Lore/Story Scourge

Just a note, I wasn't quite as good as writing when I made the first twenty or so chapters, so expect those to be generally shorter and less detailed than the later ones.

Well, due to the threads reset, it looks like I'm going to have to repost this story.

Luckily, I write and store the entire story in Google Docs, so I haven't lost it completely, but some mistakes made it past the initial writing, but I patched those up right before they went into the thread. Now, since I no longer have the revised versions of the chapters, it looks like I'm gonna have to stick with the unrevised for a while until I have the time to fix them. (TL;DR: Soon™)

Also, school is starting up tomorrow, and so that really makes a blow on the time I can balance out all my hobbies. I'll see if I can get a chapter out every Friday, but on some occasions I might have not be able to make it in time (Edit: Don't trust me when I try to organize myself).

Chapter I
Tale of the Four Weapons​

The sun conquered the horizon, casting a golden glow over the small port village of Nemract. Inside the gloomy wooden houses, the citizens were stirring. This story focuses on three teens located in a small abode overshadowed by the abandoned mansion on the eastern side of town. The three were known as Robin, Julie and Jonas. They were triplets and orphans born just over eighteen years ago. Jonas was the first to wake. His nightmare regarding his parents dying returned again as it had commonly for eleven years. He exited his tiny bedroom, careful not to wake Robin, and entered the main room.


Their house was composed of four rooms: The main room, which contained a kitchenette, a table built for four and a bookshelf in the far corner; The first bedroom, which was owned by Robin and Jonas; the storage room, a dwarf area that contained whatever did not fit anywhere else; and the second bedroom, which hosted Julie. Jonas walked over to a cabinet and revealed its contents. A few loaves of bread bound in paper. Jonas unwrapped one and sliced a large piece off with a dull knife and seated himself at the table. As he bit into the bread, he gazed at the bookshelf in an attempt to read the small titles printed on the sides of the books. He had spent the previous year with a goal to read every last book in the house. As there were nearly two hundred large books and volumes in groups of up to a dozen, they could not be read in just a month or two. Jonas finished his breakfast and chose the third book of the series The Archives of Wynn. These told stories of the history of the province, some dating back to centuries ago when Ancient Nemract thrived with life. Jonas shuddered as he thought of the tales he had heard of the swarms of undead residing there now. He pushed that out of his mind and propped the book open.


“A mysterious warrior roamed the province of Wynn. This being had no known name, no known family, and nobody even knew what it looked like. In fact, the only known fact residing in our history about this person is that it is easily one of the most powerful to ever walk this world. It always emerged victorious in duels, and even Bob would barely rival this person’s strength. But even from countless pleading and the King of Ragni himself requesting, it refused to even attempt to free Wynn from the grasp of the corruption.


This being is also known as the creator of the most powerful set of weapons in known history. The Tide is known for its enormous magical strength and its ability to control the element of water. The Falcon is able to fire arrows with incredible power, and can manipulate wind at will. The Inferno is easily the most powerful set of knives known to mankind. Fire becomes an ally to whoever controls these daggers. The Quake is an unusual spear. While using the Earth to an advantage is possible with any spear imbibed with magic, this one can gain almost complete control of nature.”


Jonas slammed the book shut a little too hard. Dust fell from the support beams above him, forcing him to cover his face with his dirty sleeve to avoid inhaling any or getting some in his eyes. After a minute of waiting to let the dust settle, Jonas continued reading.


“These weapons and their creator were once roaming Wynn, conquering all who get in their way. But all at once, the five vanished without a trace in the year 943 B.V. and the person was never seen again. However, the weapons are known to still exist. Their whereabouts are unknown to most, but there are few who have seen these powerful things.


This concludes the archive on the mysterious warrior.”


“So, what are you reading?”


Jonas jumped, and he and the chair fell to the floor with a loud thud. Julie had walked into the room half a minute before and had been reading behind Jonas’ shoulder. “The Archives of Wynn, Volume Three,” Jonas replied, getting back on his feet.


As he recovered from the sudden surprise, an idea entered his mind. Jonas had an idea that could make his life far better. They could escape the poverty they were forced to deal with for years. They could have the money to get a nice home in the Ragni plains. It could just be a month away. “Where are those weapons Robin conned from some adventurer a year ago?” Jonas asked immediately.


“In the storage room. Why do you-”


Jonas sprinted for the door and heaved it open. A pile of rubbish stood three feet tall. He dug through it as fast as his quickly wearing hands could work. Finally, as he shoved aside an old mop, he grabbed a box with a rusted keyhole. A key was conveniently attached to the left handle by a thick piece of string. Jonas yanked the key from the string and used it to unlock the chest. Inside the dusty wooden box were four things: A bow crafted from oak, a leather quiver, a wand of oak wood, and a pair of dull daggers with wooden hilts. Jonas emerged with the weapons right as Robin had awoken and was about to seat himself at the table. “Why do you have those?” Robin asked as he saw the set of weapons just laid in front of him.


“Grab the daggers and some food, we’re going on an adventure,” Jonas said with confidence as he headed to the door.

 

Okay, small change of plans. I was originally planning on a new chapter next Friday, but I decided to instead release the older chapters at a rate of about one per day before making a new one. I know some of you might be a bit peeved, but at least this works to a sense and enables me to work on other projects for a while.
TL;DR I'm going to slowly repost the older chapters and when I'm done I'll start working on new ones.

Chapter II
The Journey Begins​

“May I ask again, what are we even doing?” Julie asked as the three were trudging down the stretch of Nemract road leading to the eastern exit.


“I read about these four unique weapons with enormous power! If we get all or maybe even one of those, we’ll be rich! I mean, like, swimming in liquified emeralds!” was Jonas’ reply.


Robin sighed and chose to ignore the argument. They had departed only two minutes ago, and he was still too deep into his own thinking to care much about anything else. The haste that followed after he was told they were leaving was incredible. In a matter of a minute they had already gathered all their possessions and taken off. Jonas had some bread and his wand, Julie had her weapons along with their three emeralds, and Robin took an potentially valuable necklace he had beside some food and his weapon. The many long-nosed villagers roaming the streets did not give a second glance, as they luckily fit in with the shabby state of the town.


“Do you even know where we are going?” Julie asked Jonas.


“I heard of a very old man from the city of Almuj who had a clue of the whereabouts of one of the weapons.” Jonas said, admiring the detail of the church as they began to pass by.


The path the trio had chosen to take at that moment was the nonexistent path between the Nemract cathedral and the vast ocean. The moist swamp grass made it difficult for them to walk through the off-road path they had begun to plod through. After thirty very weary minutes of trekking slowly through the quite muddy grass, they had arrived at the Pirate Bay. The grass there was far more parched compared to the wetlands of Nemract. The bay contained one or two crashed ships of plunderers, quite a bit of hidden treasure and, true to its name, pirates.


As there was a long and raging river stretching through Pirate Bay and beyond, and the only other bridge nearby that was located beyond pirate bay was close to half a kilometer away, and swarming with undead skeletons, Pirate Bay was seemingly the easy way. Robin gazed down the fifty foot drop, and quickly stepped back. There was a lake at the bottom, but it wasn’t deep enough to completely alleviate harm should one fall into it. Conveniently, a staircase was placed on the cliffside, allowing someone to travel to the top of the cliff or vice versa. They descended the staircase slowly, led by Jonas, careful not to lose their footing on the decaying steps.


After the three had traveled about ten feet down, a very quiet clanging sound was heard, metal against metal, but nobody noticed. Then, roughly five more feet passed when the metallic echo returned, louder and accompanied by others. Then, after another ten feet of carefully creeping down the wooden stairs, a very sudden and loud thud occurred directly behind them, and a cutlass swung forward, flat side first, and got Robin on the upper right side of his back. The resulting hit caused him to lose balance, and he fell down twenty-five feet into the depths of the cloudy blue lake. The last memory he could recall of that moment was him being forced away from the bridge, his siblings and a band of pirates. Then there was darkness.

