《Stormbringer》 Intro "Twister¡­ How could you¡­" "Those words are the only thing I can remember. Who am I?" I said to him. "I guess my name is Twister, apart from that I cannot remember anything!" He looked at me in shock. "What is it?" I asked. "Twister¡­ he is supposed to be dead." he stood for a second "No, no there is no way you are that Twister¡­ although your storm power for sure does look a lot like the stories I''ve heard." "What stories?" "On the other side of the continent there was this group of mercenaries, or warriors, I am not sure myself. They were called the Hollow Vanguard, and the strongest of them all was known as Twister. They however all died, or at least disappeared in one night¡­ Or at least that is what that merchant told me." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "Huh¡­" "Yeah, they were apparently all really bad people though, just killed because they liked it." I stop and look at my hands. Could that be me? Surely no, right? But all those things he just said¡­ They do ring a bell. What if that is me? What if I am a murderer? A killer? Someone who they tell horror stories of? "Hey man, you okay?" Kaelen cut me of before I got too lost in my thoughts. "Look there is no way that was you. First, it''s probably just a story some drunken made up at a bar. Secondly, you saved me, and if you was that Twister there is no way you would fight to save someone like me." "I guess you''re right¡­" "Come on now, tell me, how did you stumble upon me?" He asked. "Well, as I said, I don''t remember anything before this¡­ The first thing I remember is waking up in this jungle with nothing but these gauntlets by my side" "What happened then?" "Well¡­" Twister, The Stormbringer I woke up in the middle of the jungle. Fog was all around me. The only thing beside me were my gauntlets. ¡°Twister¡­ How could you¡­¡± Those were the only words I could remember. It didn¡¯t take long for my survival skills to kick in. I couldn¡¯t ponder for too long on what was going on, I needed to secure safety for myself first. I equipped my gauntlets. A strange spark came out between my fingers. ¡°Weird¡­¡± But again, no time to ponder. I first go find a water source and something to eat. Some berries would suffice. After that I built myself some sort of a shelter to stay the night. The next morning I had a rude awakening. THUD! THUD! ¡°Are those¡­ drums?¡± I think to myself ¡°I need to go investigate whatever the hell is going on¡­ Maybe they might even have some answers for me.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. As I approached them, from afar I could see what was going on. It was a kidnapping. It was a group of three rugged looking men sitting around a fire playing the drums and behind them, right next to some sort of a cart, there was an elf male. He was tied to the post and looked pretty beaten up. I tried getting closer to them to maybe hear what they were talking about when all of a sudden¡­ CRACK! I step on a branch¡­ What a clich¨¦. I hope they didn¡¯t hear it¡­ ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± ¡°Oh, fu-¡± I quickly hide behind a tree. ¡°I know I heard something¡­ come out before I make you.¡± Okay, maybe I should step ou- ¡°Boss, come on now don¡¯t be so paranoid, it¡¯s probably just a rabbit or something.¡± ¡°No, you idiot¡± He looks away to argue with him. Perfect. ¡°Did you ever see a rabbit that could make a sound that loud?¡± ¡°Well boss, maybe it¡¯s just a big rabbit?¡± ¡°I am surrounded by idiots¡­ Go check it out.¡± ¡°Alone?¡± ¡°You scared?¡± ¡°A little bit.¡± ¡°Okay, okay we will all go.¡± By the time they stood up I was already on the other side. Now I was face to face with the kidnapped elf. He had a dagger by his side. I took the dagger and gestured towards him to keep silent before freeing him. Then, I gave him the dagger. He understood. We knew we couldn¡¯t get far with him in this state, so we had to take them down. The element of surprise was on our side¡­ but it might not be enough. The lightning strikes I point my finger to the one on the right and the elf seems to notice what I am doing. I hope he does at least. I count down with my fingers. 3,2,1¡­ And I jump and attack the one on the right. Just as I take him down and go to finish him I see a sword swinging towards me. It¡¯s their leader. He¡¯s quick, but I somehow manage to avoid it. ¡°So, you must be the rabbit eh?¡± he says in a deep, calm voice ¡°HAHAHAHAHA, what a cute little rabbit we have here. He even tried to help his little rabbit friend escape.¡± I look over to the elf. He managed to take down his guy, but he also seems to be unconcionus at this point. I look down at the one I took down¡­ He¡¯s not dead, but he is unconcionus. So it¡¯s a one on one. ¡°So, you must be the big bad wolf of the story¡± I reply ¡°But, do you know that a wolf without his pack is pretty harmless¡± I click my gauntlets. Time for a fight. I charge at him and aim for his stomach but he manages to avoid it and immediately responds with a swing of his own. I manage to block it but he follows up with a gut punch. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It hurts. A lot. ¡°Do you think that would be enough?¡± I say while breathing heavily ¡°Time for round two!¡± ¡°Bring it on!¡± This time he struck first, gunning for my head. I ducked under it and attacked his gut. This time I hit. ¡°We¡¯re even now!¡± I scream. But he doesn¡¯t stop for a second. He continues attacking, almost as if my punches are not doing any damage to him. No matter how many punches I throw he doesn¡¯t slow down, until he hits me. He managed to hit me with the hilt of his sword and now I am feeling pretty dizzy. No matter how hard I fight he is just stronger than I am¡­ ¡°You put up a good fight, boy, but I am not your ordinary warrior. I serve under the one and only Darius, the greatest commander this area has ever seen.¡± ¡°How is he so great when I have never even heard of him?¡± ¡°How have you never heard of the legendary Darius?¡± ¡°I have amnesia.¡± ¡°What?¡± In that moment of confusion I surprise him with one last strike. I am going to put my all into this. And I strike his chest. But he doesn¡¯t budge. ¡°More, more¡± is all I can think of ¡°Just a little bit more, please!¡± When suddenly, my arms start feeling all tingly. A lightning comes out of my gauntlets and goes through his body. ¡°Please be enough¡± I mutter under my breath. Kaelen He fell. I just didn¡¯t expect him to fall on me. That¡¯s right. I am now stuck. But what was that? What was that lightning? Is it the gauntlets or is the power mine? Having amnesia sucks. ¡°Looks like you could use some help.¡± It was the elf ¡°Do you wanna return the favor now?¡± He just smiled and helped me get out from under the body. ¡°Should we finish them off?¡± I asked after dusting myself off. ¡°We could probably just let them be. I mean you already killed the leader, I don¡¯t think they will come chasing us.¡± ¡°You¡¯re interesting.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°They kidnapped you and you still are not sure if you want to kill them.¡± ¡°Eh, no need to stoop down to their levels.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s at least tie them up.¡± So we tied them up to the same post the elf was tied to. After that we sat down to eat by the fire. ¡°Name¡¯s Kaelen by the way¡± he said ¡°Thank you for helping me out.¡± ¡°You mean saving your ass?¡± ¡°Yeah, that. Also, who are you if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± I go on to explain to him how I have amnesia and how I believe my name is Twister. I also explain to him how I got here to save him in the first place. ¡°You¡¯re on one hell of a journey¡­¡± ¡°I guess so¡­ How did you end up here? Why did they kidnap you?¡± ¡°Well, I am an elf that got excommunicated from his village a couple years ago. I have ever since been travelling the world, just trying to find my place here. And they just came across me and kidnapped me. Elves might be selling for a good price.¡± ¡°You really cannot find any place you can call your home?¡± ¡°No, not really. It¡¯s a tough world. I¡¯m not too big on bloodshed nor do I have any outstanding abilities and the way this world works is you can only be truly a part of a community if you are born to it or you are bringing something worthy. No one is willing to help out for a little bit just to help out. They all want something in return.¡± A new chance at life After that talk we just sat there in silence. Thinking. I had just come into this world. I mean not really but in some way I did. I might be an adult but I have no past. Or memories of it at least. What am I to do? I mean I have this power which shocked even Kaelen, but I am not even sure about if it is that strong or not. Actually¡­ Kaelen has seen a lot of the world, he must have seen a lot of strong people. ¡°Kaelen?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Am I¡­ strong?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, this power of mine¡­ Is it strong?¡± ¡°Look, I have seen many lightning powers in my day¡­ None of them were like this.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Well, the storm is usually uncontrollable, usually people have to harness and force it to be used¡­ When it comes to you, it seems like the storm came to help you. The storm doesn¡¯t usually do that. You didn¡¯t harness it, or even try to call for it specifically, it just came to help you out. Why do you ask?¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°I have no past¡­ I am just wondering what am I to do in this world. What¡¯s my purpose?¡± ¡°You feel like you have no purpose?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I just feel like since I have no past, I don¡¯t have a future either. I don¡¯t have a life to live.¡± ¡°Not sure that¡¯s how I would look at it.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Why not think of it as having another chance at life?