t say anything.. Only a small whisper escaped from his mouth.. " ..Someone.. Please help him.. " With a sudden leap Luke closed in to the scene and briefly stared at Iryl. He took a dagger out of his belt and with a fast and horizontal slash he cut off Kens right hand.. Blood spurred out from the new wound and his hand fell off.. Only from the shock and pain Ken lost his consciousness and stayed on the ground.. Luke cut with his dagger a piece from his leather armor and place it around Kens arm. After that he shouted.. " Quickly! Move get him and the others to Mirana''s shack! " Two elves broke out of their daze and hurried over.. They picked up Ken and placed his on the cart. As for the rest of the elves.. They stared at the remains of Kens right hand which had completely dissolved. Iryl was staring at the hand that after a while completely dissolved and disappeared out of existence with tears in his eyes.. He slowly murmured.. " ..It wasn''t my fault.. Why.. Why is everyone looking at me like that..? It''s not like I wanted for this to happen.. So why..? Why is everyone staring at me as if I am a... " The stares of the surrounding elves indicated fear in their eyes and disgust at what they saw.. " You are wrong.. I am not.. I am not a monster... Please don''t look at me like that.. " After a while Iryl couldn''t hold himself together anymore and lost consciousness in the middle of the scene... END of chapter 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s notes: Hello! Hello! Here is a chapter bigger than the usual! I hope you enjoyed it! I personally really liked this chapter.. It was nice to write! Well, not much to say the important announcement will come along the next chapter so... See you this Wednesday! Bye!~~ Fear Of The Unknown! (Part 3) ch: 16 Information This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author''s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright ? 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " Iryl..! " " Hey! Iryl! " It has been two days since the accident happened.. Ken is still lying unconscious in Mirana''s wooden shack and gives no sign of waking up any time soon. As for Iryl... " Hey! Iryl! Iryl!! Get a hang of yourself already! It''s been two days since you locked up in your house! Iryl!! " After the incident Iryl broke down and fell unconscious on the ground. Luke carried him all the way to Mirana''s shack.. But, several hours later when he woke up... He saw Ken lying on the bed.. Before anyone could tell him anything, he was already running with tears in his eyes.. The elves that were gathered at Mirana''s hut at the time made no attempt to stop him and so.. We are back to where our story started with Iryl locked up in his wooden shack and the elves banging on the door outside.. Inside the small shack Iryl was lying in his bed staring at the wall with his currently blank gaze.. His mind was not in a normal state with several thoughts passing through his mind.. '' I almost killed someone... Again.. '' '' Those were the very same eyes... No matter where I go they will always follow me.. '' '' Their gazes were clearly saying.. MONSTER! '' '' Even though they didn''t say anything.. I know what those eyes were saying.. Haha.. Hahahaha.. Ha... '' '' Even when I woke up.. Their faces were the same as if they were looking at a monster.. '' They poor elf had his mind broken in pieces. He no longer knew what was right and what was wrong and is now trying to isolate himself in order to escape reality.. '' In the end.. Was that dream really what I am.. What I am supposed to be..? '' '' This emptiness.. How long has it been..? Ahh.. That''s right... I should have realised it earlier.. Even though I thought I knew it first hand.. '' The elf was now one step closer to insanity. His mind broke the moment he saw the gazes from the other elves.. Memories flew in his mind in rapid succession. His past, his mistakes, the emptiness, the betrayal from the one he loved.. For one more time he learned.. No, he remembered how nave he had become after his reincarnation.. '' Fate.. Fate doesn''t allow me an easy life.. Hated.. Feared.. I will always end up alone in the end.. '' The elf who was just one step away from insanity had finally found the way he would take and made a small grin appear on his face.. '' Haha.. If that''s your answer then so be it.. I will carve my own road.. Fate... Shall be in my hands... '' '' Make the world think I am the devil.. I don''t care! Make them despise me! I don''t care! Let them know who I am.. I will take everything head on.. No matter what threat comes my way.. I will send it to its demise.. '' With those thoughts in mind Iryl stood up from his bed! The tears on his face had long since dried up and were replaced with