The elf looked at the ground clearly stunned about what he had just heard. I didn’t really understand why he still cared. He just sat there as Elasia explained to me what had happened, and turns out even the Princess of the race herself had agreed to betray the Woodland elves, which wasn’t too surprising considering how she had relinquished her rights to me. So, it made me question, why did the old elf care? He was stunned.
“No…” His voice echoed across the cave as we all walked away. Lumina was interested about the geode-like nature of the nest.
I turned to the elf muttering.
“What do you mean no?”
“I won’t let you kill my kin just like this!” He growled as I saw mana coalesce.
I frowned. Was he being serious?
[Woodland Elf. Lvl. 52]
I mean, he definitely was D grade, but he stood no chance, and nonetheless he charged. He rushed towards me as his entire body began to let go of gaseous mana. And then, a voice called from behind, an excited one as if they had just been abandoned.
“Blair, I finally found you!” It was Sun.
“Die, accursed child!” The elf rushed.
At that moment, notifications blared in my mind, three instantaneous ones that came back to back, enhancements and frenzy.
[Guardian of Radiance, Guardian of the Deep Dark enters a frenzy.]
[Radiant Enhancement: Enhancement of Courage — The Sun gives you courage. +50% to Agility and Strength attributes.]
[Radiant Enhancement: Enhancement of Dusk — The Sun hides. +100% to Agility for as long as this enhancement is in place.]
In an instant, a red thing zipped past my vision and the elf let out a bellow of pain. His body was ripped apart, blood splattered as the upper half of the elf went flying meters across the air, the legs fell over as it let out an ear-piercing wail of pain echoing down the ravine. Sun stood in front of me defensively, his body enhanced by Frenzy, his fiery and majestic, and his paws glowing in red. He stared at the elf as it squirmed, letting out its dying throes.
Sun took a step and howled.
“Blair is mine, and mine alone!”
Lumina whistled, Elasia facepalmed and The Light Maker did not react. Meanwhile I simply blinked as I looked back at his fiery fur.
What had gotten into him?
“I have to say, he really is putting in a lot of work.” Lumina commented.
Elasia sighed. “I really thought you were joking.”
“Are we really just, letting a wolf say that?” The Light Maker asked.
Sun snapped in his direction. “I will protect her until I breathe my last breath, until my muscles stop working, until I grow old and death tears my soul away from me. She is…” He trailed off, mumbling. “I helped Blair deal with her trauma, it is natural I will be her partner!”
Partner? “Sun…” I called as his gaze softened for me. “Weren’t we family?”
“Blair.” He called. “Your presence makes me happy, your achievements are an inspiration, you care and smiles are my purpose. I am just repaying the favor.”
I grew even more confused. What favor? “Sun… why are you, how do you put it, being like this?”
His gaze hardened, became stoic almost. “I read and read, and now I understand my feelings for you Blair. I want our bond to be eternal, I want it to last eons throughout the universe. I want a special bond like the ones in the tales of old!”
“Tales of old?” I asked with increasing confusion.
His eyes sparkled. “Does Blair want to read?”
The elf had long died, and I had nothing better to do. Lumina looked amused, on the verge of laughing and Elasia seemed interested enough. The Light Maker was— he didn’t matter too much in this. With all that in mind, I looked at Sun.
“I do.”
◇ ◇ ◇
Argar proclaimed in front of the Chaser, Elis in tow: “You ask why I fight? She is my sole purpose, my guiding light, the fire of my soul! Her achievements are an inspiration!”
I read.
Argar limped, looking at Cloud. “I made Elis who she is, now fuck off. She is mine!”
And read.
“Elis, your care and smiles are my purpose, of course I won’t leave.”
And read…
Argar stood at the end of the land, the void facing him, an encroaching and scintillating space of sparkling light, one that gazed and bore into him. The trial of life. But he simply smiled as the void asked him what his purpose was, why he fought, and he simply stood there, an un-wipeable grin on his face.