¡± ¡°Another chance at life?¡± ¡°Yeah. Now it doesn¡¯t matter what your past is. You could¡¯ve been the worst person ever and it doesn¡¯t matter now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a better way to look at it I guess.¡± ¡°You guess?¡± We both laugh. ¡°What should I do with this new chance at life?¡± ¡°That¡¯s up to you. Don¡¯t you have any dreams?¡± ¡°I have been alive for two days, how could I have dreams?¡± ¡°You must have something you want to do. It¡¯s something ingrained into all of us.¡± ¡°Well there is this one thing¡­ When you were talking about your journey earlier, I was thinking about just how messed up this world is. Where you either immediately bring something useful or you don¡¯t have a home.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ but what about it?¡± ¡°I want to make a home for those without one. I want to make a place where everyone is accepted, no matter who they are.¡± ¡°That will be a hard thing to do, it actually almost sounds crazy.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s the only thing I can think of. For now that will be my goal.¡± ¡°You need a right hand?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say it was crazy?¡± ¡°I said almost¡± ¡°Fair eniugh.¡± I laugh ¡°I might use some help.¡± ¡°Tomorrow our journey starts. Let¡¯s sleep for now.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± How a dream starts The next morning we immediately set out on our journey. ¡°So¡­ Where exactly do we start?¡± Kaelen asked. ¡°I was thinking of first building a settlement for you me and a couple more people¡­ we will go from there.¡± ¡°Thinking on our feet. I like it.¡± ¡°Also, with you being my right hand man and everything, I was thinking¡­ Do you have any locations in mind as to where we could start?¡± ¡°I know of a place. A couple days walk east from here there is a river that runs right next to the foot of a mountain. Would be a perfect place.¡± ¡°Is it inhabited?¡± ¡°Not as far as I know.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go then. Oh, actually before that.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I wanna see how strong you are.¡± I toss him the dagger. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Oh, you''re doubting me?¡± ¡°Well, if we are going to build something great we have to be strong. Sparring might be the best way to get there¡­ at least for now.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± He picks up the dagger and we start fighting. He moves much faster than I do, but he isn¡¯t that strong. I manage to block most of his attacks with my gauntlets, but I won¡¯t get far by just defending. I try to attack him but whenever I leave my defensive stance he manages to land a quick cut on me. I can¡¯t win like this. I have to do something different. So far he has been evading everything I throw at him, what can I do that he won¡¯t avoid? Exactly. He has to avoid. I throw a right and he avoids. But I didn¡¯t commit. It was just a faint and he realized too late. My left was already planted firmly into his gut. He fell immediately. ¡°You might be fast, but you ain¡¯t that sturdy.¡± ¡°Just help me get up and let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re a sore loser?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get you back tomorrow.¡± ¡°Try me.¡± ¡°Just¡­ Let¡¯s go.¡± So our journey started. The first few days went about as good as you can imagine. We would spar in the morning and travel and hunt for the rest of the day. During the night we would build temporary shelters and that was about it. Until day 5. ¡°Hey, Twister. Wake up.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I got up early and went on a little walk. We are here.¡± Lucis When we arrived there I was amazed. How is a place like this not inhabited? The nature is beautiful and there is everything a settlement might need. There¡¯s fertile land, fresh water, animals to hunt. Everything anyone could need. A ¡°Wow¡­¡± slipped my mouth. ¡°Told you it would be the perfect place¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think it would be this perfect.¡± ¡°You doubting me again?¡± ¡°I will never dare to again. I promise¡± ¡°Come on, close your mouth and let¡¯s get to work¡± And we got to work. First thing on the menu: Building a permanent shelter. And soon enough we realized we have no idea how to build it. Neither one of us had ever built anything but a basic shelter, nevermind a house. But that didn¡¯t stop us from trying. However what we got as a result was more of a cavemans first house than something built to last. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°We might need some help.¡± Kaelen finally said. ¡°Hate to admit it but you might be right.¡± ¡°Hate to admit we need help or hate to admit I¡¯m right?¡± ¡°...both.¡± ¡°You jerk.¡± We laughed. ¡°So¡­ are we going to go find some help or?