black circles under his eyes.. The lack of sleep had his on the verge.. His eyes though.. They were no longer blank.. After long years of being gentle they had once again took back their long lost sharpness! They were so sharp that anyone who saw them.. Would have fear penetrate his mind in seconds.. But.. Deep inside the sharpness his eyes had lost the flame his eyes once had.. That flame which is known as ''hope'' was now replaced only with emptiness. Meanwhile! Outside of Iryls house several elves were gathered. Those were none other than Iryls close friends who knew him the best.. Dan was hitting the door while shouting. " Hey! Iryl! Get out man! You know it wasn''t your fault! Everyone knows that! And they won''t blame it on you! Even Ken! After all he was the one who told you to heal him.. " " Tsk.. No answer huh..? " Another voice came from behind him.. " Maybe... We should.. Leave him alone.. He will need time... " The one who talked with a fidgety voice was Lilith who was also among the group. Then Dan said in a loud voice back at her.. " He is not okay Lilith! If we leave him alone for too long who knows what will happen to him! It has already been 2 days! He didn''t even come out to eat Lilith! " " Sorry.. Sorry..! " Lilith through the years had always kept her low character and could be easily intimidated.. " And Luke! Weren''t you close with Iryl!? I thought you used to live together! " " ...That was.. Before I joined.. The hunting group... " " Uwaa... You are not helping at all.. Wait.. What are you even doing here..? " Luke didn''t answer.. " And Serth! Isn''t Iryl your friend why don''t you say something?! " " Me?! Even if I say something.. I doubt that he will listen.. " A vein popped up on Dans head as he said.. " Ughh.. What are you people even here for then?? " Dan exhaled and filled his lungs with oxygen.. Then in a loud voice like before he said.. " Hey Iryl! If you don''t plan on coming out I will break down the door you hear me?! " " I will count up to.. " The lock on the door creaked open and the door opened slowly revealing Iryl behind it.. Iryls friends let out an ''ah..'' sound once they saw him. Then Dan took the initiative to speak. " What.. So in the end you were afraid of me breaking down the door huh? Ehh? Iryl? " He had a grin on his face as he said the last words.. Iryl though didn''t pay much attention to him and just shrugged it off with one sentence.. "...I am leaving.. " " Huh? " Dan let out a stupid sound as he lost the grin on his face and said.. " Leaving..? Were are you going..? Ahh! Now I get it you are going to eat aren''t you?! " " No, Dan I am leaving.. " Dan and the others had completely lost their happy facade from their faces and it was replaced with a sad expression.. Only Luke remained indifferent from the start. " Hey.. Iryl.. You are not thinking of leaving the camp right? You know that you are not allowed to go back to the village before 16.. " Iryl shakes his head and says. " No.. I am not going back to the village... I am just leaving the camp.. " Lilith, Dan and Serth paled as they heard his last words.. Luke just turned around and took his leave.. Dan couldn''t tolerate Luke''s behavior so he shouted at him.. " Hey! Luke! Where are you going?! Do you even realise what is going on?! " Luke ignored him and went his way.. Lilith then said with her low voice.. " I.. I am going to tell... To tell.. Mirana! " She then hurriedly run towards her hut.. Serth then said.. " Hey Iryl.. Are you sure about it?! I mean leaving the camp.. Isn''t that just ridiculous? " " Yea he is right! Iryl! Why are you even saying those things?! " The two elves had yet to see Iryls eyes.. He slowly moved his head upwards and turned his gaze towards them.. The two elves flinched a little and he said.. " Don''t get in my way.. " His two friends were too frightened to even move a finger after experiencing his cold gaze and just stayed in their tracks.. Iryl then with slow movements made his way towards the gate, leaving behind both Dan and Serth.. On his back was only a small leather bag that most probably contained stuff of the utmost importance for his journey.. Several minutes later at the camps gate. " NO! We can''t let you pass! No elf is allowed to exit the camp except of those from the hunting group! " "..." Iryl was currently being blocked by two elves that were stationed at the gate.. For some reason all three gates of the camp have at least two guards stationed at them.. Probably the gates are the weak point of the wall, so they place someone on guard just to be sure... (AN: Not like beasts ever attacked...) " Now.. Go back! It is already troublesome guarding the gate kid.. Don''t make our day tougher.. " " ..I''ll say it one more time... Out of my way.. " Iryls stare made the guards flinch a little but, they remained at their posts.. " Like.. Like I said.. You can''t pass! Do you realise how troubling it will be if we let you pass?! Don''t make us use force on you! " " Hoh..! Are you my enemy then..? It is fine if I go all out then..? " Iryls gaze turned cold enough for the guards to grab the bows in their back.. But, before anyone could start a fight someone shouted from behind them.. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. " IRYL!!! " Mirana was running towards their direction with a demon''s expression on her face.. The two guards fell on their backs as they saw Mirana.. But, Iryl stayed indifferent on his feet without making a move.. As Mirana closed in, in a running motion she tried to grab Iryl from the shoulder like she usually does when she is angry... Iryl with the least effort needed, he made a side step to the left and avoided Mirana''s (death) grasp. He placed his right foot a little further out and.. The next thing Mirana knew was that she was lying face first on the ground. " ..Mirana huh..? " " Ouch... What was that even for?! " Mirana cried out as she stood up and rubbed her nose. With no answer coming back from Iryl she kept going. " And where do you think you are going?! " " ..Whos knows..? " " See?! You don''t even have a plan! Alright that''s the end of the story! Let''s go back now and have serious conversation! " One more time Mirana tried to grab Iryl from the hand but he moved one step back.. Then he turned his face slightly upwards enough to face her and said.. " ..I am not going back.. Face it..! " Mirana froze and just stared back at him.. Iryl once again turned his gaze towards the gate to make his leave.. But, another voice came from behind him. This time though it was from Narxus. " Iryl! Don''t you dare take one more step from where you are! " Iryl stopped on his tracks and turned back.. " Narxus.. Sorry.. This is my decision in the end.. " " Wait! Iryl.. I am sure huff huff.. That if we explain them the concept of your ability that they will understand! You don''t need to leave right?! " " ... " Silence filled the place and Iryl looked upwards towards the sky.. Then he said.. " ...I saw it.. On their gazes.. That look.. It was as if they were looking at a monster Narxus.. " Narxus was already in front of him and tried to interrupt him.. " I am sure that if.. " " It''s too late! I hate it! I don''t want to pass the same thing again! " Tears welled up in Iryls eyes but, he didn''t let them to flow down.. With his right hand he wiped his teary eyes and once again turned to leave.. As he made his way towards the gate the two elves that were standing guard moved their hands towards their bows but, before they could reach their bows something flew in the direction of the gate and stabbed it in the middle.. Iryl for one more time turned his gaze back to the direction where the projectile came from and said.. " Luke... " Narxus''s eyes gleamed as he saw Luke make his way to them.. The elves that were gathered around from the commotion turned their gaze at him as well. Then Narxus took the initiative to speak.. " Luke! Finally someone who can reason with him! Please stop him from doing something absurd.. " Luke like always didn''t say anything and made his way towards Iryl.. As he closed in he passed next to him and Iryl followed him with his gaze. Then he went close to where the guards were, and they fliched a little. But they didn''t do anything. He only stopped when he was right in front of the projectile he threw. With a fluid move of his right hand the projectile was removed from the gate.. As for what it was.. He once again turned around after inspecting it for a little and moved towards Iryl.. " ...Here.. " " That is.. " " A sword.. I made it for when the time came.. But, looks like you will need it sooner... " " ... " Iryl didn''t say anything and took the sword in his hands. After a short inspection he said.. " ..That is a good sword.. " " Of course! The best I''ve made so far.. " The two elves made eye contact and just stared at each other for a while.. All the elves that were gathered didn''t utter a word as Luke and Iryl stared at each other.. Soon after Iryl broke the stare contest and said as he looked down to the sword.. " ..Thanks.. " " ...Don''t even mention it.. " " Then.. See ya.. " For one more time he made his way towards the gate.. This time the guards didn''t try to stop him. They knew really well who Luke was. So they just said.. " Is.. Is it alright?! Leader? " " ...Leave him be.. He is strong.. He just needs time.. " " But.. Still there are a lot of dangers out there! " " ...That''s right.. But.. He will be fine... He is not allowed to die after all.. " Luke muttered the last words enough