“I fight because of Elis.”
Finally, I finished the book. I didn’t really know what to make of it. It was a bit adorable, since Argar struggled all his life to make Elis happy, until he finally succeeded and died shortly thereafter, but at the same time it was a bit stupid. Well, a bit was understating it. It’s not that it was stupid but rather it wasn’t realistic.
Meanwhile Sun stared at me enthralled as I turned.
“So, what do you think?!” He asked excitedly as I looked at him with an unsure expression.
“Sun, is the reason you keep speaking like that due to books?”
“Yes!” He piped up. “Blair is my calling, I have understood that my loneliness is due to wanting a deeper bond. I want to spend my life with you, die with you, cry with you.”
I scratched my cheek. “I see… I think, maybe you should wait some time before deciding if those thoughts are true, Sun…”
“What are you saying Blair?”
I took a deep breath. “Look, Sun, isn’t it too idealistic? There was trauma, but why didn’t Cloud stab Argar in the back at any moment? Honor? It’s not realistic…”
Sun closed his eyes in thought, he spent what felt like a few minutes in the action, mulling and with fluttering brows, eventually he opened his eyes.
“You are right. I was just indulging in impossible stories. I grew tired of witnessing death, I just thought I was living in one of those tales. Where a hero comes and saves my people, where I can be something to said hero, something to you Blair… As you’ve realized, I may be wise, but I can only learn from my mistakes…”
He took a breath. “These tales were all new to me, to me they were like legends, truthful prophecies of love and danger. Things that happened eons ago, recorded for history. But they seem to be—”
“Fabricated.” I ended for Sun. “They are tales for entertainment, not to teach…”
“They are.” He agreed before slumping. “I guess I just dealt so poorly with your sudden departure that I immediately ignored any and all sense of logic.”
I nodded for a moment, finally at relief. Sun was going to be normal again. It was a relief really.
“I am glad we could sort that out, Sun.”
He nodded. “Blair, this is honestly a bit of a shock for me, so I want to take some time to digest it. Sleep if you will.”
I agreed and Sun left, and went elsewhere inside the house. Elasia and The Light Maker were playing some sort of card game, meanwhile Lumina had a deep grin.
“Blair, can I read that book?” Lumina asked.
I stared at the book for a moment wondering if it was alright.
[The Drowned (Rare Item) — A tale of danger, a tale of love, a tale of bonds and tragedy. Written by the famous Novelist, Mel. D. when witnessing his world’s destruction.]
It was an item too. Though, even though the tale was nice, it wasn’t particularly realistic. With that in mind, I grabbed it and gave it to Lumina. She began flipping through the pages rapidly, and before I could do anything, she finished.
“Ooh, I see.” She laughed. “I see, I see, I see. Interesting!”
The Light Maker slammed the table as cards flew. “You must be cheating!”
“I don’t cheat.” Elasia harrumphed. “Just open your eyes and get good.”
“Says the person called The Illusionist.” He crossed his arms. “I don’t want to play any more.”
Elasia frowned and Lumina looked at The Light Maker. “Loser, afraid to keep losing to El!”
The Light Maker and Lumina began to argue once more and I simply sighed. I sort of wondered what sort of things were going to happen, but in the end I stood up. I wanted to see how much the nest I changed, I ignored the bickering behind me and simply left the house.
Footsteps reached my ears, and I turned, only to see Elasia walking behind me.
“They really are noisy, don’t you think, Blair?” She asked.
I nodded immediately. “But I also think they like each other.”
“They do.” Elasia agreed as she stepped by my side. “So what kind of city do you wish to build? The entire outer forest has been culled, and the underground area is a sanctuary for monsters and the wild. What kind of city should match its top?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know much about cities. The only one I have ever seen was your city, Elasia.”
She pondered. “Right, you were just a village girl before the whole apocalypse happened.”
