Curiosity killed the wizard. [Job w/ Isaac]

You would think that after someone retired, they would live the rest of their days humbly, quietly, and within peace. But that was just the vast majority. Unlike a lot of people, Isaac 'retired' from his work as a Rune Knight officer in Law Enforcement had let him, along with a good chunk of others, go. At first, it was truly shocking. He didn't know what he had coming. And for the majority of the experience, he didn't know what to do with himself. See, it might be best to start from he beginning to put things into perspective.

Several centuries ago, far from Fiore (Nearly on the other side of Earthland, we shall say) was Sin. A rather unholy land with treacherous regions and even more dangerous monsters and creatures. But as shocking as it was, even in the smaller parts of Sin, there was some order. From where Isaac was from, he lived in a noble family as Prince. It wasn't a sad, lonely childhood. In fact, it was quite pleasant and there were more good, happier times then bad ones. No, he didn't lose his parents. And the only things he tended to kill was probably livestock. It was a humble family but with a difficult lifestyle. Isaac had been the oldest child and son out of the many siblings he had, and had taken on the responsibilities of a prince, noble, son, and older brother. And that consisted on quite a lot.

Guiding and looking after his younger siblings, taking on the duties passed down from his still-alive Father, keep his Mother company and help out his village-kingdom all the same. And although he had a terribly loving family, as he grew older, Isaac and his Father slowly transitioned from a Father-Son relationship to a King-Prince one. Their conversations were short and consisted mostly of schedules, jobs, and other noble practices. They never really liked the same things, but they did get along. And when they did disagree on something, it was always in private. They never did truly like setting a bad example in front of their family.

But as Isaac grew, so did his siblings. They all became accomplished individuals for their age, but not quite old enough to pursue some sort of career or profession. But his mother and he always did tend to stay close. Sharing similar, if not very close and shared interests and prioritizing their family above all. And as lovely as it were, he knew at some point that he would have to inherit his Father's busy schedules and rushed environment when he took the name of King.

Several years went by, and Isaac had adapted to his already busy lifestyle, tutoring, guiding and teaching his family, spending time with his Mother and trying to see eye to eye with his Father. But it was at this period in his life that he had matured in his twenties and was close to inheriting the throne, but was also the time where one of his youngest sisters, Marceline, had fallen ill to some mysterious disease. Doctors came from all over but none could help. Because of his attachment to her, Isaac spent most of his time passing off his noble duties used the time to look after Marceline twenty four seven.

She was the sweetest little thing, and his favorite sibling. So attached to her, he made a quiet vow to protect her and to watch over her through all existences. But even the hope of the moment wasn't enough to cure his worries, and without a doubt, she later died and an older age.

Depressed and in distraught, Isaac had abandoned his noble status and went travelling to the many villages scattered across Sin after Marceline had passed, or so he thought. He visited many different villages, homing villages, refugee villages, religious villages... the whole lot of them. But the main village he had stayed in was a Hunters' Village. They were quiet, content people who didn't speak very much, and kept to themselves near the hunting grounds in Sin. They weren't exactly modern people, and used weaponry outdated even in that time period. But even so, he was taken under the wing of the Village Leader, and learned to use weapons of all kinds of natures.

He got along with the villagers quite well too. In fact, with one of the elder women there had connected with him quite well. She didn't speak a lot, but the conversations they had reminded him of the ones with his Mother. She ran an orphanage with about a dozen children who came from all sorts of villages and unknown places. And after bonding with these children, he had decided to help take care of them, raise them. They all had a special relationship to him.

He learned from their leader, and lived alongside their kin. But it was soon after he had a trusting relationship with the village that the Village Leader would introduce his Daughter to him, Setta. She was the feisty one… or could you call her a tsundere? She was cold, hot headed, and condescending at the time when they trained together, and in truth, Isaac wasn’t too fond of her either. They bickered and fought each other nonstop but in a way, they bonded the most. She softened up towards him and and he began to care for her a little more over time until they fell into a romance.

Unfortunately, around the same time that they had confirmed their love for each other, a mysterious disease had broken out in the land. It was incurable and dangerous, possibly airborne? No one could tell, and anyone with no symptoms didn’t know how truly infected they were until they dropped dead. Panic arose and anarchy had reigned over the land, no person remained civil and no person could be trusted. Sin stained red for yet another time of the century. Several months had passed, and Isaac didn’t dare abandon his wife or orphanage  to visit his family. He figured that they would get by. Instead, he decided to care for his sick orphans and pregnant wife. But as they all slowly fell ill, he decided he needed to do something.

He searched, and searched, but no treatment can be found. That was until he visited another village, all their women and children… dead. Done by the hands of these cultists. Cold blooded killers who ate, raped, molested, and tortured children in the name of their god, and skinned women for eternal youth. But… despite being exposed to so much infection, they were okay. They claimed to have a cure, and flaunted it, really. Desperate for the safety of his own and his family’s health, he practically begged for it. But in return or the cure, he had to serve their God. How cruel was this? But he accepted by impulse and did just that. Although attempting to avoid all of their ‘ways to serve’, and successfully doing so, the observation of murder was absolutely disgusting.

He didn’t dare to believe that these people were human. Their blood was too cold, and appetite too bloodthirsty for them to be considered a human being. They were more like a pack of hungry wolves who preyed on the weak and youthful for sport rather than their precious God. Of course, he convinced himself that they were doing this for sport, but the hateful  curiosity swelled up inside of him enough for him to eventually ask his cult leader why they served their God. He said, “Oh, Isaac! He grants us eternal life and youth in exchange for life and youth! We are one with him, as he is one with us. We shall continue to bloody our hands with our immortality!”

And those words never seemed to leave his consciousness. Words so ludicrous and cool couldn’t possibly make any sense at all, but even though he was not a religious man, he did do some investigating. Many, if not all the veteran members of the cult, had been around for one hundred and fifty or so years, much farther past the normal and healthy lifespan of a normal human being. But he was smarter than to believe that some sort of God made that happen. There had to be something behind it, and the clear answer was probably the ‘cure’. But no one would tell him anything beyond that. It was a menacing thing to think about, seeing as he had had small doses of the cure himself, but nothing seemed to change. Questionable, indeed.