 

Chapter III
The First Weapon​

A fist slammed against the table. An adult man, named Justin, had been arguing with a hooded, cloaked figure in a small, often unseen building in the northwest corner of the desert city Almuj. “You had promised me that after you had finished requiring her assistance in one of those experiments of yours, I would get my daughter back!” Justin yelled, not bothering to keep his voice down.


“I tried to tell you. An accident occurred while we were working. I could not save her.” the voice replying had an unreal tone, almost unhuman. It was certainly human, but not like any human the man had seen before in his entire life.


“What happened to my daughter? TELL ME!” he replied in anger, his hands reaching for a knife that had been contained in his pocket the entire conversation.


“When we had finally completed what I had been wishing to create, something abnormal happened. A strange purple smoke emitted from it, and went straight for her. Then when she had completely vanished from my sight, the smoke suddenly cleared. When I looked, she was dead.”


“So I had to spent SIXTEEN YEARS raising my daughter just for her genius to be completely obliterated along with herself for some lousy EXPERIMENT!?” Justin did not care that the sandstone roof above him was beginning to crumble from the power of his voice.


He held the knife tight in his hand and aimed for his victim’s heart. He exerted all his might and made to force the dagger into the other person’s chest. He wasn’t fast enough. In a blur, a pair of knives shot out of the person’s pocket almost instantly, and before Justin had time to react, he had two daggers in his chest. In his last moments, he thought of his daughter and how much he wished she had never chosen to help the psycho. He thought of his wife, who would be waiting eternally for an arrival that would never come. He fell to the floor and heaved his last breath. Justin moved no more.


As the victim stopped shuddering, the murderer twirled the two daggers and hid them in its back pocket. It didn’t matter that a man and his daughter were now dead. A weapon had been created, far more powerful than even what Bob would eventually forge. The weapon was of incredible power, and none could rival it.


The Inferno was born.

 

I couldn't access my laptop for a few days and during that time I completely forgot about reposting....
And it also takes so much self-motivation to keep going.

Chapter IV
Pirate Cove​

Robin felt cold, as if winter had come early. He was laying on what felt like frigid bits of grain. He chose to pay attention to the shadows of light that kept beating against his eyelids. Unlike the sun, these were of a flickering quality. It would be assumed that someone had started a fire, but who? Robin opened his eyes just a tad. He was in a cave of some sort. The cave was very damp, and he could hear the faint echoes of dripping water in the distance. It was quite impressive that a fire could have commenced in a place like this. Robin noticed that he was covered in a very wet piece of cloth, a woolen towel, probably. A tent had been founded roughly six meters from the still-burning fire.


“So, woken up, have ya?” a voice said just to his right.


Robin jumped. He looked at the source of the voice and recognized who had said it. “You!” Robin screamed, reaching for his daggers, but they were not there.


The man who was sitting next to Robin was the exact same person who threw him off the cliff edge.


“Hold ye horses, I’m in the same boat, lad.” the man responded, throwing a log into the fire.


“You knocked me off the stairs! You’re a pirate!” Robin yelled.


“It be a long story. They ditched me right as they set sail. Wasn’t truly expecting them not to.” the pirate responded.


“Where’s my brother and sister!?” Robin asked, still not bothering to keep his voice down.


“On the ship, probably headin’ to Maro Peaks, if I could say I knew the crew.”


Robin chose to steer the conversation to his missing weapon. “Where are my daggers, then?” He interrogated.


“Over on that old log. You’re wastin’ yer time, kid. I can’t help ye. Haven’t sailed a boat in ten years, give or take.”


Robin recovered his weapons and chose to try to hold the subject just brought up by the man. “But you still have sailed a boat!” he exclaimed, with a brief surge of optimism. “Where is it?”


“At the edge of that pond over there. It ain’t fit for sailin’ anymore, and neither am I, so stop askin’!” the pirate said with irritation.


Robin looked at the broken-down boat and sighed. It was damaged, almost beyond repair. That boat looked as if it had been hit by a hurricane. He remembered about a merchant in Nemract selling boats, though. The problem was, he had no money. “Why Maro Peaks?” Robin asked.


“They be Baab worshippers, that crew. Every last one of them. I’d guess they’d be usin’ yer friends as living sacrifices to the dumb animal.” he replied.


Robin gazed over at the boat, fear beginning to rise within him. “Do you know where I can get some money? he asked.


“Should be some emeralds scattered around the deeper parts o’ this cave. Lazy pirates ain’t too careful about their plunder. Gets scattered everywhere.”


Robin walked to the log mentioned a minute previously and saw that his knives lay there. He collected them and held them up. The daggers were victims to condensation. Robin used his sleeve to wipe the water off. “Do you have any dry wood?” Robin asked.


“Sure. I keep loads of it in the sack outside the tent. Dead useful in places like this.” The pirate responded, examining the wet rock ceiling.


Robin stood at the aforementioned bag and opened it. It was filled with easily three dozen dry sticks and twigs. Robin chose one that was moderately thick and about a foot long. It would be quite useful. He dipped one end into the fire, which had shrunk ever so slightly since he had first seen it, and waited for the stick itself to start burning too. Robin then pulled it out of the campfire and held it up. He now had a torch. Robin set off into the dark cave, a knife in one hand and a bright torch in the other. A dense sort of fog seemed to begin closing in on Robin as he proceeded deeper into the cave. Within two minutes, visibility was within a meter.


Robin slowly crept along the sandy floor, scanning as much ground as he could for anything green. Finally, he discovered a small, viridescent gem poking halfway out of the muddy sand. Robin reached down and pulled it out using the hand clasping the knife. As he continued, the frequency of emeralds was on the rise. More and more of the green money could be seen on the ground. Finally, Robin had accumulated over seventy emeralds. Somewhere around halfway through, he found several words written on a wall, but took no note of it; It was likely to be some type of secret code devised by pirates. Robin turned to exit the cave when he heard a clatter behind him.

 

This is making me realize how much I've improved in just like fifteen short chapters' worth of writing.

Chapter V
Tale of the Ghost Ship​

Jonas stared back at the x-shaped mark on the wooden wall for the fiftieth time. He and Julie had been locked in the cellar of a pirate ship, and were heading to who-knows-where. The floor was covered in various random objects, including bits of broken glass, spare cannonballs and an emerald here and there. “Well, besides being abducted by pirates with the possibility of never seeing the light of tomorrow, I’d say this adventure is off to a great start,” Julie said sarcastically, trying not to speak loudly enough that the pirate above hear her.


“Where do you think we’re even going?” Jonas whispered, attempting to remain quiet yet overcome the soft sound of the waves beating against the hull of the ship.


“No idea,” was the response.


Jonas sat there, leaning against the steep, curved wooden wall, and pulled out his book. That book was the only thing the pirates didn’t take from him, as they thought of it as useless compared to the few emeralds and the wand he had been carrying. Jonas panned through the pages, searching for a story that might interest him. He chose to stop at a lore concerning a ghost ship roaming the ocean.


“The Ghost Ship is an enormous boat that was once owned by a vast crew of pirates, but had since mysteriously turned into an ocean home for the undead. The ship has seen many victims, from tiny fishing boats from the ocean city Selchar to great vessels manned by famous sailors. Nobody in recorded history has ever survived an attack from the Ghost Ship.


Its origins date back to many years before the corruption had been unleashed on the province of Wynn. A carpenter, who had been living in the canyon city of Rymek for his entire life, sought out a more exciting life, leading him to build the largest ship of those times. The carpenter was able to gather followers, and he became ambitious and greedy, which turned him from the builder of a great ship to an infamous pirate. When the corruption struck, the captain was influenced by its power more than anyone else, and he and his crew merged with its power to become a formidable ghost ship, which has roamed the seas ever since.