I turned away and looked over at the horizon, at the patches of forest, at the flowing rivers, at the distant mountains and at the oddly colored sky. It was blue, but maybe a bit too blue. The surrounding land was a seemingly endless wild. I didn’t exactly know how many Guardians were there, where the Herald resided, or what to do anymore. It felt better for me to train, to grow more accustomed to my new strength. To understand how strong I had gotten.
A sigh left me as I looked at the wide world before me. The sun was beginning to set, and oddly enough, out of the month and a half I had spent in the system, close to an entire month was spent simply lounging around in the bunker, while praying the people above didn’t find it. It was a lot of waiting, a lot of conversation and talking, not a lot of killing or training. Nothing had changed for me, or so I felt.
Elasia stood next to me.
“So, what do you want to do after you kill the dragon?” Elasia asked.
“I don’t know, maybe make the world mine since it's less of a pain I guess…” I answered dubiously.
Elasia shook her head with a small smile. “What is it that you desire Blair?”
I frowned, but she just met my gaze somewhat expectantly. I didn’t exactly know what I wanted, yes I wanted to kill the dragon, but there were two reasons for that. One was the fact that it had nearly killed me and Sun, one was for revenge, and the other was to make the Woodland Generals pay— I guess both reasons to kill the dragon were for revenge. Conquering the world sounded like it was simply the easy way to avoid later trouble, though from the sounds of it there would still be trouble.
What did I desire? I pondered for a second as my mind drifted to the earlier moments in which we all talked together.
“A family.” I finally breathed. “People that care about me, enjoy my presence, people I can depend on.”
Elasia hummed pleasantly. “But you already have that, do you not?”
I felt a bit awkward from the sudden question. “I suppose so. What do you desire, Elasia?”
“My desire?” She asked herself. “It was to be with Lumina, for that we had to be strong, the both of us. Now, since the century is close to ending — very soon actually — the Summit of Heroes will be held. Basically a gathering to determine the standing of each Monarch in the Super Star Cluster.”
I tilted my head as Elasia smiled, she clearly noticed I didn’t know where I was going.
“I was hoping to basically raid the place.” She shrugged. “I’ve been mistreated for close to three-hundred-years by these people. It is time they learn some respect.”
“So you just plan on going on a genocide spree?” I asked with a frown.
“Well, what else am I supposed to do, Blair? I am older than your grandparents, great grandparents and however many great you want to add in there. My point being, I’ve met most of my goals, and now I am just trying to make things perfect, so that I can maybe live a quiet life…” She grew quiet as she scratched her cheek. “Well, that is a big maybe…”
I frowned. I did feel like I didn’t really have grand ambitions any longer, even though I enjoyed fighting immensely. At the same time I turned to Elasia, even more confused.
“What prevents you from living a quiet life now?”
She smiled. “Pride. My pride can’t tolerate forgiving the disrespect I endured.”
Huh. I expected Elasia to doubt a bit, to think, but she had answered it so decisively, so quickly, so smoothly and so happily that it just made sense. She knew why she was doing things, and yet, I didn’t.
“Admittedly…” Elasia spoke with a sigh. “I do wish you had a greater desire, Blair. Like finding out the secrets of The System, or just being as strong as me, or as Lumina.”
I raised my brow. “How strong are you compared to Lumina?”
Elasia crossed her arms. “I mean, I would stand a chance to win if we fought seriously, but odds are in her favor by about 65%.” Then she shook her head. “Look, that doesn’t exactly matter does it? How will you protect your family, those that you hold precious if you aren’t strong enough? Do you just hope Lumina and I are around for that?”
“No.” I took a breath. “I do not. I guess I just feel lost. I don’t see other reasons for growing strong, and at the same time…” I looked over the horizon. “I don’t know how to grow stronger right now either.”
“Ah.” Elasia gasped in understanding. “I can help with the two, how does that sound?”
“The two?” I turned to her as she smiled deeply.
“How about you come to the Summit as my Champion?”
I blinked. “What?”