But when he could get the chance, Isaac would sneak back to the village to visit the orphans and his pregnant wife with as much food and water as he could, which wasn’t a lot, but he did want to bring his fair share along with the other hunters and huntresses. Sin was now more dangerous than ever with a wandering epidemic spreading and bloodthirsty cultists and murderers taking advantage of the situation and bringing genocide here and there. But it was also at this time he began to write things in a journal, a little biography, you could call it. Some of it’s contents included: “Early Childhood (4-6 Years Old, Birth of Hannelore)

I will start by saying this: My childhood was not at all depressing or notably tragic, but happy and fruitful. I was the firstborn son and child to a working King and loving Queen, both being my parents.

My Father, at the time, was a man of honor and bound by work. Call him a workaholic, but if anything, he did his job well. He was stoic, and disciplined, and I happened to take on his nature in my later days. But in my childlike essence, I was merely a quiet, curious boy who loved to play with my parents. My Father, Aldrick, and Mother, Eleonore, pampered me quite a lot. Spoiling me with seconds of my favorite foods and telling me secrets of the kingdom. But it wasn't long before my first sister was born, Hannelore.

My Mother, at the time, kind and endearing. Sweet and accepting. The ideal, guiding mother. Many villagers in the kingdom had idolized her or glorified her to be some sort of goddess sent to guide them, so with her fame, we practically inherited that. But she did live up to her expectations, seeming to always to make the right decisions and pushing others in the wisest direction. She did not fail to please, but also had disciplines of her own.

Now, both of our parents had spoiled us, for at the time we were all they had. I was six and she was four, and we were a duo of uncovering secrets of the castle and kingdom; which really only was finding secret rooms and seeing who could last the longest in the dark wineries of the castle cellars. At the time, I hadn't exactly developed an elder brother persona just yet. I just happened to be older, and to say the least, more timid than my little sister, Hannelore.

Hannelore was a curious, adventurous child who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. When she was she was just grasping the language, she would demand anything that sparkled. Oh, but she wasn't as brave. She'd scream at the slightest suspicion of bugs or worms or dogs. At those times, I was her 'knight in shining armor', but in reality, I really just covered her eyes and guided her away (Seeing as I wasn't fond of bugs myself...), plucked or shooed the things away reluctantly, or simply ignored her entirely. She was such a fussy child, and was only a little shorter than me, but would still demand I hold her or spoon feed her, no matter how old she was at the time. I would gladly accept her commands, seeing as I babied her more than my parents did.

Now, my Mother had always worried over us both. Seeing as Hannelore would be the one to lead us into dirt or trouble, and I'd always be the one to lead us out of it. She'd say things to Hannelore, like "Don't wander into the cellars alone, my little princess!" and tell me things like "Look after your sister, Isaac! She's all you've got!". But sometimes, those lectures would switch, but I managed to develop that big-brother persona after so many lectures, and became more or a guardian than a playmate after several tens of these lectures. If not hundreds.

In any case, we were a trouble making duo (That was more or less strictly on Hannelore....), and eventually developed elder-sibling personas after we discovered our Mother's next pregnancy.

Late Childhood (10-12, Birth of Achim)

Not much had changed, really. Hannelore was learning to grow out of her fussy nature and I was already indulging in other studies, becoming an ideal older brother persona. At the time, I was ten years old, Hannelore being eight, and Achim, our newest younger brother, being six. Hannelore didn't change, really. She still ran about the castle grounds, seeking adventure and danger and even going as far as pranking other with mischeivous acts such as putting worms into jars and leaving them under someone's pillow (She was slowly growing out of her fear of small creatures), which, she was lectured for over and over again... by Mother. And I continued to watch over her and discipline her, already adopting my disciplined nature and responsibilities as a sibling and first in line to royal duties.

Achim was the quietest of us all. He always was by Mother's side and never left it. He was clumsy, and often had people do things for hi, no matter how reluctant he was for them to do so, which contributed to the fact he had trouble advocating for things he was clearly not okay with. My relationship with him was close, to a degree. I was one of his tutors, and had a fair part in teaching him how to read and to interpret language, since I happened to be the bookworm, education-addicted, wise sibling out of the trio. Which was to be expected, I was given private lessons and special tasks at an early age, around when I was eight, and had skills that naturally came to me.

If anything, I was idolized by Achim, in my perspective. To say the least, he always tried to force himself to have an aptitude in things I had in. Things like, how fast I could read and write, or my observational skills (In fact, he had to follow his finger to read and was easily distracted), and tried to be adventurous and danger-seeking like Hannelore, but always ended up getting hurt or frustrated. But we still loved him all the same, and though Hannelore urged him to take it easy, she would always make him jealous over all of the things she had bragged of doing (Like... slaying a bear... which awfully just looked like a horse... she exaggerated a lot). I happened to be the one who would bring logic and realistic scenarios and would continue to become the ideal, elder brother they both looked up to as a guardian and as a sibling.

My relationship was Achim was along the borders of teacher-student than brother and brother, but it ended up with us being relatively close with one another. I taught him things I learned in my lessons, but he wasn't quite old enough to understand it or be taught it by an official tutor. But it was nice to express that knowledge with a blood brother. He never grew out of his shy and timid nature, at the time. And we never really grew closer than brothers should. Father had become busier with each child, but would always spend time with us as he was given the chances. I, myself, slowly began to lose interest in my Father's treatment towards me and my siblings. Our conversations slowly became more professional and short. Our relationship was starting to take a turn.

Early Adolescence (14-16, Birth of Marceline)

We weren't surprised when we heard that our Mother was pregnant again, well, at least I wasn't. Hannelore continued to make devious plans for her sibling, but slowly grew into an elder-sister figure, despite how long it took.

Achim was thrilled to hear that he would be an older brother, and it was cute to see him try to take care of our mother during her late pregnancy. He had been 'Mommy's little helper' for each and every month during our Mother's pregnancy. I, of course, helped as well. I had most of the responsibilities, on both sides of my parents. Thing like taking care of particular duties my Father simply could not make the time for, or completely watch over my Mother in the early morning and late at night when the others were unable. It was exhausting, to an extent, but I never complained.

But in the late hours, I would chat with my Mother about the child and our lives. She was perhaps the only person in my family that I could see eye to eye with. Or rather, someone I could actually be parented to. She was rest my head on her chest and sing me lullabies, like a baby, while gently stroking her ever growing belly. She was strong, at heart. And I envied that sort of nature. If I recall, we'd always have chipper conversations, and I could always tell her what was on my mind. And it was through these conversations that I devoted myself to the child in her belly, without bias.