for no one else to hear and then said in a loud voice.. " Hey! Iryl! I am sure you will find the east side of the forest to your liking! " Some of the elves paled when they heard him and one for the guards turned to him and said.. " Sir.. The east side.. You can''t mean! " " ..That''s right... Forest of the lost souls.. " " That is suicide! The place is filled with poison plants and beasts! Not even our mightiest warriors dare to enter there! " The door was already half open and Iryl had finally made his first step out of the camp! In front of him were the grassy lands and in the horizon he could see the forest that covered most of the continent. For the last time he turned back and looked at the elves that were gathered in the other side of the gate. His gaze fell on Mirana who was crying on the ground while pleading him not to leave.. Narxus was also on the ground hitting it with his fist while cursing his inability to help him.. As for Luke he was staring straight at him with a firm look on his face.. Then Luke shouted.. " No way! Don''t tell me you decided to return already! " Iryl smirked back at him and turned the other way.. With a fluid move he then vanished like the wind.. His destination..? Of course it is the forest of the lost souls. Luke was staring at the closing gate as he thought.. '' I am sure that he will get stronger over there.. He will be able to cultivate his spiritual ability well in the forest. '' Once the gate was fully closed he turned the other way and went his way.. As he walked he saw Mirana crying and said.. " ..Don''t worry.. He knows what he is doing.. Iryl is strong after all.. " " Why..? WHY DIDN''T YOU STOP HIM!? I AM SURE HE WOULD LISTEN TO YOU!! " Mirana cried as she shouted back at Luke.. He stopped for a moment and said before going his way.. " Don''t belittle him! " Then he said in a low voice as he moved.. " If you truly love him.. You should know what is better for him.. " " But.. Still.. You sent him straight to death... " Luke didn''t bother to answer and the elves had already started to disperse.. A few minutes later, Mirana was the only one left there who kept crying on the ground while Narxus was sitting next to her waiting for her to calm down.. No matter how hard he tried words didn''t come out of his mouth.. END of chapter 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s notes: Hello dear readers! Thank you for taking your time to read yet another chapter! Ehh.. Well.. I have news that are good for me and most probably bad for you... Let''s see.. Where to start.. Well the thing is that college life starts this Monday. I am afraid that I don''t know how much free time I will have from now on to write.. And that''s not all.. Since my college is not in the same city as my house I will have to move out.. That will happen this Friday.. Now.. Let''s take a look at the worst news.. I will need at least 1 week to adjust there and I doubt that my parents will let me have access to the internet... Well, I will most probably play my cards right and have some access! (Devil smile) Anyway.. I don''t know yet how I''ll be able to upload chapters and how much free time I''ll have to write so.. Well.. Ther will be free internet access in the library but I don''t know if it will be easy for me to upload from there.. Anyway! I will try to inform you of my future plans as soon as possible. I want to keep updating if possible.. PS: Don''t expect a new chapter this Sunday.. No internet access either way... If I have internet access in my college I will put out an announcement so... Thank you for eing with me all this time! I hope you will keep reading for as long as I make updates :) THIS IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION PLEASE READ! Announcement! Ehh... Long story short. Since college started my program is pretty much full.. So I will most probably drop the twice a week chapter.. (Until the next summer that is... Or Christmas.. Depending on my program...) Anyway.. From now on I will be uploading every Saturday or Sunday. I say Saturday because I may not be able to upload on some Sundays.. Well, apart from that.. I just got back home and I will be leaving this Monday morning again so I will try to finish a chapter that I''ve been writing while away and upload it on Sunday. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I have yet to get internet access in my (new) home and it will most probably take up to a week or two until I''ll have.. So if I don''t upload next Sunday or Saturday.. That will be the reason. Thanks for reading the announcement I will remove it along the new chapter this Sunday. Bye!