The elf looked at the ground clearly stunned about what he had just heard. I didn’t really understand why he still cared. He just sat there as Elasia explained to me what had happened, and turns out even the Princess of the race herself had agreed to betray the Woodland elves, which wasn’t too surprising considering how she had relinquished her rights to me. So, it made me question, why did the old elf care? He was stunned.
“No…” His voice echoed across the cave as we all walked away. Lumina was interested about the geode-like nature of the nest.
I turned to the elf muttering.
“What do you mean no?”
“I won’t let you kill my kin just like this!” He growled as I saw mana coalesce.
I frowned. Was he being serious?
[Woodland Elf. Lvl. 52]
I mean, he definitely was D grade, but he stood no chance, and nonetheless he charged. He rushed towards me as his entire body began to let go of gaseous mana. And then, a voice called from behind, an excited one as if they had just been abandoned.
“Blair, I finally found you!” It was Sun.
“Die, accursed child!” The elf rushed.
At that moment, notifications blared in my mind, three instantaneous ones that came back to back, enhancements and frenzy.
[Guardian of Radiance, Guardian of the Deep Dark enters a frenzy.]
[Radiant Enhancement: Enhancement of Courage — The Sun gives you courage. +50% to Agility and Strength attributes.]
[Radiant Enhancement: Enhancement of Dusk — The Sun hides. +100% to Agility for as long as this enhancement is in place.]
In an instant, a red thing zipped past my vision and the elf let out a bellow of pain. His body was ripped apart, blood splattered as the upper half of the elf went flying meters across the air, the legs fell over as it let out an ear-piercing wail of pain echoing down the ravine. Sun stood in front of me defensively, his body enhanced by Frenzy, his fiery and majestic, and his paws glowing in red. He stared at the elf as it squirmed, letting out its dying throes.
Sun took a step and howled.
“Blair is mine, and mine alone!”
Lumina whistled, Elasia facepalmed and The Light Maker did not react. Meanwhile I simply blinked as I looked back at his fiery fur.
What had gotten into him?
“I have to say, he really is putting in a lot of work.” Lumina commented.
Elasia sighed. “I really thought you were joking.”
“Are we really just, letting a wolf say that?” The Light Maker asked.
Sun snapped in his direction. “I will protect her until I breathe my last breath, until my muscles stop working, until I grow old and death tears my soul away from me. She is…” He trailed off, mumbling. “I helped Blair deal with her trauma, it is natural I will be her partner!”
Partner? “Sun…” I called as his gaze softened for me. “Weren’t we family?”
“Blair.” He called. “Your presence makes me happy, your achievements are an inspiration, you care and smiles are my purpose. I am just repaying the favor.”
I grew even more confused. What favor? “Sun… why are you, how do you put it, being like this?”
His gaze hardened, became stoic almost. “I read and read, and now I understand my feelings for you Blair. I want our bond to be eternal, I want it to last eons throughout the universe. I want a special bond like the ones in the tales of old!”
“Tales of old?” I asked with increasing confusion.
His eyes sparkled. “Does Blair want to read?”
The elf had long died, and I had nothing better to do. Lumina looked amused, on the verge of laughing and Elasia seemed interested enough. The Light Maker was— he didn’t matter too much in this. With all that in mind, I looked at Sun.
“I do.”
◇ ◇ ◇
Argar proclaimed in front of the Chaser, Elis in tow: “You ask why I fight? She is my sole purpose, my guiding light, the fire of my soul! Her achievements are an inspiration!”
I read.
Argar limped, looking at Cloud. “I made Elis who she is, now fuck off. She is mine!”
And read.
“Elis, your care and smiles are my purpose, of course I won’t leave.”
And read…
Argar stood at the end of the land, the void facing him, an encroaching and scintillating space of sparkling light, one that gazed and bore into him. The trial of life. But he simply smiled as the void asked him what his purpose was, why he fought, and he simply stood there, an un-wipeable grin on his face.