"You are my eldest and precious son, Isaac. And though you may have the most responsibility as your Father's firstborn son and as the eldest out of your siblings, you are still a child, and will forever be my child. We are having another family member. - A girl, and her name will be Marceline. I want you to watch over her. And treat her with the kindness that fills your heart... for I will not always be here for them, your Father and I both. Watch over my little Marceline, and watch over your other siblings too. Hannelore, Achim... each of them. They do not yet understand the responsibility of how an older sibling should act, especially little Hannelore. She's quite the haughty one, is she not? And little Achim, he tries so hard to be like you two. Soon he will realize that he himself must cherish the person he was born with. Himself." He would always look to me and smile, smile so graciously and peer out of her bedroom window with longing eyes. As if, lost in the beauty of the kingdom below her. She resembled something along the lines of a caged dove. It was beautiful, yet tragic.

"I know that as my Father's son, and as my younger sibling's elder brother, that it is my duty to watch over my blood and these villages. I promise that I will watch over Marceline as both friend and brother. She will never have to be alone, dear Mother. I will always and forever be your child, and so shall you be my Mother forever and until the ends of time itself." I would reassure her with the same lost smile, but filled with kindness and embrace.

It was soon after tens and tens of chats that Marceline was born, and the beauty she was. Long, raven black hair and crimson red eyes, pale skin and sharp eyes. She was quite fair. And I kept my promise, for a great part of her childhood, I had watched over her. I had did a fair share of teaching her, and cooking for her when Mother couldn't (And considering Hannelore's cooking is a gruesome death....). I would take outside the castle and explore, and have her meet the villagers. I would play with her and stay with her most of the time. I saw it as a happy and chipper time of my life, like most of the births of my siblings.

However, Hannelore and Achim tried to get their fair share of bonding time as well. But, their definitions of bonding escalated. Hannelore would lead them into cellars and into obviously-suspicious areas of the castle and kingdom and one of the sisters always got hurt. This had caused me to tell Achim to go with them whenever they went of 'adventures'.

But Achim never helped either. He was still hopelessly clumsy and always managed to cause problems for the group altogether.

However, Achim and Marceline never had much brother-sister time individually. Achim, at this point, was being privately tutored and busying himself with other matters. Which, more than often, was him addressing issues he makes for himself. But when they did spend time together, I reckoned that it was enjoyable, to say the least. I never really observed them when they did. Except Hannelore, she needed to be watched regardless.

But despite their natures, Hannelore and Achim had transitioned into proper elder siblings figures, and though the two had bickered a lot, they had each went out of their way to guide and amuse Marceline. I, of course, usually had the final say in things, but I was still more of the 'Silent and Stoic' character amongst the siblings. I could not recall a dreadful time in this childhood. Achim had become one of intellect and open-minded, while Hannelore had found herself becoming exceptionally... well adjusted. By that, I mean that she always had good judgement. She always guided others down the right path and had a good sense of just, but she was always foul mouthed. And even though she was right, more than often, she would follow it with a 'Told you so!' or 'Of course I was right.' remark. She was still very haughty and prideful but we couldn't complain.

Marceline, of course, had been growing into a lovely young woman. Throughout her lifetime, my Father and Mother had always barraged her in love, while I had been growing into more professional and stricter routines and schedules, usually given by my Father. It was as if our relationship had been degraded into one of boss-and-employee. I, per say, didn't mind this sort of treatment, seeing as it was a birthright and a responsibility that only I could rightfully take on, but it was also a pity that I was slowly growing out of the love my Father had constantly bestowed upon my siblings.

This was the childhood that my Father and I had started to disconnect from our loving relationship, and into more of a do this and do that sort of thing. However, my Mother and I had still remained close and stable.

I could say that Marceline and I had the closest relationship amongst the family, in my eyes. We had always spent time together, and even if it was just sitting somewhere and peeling an orange, it was still memorable.

But all good things must meet their ends, as always. Marceline had come down with an illness, one that was incurable. We didn't know what was wrong with her, but her symptoms had made her disgustingly uncomfortable. Doctors from many lands had came in her aid, but there was nothing they could do. We weren't certain if it was fatal or not, or if it was more around the lines of severe allergies, but all we could do is mourn.

However, I could not. As sad as I was, I couldn't be the weaker one here, and always treated her the same, despite her illness. I would peel fruits for her, and do simple tasks for her, and sneak her out of the castle when she wasn't allowed. I loved her so much, and I feared that I was hurt the most to hear that she was ill. And that she was suffering.

But, I continued to watch over her and my siblings, but despite the illness, we all had happy childhoods….”

There was more to it.. But at the time, he didn’t want to litter his mind with better times. But with his wife giving birth recently that week, and the children becoming more ill, Isaac’s carefulness had sunk just for a few hours. But little did he know that even that would cost him something.

His fellow cultists caught him sneaking to his village with an abundance of food and water he did not share with the group, not that they really ate animal meat over human meat. Regardless, they followed him to his orphanage and wife, and realized what an advantage they had gotten. The village was littered with women and children, and how lucky for them to find an orphanage there. They all praised Isaac and labeled him “a true believer”, but he did not accept. He practically begged them to leave them alone, and to go do their doings elsewhere. But as an act of ‘mercy’, their Leader had informed him that in response to the children’s illnesses, they would cure them and leave them be.

Overjoyed, Isaac had lived these short moments in a period of “Everything’s going to be okay”. But what he asked in return was abhorring. With a blade to his, the childrens’, and his wife’s necks,  he was instructed to further pay their god by stealing their ‘maidenhead’ or else they’d all be killed. As simple as the situation was, Isaac deemed desperate and proceeded take the ‘maidenhead’ of the children, reluctantly. He convinced them that in order for them to be healthy and strong again, he had to do this, no matter how many tears clogged the corners of his eyes at the moment.

After the tiring, emotionally destructive process, Isaac demanded that they do their fair share and treat them, as promised. But, as always, they were wolves in sheep’s clothing, and petty little liars. They slaughtered the children and skinned his wife, all while Isaac was forced to witness the ‘God’s Glory’ while held back, screaming and sobbing. They were ignorant enough to bring their supply of ‘cures’ to tease the idea as well, all of them laughing pitifully. Except one. One of them who went by the name Kotomine just stood there with the same face of pain that he had. Earlier that year, they had befriended each other, really. They were both there for the same reason, to treat the ones they cared about. And in that period of time, they were the closest thing to best friends that one could describe. But that same year, the same thing happened to Kotomine. Fooled into believing that they were merciful and would help him, but slaughtered his little sisters with cold blood and iron claws.