~~ Travelling Through The Forest! It has been shortly after Iryl left the camp that he found himself at the outskirts of the grassy lands. In front of him was a massive forest filled to the brim with large trees. For one last time Iryl turned his head around and gazed at the camp he had grown fond of after so long.. A small smile appeared in his face as a single thought passed through his mind. '' Yup.. The feeling of freedom fits me better... '' It has been such a long time since he was last on his own that he had practically forgotten how being on your own is like. A light breeze came from the forest and Iryl turned his attention back at it. With a deep breath he made the first step into the forest. And so, time kept going on.. With every footstep a new scenery that he has never seen before unfolded before him. Mossy stones with wild plants and flowers growing on them were all over the place. While, trees that must have been thousands of years old were blocking the sunlight. Not much but, enough for the place to be more relaxing than walking with the sun above your head. Iryl didn''t feel like keeping up his running pace since he wasn''t in a hurry and far enough from the camp, so he just walked through the forest while enjoying the scenery. From time to time he would pick up some edible plants and fruits. During the many years he resided in the camp, he learned the art of cooking while helping at the tavern... In all his life Iryl never expected to learn how to cook.. Even in his previous life, he never cooked.. People around him would make the food for him. His group almost always had a Chef amongst their ranks.. While walking around the forest Iryl recognised several types of edible stuff that he had used before in cooking. So he ended up picking them for later on when they''ll be needed. After walking for several hours and realising how big the forest really is.. Iryl decided to make a stop for the day. The sun was also setting and the shadows were growing stronger. Nothing attacked Iryl during the day though he did spot a single deer on his way through the forest. Sadly for him, as soon as the deer saw him it made a run for it and he didn''t get the chance to hunt it down.. Apart from that the only other animals Iryl saw were some small critters on the trees and small birds flying around. '' I need to light a fire.. It''s going to get seriously dark out here... '' With that thought in mind Iryl gathered several small branches for the campfire. After collecting enough to make a small campfire he made another thought... '' ...How do I light it ?.. '' He lacked the most basic of the basic.. In the camp you could access fire through a torch or a fire spell from an elf with a fire attribute spirit.. But, here? In the wilderness without torches or magic... The only way out was the manual way.. '' Rocks or stick... '' Iryl searched around and after a while he found a stick suitable for the situation he was in.. With a little timbering, he made the stick''s end pointy with one of the knifes he had in a sheathe on his chest area. '' Now.. Let''s see if I can light up a fire! '' On a clean grey rock he placed some dry weeds and a little bit of green moss. He then place the pointy stick in the middle and started spinning it like a madman.. (AN: I am not entirely sure how you light a fire without a lighter since I''ve never had the reason to check that... So I''ll be using what I saw on a documentary a while ago.. Hope it is right.. Do not try it at home...) One hour later... '' ..MY HANDS!!! IT HURTS!!! '' It took Iryl almost one hour in total only to light the fire.. He was about to give up when the first smoke finally appeared.. As he saw the white smoke he blew lightly on the fire to get it started and after five more minutes he finally lit the first fire in his life.. Iryl sat on the ground with his back on a tree and relaxed as he inspected his hands.. They were red all over.. The skin was missing on some parts and a little blood came out of some wounds.. '' I never thought that lighting up a fire would be so difficult... Man.. Now I realise how dependent I always were.. '' For Iryl who was more than used to being assisted by others in those kinds of areas, he was a complete beginner.. '' Ahh.. I''ll have to get used to this kind of life style.. '' With that thought in mind he let out a long sigh and said out loud.. " Well.. It''s better than being in the debt of others.. " With the sun long gone he thought of what he should do.. '' First I need to cover those wounds... Then.. I guess cooking some food would do for now.. '' SFX: Growl... He took out some bandages from his backpack and patched his hands tightly enough for the bleeding to stop. Then, once again he rummaged through his backpack again searching for food this time. '' No meat huh..? '' After realising that something important was missing for his meal, he decided that