See Chapter 53: Opposing Evil: Stories of Warriors who Attempted to Take Down the Forces of the Corruption for information on individuals who have endeavoured to cripple the Ghost Ship.”


Mere milliseconds passed after Jonas finished reading those words before he heard a cannon in the distance.

 

THIS IS SO BORING.

Chapter VI
Setting Sail​

Robin pierced the crab with his dagger and threw its lifeless body aside. It had crawled out of the shadows and attacked him. Seconds later, the cave sent back echoes to the tons of scurrying that had just become audible. Robin looked back. He held his torch forward as far as he could. The sounds grew louder. Twenty painfully long seconds of tense waiting passed before it happened. Hundreds more crabs were charging towards Robin, their tiny legs moving rapidly to cover ground. Robin had no other choice. He ran. Those crabs were fast, but not fast enough to catch Robin as he sprinted across the moist sand, the sound of his footsteps reverberating across the grayish-blue stone walls. He passed the former campsite, which the pirate had apparently departed from in a matter of minutes.


Robin ran as fast as he could until he finally made it to the open bay. As soon as he exited, he dashed to the side and hid behind a boulder conveniently placed less than five meters from the cave entry. Predictably, the crabs failed to notice that their target had went to the side, and they charged forward into the depths of the water. Robin wiped the sweat off his forehead before proceeding up the staircase that he and his siblings had gone halfway down only a few hours previously. The walk to Nemract was a long one. It felt like an hour passed just ascending the stairs, and two to get across the marsh and past the cathedral. After what felt like a year, he had made it to the boat merchant located on the gloomy docks of Nemract. “Hello, I would like to purchase a small boat,” Robin said, perhaps a bit too formally.


The merchant observed his customer before responding. “That’ll be four emeralds.”


Robin hauled over four of his emeralds, and the merchant gave him a boat. It was about five feet long, and three feet wide and came with a set of paddles. It was not too bad for someone who wanted to travel short water distances without spending too much money. Unfortunately, the distance of his destination was many kilometers away, and he couldn’t afford anything better. One hundred and twenty-eight green gems was the cost of the next tier of ship. Robin crossed the dock to the very end before laying his tiny boat on the water. He slowly climbed in and then set sail. If plodding across a quagmire was exhausting, then it was nothing compared to this. It took all of his physical strength to push the boat across the water using the pair of two foot long oars. By the time the Nemract harbor had fallen below the horizon, Robin felt as though he might collapse at any moment. When he pulled out the map he had taken with him on this journey, he traced down his approximate location and the ocean mountain range of Maro Peaks. If his estimates were correct, it would be too late by the time he could get there.


Robin scanned the map for a good destination to stop at. There was a city located in the center of the ocean, Selchar, which would be a good option. He traced down which way he had to go, and then began paddling.

 

So lonely ;-;

Chapter VII
Ship Battles​

“We can’t beat ‘em! Run fer yer lives!”


The ship Julie and Jonas were trapped in was in pandemonium. The mythical Ghost Ship was attacking, and the pirates were losing badly. The siblings were only able to hear the battle all around them, and should the ship sink, they would drown. “ANY IDEAS?” Jonas asked, screaming to make sure Julie could hear him over the yells and explosions.


“NOPE! WAIT… I THINK I SEE SOMETHING!”


Julie dug into the pile of trash in the cellar and emerged with a dusty, torn book. She ran over to Jonas and jammed it in his hands. Jonas looked down at the book and deciphered the faded words: Book of Basic Spells, by Dunn Boldure. Jonas hastily flipped to the table of contents. Conjure Water... Meteorite... Frost Serpent… Unlock Doors… Unlock Doors! Jonas shoved parchment aside to make way for page fifteen. Sure enough, there was a description and basic instructions on how to unlock any unenchanted door. First, he needed a wand. His hope had died. His wand was sure to be in the captain’s room.


A loud boom occurred almost directly above them. “The captain’s quarters be destroyed! We’re all doomed!” Jonas heard someone yell.


All hope was lost. If that room was destroyed, then his wand was sure to be just splinters now. He was just about to hurl the spell book across the room when a soft rolling noise sounded above him, and a small, thin, smooth stick slipped through an open grate and fell right into Jonas’ lap. Jonas was stunned. The luck involved in that must have been insane. Knowing time was short, he hastily went through the instructions and then pointed his wand at the locked wooden trapdoor. He waved the wand around in the pattern shown in the book and then he jabbed the wand towards the door. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing. A huge explosion occurred extremely close by, and he heard screams mentioning a fire. Jonas, once more, attempted the spell. As soon as he jabbed the wand, a soft click sound was heard. He had done it.


Jonas and Julie worked together to stack several large objects on top of each other so they could gain enough height to climb through the trapdoor. The ship was rocking a little. Finally, the pile was tall enough that they could reach the top and climb up. Julie went first, and with the gradually increasing swaying of the ship, took about a minute to climb up. Jonas went next. He ascended the pile of garbage, careful not to slip on anything. Jonas got to the top and began reaching up to grab the ridge in the trapdoor. Suddenly, the vessel rocked considerably, and the pile beneath Jonas’ feet collapsed. Jonas mustered all his strength and leapt. In total, two fingers were able to cling on to the edge of the opening. Julie offered a hand, and Jonas took it. In the time it took for both to escape the cellar, the ship was in ruins. A fire was raging all around them, and bits of the vessel were falling off, some staying afloat and others sinking into the depths of the ocean. “It looks like our only option is to jump,” Julie said.


They dodged the falling masts, scorching floors and deflagrating corpses. It proved a difficult task, as the obstacles were numerous. The sprint to the end of the boat felt like it was a hundred yards away. Julie lagged behind, as a crate landed right in front of her and out came her bow and quiver. Jonas did not stop. He finally found the opening to the water, and he missed no opportunity to jump. As he hit the water, his body froze, and he immediately felt himself shivering. Jonas noticed for the first time that it was late evening, and the battle had stretched across the late afternoon. He grabbed hold of a stray plank of wood, and climbed onto it. A minute later, Julie emerged from the inferno before him, and leapt into the water from twenty feet above. She surfaced and then followed Jonas to the floating piece of wood that had apparently been declared a makeshift headquarters. “Do you think we’ll end up surviving this?” Julie asked.


Jonas noticed her left hand. Three fingers were gone, and replaced with a stream of blood. “What happened to your hand?” Jonas asked, concerned.


“A very sharp piece of wood got me. Not going to go into detail.”


Deciding that hypothermia was a greater threat than three missing fingers, they assembled a shabby boat by nailing together bits of wood and sealing the gaps with a spell found in Jonas’ recently acquired spellbook. They used narrow strips of wood as oars, and began to sail as Robin had three hours formerly.

 

Chapter VIII
The Meeting​

“So, what reports do you have ready to tell me?” a menacing yet airy voice asked.


“S-sir, I would like to say that a knight guarding Ragni has died from a zombie attack….” another voice replied, the latter sounding very frightened.


“I don’t need something as useless as that, people die to the undead everywhere all-the-effing-time! Anyone else got something to say!?”


“Um… yes. Two days ago I saw two men conversing in Almuj about… them… specifically one of them, the Q-”


A knife was pointed at the speaker. He stopped immediately. “I’ve heard enough. What about you, Nesaak reporter?” said the indistinct figure who was apparently the leader of this conclave.


“Nope. Nothing.”


“Good to hear that. Troms reporter?”


“The King is apparently opening a school of sorts to train new warriors there. I haven’t been able to get any more details.”


“Interesting to say the least. Detlas reporter?”


“The economy there is going great. Say, if we set up a shop where you sell w-”


“No. We don’t need money. A wish for money is a sign of weakness. How about you, Nemract reporter?”


“Well… just this morning there were three kids walking down the trail, and one of them was talking about- those weapons. I think they want to get all four.”