But the sadness was soon mixed with fury and ferociousness as he had seen the entire village slaughtered by their hands. His wife, skinned alive. Children? Molested, killed, and eat raw in front of him. All that remained was his child and son, Atlas. Who was still in his dead Mother’s arms crying a healthy cry for attention. And attention did come to him, the hungry cultists crowded around him and realized that it was Isaac’s child, and saw this as the pure punishment for betraying God’s will.

But it was also at that moment that the intensity of his feelings has driven him to unlock a magic, consisting of all the skills, weaponry, abilities, and other gadgets that his Teacher had taught him before. A complete armory of weapons and skillsets familiar to him in every way. The Ultimate Weapons’ Master ReQuip.

With the newly obtained power, he had slaughtered everyone remaining in the cult (That was present in the village) except Kotomine, who had actually helped him. They both had chugged down the rest of the cure, as Isaac would also have his child drink some of it.

The village was now silent and as red as wine. But it was also at this moment that Kotomine had informed him the true effects of this treatment. This odd and foreign substance simply expanded the mortal lifespan of those who drink it by a large chunk of years, also empowering the human body systems enough so they can withstand the disease, never truly curing it, but giving the person what they need to survive with it. The cultists seeing this as a “gift from the God of eternal mortality.” And maybe it was? The origin of the disease or the cure was never discovered, but that didn’t matter to Isaac at that moment.

They both built proper burials for the dead children in the orphanage and his wife, or what remnants of their half eaten bodies they could recover while leaving Atlas in a rocking carriage inside one of the orphanage’s rooms. During the burials, and honoring the kids and his wife, they both told each other what they would do or the remainder of their lives. Kotomine had told him that he’d become a Priest, and instead of serving a God of Death and Blood, he’d instead bring love and peace to anyone who deems need it, and would move to Fiore henceforth with the bodies to build another burial for them.

Isaac, however, thought differently. He decided he would live his life raising his child to be everything that Isaac wasn’t, a respectable human being, and also live his life making up for this past year of blood, cannibalism, molestation and other sins and crimes.

Content with their decisions, Isaac and Kotomine had finished burying the bodies and finding plants to put on top of them traditionally. But as Isaac walked back into the orphanage to retrieve his son, he was gone. Nothing. Nothing lied inside of that small basket…

Kotomine later spent the rest of the many months comforting Isaac and sulking with him for his stolen son. But as the sadness turned into determination, Isaac vowed that he would find his son, and become a servant to life, repenting for his crimes and making up for his sins by bringing peace. He had lost everything. His wife, his family, his son, his siblings, his parents, his home…  but that wouldn’t stop him.

And like that, Isaac traveled all over Earthland doing just that. He wandered and served, but also on the careful lookout or the child who’s face never left his mind. He met plenty of women during the many centuries, and although getting into a relationship a few times, he soon abandoned them being convinced that he didn’t deserve any sort of romance. But in more modern times, Isaac had met another woman, Sukoshi Saki, who was quite a young woman, yes. But they had met in a bar, and had drugged him. Dragging him to a local motel and sleeping with him. It was within that same year that she had also redeemed pregnant before she left him after several more druggings that week, leaving a note saying that she was indeed pregnant, and would have that child, but would not take care of it.

But he decided not to take the situation too harshly, and made another devotion to find his other child, wherever she left him, and also attempt to care for him.

Later that century, he joined the Rune Knights, and was let go after a very long time of service, joined the Garou Knights, but also left them thinking that this isn’t what he wanted anymore. He was lost again, and sought refuge at Fairy Tail for the time being. But after paying another visit to Kotomine’s Church at Neutral Grounds, he was convinced that he had been forgiven of his sins and had repented for his crimes. He had also gotten the name of Sukoshi’s and his son, Jaeger Nekros Kruger. Next to when Atlas was born, this was at the time that he had experienced true peace and joy.

He became guildless, and abandoned his affiliation with the Magic Council and any Law Enforcement factions, took his wealth elsewhere and had been currently living in his estate in Talonia. Finding Atlas in Honsenka, and truly finding happiness. But still on the search for his other son, Jaeger, Isaac had new ambitions and new goals to meet before he died. To gain power, to discover new things and to experience romance, happiness, and combat with new people, to have a healthy relationship with his sons and to dine happily without the idea of dead children.

But now he was here, waking up to a dream by some mysterious white figure and instructed to go to the Wakusei Portals. And so he did. He had been wearing a wine red collared shirt with a brownish-black buttoned vest, along with pants in the same color, and black shoes. He couldn’t describe why he had his dream, he had been his happiest, really. But it wasn’t a nightmare… but some kind of powerful, subtle force convinced him to go to Kyoka anyway. Of course, which required the Wakusei Portals. Some sort of aching thought flew through his mind, telling him that he was not alone. But dreams were individual, he didn’t think that anyone else would show up. But as he would enter the portals in the late day with a lax expression, he had bumped into something large, muscular, and hard…. ”...Oh.” That was all he could mutter.

________________________
WC: 5,603/7,000 (16 Posts)
MP: 100%
HP: 300%

◀

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

It was lucky that the giant was able to get some time to breathe after that initial wave. There were still the two wizards and that atronoch; there was also the giant wolf that was headed his and Isaac's way. It seemed at the moment, there was a mexican stand-off between the groups in the immediate area. No movements in particular were made, save for the alpha whom was walking slowly forward and there was an eerie sort of tension in the air. This reprieve was advantageous to Hero since he was able to regain some of the ethernano he had lost from his body in the most recent bout. Such a thing was rare in this type of scenario, but the giant did not dwell on that fact. What mattered was that he now had time to come up with a more thorough plan. Considering the amount of wolves and other targets whom seemingly came from nowhere, there were likely to be many more throughout this rather dense fog. That being said, Yamamoto had to ensure that what he had to do would not put his ally in harm's way. In order to do so, the man came to the conclusion that he had to draw everythings' attention again to himself to provide Isaac room and time to thoroughly devastate any enemies that came their way. Unfortunately, up to this point, that man did not lift a finger. Was he seeing how Hero had grown so quickly in the past month? It was a possibility, since the last time they saw each other was when they attended that wedding in Rose Garden. Since then, Hero had attained family, a guild, and thus a purpose for becoming stronger than he was at that point in time. Gaining those things were the catalyst to taking him to the next level in understanding himself and his fate.