it was late for hunting. And thus.. '' ..A salad will do for now I guess... '' SFX: Grooowlll... Hungry and tired, Iryl picked some berries that were laying in a small shack on his belt. He also took out several fruits from his backpack that weren''t small enough to fit in the shack.. He placed everything on some leaves and then took out a wooden bowl from his backpack. With a quick movement of his hand, he picked out one of the knives that were resting in the sheaths on his chest area. With fluid movements he quickly cut the fruits in pieces and placed them in the bowl... '' Years of helping in the tavern and here I am a professional cook that has no meat to cook... '' " Sigh.. " With a loud sigh he cleaned the kitchen knife using a small towel and placed it back in the sheath. Iryl ate the fruit salad and kept a watch for the fire.. After all, he didn''t want to see the fire going out during the night.. And as time passed and sleep almost overtook him he made a sudden thought.. '' Hmm.. I guess I''ll try meditating for a while. Maybe, I''ll meet one of Zyth''s personalities.. '' With that thought in mind Iryl closed his eyes and concentrated on the spirits around him.. Like usual he felt his consciousness drift away while his mind freely floated in space.. As he waited for Zyth to allow him entrance in his realm a voice roared out.. " LEAVE MORTAL!! I.. Have yet to acknowledge you... " " Ehh.. Ahhh... " And like that Iryl went back to where he came from.. He blinked twice and tried to move.. His body felt numb and he was unable to move.. '' God damn it! I can''t move... That ba****d kicked me out! I am definitely making Zyth pay when I see him! '' The reason behind Iryl''s numbness was due to being rejected while trying to make contact with a spirit. For him it felt like his soul left his body for a sort while and then was forcefully brought back in without him wishing for it.. That is why he is currently in a paralyzed state and can''t move.. '' Well... I don''t think that this will last for long.. Probably, maybe half an hour or so.. I just hope that nothing will attack me during that time.. '' During that half an hour Iryls senses were maximized. His sense of smell, listening and eyesight were consentrated to the max! Even though nothing happened during that time and the numbness he felt has slowly gone away, he found something really interesting! '' Hoo! Luke.. Are you messing with me..? '' The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. With a small grin on his face Iryl made another though. '' Well.. I will not take any actions for today. But, tomorrow.. I will show him that I am not to be messed with! '' With that last thought in mind Iryl closed his eyes for the night and allowed sleep to take him away. Meanwhile, inside the camp.. Luke was currently inside a shack along with Mirana, Narxus and Arvin. Mirana had a look of disgust on her face as she stared straight into Lukes eyes.. The other two elves Narxus and Arvin were waiting in the background for Mirana and Luke to end their staring contest... Mirana was the first one to speak. " You''ve got a lot of guts showing your face in front of me! " " ... " Luke remained unfazed by the threat but the two other elves were sweating heavily in the background while gulp sounds could be heard as they whispered to each other.. " This is totally not going to end up fine... " " Yea.. " As the two elves were whispering between them Luke broke the silence between him and Mirana and said.. " ...I have placed three of my best scouts on Iryl''s trail... I just came to inform you.. " Mirana didn''t answer for a while she lowered her head in anger and whispered in a low voice.. " ..Get out... " Luke didn''t manage to pick it up and just stayed on his tracks.. Then with a louder voice Mirana cried out.. " GET OUT!! What do you think your stupid scouts will do if Iryl is in danger?! They will just run away!.. That doesn''t change anything! Even if.. Even if.. (hic).. " Mirana fell on he knees and cried while Luke just stared at her.. After a while he turned around and headed towards the door while saying.. " ..I see.. You are still underestimating him.. " As she was crying Mirana whispered.. " What is there to underestimate.. (hic) He.. Just like you.. Is just a child.. (hic) " Luke left the camp and the two other elves tried to calm Mirana down after a small while.. The following morning, back in the forest. Iryl woke up and stretched.. '' Man!.. Sleeping on the ground with your back on a tree sure is uncomfortable.. '' The fire was long extinguished and only white smoke was getting out of it.. Without losing time Iryl picked his stuff off of the ground and went his way further into the forest. As he walked he maximized his senses to the brim and