¡± Kaelen asked. ¡°We probably should. But before that we have some other things on the agenda.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°We should probably name this settlement. I had the name Kroata in mind. What do you think?¡± ¡°Kroata: The land of the free. That rolls off the tongue. I love it.¡± ¡°And also, speaking of names¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I want to change my name. I don¡¯t want people to get scared of me whenever they hear the name ¡®Twister¡¯. And also, seeing as to how this is a new life for me, a new name might be helpful to move on.¡± ¡°Good idea. Do you have any names in mind?¡± ¡°It kind of feels weird to name myself, so why don¡¯t you take this one?¡± ¡°Hmm, what do you think of Lucis? It means ¡®the light¡¯. Seeing as how you want to build a brighter future, a little extra light could help.¡± ¡°Lucis, eh? I like it.¡± ¡°There you go then.¡± At first sight. And so we went looking for people to join us on our journey. We traveled for about a half a day when all of a sudden¡­ TWANG! An arrow landed just in front of me. ¡°Step back and I will not harm you!¡± The sound was coming from the woods. ¡°Who is there?¡± Kaelen said. ¡°I said step back and I will not harm you!¡± ¡°We mean no harm.¡± I finally said ¡°We are looking for people to help us out!¡± Saying that I took a step forward when all of a sudden I couldn¡¯t say anything anymore. Someone had come behind both me and Kaelen and took a strangle hold on us. ¡°I told you to take a step back, not forward.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He had finally come out and was standing right in front of us. He had black hair, was tall and thin. He wielded a bow and arrow. ¡°I really do not want to fight you here. However you left me no choice. Whenever people come to us, they usually want to rob us of all we have or even worse. Especially when they need ¡®help¡¯. So I am sorry for doing this.¡± He was starting to take aim. What he didn¡¯t know was that through our numerous spars until now, me and Kaelen had become extremely used to strangle holds and knew exactly how to counter them. So as he was taking aim I shifted my weight around a little and managed to throw the other person from behind my back towards him. As I was throwing the person I realized it was a female and that kind of took me off guard. Especially with how beautiful she is. wow. That distraction was enough for me to be late to the attack as I realized the man was just about to fire his bow. ¡°Motherf-¡± WHAM! All of a sudden Kaelen comes out of left field and spears the man to the ground, knocking him down in the process. ¡°What are you standing there frozen for?¡± ¡°What? Uh, sorry.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, whatever you say weakling¡± At that moment, the girl started getting up as well. Rasha ¡°DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER!¡± She was screaming at us. ¡°Hey, hey we mean no harm.¡± I tried to calm her down. But it didn¡¯t seem to be working. ¡°STEP AWAY! WE DON¡¯T NEED ANY MORE INTRUDERS HERE!¡± ¡°We are not intruders, we honestly just need help.¡± ¡°YEAH, WELL THEN WHO ARE YOU IF NOT THIEVES?¡± I took off my gauntlets and threw them away. ¡°My name is Lucis, nice to meet you.¡± I signaled Kaelen to do the same. ¡°I am Kaelen, and we truly do not mean any harm.¡± He threw away his dagger. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I am so so sorry, we thought you were thieves, we thought you wanted to take everything we have, we thought-¡± ¡°Calm down.¡± I said to her ¡°Let¡¯s first help your friends recover, then we can talk.¡± I said, trying to comfort her. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Yes, of course.¡± She said and quickly got up. ¡°We have a settlement nearby, let¡¯s get there, there are more people there.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± So we took off to their settlement. I carried the man and Kaelen carried the guy that attacked him with the girl leading the way. ¡°These could be our first friends we make. Maybe the first allies. ¡°I hope they are.¡± I say with my eyes fixated on the girl. ¡°Sorry, but is it okay if we learn your name? You never introduced yourself.¡± I shout towards her. ¡°Oh right, my apologies, my name is Rasha and those two you are carrying are Tovin and Jorren.¡± ¡°Well nice to meet you.¡± I say smiling towards her. ¡°Khm, khm¡± Oh no. ¡°Speaking of carrying¡­¡± ¡°Oh come on with it already, say it out loud.¡± I said, visibly frustrated. ¡°I was totally carrying you in that fight.¡± ¡°Oh come on, I was just about to finish it myself.¡± ¡°No, you weren¡¯t. You were just about to die.¡± ¡°Yeah right. Come on, you just got lucky.¡± ¡°No matter how many spars you win, you will never be better in a real fight.¡± ¡°Oh shut up already.¡± ¡°The almighty stormbringer, yet again saved by-¡± ¡°We are here.¡± Rasha interrupted our conversation. ¡°Thank God!¡± I said out loud.