An ear-pounding howl interrupted the man's thoughts then and what ensued was the ground trembling. The alpha wolf had stopped moving and in the distance was a line that stretched horizontally for several meters, though it only appeared as one solid shadow for a few moments. After some time waiting, the shadow became more distinct, and what the shadows became were a legion of wolves whom looked very angry and very hungry. Further back, Hero also noticed the shaping of atronochs dotted along the long line; those ones looked a bit tougher than the others he came across a bit earlier. The first group to break the stand-off were the two wizards further away from the giant. They started to assault the wolves whom were still some distance away and then the atronoch charged at the group as well. Two questions briefly made their way into Yamamoto's mind: why were they fighting each other? Were they not all allied to one another? Said questions were brief because the answer was clear. The alpha wolf was the clear leader who broke off from the remaining ragtag band, so then this happened. It did not last long however. The wizards and atronoch managed to knock some of them away before they were overwhelmed, which meant it was down to Hero and his friend Isaac. The giant was confident he could fend for himself long enough to take them all out but it would have been much easier with Isaac's assistance. Before that, however, he had to get their attention and well... that was the easy part of it.

"I'm going on ahead to grab their attention. If you intend to give me a hand, it would be greatly appreciated. Wish me luck."

Hero darted off then, in the direction of the large, minimally diminished horde of wolves that gradually began to cone in order to overrun the giant right away. He immediately began to charge ethernano into his right arm once again to deal a heavy blow to the group. For some reason, the ethernano he gathered into his body was stronger than the last punch he threw, though he did not mind that feeling. Just as he threw the punch the front line of wolves were nearly upon him and about to literally pounce on him. "GRIT THOSE TEETH! The punch immediately tore a twenty-five meter hole in the horde and sent several of them flying through the air and many others into wolves and atronochs that were not hit by the initial blast. The blow had also picked up much of the soil from the ground ahead of him and created a clearing in the fog. When the dust settled, there were only a handful of the wolves left and it seemed the big alpha took quite a bit of damage from it as well. The strike itself combined with all the smaller wolves hitting it must have done a number on its body. Among the few targets left, there was also another semi-large wolf that looked like it was going to fall over if it were hit a few more times. The others looked as though they were running on fumes. The stories of this place were true then. That Kyoka was said to truly increase the magic power of those on its land by several times. On top of that, the place, he was told, was said to be a center for healing and powerful medicines that were unrivaled. That must have been why he had felt refreshed ever since he arrived from the portal.

"You... why have you come here? Have you come to disturb the natural order of this place with your Magic?"

A deep voice rang through the air and for a moment, Hero did not know where it had come from. Then he noticed that the wolf was staring straight at him from only a few meters away. The alpha was capable of speech? If that were possible, then why did it attack the giant without asking such questions first? No matter. It would have been best to end this bit of confrontation without anymore bloodshed.

"My friend here and I are following a whim. A dream came to us in the night that told us to come here and seek it out somewhere within this fog."

"If you are here from a dream, then what you seek is the master of the Heaven's Forge. You must take a bone from my body in order to reach it."

"I see. If I may take such a bone without killing you, I would appreciate it. As well as assurance that we will not have to deal with your kin again."

The slightly smaller wolf jogged over to the alpha and tore a bone from its chest; it then jogged toward the giant and placed the bone on the ground a couple of feet from him.

"Neither I, nor my kin, will bother you from now. But a word of caution. I am only the first of three trials before you reach the Forge. Be wary."

The man only nodded in response to the warning and then the remaining wolves swiftly darted off into the dense fog, where their shadows slowly dissipated into nothing. Talking wolves... a glowing orb... what the hell was going on? Now there was some Forge? Was that what the dream was for? Perhaps he and Isaac would attain more answers as they pushed on. Pushing those questions away, he kept that warning close and then spoke out to Isaac, wherever he was positioned currently.

"I suppose that is that, then. Lets get moving. This fog makes it difficult to keep track of the time."

HP: 150% (450)
MP: 100%

Comments: Remaining enemies left in peace, with most dead and scattered over the ground; first of three items obtained.

It was quite the shock to see Hero again. Isaac didn't expect to see former Rune Knights rejoin him so coincidentally, and especially the humongous one he had met a while ago during a very boring wedding. Well, up until the hooligans showed up. It got exciting then. Anyway, it was hard to forget Hero. Seeing as he was gigantic in size and seemingly had a heart of gold, from what Isaac could tell. Even though at the time the two just met, they worked well together and bid their farewells after that. This happened to be the first time they saw each other since that complete mess of a wedding (And in the end, Isaac still wonders if they ever got married.)

But, the two had exchanged their greetings and proceeded forward in the mysterious yet enchanting land. But there was something odd about the situation, to the point where these two old acquaintances had suddenly ended up here, at the Wakusei Portals to Kyoka at the same time. It seemed more intended by some other force than just coincidence. But perhaps the middle aged man was overthinking the situation. But it was worth paying close attention to.

The two had proceeded deeper into the realm of Kyoka until something vast approached them. And what was this? People? Possibly. But as they came closer, they revealed to be something much more savage. A variety of canine beasts and and an assortment of atronochs. - Curious, Isaac said and did nothing, and watched Hero take out the beasts swiftly and single-handedly. It was quite impressive, and he had appeared to improve since he last saw him. Silently, Isaac took note of his progress before the battle had officially ended and the remaining enemies had scattered into the dense fog.

With a innocent smile to his face, Isaac began to clap softly. "Bravo, Monsieur Hero," Isaac applauded with a playful twist in French, "My apologies for the lack of contribution to your brawling, but it appears that it wasn't needed considering how you fought."

The bearded man walked up to the side of the much larger man and chuckled with arms folded behind his back, "Shall we go?" He spoke warmly as he would proceed into the dense fog, in hopes of catching onto some leads as to the purpose of being here. He hadn't been to Kyoka, before. But plenty of descriptions were given of the space due to it's fame. Isaac and his partner would continue through this realm of raw magic with only a few items, or one bone for that matter. But as they walked in silence, you could hear distant and hollow moans and cries of monsters. A danger was near, but not close enough to engage just yet. The fog had clouded up the area to a point where you could only see so many feet in front of you.

It was a pressuring scenario where you felt like anything could pop out at you at any moment. Cautious, Isaac stuck close to the large man next to him with hopes that it'd be easier to fend off any opponent that would lunge at them in the near future.

WC: 534
HP: 300%
MP: 100%

◀

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

"It would have been easier with your assistance, but I suppose it can't be helped. What do you think of this whole thing so far? There has to be some reason we're here, right? That alpha wolf said something about a Forgemaster. Is that what this is about?"