“I fight because of Elis.”
Finally, I finished the book. I didn’t really know what to make of it. It was a bit adorable, since Argar struggled all his life to make Elis happy, until he finally succeeded and died shortly thereafter, but at the same time it was a bit stupid. Well, a bit was understating it. It’s not that it was stupid but rather it wasn’t realistic.
Meanwhile Sun stared at me enthralled as I turned.
“So, what do you think?!” He asked excitedly as I looked at him with an unsure expression.
“Sun, is the reason you keep speaking like that due to books?”
“Yes!” He piped up. “Blair is my calling, I have understood that my loneliness is due to wanting a deeper bond. I want to spend my life with you, die with you, cry with you.”
I scratched my cheek. “I see… I think, maybe you should wait some time before deciding if those thoughts are true, Sun…”
“What are you saying Blair?”
I took a deep breath. “Look, Sun, isn’t it too idealistic? There was trauma, but why didn’t Cloud stab Argar in the back at any moment? Honor? It’s not realistic…”
Sun closed his eyes in thought, he spent what felt like a few minutes in the action, mulling and with fluttering brows, eventually he opened his eyes.
“You are right. I was just indulging in impossible stories. I grew tired of witnessing death, I just thought I was living in one of those tales. Where a hero comes and saves my people, where I can be something to said hero, something to you Blair… As you’ve realized, I may be wise, but I can only learn from my mistakes…”
He took a breath. “These tales were all new to me, to me they were like legends, truthful prophecies of love and danger. Things that happened eons ago, recorded for history. But they seem to be—”
“Fabricated.” I ended for Sun. “They are tales for entertainment, not to teach…”
“They are.” He agreed before slumping. “I guess I just dealt so poorly with your sudden departure that I immediately ignored any and all sense of logic.”
I nodded for a moment, finally at relief. Sun was going to be normal again. It was a relief really.
“I am glad we could sort that out, Sun.”
He nodded. “Blair, this is honestly a bit of a shock for me, so I want to take some time to digest it. Sleep if you will.”
I agreed and Sun left, and went elsewhere inside the house. Elasia and The Light Maker were playing some sort of card game, meanwhile Lumina had a deep grin.
“Blair, can I read that book?” Lumina asked.
I stared at the book for a moment wondering if it was alright.
[The Drowned (Rare Item) — A tale of danger, a tale of love, a tale of bonds and tragedy. Written by the famous Novelist, Mel. D. when witnessing his world’s destruction.]
It was an item too. Though, even though the tale was nice, it wasn’t particularly realistic. With that in mind, I grabbed it and gave it to Lumina. She began flipping through the pages rapidly, and before I could do anything, she finished.
“Ooh, I see.” She laughed. “I see, I see, I see. Interesting!”
The Light Maker slammed the table as cards flew. “You must be cheating!”
“I don’t cheat.” Elasia harrumphed. “Just open your eyes and get good.”
“Says the person called The Illusionist.” He crossed his arms. “I don’t want to play any more.”
Elasia frowned and Lumina looked at The Light Maker. “Loser, afraid to keep losing to El!”
The Light Maker and Lumina began to argue once more and I simply sighed. I sort of wondered what sort of things were going to happen, but in the end I stood up. I wanted to see how much the nest I changed, I ignored the bickering behind me and simply left the house.
Footsteps reached my ears, and I turned, only to see Elasia walking behind me.
“They really are noisy, don’t you think, Blair?” She asked.
I nodded immediately. “But I also think they like each other.”
“They do.” Elasia agreed as she stepped by my side. “So what kind of city do you wish to build? The entire outer forest has been culled, and the underground area is a sanctuary for monsters and the wild. What kind of city should match its top?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know much about cities. The only one I have ever seen was your city, Elasia.”
She pondered. “Right, you were just a village girl before the whole apocalypse happened.”