quickly found the locations were the scouts were hiding in.. From experience he knew that the three of them were not amateurs.. And if he didn''t maximize his senses he would have never even thought that scouts were on his trail.. That is just how good they were. '' Hmm.. Let''s show them first that I can hunt on my own.. Then I''ll will make them understand that I am not to be messed with... A broken limb or two should be fine.. '' Iryl sped his pace up a little while having all of his senses maxed out.. After his external energy broke through the thousand limit he was able bring his five basic senses to a new level. Even though, that might not seem as much.. His augmented senses were a huge boost! As an example when he maximized his senses he could see further, listen to sounds that normal elves couldn''t hear if they didn''t concentrate a lot on their hearing sense.. His smell and taste were also on a whole different level. As for his sense of touch.. When augmented if anything tried to touch him in a 10cm radius he would be immediately alerted. After a while Iryls augmented senses found a lone deer inside the forest. A grin formed on his face as he turned his attention towards the deer. (AN: Poor deer..) '' This will do for today.. '' Iryl paused for a moment and took a deep breath in. He then took the sword Luke had given him out of the sheath and with a light jump he walked his way up on a trees branches. His movements were so fast and silent that two of the scouts almost lost him before the third one showed them were Iryl was.. With light steps Iryl moved from one tree branch to another.. The deer was peacefully eating some grass on the ground but, it soon realised that something was wrong and turned its head upwards looking at its surroundings.. For a moment complete silence filled the place and the deer was getting anxious.. Some leaves fell from a tree near the deer and it turned its attention towards the tree. But, before it could move a shadow was already above it.. It turned its head upwards only to see Iryls figure above it. As the deer turned its head upwards it knew it was already too late for it to escape so it didn''t try to resist.. With a clean swing of his sword Iryl cut the throat of the deer as he fell on it''s body. The deer died almost immidiatly and Iryl removed his sword from the deer.. With his other hand he closed the eyes of the poor creature and made an amend in his mind. '' Sorry.. But, I need your meat for my own survival.. '' Meanwhile the three scouts staring speachless at the scene that unfolded in front of their eyes.. But, what came next shocked them even more.. " DID YOU SEE THAT!? I CAN PREATY MUCH HUNT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE HUNTING GROUP.. RIGHT?! " The shout came from none other than Iryl as he stared with a grin on his face at the direction where the three scouts were.. All of them made a similar thought as they dashed out of where they were hiding with the camp in mind.. '' Crap.. '' '' How did he find us?! '' '' ..I underestimated him.. '' The three scouts were on the run but Iryl said in a loud voice.. " Hey.. Hey... Don''t tell me that you will just run away..?! " He dashed with lightning speed and after several seconds closed in on the first scout.. With a small jump down of the tree he was on he said.. " I''ve caught you! " As he fell he placed his right knee on the scouts shoulder and with a loud ''snap'' the shoulder was out of place dislocated.. The elf scout shouted out in pain as he fell on the ground.. Iryl ignored him and set his target on the two remaining scouts.. With annother dash he followed them from the ground this time.. " Run! If he gets us we are damned! " " Roger! " With a slight nod the two scouts split up and run in seperate directions. " Eh.. That''s no fun at all! " Iryl followed one of the scouts and before long the scout''s running paused.. His legs were trembling as he stared in Iryls eyes right in front of him.. " Ho.. How..? " " I''ve... Caught up! " " No.. Wait! I can explain! " SFX: Snap! " AHHHHHHHH!!! " The scout cried out in pain as he fell on the ground crying.. Iryl didn''t wish to hurt them (a lot).. So he just dislocated a bone or two... " This will happen if anyone ever follows me again! Do you understand..? " The scout cried as he lied on the ground.. Then he said in a trembling voice.. " Sorry.. Sorry... It won''t.. Happen again... " " Good.. Next time.. Worst things may happen... " After that the scout paled and Iryl left him on his own.. Turning back to where the deer was.. END of chapter 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Note: Thanks for reading!! No time to say any more I don''t know yet when the next update will be! I hope it will be soon though... Bye~~~