It was very clear that was the biggest question currently out of this entire situation. Logic could have easily explained the various factions at play considering the primary fact that the two older men were not naturally from this land. Such feedback from nature was to be expected, at least in Hero's opinion. And what was the deal with this Forgemaster? Was that the reason why the giant had to carry around this bloodied wolf bone? This journey had better been worth it in the end to go through all these hoops. Or at least that was what he thought for the time being. In hindsight, he did not have anything to do this day so it was not like the time spent on this little adventure was a problem. The problem came in the fact that Yamamoto wanted to ensure that he was spending his time wisely on things that could either improve himself, improve others, or improve society in some form. If what he was doing was not contributing to at least one of those things, it would be considered a waste of time in his eyes. Stumbling upon that thought allowed him to realize though that he was improving himself by going on this little journey. Was he not fighting off hordes of various creatures that resided within the nature of Kyoka? Certainly, at least that much was worth something.

Luckily the few injuries Hero had already incurred were mostly healed since they were minor, plus the impressive healing power of the land they were in. Kyoka was still not a very inhabitable place due to the natural occupants in the forests, but there were apparently a few settlements in place where natural occupants were at a minimal population. The weather was relatively damp due to dense fog and the soil seemed very fertile, which meant growing herbs and foods here would have been extremely healthy. The giant’s body felt lighter in this place, as though the cleansing air sucked the toxins straight out of his organs. “Isaac, do you feel it too? This land is filled with an overabundance ethernano. The land is so healthy and even I feel revitalized by it.” The man spoke with a tone filled with certainty, though even though it was a great feeling, it was bound to be a problem for wizards. The reason was if one were to become relaxed, one would fall prey to nature and become a corpse. Of course that was a worst-case scenario but it was still a viable one. Hero knew how to remain focused even in times of peace and boredom; it was not so difficult for him to keep vigilant because of those years spent in the Rune Knights. His upbringing also lent a hand to his demeanor, though that was minor in comparison to his service to Fiore. Isaac had similar experience though he did not know that man all too well. Yamamoto had only worked with him once at that excruciatingly boring wedding; he did not actually speak too much, though when he did speak, it was fairly easy to understand despite the particular way in which he spoke.

As the two men continued walking forward, the fog gradually started to clear away and reveal a camp further in the distance. From his current position, Hero could not see any people but there were large rock constructs roaming around said area ahead. Those constructs must have been atronochs, if they were moving around. More fighting was just what he needed right now. Complacency was the leading death of a warrior after all. Yamamoto was not the kind of man to jump into a fight without thinking first however. Of course he was the tank so his role was jumping in, but a plan was still necessary in order to most efficiently remove threats. That was Strategy 101. Taking the picture that was slowly becoming clearer into account, he began to speak with Isaac.

“So it seems there’s a camp of dark mages and atronochs up ahead. I can run in first, but chances are I won’t be able to keep all the mages occupied, however many there are. Instead, I’ll make the atronochs my targets while you focus your firepower on the mages. We can cover each others’ weaknesses this way and efficiently ruin their lives at the same time.”

Doing it this way was the smartest way of going about it, considering their own Magics. Hero’s Magic was all about being up close, whereas Isaac was a combination of long and mid-ranged combat, as far as he had seen, combined with some skill in close combat with a pair of tonfa. Then if one finished their own targets first, they could assist the other, though chances were high that such a thing was not going to be necessary. One may have thought why the giant did not think about negotiating with the mages. Well, that was a stupid question really. Were those two men at all the types of people who were capable of being kind to dark mages? No. They deserved no mercy. Especially as retired Rune Knights, their duty to Fiore could never condone peaceful action toward murderers. Regardless of whether or not Isaac approved of that plan, it was still exactly what Hero was going to do. He would do what was going to provide the greatest rate of success in nearly every scenario no matter what, unless someone else’s life was in danger. That was the only feasible scenario in which he would not follow the previously stated protocol. Above all else, his role was to protect.

“I’m going on ahead first. Lets clear Kyoka of this grouping of trash on our way to the Forgemaster, whoever he or she is.”

The man then immediately started running in a straight line toward the camp, not caring if they noticed him in the process. He ran fast enough to where he was going to reach it before the majority of them could really react. In the moments he was there, he tagged many of the atronochs in the camp with a hard punch to their midsections and fanned out to get the attention of the others. Yamamoto successfully managed to bring the rock constructs out of the camp and to the side so that he could be out of Isaac’s way. Plus being surrounded by these giant rocks meant that the mages most likely wouldn’t worry until Isaac had already wiped most of them out. Now it was down to the fighting. Because he was surrounded, he was likely going to get hit a few times which was an acceptable margin of error considering the odds. Upon brief analysis of them while jumping around dodging, most of them looked like they were already beaten up pretty well. Most likely it was thanks to all those wolves from earlier. He did get hit once just as he was finished looking them over but it was by one of the weaker ones so it wasn’t painful enough to stagger him. The giant then retaliated by pushing the hitting arm hard to the side and then punched it a few times in the mid-section, which forced it to fall backward and crumble apart. Taking advantage of that space, he moved through it into the open to get some breathing room for only a moment before he began charging ethernano into his right arm. While doing so, he jumped back several meters, which made the constructs get closer together and form into a group rather than a long horizontal line. Such a herding was valuable considering the wideness of the spell he was about to use. As the behemoths got closer, Yamamoto brought his right arm back. If luck and deduction were on his side, at least three or four more were going to fall after this which would have increased his odds by a ton. Hero timed it just right, to where his punch landed against the rock fist of one of the really weak ones. The punch at such a close range blew at the group with enough raw force to push them all back several meters except for one that was further back than the others but hardly moved at all from the strike. Well, that was definitely the tough one which was good to know. There were four of them left and three of them looked like they were already at their ends. This was how strong the giant had become in only a month. One could only imagine how strong he would have been if he had a reason to become stronger seventeen years ago.