“So we have three kids searching for the four weapons? Interesting, very interesting…. Get me The Book, I want to see it.”


The man who was referred to as the Nemract Reporter stood up from the ancient wooden chair and walked, trembling, to a shelf containing one enormous book. The mysterious person opened the book and flipped to the very back. The person took one look at it before slamming it shut, the thousands of pages slamming on the cover making the room shake. “Get the experiment, and have him keep a close watch on them. Meeting closed.”

 

I have a really good idea for a chapter, but I have to repost all the other ones first :( At least I only have ~10 more chapters and then proofreading to go.

Chapter IX
Sailing from Selchar​

Robin stepped onto the wooden docks of Selchar. The city of Selchar is built on two islands, the second owned by the Selchar bank. A cliff wall separated the docks from the center of the city, and many fishers spent their days roaming the area on boats, gathering fish to sell and eat. Robin gazed up at a tall hourglass tower overlooking the docks. He knew only two of those existed in the Wynn province, and their powerful magic could repel the undead. Selchar and the trading city Detlas were the only areas housing such a powerful artefact. The moonlight combined with the artificial lights of the buildings made Selchar look spectacular at night.


Walking up the path leading him to the houses of Selchar reminded him of the stairs from pirate cove. He forced the memories of that place out of his mind. What he needed was a place to stay the night. He stopped at the far corner of the town where two houses stood alone. An adult man was sitting on a chair near the front door of the smallest of the two buildings, gazing up at the stars. “Sir, do you know any place to stay the night?” Robin asked.


“Sure! I can offer you some space inside, but the carpet is all I can give you as a bed. Camping out on the lawn is fine, too, if you don’t mind getting a little damp. Just if you do, don’t keep anything valuable on you, as I can’t guarantee there’ll be no thieves wandering the streets.


“My son, Sam, will be back soon. He’s a little enthusiastic about adventurers, though. Hasn’t traveled far out of Selchar in his entire life.” the man finished.


Robin walked inside the tiny house. There was a large bed, a small kitchen, some furniture and stairs to an attic. Robin chose to spend the night in the outdoors. He hid his valuables, including map, knives and emeralds, in the deepest part of a patch of bushes just outside the house. He laid on the moist grass, and stared up at the night sky. A few clouds were here and there, while the rest was a clear, starry ceiling. The turf was actually quite soft, likely due to the humidity. He closed his eyes and fell asleep within a minute.


“Hey, mister sir guy, wake up!”


Robin jumped. A child of the villager race was standing before him. The kid must have not been more than twelve years old. He was wearing normal villager attire coupled with fishing wear and a tackle box. “Huh?” Robin asked stupidly.


“Hi, I’m Sam. My dad told me about you when I got back from fishing. Wanna go fishing with me? It’s early morning, and it’s kind of fun!”


“Ehh… I’ve got a bit of a mission, and I would rather leave now.” Robin said.


“Ooh! An adventure? Where? Can I go?”


“Uh- I guess. I’m going to Maro Peaks to find my brother and sister…. Are you sure your father will be okay with this?”


“Sure! He’s always been telling me to go out and actually do something with my life. I’ve got a spear inside, but I am not very good at using it. When do we leave?” Sam said.


“Er- As soon as possible. Got any food? I’m starving.”


“We have fish and bread. Not much, but it is decent enough.”


“Okay… By the way, where is the boat merchant? I don’t remember seeing him, and I’m sure there’s one somewhere here….” Robin asked.


“No worries, I’ve got a boat! Shouldn’t you have caught up on that when I mentioned fishing and stuff?” Sam said.


“Okay then. Just get whatever you need and then we meet up right here. Got that?” Robin said.


Sam darted into the house. Robin walked over to the bushes and retrieved his gear. That was all he needed, as Sam would probably bring lots of food on this journey anyways. He waited at the rendezvous point for three minutes before Sam emerged, carrying two boxes. “I have three loaves of bread, my fishing gear and my spear. Is that enough?” Sam asked.


“Definitely. Where is your boat?” Robin replied.


“Follow me!”


As they walked, the morning sun attempted to sabotage Robin’s vision. He put a hand above his eyes to shield them from the light. They descended the stairs and strode to a fishing boat roughly thirty feet long and ten feet in diameter. They climbed in, Sam leading, and placed their possessions in a crate on the watercraft. Sam unhooked the boat from the dock and gave Robin an oar. He instantly knew what to do, and suddenly felt deja vu. They turned the boat towards the general direction of Maro Peaks and set sail.

 

I started chapter 20, and I already have 2 pages worth of writing. My guess is that the finished chapter might make it to four pages.

Chapter X
The Man in Blue​

“Do you think we’ll ever meet up with Robin ever again?” Jonas asked.


“No idea. If anything, I’d guess he’s probably somewhere in the ocean, looking for us.”


Julie and Jonas had sought refuge in an abandoned village they had found in a cluster of ice-covered islands. Their plans were to negotiate with a group of villagers on one island, but they attacked, yelling “We have our own problems, kids! Stay away from our island!”


The village they found had no population, yet a few houses. It was unknown where and why the villagers left. Luckily, there were many crates of fish for food and the houses were still suitable for living, despite being cold and dusty. At that moment they were sitting at what seemed to be a miniature bar inside one of the houses; this was apparent by the kegs on a table sitting against the far wall along with mugs on the table. They chose that location to chat because it had more space than other seating areas around the village.


“It’s kinda annoying, being in an empty group of houses and living off of crates of fish we found, and how the only boats we can reach now are tiny fishing boats landlocked by ice,” Julie said.


“Well, I was browsing the spellbook, and there is a spell to thaw ice, but I need to imbibe my wand with a concentrated source of heat. It isn’t easy to get something like that.”


“I don’t feel like sitting much longer. I say we walk outside. Maybe a different surrounding could help us think.”


Jonas stood up in agreement. They exited the house to make way for a frozen hamlet, with no citizens besides themselves. A wooden path winded its way over a part of the icy water, the tiny village and then up the mountain that was at the center of the small island. They had just gone fourteen feet from the house when they heard a voice. “Hey, would you mind if I dropped in?”


Julie found the source of the voice first. A man, probably three or four years older than them, was sitting on the roof of the house Jonas and Julie had been in previously. The person in question had dark blue robes and long, light blue hair. “I’m Tollak, nice to meet you. Are you two of those three kids talking about those four weapon things at Nemract yesterday?”


“Uh… Why do you want to know?” Jonas asked, stunned at the sudden arrival and his surprising amount of knowledge about the subject.


Tollak smiled and pulled out a pair of lethal looking blades. “Oh, I just want to make sure you’re the right people before I kill you.”

 

Chapter XI
Enter Maro Peaks​

“Hey! Over there! I see it!” Sam yelled.


Maro Peaks had just appeared over the horizon, marking the final stretch of their journey. The mountains of rock stood tall over the water, with many large overhangs and ramshackle paths of wood. As Sam secured the boat on a small dock jutting out from a massive overhang, Robin stepped out of the boat. The new surface felt extremely fragile, and it seemed that it might break any second. He dashed three meters more inland where the path felt less decrepit. Robin could tell by the paths winding all over the place that this would not be easy.


Sam double checked the knots tethering the boat to the dock before catching up to Robin, who had begun pacing down the walkway. The silence was broken every few dozen seconds by a large wave below or a small rock falling from above. Their footsteps echoed loudly off the giant stone walls near them. After three minutes of treading up the wooden path, which led them below the overhang and around the mountain, they reached a fork in the road. One way led over the water to another island of the mountain range and the other went over the mountain they were on, passing a campsite, before a bridge leading to yet another island. “How about we go that way?” Sam suggested, pointing towards the right path.


“To be honest, I really don’t care which way we choose. Go ahead.” Robin replied.


So they headed down the path leading to the right, and after about twenty seconds they came across a tent within a natural overpass. Shortly after they reached an open sky, a campsite appeared, accommodating exactly what you’d expect from a miner’s campsite on a mountain. A few tents were scattered around the very small flat tableland, along with a long-abandoned wagon housing a pile of ore. Robin gazed at this mysterious sight. “What do you think could have happened to cause all these miners to leave in such a rush?” Robin questioned Sam, examining the scattered old possessions and other objects in areas surrounding tents.


“I dunno, maybe something scared them off or something?” he replied, quivering and holding his spear in front of him.


“Then what?” Robin asked.


“I have no idea, why are you asking me? For all I know it could have been my father’s cousin’s aunt’s sister’s son’s niece’s mother’s uncle’s brother’s friend’s father’s uncle’s sister.”


“Whatever. Let’s just continue on.”


They strided through the abandoned campsite, their hearing seemingly amplified to the gusts of wind beating against the fragile tents. It felt eerily quiet, besides the distant sounds of the waves and wind. An untraceable tension was in the air around them, as if someone was watching. Robin made sure his daggers were easily accessible before continuing to walk. After the campsite stood a one hundred foot long, somewhat sturdy wooden bridge. It was crossed with moderate ease. At the end was several crates and piles of ore. Robin realized how much that gold would be worth, but it was simply too heavy to carry with him. He and Sam proceeded further down the path to find another campsite. This one was less shabby, but abandoned nonetheless. Following the campsite was yet another bridge. This one was of the same, okay quality as the previous one, and was slightly longer.


After crossing this bridge, Robin and Sam found themselves in a small cave, with a piece of mining equipment and coal scattered across the walls. Robin wondered why they hadn’t excavated the ore. Within thirty seconds, they had already exited the cave onto another bridge, which stretched itself high over the water, leading to another island of the mountainous archipelago. Their first greeting from when they set foot on the stone ground after the bridge was yet another campsite, followed by path extending below an overhang and around the mountain. It was then that their travels had become tedious. They wound their way around the mountain via the wooden walkway. Robin hoped something exciting was to happen when they entered a cave at the end of the path, and the cave appeared to lead downwards.

 

Chapter XII
Back to Bremminglar​

Julie pierced another arrow into the ice. Tollak had been defeated, but barely, and at costs. Jonas had been stabbed in the shoulder, and without any medical appliances, he could not be treated. Julie had been using arrows to attempt to break the ice surrounding one of the many landlocked by ice fishing boats. It was quite difficult, to to the conditions, but it was working. Finally, after letting go one more arrow, the ice that was hit shattered in two, freeing the boat from the cold’s grasp. Unfortunately, it was still surrounded by ice, which meant that in order to get it out onto sea, it would have to be pulled out of the water and dragged across the frozen water. Julie used all her strength to lift the front of the boat out of the water.


It was many more minutes before the entirety of the boat was on the ice, followed by several more to shove it into the open ocean. “Hey, the boat’s ready. Let’s go.”


“Okay,” Jonas said sickly as he stood up and walked over the ice and onto the boat. That boat was small, about five meters wide and roughly thirty feet long. Luckily, this boat was designed like a sailboat, and the wind at the time was blowing towards the mainland. Julie entered the boat as well, then waited for the wind to blow hard enough so that they could set sail. Finally, a huge gust blew in, and the boat lurched forward and began moving south. There wasn’t much they could do besides wait. Jonas had already, with his remaining strength, opened his book, and had begun reading about the economy of Wynn. Julie leaned over to get a good angle at the words, and began to read along.


“A long time ago, when humans first appeared on these lands, they quickly overshadowed the lowly animals living among them, crafting tools and building cities at remarkable speeds. It was not long before they discovered the strange patch of land, where the ground was a deep blood red stone, and hard, purple rock spikes protruded out of the ground at all angles. Someone noticed something about this place. Green gems, emeralds, were abundant in this area. Miners from all over the province of Wynn began digging greedily for those gems. Cities thrived, and new emeralds entered the cash circulation constantly. Eventually, the miners revealed an enormous, purple portal. It led to another dimension, which was not unlike the area around it. This place, like its Wynn counterpart, contained many emeralds. But alas, after months of nothing but gain, everything was lost within a decade. The miners went too far, dug too deep, and awoke dormant monsters. The monsters traveled through the portal and ravaged the province of Wynn. The grand city of Nemract fell within days. Others lasted for up to a few months, but in the end every city had been devastated in one way or another.


It was the day the villagers arrived that things became brighter. The humans forged an agreement with the villagers, declaring an alliance between the two races. It was then that the humans were finally able to push back the corruption that had been holding Wynn for so many years. This is when a money miracle happened. The villagers had found a way to compact up to sixty-four emeralds in a one decimeter cube. The size of this new currency revolutionized the economy. Humans and villagers alike were able to sell expensive things far easier, and without having to worry about emeralds cluttering their bags.


Mere years passed before the villagers make yet another breakthrough: The Liquefied Emerald. Over four thousand emeralds could be compressed into a bottle, meaning that even those with thousands of emeralds could carry them comfortably. Now, the most powerful and expensive of gear could be buyable without much hassle.


Villagers have not yet been able to compact the emeralds properly as of 43 A.V., but things seem promising according to the scientist Ariodo.”


By the time Julie had finished reading over Jonas’ shoulder, they were sailing past the Durum Isles, a group of four islands less than a kilometer from the mainland. The wait was not too stressful, as the wind was moving the boat at high speeds. The afternoon sun was hidden behind some clouds, so being sun blinded was not a threat. Finally, the boat came to an abrupt stop as it crashed into a low beach near the village of Bremminglar. “If I’m right, we aren’t too far from Bremminglar. Let’s go there.” Julie said, looking in the general direction of the small village.


“Sure then, whatever,” Jonas replied.


They walked across the coastline, passing some ruins, a web-filled cave and a small, abandoned campsite. After a short while, a pathway appeared, leading up steeply to the mainland. They slowly proceeded up the path, Jonas’ injuries hindering their movement considerably. Eventually, the two finished ascending uphill and the province of Wynn was revealed around them. In the distance, the pirate bay could be seen, and Bremminglar was a mere three hundred feet away.


The grass was drier and taller than the short and damp type they were used to. The buzzing of bugs could be heard from the grass around them as they covered the distance between them and their destination. As they entered the village, they observed that the houses were standing nearly ten feet off the ground by complexes of wooden beams suspending them. The village overall had a very tribal atmosphere around it. The mountains marking the borders of the province showed at the northern side of Bremminglar. Julie and Jonas walked down the dirt path stretching its way through the village. After maybe twenty seconds, a voice shouted out near them. “I will say this one last time! I am NOT buying a fake mana potion!”


“But it is real, I brewed it myself using the finest magical flowers from the Time Valley!” someone replied.


“Then why is it so congealed? That detail shows that you used the feeble dandelion instead of aerolias like it should have been! Pathetic attempt! Now leave, and don’t come back!”


The villager with the supposed mana potions stormed off, flashing back one more murderous look. The person whom he had been arguing with was and older villager, who appeared quite miffed, until he noticed Jonas and Julie standing nearby. “Ah, adventurers! But it seems that you are quite injured! My name is Wedyf. Come into my hut, I’ll help treat those gashes.”


Mostly due to having few other choices, they accepted, and climbed the ladder to access the front door. The wooden hut was small, enough to house two or three people at most. Wedyf pulled out a small, soft bed and some wicker chairs. He help sit Jonas down on the bed as Julie took a seat on one of the chairs. Wedyf began talking as he examined the injuries. “So, how may these cuts have occurred?”


“Oh, we were out in the icy islands after escaping from an attack by the ghost ship when some guy appeared and attacked us. He attacked me first, and after I nearly died, he went for Julie, but she managed to get a great shot with her bow and the guy got hit right in the heart. He then just fell to the floor, pulled out a scroll and vanished,” Jonas replied.


“A teleportation scroll to escape, clever. I’d assume the weapon used was a keen sword?”


“Ye- how did you know?”


“I’m quite knowledgeable in the field of combat. I spend much of my time reading about it,” Wedyf answered as he began muttering while pointing his wand at Jonas’ injured shoulder. The blood evaporated as the wound quickly disappeared. “So, is there any particular reason as to why you went on such a journey?”


“Well, I read about these four weapons that are like, really strong and so I thought that maybe we could get them and sell them so that we could be rich and not have to live in a small, old house in Nemract,” Jonas replied.


“Ah, those weapons. I’ve always stayed away from that subject. Wizards such as I always do. Always.”

 

Chapter XIII
Upgrade​

Loading Data for “Project Tollak 1.0”....


...Personality: Menacingly Playful...

...AI Code: Target Life Forms b39e90fb-08b0-4a1e-8020-d4c60adeff7a, 3d3d344f-6050-457c-a875-3b1cd0bc8240 and bcee0d24-74a7-4149-9c43-36c51ffd81ba. Use equipped sword to eliminate. Flee if required. Will always serve Master L. Finish personality by using that of life form 270a1de9-f3ce-4237-ae88-bb8a724781c3….


Copying Data for “Project Tollak 1.0”....

Data copied.

File renamed as “Project Tollak 1.1”....

Rename successful.


Loading Data for “Project Tollak 1.1”....


...Personality: Menacingly Playful...

...AI Code: Target Life Forms b39e90fb-08b0-4a1e-8020-d4c60adeff7a, 3d3d344f-6050-457c-a875-3b1cd0bc8240 and bcee0d24-74a7-4149-9c43-36c51ffd81ba. Any means to eliminate. Flee only if absolutely necessary. Will always serve Master L. Finish personality by using that of life form 270a1de9-f3ce-4237-ae88-bb8a724781c3….


Changes saved to “Project Tollak 1.1”.


Now using data of “Project Tollak 1.1” instead of “Project Tollak 1.0”


Re-writing data….

Complete. “Project Tollak 1.1” is ready for use. Thank you, Master L, and have a great day.


-Sorcery Mirror

 

"To get started, I’d prefer it if you had actually paid attention."
-???, Chapter 20

Chapter XIV
Robin Returns​

“They should be here….”


Sam and Robin had descended through the cave to find the legendary Baab, but Julie and Jonas were nowhere to be seen, and neither was any sign that anyone had been there for many months. The sacred sheep had seen and pursued them for a short while, but they hid on a wooden platform within the large, tall stone shaft that led them down. “So we went all this way for nothing? That’s annoying. What now?” Sam said.


“Time to leave. Say bye to Baab if you want. I know I won’t,” Robin replied, glaring towards the chamber that contained the sheep.


The duo proceeded up the pathway that winded up the cave they were in. Bats attempted to sabotage them along the way, but Sam was lucky enough to get a direct hit and bash them back with his spear. They finished their ascent by running as fast as they could, avoiding the bats charging all around them. Ultimately, they escaped the cave and immediately dodged to the side, letting the bats flow out of the cave entrance. After waiting for the bats to stop flying out, Robin and Sam proceeded down the wooden path that they had followed on their way there. Eventually, they made it back to the dock that was where they first set foot in Maro Peaks. Sam’s boat was tied there, waiting for their arrival. They docked the boat and embarked on their journey.


“Where to now?” Sam asked, swerving around a large rock that was protruding out of the water.


“Maybe the mainland… It’s probably where Julie and Jonas would have gone if they escaped. I’m sure they’re waiting for me.” Robin replied, looking at the clouds in the bright, sunny sky.


Sailing to the Nemract docks took many hours, but they finally made it back on land. Sam moored the boat to the dock as Robin disembarked. The docks had a gloomy feel to it, which matched well with the rest of the place. Nemract’s dark, shabby wooden houses stood out against the other towns in Wynn. They walked to the road, passing the bank and on to the cobble and dirt trail. The rays of sunset illuminated the area around them in a golden light. “Now where do we go?” Sam asked.


“Almuj. I’d be willing to bet that’s where they are, assuming they made it back to land.”


The walk past the bridge and the Nemract cathedral felt very familiar. Sam kept walking, saying things like “Wow! The Nemract cathedral? I once heard that a reanimated corpse resides in a room below it!” and “That’s Ancient Nemract! That place used to have people, but then zombies took over!”


Robin chose to ignore Sam’s constant babbling and focus on the road ahead. Some undead skeletons got in the way during their time in the Nemract marshlands, but Sam was able to smash them into piles of dust with his spear. Eventually, the dark, damp grass ended, and made way for the bright, green grass of the Wynn plains. Roughly half an hour after sunset, they passed the trading city of Detlas. Sam wanted to visit, but Robin insisted they kept going. Zombies replaced skeletons as the uncommon threat during their time in the plains. Then, the grass became tall and parched. They had entered the savanna, where wild cats were the main threat. After forty minutes of sneaking past the ocelots, they encountered a lone house, sitting in the middle of nowhere. Sam and Robin sneaked to a window and peeked through. It was abandoned.


Deciding they were too tired to make it all the way to the desert city Almuj, they began slinking around the outside of the house to the front door. It proved a challenge to open, requiring two whole minutes of tugging at the door handle. When the door finally pried open, they entered the house. Small bookshelves were stacked across the wall, their contents very dusty. Ceramic pots littered the gray carpet floor. The upstairs was home to more stacks of bookshelves, a red colored bed and a door to a balcony. Various other things were placed in areas of the two floors. In total, the house had two rooms. Robin slept in the bed, and Sam took the carpet floor of the lower level.


They rose the next morning along with the sun. Sam provided some slices from the bread he had packed for the journey. As soon as they exited, they heard a voice.


“Hey! I don’t remember anything about you! Well, okay then. Hey other guy, the one I’m supposed to kill. Want a snack?”

 

Now just XVI, XVII, XVIII and IX before proofreading and then Chapter XX :D

Chapter XV
Accepted At Long Last​

“Mom, why do I have to go to that school? I want to go to the other one!”


“I told you, I want you two kids to be smart, and not the idiots all of Wynn’s warriors are.”


“But I already know everything they’ve been teaching us! Please, can I go to warrior training school? Please?”


“Ugh, fine, I’ll take you to Ragni’s fighting school instead. But you better make something decent out of your life.”


“Yesss! When do I start going?”


“I’ll see if I can schedule for you to start next month. Now don’t bother me, I’ve got guests visiting soon.”


The young boy was about seven years old, and he had been asking his mother if he could go to Ragni’s school for training warriors instead of the school for education. The kid was very intelligent, and found work too easy and boring. He wanted a more exciting life. The kid walked up the stairs in the small Ragni home, and was greeted by his sister immediately after setting his foot on the top step.


“Why do you get to go to that school and not me? I’ve been studying hard all year, and you just go up and ask and she accepts!”


“I already know all that stuff, and you don’t. Maybe wait a few years, and you might be able to go to warrior school, too.”


“But I want to go now!”


“Whatever. Just learn stuff and you should be okay. I’ve got to go plan for my new school, so bye.”


The kid ran past his sister, ignoring her complaining. He dashed into his room, shut the door and sat at the desk in the corner. Various stick figures had been drawn in ink on a large sheet of paper, depicting things like a person bashing someone else aside with a spear, and a person summoning a fire dragon with a wand. The kid pulled out a quill and dipped it in a bottle of ink sitting nearby. He then drew a person standing in front of a castle, with a bow, spear, wand and dagger floating near him. The kid rolled up the paper and set it aside, smiling.

 

Chapter XVI
Wedyf's Tales​

Jonas sighed and stared at the thatched ceiling. The wizard Wedyf had spent the last hour telling tales of his travels. “Then, I cast a spell, and a fire dragon erupted from my wand and attacked the horde of zombies!” Wedyf spoke. “The dragon smashed apart the zombies, and before I knew it, I had a pile of zombie flesh. I sold it all to a traveler who seemed interested in collecting them. He kept saying something about needing them to craft a helmet, but my memory is hazy about exactly what he needed the helmet for. In the end, I was given a liquefied emerald! At that point, I was the richest person in Bremminglar for a whole week! That was before I spent most of it on potion ingredients and spellbooks.”


“Got any other stories?” Jonas asked, attempting to stay awake. Julie had already passed out ten minutes previously.


“Sure! Would you like to hear my expedition through the abandoned mines nearly thirty years ago?”


“Okay,” Jonas replied.


“So, I was the juvenile age of forty-three when I was asked by the young company Wynnexcavation to help on a journey through the old abandoned mines near Ternaves. Naturally, looking for a bit of adventure, I accepted. I entered the cave with my chosen colleagues, which were a young man named Dranfor, a friend of mine named Rayshyroth, a woman named Laryn and… a man named… something. I can’t remember. As we were investigating the deepest part of the caves, a pile of corrupted explosives detonated, and the cave around us began collapsing. I quickly grabbed hold of everyone I could reach and teleported my way out with hastily done magic, dragging along Dranfor and Rayshyroth. Dranfor was quite disorientated for a while, but Rayshyroth was fine. Losing your sense of direction for an hour or two happens the first few times you teleport. Luckily, Rayshyroth and I were quite skilled at it. The man and Laryn didn’t make it. Funerals were held a week later, and I attended both. Quite heartbreaking, really. Neither of them looked to be older than thirty.


“Ten years later, I went alone on a travel to observe the cave-in. The trip wasn’t too exciting, really. A corrupted miner attempted to sabotage me on my way back, however, but I sent a magic bolt at it, and it fell instantly. That’s the whole story, minus maybe a bit or two I cannot recall,” Wedyf told.


“Cool. Just a random idea, but got any stories about necromancy?” Jonas asked.


“Ah, yes. It’s quite a strange tale though. One day, some four years ago, I was exploring the ruins of Ancient Nemract. The place is so infested with zombies that I could barely even walk without having to blast one aside! As entertaining as those stories would be alone, I would prefer to stay on the subject. You see, I had heard of a necromancer in the Ancient Nemract areas from a cloaked man in the town of Nesaak. When I asked him why he wore such a thin hood, he claimed it was to keep him warm. I personally didn’t trust him much, but the detail of the encounter was too much to seem fake. He said he had been returning from a trip from Nemract, which he was traveling to sell a rare Silk Fish found in the frozen Nesaak lake. He chose to pass through Ancient Nemract as a shortcut, because apparently he didn’t want to be seen. As he passed an old tower, a hooded figure emerged from a stair leading underground, and began commanding skeletons after the man. Naturally, he fled for his life, and never came near Ancient Nemract again.


“This brings us back to four years ago, when I had passed the enormous, run-down colosseum on my way to the tower. And, after a mere moment of standing before the stairwell, the necromancer had appeared. I readied my best wand for battle, the Sunrise, if you ask. The necromancer took no time, it attacked with a Zombie Dart before I could cast any spell. A Zombie Dart is a necromancy arrow that summons a zombie wherever it lands. I dodged to the side and took out the zombie. In the mere three seconds it took me to banish that zombie, three more had been summoned. I fought hard, but gave up after the necromancer cast a Death Vortex. Those are dimensional rifts that lead to a realm where all matter disintegrates within minutes. Very advanced magic, those are. As soon as I saw that, I knew I couldn’t emerge from that battle victorious. I cast the strongest teleportation spell I’ve ever done, and showed up back at home in Bremminglar. I haven’t been to Ancient Nemract since,” Wedyf finished.


“Have you ever tried doing necromancy?” Jonas asked.


“Once. After the encounter, I chose to dabble in those arts a bit, but I set my neighbor’s house on fire. It’s a very difficult type of magic, and even being able to see someone cast just one necromancy spell fluently is an extremely rare sight. You don’t mess around with necromancy. Ever.”


“Okay, well I guess that’s informative enough…. I can’t think of any story suggestions, so I’ll just ask you…. Can you teach me magic?”

 

I'm actually planning now on holding off the aftermath of this chapter back from 20 to 21. As if I haven't already been dragging the "suspense" for too long.

Chapter XVII
Three Knives and Two Flowers​

“Okay, so…. This piece of parchment here says I gotta kill you, so what way do you want to die? I’ve got about three knives, and two flowers. I forget which one was poisonous.” the person said casually.


“Er- Who are you, even?” Robin asked.


“Oh, I forgot! I haven’t introduced myself. The name’s Mr. Tollak, and should you call me that, this knife is gonna go through your skull. Got that?” the person responded, holding up a very sharp dagger.


“Okay, I’ll remember that for later. Me and Sam should be going to Almuj now, bye.” Robin said.


As Robin turned away towards the city of Almuj and began to step forward, Tollak dashed in front of him. “Hey! I never said you could leave! Okay, here’s a deal. You choose one of these flowers,” - He held out two flowers, one was blue and one yellow - “and eat it, and I’ll let you leave without me brutally smashing you against a tree until you stop breathing. Deal?”


Robin thought about it. If his memory was correct, one was poisonous, and the other, he wasn’t sure. He could fight back, but he and Sam together only had shabby knives and a spear, and this person was armed with the sharpest daggers Robin had ever seen. He didn’t really have much of a choice.


“Deal.”


Tollak held both flowers out as far as his arms could reach. “Okay, pick one, any one, and if you’re lucky, you’ll live, if you’re unlucky, not so much. You’ve got fifteen seconds.”


Sam looked nervously at Robin as he spent his time deciding. His instinct told him to choose the blue one, but it was likely that that was the poisonous one. On the other hand, the yellow one was the one Robin forced himself to favor, but his brain was screaming at him to not choose it. He only had ten seconds left to decide. Blue or yellow? An ocelot meowed in the distance. Nine seconds left, and he was examining the yellow flower to see if it might have any visible poison marks. Seven seconds, and he was now examining the blue one. Neither had any signs that they were poisoned. Six seconds, and he started formulating a decision. Blue seemed to be both the most and least likely to be poisoned. Four seconds, he was about to choose the yellow flower. Three seconds, and he changed his decision to blue. Two seconds, and he was back to yellow. One second, and he finally chose blue.


“I’ll take the blue one,” Robin announced, realizing that he only had a fifty percent chance of making it to the next day.


Tollak let go of the blue flower, and Robin snatched it out of the air. This was it. Fear began flowing through his veins. No matter what happened, there was a two in three chance of death; the flower could be fine, the flower could be poisonous, and Tollak could murder him on the spot for refusing to eat it. He could hear Sam breathing heavily, hoping Robin would survive.


Robin held up the flower. It was a very beautiful flower, with a smooth stem, bright green leaves and petals in the same structure as a rose. His entire life at that moment revolved around that flower. If he had made one mistake in the deciding, he would be dead within minutes. If he was lucky, then he would be able to live to see the sunlight of tomorrow. He finally was ready. Whether he survived or not, he could at least say he tried. He held the flower in front of his face, and stuffed it into his mouth and swallowed it as quickly as he could.


The moment had passed. It was done. He waited a minute, and felt nothing. “Well, I guess that’s that. Ciao!” Tollak said, then pulled out a scroll before vanishing.


Robin stood there, contemplating the last few minutes. He had just accepted and eaten a flower from a complete stranger who had been implying that he was attempting to kill him. He wondered why the stranger wanted to kill him. Sam was ten feet away, apparently unsure of what to do. Robin kept thinking. What if both flowers were poisonous, and it was a trick? He had just started to think about that when suddenly, the edges of his vision began fading away. He fell to the ground with a thud and stopped moving.

 

It's hard to believe that this day is the 3-month anniversary of this story.

Chapter XVIII
In The Between​

“Wait, so you gave him a FLOWER!?”


“Well, technically. You see, when I was traveling through Nivla, I found a couple flowers. I identified them both as poisonous. I made the guy eat one, and the deed was done! He’ll be dead by now, no doubt.”


“Okay. Just remember this: I made you try to kill him with everything you’ve got. Why just blow that all for two flowers?”


“You told me to kill them with any means possible, and that’s a way. Stop being a hypocrite and actually listen to what you’re saying for once.”


“Wha- Okay, that’s enough. I’m going to say this once and for all. STOP INSULTING ME! I’ve been working hard for months to make you as strong as you are, so don’t go throwing that all out. Got that?”


“Okay. I’ll be sure to not insult you in front of you. Who knows, though? I might talk in my sleep. You never know whether you snore or not unless someone tells you, and since you always keep me in captivity, you’ll never find out. Unless, however, you end up wasting all your valuable resources by letting your friend or whatever it is watch me constantly. But wouldn’t that be creepy? Not to mention useless.”


“Do you really want me to destroy every last piece of matter that makes you exist, or are you unaware of how insulting that is?”


“Okay, okay! Sheesh. How about I just check out that one Troms training school thing one of your reporters talked about yesterday?”


“Su- how did you know? That was an enclosed meeting, you can’t just eavesdrop on us like that!”


“You left the keys in your workroom! By all means, you practically gave me the rights to listen to that meeting!”


“Fine. Just- leave. I don’t want to see your face for a week. Understand?”


“‘kay. Ciao.”

 

Proofreading will (hopefully) occur over the next week or two. Originally I was just going to fix grammar errors and the like, but now I actually have plans to modify parts of the story, such as adding details, modifying details, cutting and replacing parts, etc. You can complain later.

Chapter XIX
Flight from Home​

“So, like, then the King of Ragni himself came, and gave a speech about how we’ll all become great warriors in the future! Then I went back to class and Teacher Delox taught us how to use the uppercut skill! Like always, I was the first to take the head off of the training dummy, and I received full marks! The teacher says that if I keep up doing great, I can start learning archery a year early! How was your day?”


“Just- forget I asked. You told me you heard how long it’ll take for me to be able to join that school. How long is it?”


“Well, what I heard was only an estimate. About 5 years if you keep doing as well as you are.”


“FIVE YEARS?! I’ve gotten perfect grades for my entire life! If anyone should go there, it’s me!”


“I got there because my grades were better than yours. Try harder, sis.”


She gave a vicious look as the kid marched down the cramped hallway and into his room, located at the far end. She knew that her brother was almost certainly playing with one of his weird wooden figures of humans armed with swords and bows. She entered her own room. It was square and very small, perhaps three metres in diameter at most. A worn bed was positioned in the far corner, and on the next corner to the left, a desk was sitting, creaking almost as if it were wheezing at the sheer amount of parchment stacked on top of it. Every last one was a worksheet from Ragni’s educational school, and every last one had a one hundred percent written on it in bold ink. None of them spoke of how to shoot a bow accurately, or questions on the procedure of holding a spear for battle. All were for vocabulary, Wynn history, arithmetic, runes, geography, and other similar subjects. The girl stared at those papers, steaming at the fact that none of them were of the warrior training school, the place where all of the amazing people learned, the place where her brother learned.


She stared at the window, thinking. What if she were to escape? What if she could leave, and return as someone who could hold a spear correctly, or shoot a bow accurately. She undid the lock keeping the window closed, and opened it. A gust of wind instantly blew in, and fell the enormous piles of paper, causing them all to spread across the wooden floor. That didn’t matter; This was a new start, and she could at last walk across the streets of Ragni without being called weak, or unworthy. This was it. She climbed onto the windowsill, and begun climbing across the walls of the abode. She put one foot in a wedge between two pieces of cobble, and begun scaling down the wall. It was difficult, but every foot down meant one foot fewer to go. What was no longer her home could be found in a far corner of the fort of Ragni, allowing nobody to see her climb down the cobbled wall and onto solid ground.


Finally, she felt the soft grass beneath her feet. Knowing this was her chance, she begun passing houses. Every time a human happened to walk by, she hid behind a flower box, or in a patch of tall grass lining the stone road. She finally found herself standing ten feet from the Southern gate of Ragni. Two iron-clad guards stood at the exit. There was no way she could leave without them noticing, and there was no excuse for a six year old girl to be leaving Ragni without any parents or guardians. She looked at the the fort wall, and then the wall of a house standing approximately five feet away. She started to climb the house wall, stepping on windowsills, large gaps between parts of the cobble wall, and hanging onto the occasional lamp for support. Two minutes of hard work and effort put her on the roof. If she could clear a five foot gap, she could escape. She backed further away, bending down to ensure that nobody could see her. Then she ran, accelerating quickly. Her feet were pounding against the wooden roof of the residence, and she could only hope that whoever was inside wouldn’t hear her. When her left foot landed mere millimeters from the edge of the roof, she channeled all of her energy into propelling herself into the air, and she landed roughly on the border wall of Ragni. Now, all she had to do was climb down the wall, sneak past the guards, cross the bridge and she would be perfectly free. No more of her brother, no more jealousy, no more confinement.


She scaled down the wall inch by inch and landed on the grass, the first patch of grass she had ever felt outside of the Ragni wall. She slinked across the wall, getting quieter with every step. The guards of the South gate were standing forward enough into Ragni that they wouldn’t notice her if she stayed far back. She stayed low to the ground, attempting to stay below the guard’s eyesight should they turn around. Sneaking to the bridge leading out of Ragni was unnaturally intense, as making one noise would get the guard’s attention, and that would be the end of her journey. As she finally went from soft grass to hard stone brick, she wanted to give a huge sigh of relief, as that was the end of the hardest part. Now, as long as she stayed silent, she could simply walk out of Ragni without the guards noticing. One of the guards began talking. “So, lovely day, isn’t it, Piers?”


“Yeah, it is quite the day. Not a cloud since early this morning!”


“I still think our king is being paranoid. He’s been rambling on about the new mining operation near Detlas for four months now! I can’t exactly see why, nothing bad has happened for two years, and so many emeralds are flooding into the economy that nothing, and I repeat, nothing can make that not worth it!”


“Well, he does have a point. Red rock and large obsidian spikes don’t just appear naturally. There’s nothing that proves it isn’t dangerous.”


“What, are you expecting the miners to accidentally wake up dormant monsters that will ravage the province? That isn’t going to happen! Besides, our fort is so strong that nothing can enter or leave without our consent! Stop being a fool, and get to the present! We have metal armor and weaponry, we have bows, we have ballistas, we even have a small cache of explosive weapons! Nothing stands in our way!”


“I dunno, Marmaduke. That place still gives me the creeps. Can we just talk about something else?”


“Okay. What do you want to talk about?”


“Well…. How about we just go back to guard duty?”


“Okay.”


By the time they finished that conversation, their voices were barely audible for the girl, who had crossed the bridge and was walking East, toward the Emerald Trail. Now was her chance. There was nobody to stop her now from exploring the world and becoming the greatest warrior ever. She walked to a tree standing nearby and found a stick lying on the ground. It was maybe an inch thick, and a foot long, a decent weapon for an adventure such as this. She could always look for something better later. She started walking, breathing air that seemed unusually pure. She stared straight forward, putting behind her six previous years of life. Now was the present, and now was when her life would become not-so overshadowed. She took a breath. A breath of freedom.

 

I just remembered about this thread So I decided to check out the chapter I wrote and now I'm probably gonna rewrite it I'll see if I can at least finish a chapter "soon"

EDIT: I'm hoping to get chapter 20 out tomorrow morning if I don't have anything in the way!