I turned away and looked over at the horizon, at the patches of forest, at the flowing rivers, at the distant mountains and at the oddly colored sky. It was blue, but maybe a bit too blue. The surrounding land was a seemingly endless wild. I didn’t exactly know how many Guardians were there, where the Herald resided, or what to do anymore. It felt better for me to train, to grow more accustomed to my new strength. To understand how strong I had gotten.
A sigh left me as I looked at the wide world before me. The sun was beginning to set, and oddly enough, out of the month and a half I had spent in the system, close to an entire month was spent simply lounging around in the bunker, while praying the people above didn’t find it. It was a lot of waiting, a lot of conversation and talking, not a lot of killing or training. Nothing had changed for me, or so I felt.
Elasia stood next to me.
“So, what do you want to do after you kill the dragon?” Elasia asked.
“I don’t know, maybe make the world mine since it's less of a pain I guess…” I answered dubiously.
Elasia shook her head with a small smile. “What is it that you desire Blair?”
I frowned, but she just met my gaze somewhat expectantly. I didn’t exactly know what I wanted, yes I wanted to kill the dragon, but there were two reasons for that. One was the fact that it had nearly killed me and Sun, one was for revenge, and the other was to make the Woodland Generals pay— I guess both reasons to kill the dragon were for revenge. Conquering the world sounded like it was simply the easy way to avoid later trouble, though from the sounds of it there would still be trouble.
What did I desire? I pondered for a second as my mind drifted to the earlier moments in which we all talked together.
“A family.” I finally breathed. “People that care about me, enjoy my presence, people I can depend on.”
Elasia hummed pleasantly. “But you already have that, do you not?”
I felt a bit awkward from the sudden question. “I suppose so. What do you desire, Elasia?”
“My desire?” She asked herself. “It was to be with Lumina, for that we had to be strong, the both of us. Now, since the century is close to ending — very soon actually — the Summit of Heroes will be held. Basically a gathering to determine the standing of each Monarch in the Super Star Cluster.”
I tilted my head as Elasia smiled, she clearly noticed I didn’t know where I was going.
“I was hoping to basically raid the place.” She shrugged. “I’ve been mistreated for close to three-hundred-years by these people. It is time they learn some respect.”
“So you just plan on going on a genocide spree?” I asked with a frown.
“Well, what else am I supposed to do, Blair? I am older than your grandparents, great grandparents and however many great you want to add in there. My point being, I’ve met most of my goals, and now I am just trying to make things perfect, so that I can maybe live a quiet life…” She grew quiet as she scratched her cheek. “Well, that is a big maybe…”
I frowned. I did feel like I didn’t really have grand ambitions any longer, even though I enjoyed fighting immensely. At the same time I turned to Elasia, even more confused.
“What prevents you from living a quiet life now?”
She smiled. “Pride. My pride can’t tolerate forgiving the disrespect I endured.”
Huh. I expected Elasia to doubt a bit, to think, but she had answered it so decisively, so quickly, so smoothly and so happily that it just made sense. She knew why she was doing things, and yet, I didn’t.
“Admittedly…” Elasia spoke with a sigh. “I do wish you had a greater desire, Blair. Like finding out the secrets of The System, or just being as strong as me, or as Lumina.”
I raised my brow. “How strong are you compared to Lumina?”
Elasia crossed her arms. “I mean, I would stand a chance to win if we fought seriously, but odds are in her favor by about 65%.” Then she shook her head. “Look, that doesn’t exactly matter does it? How will you protect your family, those that you hold precious if you aren’t strong enough? Do you just hope Lumina and I are around for that?”
“No.” I took a breath. “I do not. I guess I just feel lost. I don’t see other reasons for growing strong, and at the same time…” I looked over the horizon. “I don’t know how to grow stronger right now either.”
“Ah.” Elasia gasped in understanding. “I can help with the two, how does that sound?”
“The two?” I turned to her as she smiled deeply.
“How about you come to the Summit as my Champion?”
I blinked. “What?”