Since there were four of them left, he had to ensure he conserved his energy for that last atronoch and whatever remaining dark mages there may have been by the time he was done. There was also a high probability that, considering the sequence of events here, there were going to be more enemies even after this, so he had to make sure he was careful. But not terribly careful. That would have ruined the fun of the fight. Not wasting anymore time, the giant launched himself at one of the atronochs and landed a palm strike on its lower midsection. Then he immediately dodged an incoming attack from one of the others which knocked into the constrict he just struck which forced it to fall back and crumble. As quickly as he could manage, Hero twisted around and planted his left heel into the side area of the nearest construct which happened to be the one that knocked out that last one. The power behind the kick was enough to tip it to the side; to finish it, the man planted his right leg into the same spot once more which caused it to fall apart once it hit the ground. That was two down. This time, he went after the tough-looking one in an attempt to weaken it just enough to take out both of them at the same time. He charged ethernano into his legs and then pushed himself off the ground toward the bigger construct. A fist was thrown at him but he managed to react in time to push the fist to the left of him with both of his hands. The push was strong enough to land into the other atronoch which was knocked away but not down. Yamamoto landed back on the ground and waited for the big one to attack again. Just as it threw the rock fist at him, the giant leapt inward toward the behemoth and then struck it in the legs and lower midsection five times each. Sure since he was hitting solid rock it was hurting his knuckles quite a bit but it was still softer than metal so he managed to persevere through the pain well enough. The other construct threw itself at both its ally and Yamamoto, and while the man did get out of the way for the most part, his right shoulder did get pretty rattled. When he tried to move it, he winced and came to the conclusion that it was dislocated. At least three were now down and the only one left was the big guy. At that moment he remembered of a spell that was perfect for this kind of fight. It was unfortunate that he did not remember sooner, but as the saying went ‘better now than later’. The man gritted his teeth for a moment and snapped his right shoulder back into place; then he looked at the final construct whom seemed to now be getting weak thanks to that sacrificial jump from its ally. Knowing this, he charged ethernano into his left arm and walked toward it in a calm fashion. When the atronoch came at Hero, he jumped over to the right side and then jumped straight at the thing. With enough ethernano then charged into his left arm, he threw a straight punch at the ground beneath the large rock. A powerful torrent of wind blew the thing up fairly high into the air and then it crashed back down into the ground, thus crumbling to dust.

With his half of the work now done, the giant hoped that Isaac was also just about finished. Hopefully he did not have any trouble in taking them all out. Just to be sure, however, he began heading over to the camp to check on how the extermination was going.

HP: 140% (420)
MP: 90%

Comments:

 
It was true that was the smartest way of going about this and the middle-aged man was not about to let dark mages get away from his sight. Efficiency was the best thing to strive for when the team comprised of two people who were already very experienced in combat. Isaac nodded at Hero when he stated that he was going on ahead and then he decided to get himself settled as well. He was not about to let his colleague do most of the work after all. Requip: Ivory Rifle. He whispered this to himself and what appeared in his hands was a large rifle that was rather sleep and shined even within this dense fog, though it did clear up considerably in comparison to earlier. Due to his position relatively far away from the camp up ahead, this was the perfect opportunity to pick a few of them off from a distance. That was where the Ivory Rifle came in. With a total range of one thousand meters, this distance was a breeze to shoot from. With the rifle in hand, he lay close to the ground and placed the end of the rifle on a small holder to keep it perched up for more accurate aiming. He then loaded a clip with six bullets into it and looked through the scope with his right eye to pick his first target. From the looks of things, the giant friend of his was already going through the village rounding up the atronochs which in turn gave Isaac plenty of free space to focus on the mages. His first target happened to be one of the mages on the outskirt of the camp looking over at the fight between Hero and the atronochs. He took a few slow, deep breaths before steadily pulling the trigger, which released the bullet and sent it straight at the mage who, a couple seconds later, fell to the floor. That was one down. Five more rounds before he had to change weapons, since in the middle of combat it would have been dangerous to take the time to reload. The rifle was not a bolt-action, so it was generally easier to maintain, though it tended to be less than handy during windy days. In this case, there was none so it really shined this time. The next target was one of three mages who were on the outskirts of the camp in his immediate direction. In order to handle this efficiently, he changed the rifle to its railgun mode, which allowed for a higher rate of fire without decreasing its accuracy. The first shot was a hit to the mage on the left who was pushed back before dropping to the ground dead. The next shot was immediately after and was sent to the one who was initially in the center position. A shot to the head was all it took for him to drop backward instantaneously. The last shot was to the chest of the mage furthest to the right which sent him flying into one of the tents. Two rounds left. Anicetus returned the weapon to its rifle mode and looked for another target through its scope; moments later, there was one running toward the tent where his last victim fell. He chuckled a few times and then shook his head. Kids these days. They never learn, even in a crisis. The fifth shot ended that mage’s life the moment they stopped to search the tent. Looking through the scope again, he saw a group of them heading in his direction. It seemed they finally figured out where the shots were coming from. In that case, he used the last shot on one of the mages in the front who was knocked off their feet. Now being out of bullets for the rifle, he stood up calmly with a simple and dignified expression on his face. Requip: Ebony Revolver. To replace the rifle was a small but sturdy and standard revolver which already had six bullets loaded into it. Six targets. Funny how such things managed to work out in his favor. Isaac then took a duel-style position like that of Clint Eastwood and began running forward at a little bit faster than a jogging pace. The six targets were already within range from his last position but that would not have been very exciting to kill them from where he stood. Being so, he got serious for a moment and began a mad dash toward the group. He brought the revolver up into the air right around his nose and then began to shoot. In seconds, it was over. All six were down before they could retaliate. Like all classic Western duelists, he brought the front of the gun to his mouth and blew away the smoke before twirling it and thus making it disappear. That made a total of twelve dark mages who bit the dust. With this in mind, the middle-aged man walked casually toward the camp while glancing over at how Hero was doing. It looked like he was handling his own very well even though he was once surrounded. Looked like there were four of the atronochs left. That meant they were about even in terms of firepower, which meant Hero grew exponentially in the past month. It seemed his looks were not just for show back then.

Upon arrival at the camp, there were two rather imposing figures standing near the center of the camp. Their looks mattered not however. If they were in this camp, that meant they were dark mages and they had to be ended. That was all there was to it. Requip: The Betties.  In each hand was a sawed-off shotgun with six bullets packed and ready to be thrown at enemies. Even a mage couldn’t survive a shotgun to the face after all. The real fun was seeing limbs fly off when he used these guns. The first shot from his right hand got the shorter mage in the back of their torso and a second shot from his left hand made their head explode. Blood spattered over the soil and his own clothes. Such a sight was good inspiration for a painting or for a song. The other mage instantly reacted with a ball of blood from his ally’s corpse. It was fast, but Isaac managed to dodge just in time. Such bad manners to have stolen ammunition from someone else. No matter. They were going to die anyway. The man planted both feet into the ground and then leapt at the mage with both shotguns aimed at them. Fast enough to press the muzzles of each gun against their chest, he looked up at the mage whom was about to die and mouthed “bye-bye” with a smile before he began riddling their body with shotgun bullets. By the time both were empty of ammunition, the body was torn completely in half; their blood and guts were splattered everywhere. With that, he returned the guns to their storage area and started wiping himself off with a white handkerchief. His end of the fighting was done, despite the mess he made and in the distance he saw Hero headed toward him with the remnants of the atronochs strewn along the ground.

WC: 1222
Note: Using Lacrima Milk purchased.

◀

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

The field was quiet, the camp was quiet, everywhere around him was quiet. It was as though the land was taking a deep breath from all the fighting that took place in the past hour. Hero took a couple hard hits from the atronochs but otherwise he pulled through without a hitch. As he arrived within the confines of the camp, he came upon a messy sight. There was blood strewn everywhere and among some of the corpses was his ally, Isaac, standing calmly wiping some of the blood off his face and clothes. Hero stopped moving a few feet from where his colleague stood and said nothing for a time. A small reprieve was necessary at a point like this from all the constant fighting he himself had done. He had taken on at least one hundred enemies by himself without much of any break in between aside from the tiny bit of time spent walking toward the camp. As for the blood, it did not bother him. He had seen plenty of blood in his time, so much in fact that not even the feeling of it on his bare feet bothered him. This was the harshness reality. It was not so pleasant, like in some anime where fighting bore no bloodshed. In battle, death was an undeniable possibility no matter how strong one was. The reason Yamamoto and Isaac one was due to their experience and their resolve. Neither of them could afford to let themselves fall in an unknown land surrounded by enemies.

“Now that the fighting is over, at least for now, shall we move on? I’ve had enough of a break if you’ve finished cleaning yourself up.”

No matter how much some time to relax sounded great, there was still work to be done for the two wizards. They had to seek out this Forgemaster whom resided somewhere within this region of Kyoka. If it was such a person they were intended to find, then chances were extremely high that they had to find a structure that could house a forge. Why did they need to see this person in the first place? The man looked down for a moment to sigh when he saw that the glowing orb was hovering over a stone of some kind. The man kneeled down, grabbed it and then looked at both it and the wolf bone. These things must have had something to do with this whole thing. If so, they must have needed more of these things, and speaking honestly, Hero was not an errand boy. He did not have the kind of patience required to run around without even being told why he was doing it. Certainly he was kind enough to do such a thing, but not being told anything turned him off from the entire thought. With those thoughts in mind, he held onto the stone and the bone for the sake of still giving the Forgemaster what they found on their way as a way of proving that they had fought through many enemies to get there.

Speaking of defeated enemies, Isaac really was a powerful man to take out so many mages by himself from that distance. The epitome of efficiency. His accuracy with his firearms was very skillful, as though he had decades to hone his aptitude. What he did at that wedding was really the tip of the iceberg and the fact that the giant was now fighting at least almost equally alongside him was quite the confidence booster. Yamamoto was actually somewhat curious as to how the man became so skilled despite his relatively young-seeming age. Was he some kind of prodigy? If he were to ask, this was likely the best and only time to really do so.

“Isaac, how have you become so skilled with all those different weapons? Surely there must be some way you have managed to attain such mastery. Almost as though you are older than you look.”

It was indeed true that the man’s way of speaking was somewhat odd but that was not what stood out most. What stood out most was his composure and his experienced way of dealing with opponents in the most accurate and and quickest ways. It took a lot of fighting to gain that kind of experience. Hero knew that because even he himself was not that well-versed and he had been through plenty of fighting already in his lifetime so far.

Quite some time passed as they walked endlessly through the fog which returned to its earlier density, though eventually the giant began to see a gigantic structure further on ahead which seemed to have torch lighting on the inside due primarily to the dimness of said light through the fog. As they drew closer and closer to the structure, it became more clear and what showed itself was a large castle made from solid-cut stone and brick. It was well preserved despite the land’s weather conditions and the temperature seemed to rise a little bit as they got closer. This heat had to have been generated from something and the only logical explanation for it was the forge the two men were looking for.

“This must be the place. Lets head on in.”

At those words, Hero walked through the already opened large entrance into a large hallway that looked like it connected to a room just ahead. The heat became more intense as they walked forward though it was not unbearable. After all, the giant had spent several hours near the center of a raging volcano for the sake of his cousin’s own amusement. This heat was nothing in comparison. Much to his expectations, inside this room was in fact a gigantic forge that had cemented areas filled with molten lava and large smithing tools hanging about on metal bars throughout the area. To the right, he saw a large man holding onto a hammer while inspecting some object that from the giant’s angle he could not discern. Moments after the two men arrived, a booming voice echoed through the room.

“The wolf told me two men were on their way, but he did not tell me they were only partially human. I already know you do not have the items I need. I am grateful however for retrieving two of said items. In exchange for them, I will return you both to the mainland with a bit of recognition for doing a service for an old man despite being told nothing about it.”

HP: 140% (420)
MP: 95%

Comments:

The battle was over, Isaac disarmed and Hero with his guard down and settled. The thought that dreams had such a strong influence on human beings was an enriching thought. That such fantasies could drive man so passionately. It was the very essence of ambitions, some more unrealistic than others, some foretelling, some abstract. But there was no limit to the diversity in these illusions, there never were. But nowadays, Isaac dreamed of nothing abstract, or some things pleasantly unrealistic. It seems now, in his increasing age, he only seems to relive of his past, or his many stories over the several decades he had dwelled and thrived in. His journey with no destination, his quests and his adventures. All enriching or violent. It was a cruel torture, or maybe a reminiscence of his damnation. But he no longer had the mind of the abstract.

As they walked, and as he was questioned, he spoke softly and looked forward with a expression of loss in his eyes. But at the same time, there was peace and a docile atmosphere. "I envy you, Hero. I envy each and every man and woman in this generation. Some with hearts of cold and some with hearts of ice. All diverse in ambition and action. There is no true evil, and there is no true good. I've lived long enough to realize this, and to recognize and acknowledge all sorts of perceptions. I suppose it is both a burden and a gift to live long enough to see even more, don't you think?" He gave Hero a quick glimpse, followed with a soft smile before they walked on in silence. They soon arrived in yet another room, where they were greeted by a mysterious and brutish smith that seemed to be beyond mortality. At his words, he had granted them an exit from this realm, back to Earthland.

With a nod, and a bidding of farewell, the two were transported back to the sport where they originally came from. It was certainly another experience that Isaac could share in his lifetime. Since it was the realization that this life would be filled with a spectrum of emotion.

◀

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS