by 
Cedar Town—a port-like town where the citizens depend on the local knights for protection, who have safeguarded the town and their church for generations, or so they say. The people here smelled of seawater and their noses seemed especially larger than the others of this country. It wasn't nearly as extravagant of a town compared to Crocus or Hosenka, and there was nothing of particular import in this town either. However, days spent living in a private suite left Louie feeling claustrophobic, and rather bored at that. Despite being a country of foul beasts and fouler people, they were able to compensate with a myriad of curious items scattered across the land. Powerful rumors that spoke of even stronger treasures. The world was his oyster, and everything within it was meant to be seized by Louie, so why would he deny his curiosity?
His goal was the Holy Church of Cedar, which was located in the center of town. Louie had arrived through the efforts of his chauffer's driving skills, and darkness had swept across the once-blue skies when they were finally there. William, the middle-aged chauffeur to Louie, was holding Louie's bags as they walked into his inn room. They had purchased the finest room in town and had all the sheets and bedding replaced with new ones. After all, a man of Louie's status couldn't sleep in the bedding that a pig had slept in the past.
"I'm going to sleep, William. Make yourself useful and find me something to eat by the time I wake up in the morning, oui?" Louie casually demanded, letting himself fall onto the bed with limpness in his legs, smothering his face into his fluffy pillow.
Silence. There was silence. Louie didn't always remember his dreams, but he seldom forgot his nightmares. They seemed to be the only things he remembered almost as clearly as his achievements. Dreams of his past, and dreams of his failures. Sometimes they weren't even events or conversations, just feelings. Sometimes the dreams would be an eternal reflection of his torment, the terrible feeling of being less than. He said he never wanted to feel that way again, but even after years of finding success, only in his dreams did he continue to feel like a failure. Fortunately, however, Louie had plenty of people to vent on when he woke up.
It seemed only like a minute ago that Louie had fallen asleep, but something had abruptly roused him from his slumber. When he woke up, his face has twisted into a peevish frown, staring out the window to see what had awoken him. When he looked outside, he could see a middle-aged man standing on top of a roof, holding up a traditional paper scroll and dressed in garments with what Louie assumed to be the town emblem. He was surrounded by guards, even!
"Here Ye! Here Ye!" shouted the crier, "Citizens of Cedar, it is time for your daily news!"
Daily News? Had Louie slept for so long that it was already morning? Irritated and perplexed, Louie looked up at the sky through his window. It was that time of day where the moon was beginning to set and the sun would take its place in the sky—very early in the morning, and too early to be disturbed by Louie's standards. Children began to flood out of their homes while others began to slam their windows shut in hopes of silencing the crier's noise, but not even Louie could blame such simple people for that. Even in an inn as unimpressive and mediocre as this one, the young multi-millionaire needed his beauty sleep as well.
Without hesitation, Louie snapped open his windows, feeling the cool morning breeze rush in to kiss his face. "You there! Either silence yourself or take your noise somewhere else! You've interrupted my slumber!" he shouted at the crier atop the roof, crotchety.
The crier paused in his shouting only to squint and glare at Louie from the other side of the road. Now that he had lowered his scroll and revealed his face, it was clear that the man didn't possess any sort of beauty at all. He was chubby and had what looked like an extra chin because of it, but his lips were thin and his tiny eyes had thick bags underneath. Despite his awful visage, he had long, curly hair the color of an oak tree's bark, and all of his weight fell onto his neck and belly, but his legs seemed as thin as a twig. Louie couldn't help but behold the animal's appearance since he could see it all from afar.
"Me? I am the town crier, and it is my duty to inform Cedar Town of any and all events taking place each and every day! Mayor Lewis is too busy and respectable of a man to do it himself, so you must spare me your time!" the crier rebuked, paused, and then went back to his shouting.
More than irritated, at that moment, Louie looked both baffled and disgusted. "You take you and your duty way too seriously, you hog." Louie sighed, dropping down from the window and onto the streets of Cedar below. Now that he was a sorcerer, not only was his strength escalated, but he felt more comfortable doing feats that he normally wouldn't have considered if he was without his power. Below the rooftop and on the same street as Louie stood of a line of bodyguards, all wearing casual business suits and sunglasses. It looked as if they were guarding some sort of President, when in fact it was just a noisy crier who thought too highly of his responsibilities. "I said silence!"
Fwoosh!
Louie held out his hand, and a brilliant ball of flames bursting forth and flying at the crier. It shot through the scroll and landed on his lips whilst speaking, his mouth incinerating from within and scorching his tongue and all ability to speak with it. For a moment, the crier was too deep in shock to even stifle a scream, but then a most agonizing cry burst forth from the back of his dry throat. He was bawling, his eyes bloodshot with pain and the lower half of his face maimed with third-degree burns.
"Mah fwace! Mah fwace! Kill'em! Kill'em, gaards!" The crier managed to command, most of what he was mumbling before being complete nonsense. The five bodyguards below, albeit still overwhelmed with shock, heeded his commands hesitantly.
All of them took out what looked like small handguns and combat knives, not a single one of them preparing themselves magically. Louie only raised a brow and smirked. "Surprised to see your crier in such a state, are you? He's only maimed, but I find it quite fitting, actually. A crier crying! His voice is only good for making an example!"
Without hesitation, the guards all readied themselves for combat and lunged at Louie. Unfortunately, them being ordinary humans, they didn't make it that far. The instant their fingers coiled around the triggers and their hands wrapped around the handles of their blades, Louie had only held out his palm to them, setting them ablaze in a similar fashion to the crier, except their entire bodies were now encaptured into an agonizing inferno. Before long, all of them dropped dead or simply roasted in a stifled silence. The local citizens of Cedar watched from their balconies and windows in horror.
Louie exhaled through his nostrils and smiled complacently, "And so the bodyguards become nothing more than bodies. How fitting." he chuckled again and turned around to find William there with his bags, waiting for his orders. Louie frowned, "We're going to take what I came here for and then we're leaving, William. Let's go."
William nodded and began to trail closely behind Louie as they walked. "Very well, Mr. Klein," he replied, "The Cedar Church is in the center of town. We'll be there shortly, Mr. Klein."
"Good. I'm sure the rest of these pigs heard what just happened, and I don't have the time or tolerance to dawdle with this place or its people any further." Louie complained, venting about the insanity of the barbarians of this country until he saw a woman standing in the middle of the road, holding a small pouch with something inside out to them.
"F-For you!" she struggled to look him in the eyes after seeing what just happened.
Louie glared at her. "And what is this supposed to be?"
"The people of this town have tried time and time again to silence that crier, but unfortunately, our plea fell on deaf ears. We're grateful that you were kind enough to fulfill our request! Please, accept this! It's all we have!" she insisted, holding out the pouch once more.
At first, Louie was going to blow her off. What on Earthland was she talking about? Request? Louie knew nothing of it, as he simply wanted to sleep peacefully, and with the crier shouting at the top of his lungs as he was, that was simply not a possibility. He'd never work in the service of others, let alone the people of this country for pay. He was not some simple mercenary!
Even so, Louie snatched the pouch out of the hands of the woman and shot her a glare before walking away. "Don't be mistaken, porc. I'll accept your mediocre gift, but I'd never do such a thing for you." Louie replied, making his way for the Church of Cedar. There was no use falling back asleep now that the town's guard was likely on the move after that incident, and he didn't want to be gawked at by the likes of these townspeople more than he could stomach.
"That Holy Water will be mine."
His goal was the Holy Church of Cedar, which was located in the center of town. Louie had arrived through the efforts of his chauffer's driving skills, and darkness had swept across the once-blue skies when they were finally there. William, the middle-aged chauffeur to Louie, was holding Louie's bags as they walked into his inn room. They had purchased the finest room in town and had all the sheets and bedding replaced with new ones. After all, a man of Louie's status couldn't sleep in the bedding that a pig had slept in the past.
"I'm going to sleep, William. Make yourself useful and find me something to eat by the time I wake up in the morning, oui?" Louie casually demanded, letting himself fall onto the bed with limpness in his legs, smothering his face into his fluffy pillow.
Silence. There was silence. Louie didn't always remember his dreams, but he seldom forgot his nightmares. They seemed to be the only things he remembered almost as clearly as his achievements. Dreams of his past, and dreams of his failures. Sometimes they weren't even events or conversations, just feelings. Sometimes the dreams would be an eternal reflection of his torment, the terrible feeling of being less than. He said he never wanted to feel that way again, but even after years of finding success, only in his dreams did he continue to feel like a failure. Fortunately, however, Louie had plenty of people to vent on when he woke up.
It seemed only like a minute ago that Louie had fallen asleep, but something had abruptly roused him from his slumber. When he woke up, his face has twisted into a peevish frown, staring out the window to see what had awoken him. When he looked outside, he could see a middle-aged man standing on top of a roof, holding up a traditional paper scroll and dressed in garments with what Louie assumed to be the town emblem. He was surrounded by guards, even!
"Here Ye! Here Ye!" shouted the crier, "Citizens of Cedar, it is time for your daily news!"
Daily News? Had Louie slept for so long that it was already morning? Irritated and perplexed, Louie looked up at the sky through his window. It was that time of day where the moon was beginning to set and the sun would take its place in the sky—very early in the morning, and too early to be disturbed by Louie's standards. Children began to flood out of their homes while others began to slam their windows shut in hopes of silencing the crier's noise, but not even Louie could blame such simple people for that. Even in an inn as unimpressive and mediocre as this one, the young multi-millionaire needed his beauty sleep as well.
Without hesitation, Louie snapped open his windows, feeling the cool morning breeze rush in to kiss his face. "You there! Either silence yourself or take your noise somewhere else! You've interrupted my slumber!" he shouted at the crier atop the roof, crotchety.
The crier paused in his shouting only to squint and glare at Louie from the other side of the road. Now that he had lowered his scroll and revealed his face, it was clear that the man didn't possess any sort of beauty at all. He was chubby and had what looked like an extra chin because of it, but his lips were thin and his tiny eyes had thick bags underneath. Despite his awful visage, he had long, curly hair the color of an oak tree's bark, and all of his weight fell onto his neck and belly, but his legs seemed as thin as a twig. Louie couldn't help but behold the animal's appearance since he could see it all from afar.
"Me? I am the town crier, and it is my duty to inform Cedar Town of any and all events taking place each and every day! Mayor Lewis is too busy and respectable of a man to do it himself, so you must spare me your time!" the crier rebuked, paused, and then went back to his shouting.
More than irritated, at that moment, Louie looked both baffled and disgusted. "You take you and your duty way too seriously, you hog." Louie sighed, dropping down from the window and onto the streets of Cedar below. Now that he was a sorcerer, not only was his strength escalated, but he felt more comfortable doing feats that he normally wouldn't have considered if he was without his power. Below the rooftop and on the same street as Louie stood of a line of bodyguards, all wearing casual business suits and sunglasses. It looked as if they were guarding some sort of President, when in fact it was just a noisy crier who thought too highly of his responsibilities. "I said silence!"
Fwoosh!
Louie held out his hand, and a brilliant ball of flames bursting forth and flying at the crier. It shot through the scroll and landed on his lips whilst speaking, his mouth incinerating from within and scorching his tongue and all ability to speak with it. For a moment, the crier was too deep in shock to even stifle a scream, but then a most agonizing cry burst forth from the back of his dry throat. He was bawling, his eyes bloodshot with pain and the lower half of his face maimed with third-degree burns.
"Mah fwace! Mah fwace! Kill'em! Kill'em, gaards!" The crier managed to command, most of what he was mumbling before being complete nonsense. The five bodyguards below, albeit still overwhelmed with shock, heeded his commands hesitantly.
All of them took out what looked like small handguns and combat knives, not a single one of them preparing themselves magically. Louie only raised a brow and smirked. "Surprised to see your crier in such a state, are you? He's only maimed, but I find it quite fitting, actually. A crier crying! His voice is only good for making an example!"
Without hesitation, the guards all readied themselves for combat and lunged at Louie. Unfortunately, them being ordinary humans, they didn't make it that far. The instant their fingers coiled around the triggers and their hands wrapped around the handles of their blades, Louie had only held out his palm to them, setting them ablaze in a similar fashion to the crier, except their entire bodies were now encaptured into an agonizing inferno. Before long, all of them dropped dead or simply roasted in a stifled silence. The local citizens of Cedar watched from their balconies and windows in horror.
Louie exhaled through his nostrils and smiled complacently, "And so the bodyguards become nothing more than bodies. How fitting." he chuckled again and turned around to find William there with his bags, waiting for his orders. Louie frowned, "We're going to take what I came here for and then we're leaving, William. Let's go."
William nodded and began to trail closely behind Louie as they walked. "Very well, Mr. Klein," he replied, "The Cedar Church is in the center of town. We'll be there shortly, Mr. Klein."
"Good. I'm sure the rest of these pigs heard what just happened, and I don't have the time or tolerance to dawdle with this place or its people any further." Louie complained, venting about the insanity of the barbarians of this country until he saw a woman standing in the middle of the road, holding a small pouch with something inside out to them.
"F-For you!" she struggled to look him in the eyes after seeing what just happened.
Louie glared at her. "And what is this supposed to be?"
"The people of this town have tried time and time again to silence that crier, but unfortunately, our plea fell on deaf ears. We're grateful that you were kind enough to fulfill our request! Please, accept this! It's all we have!" she insisted, holding out the pouch once more.
At first, Louie was going to blow her off. What on Earthland was she talking about? Request? Louie knew nothing of it, as he simply wanted to sleep peacefully, and with the crier shouting at the top of his lungs as he was, that was simply not a possibility. He'd never work in the service of others, let alone the people of this country for pay. He was not some simple mercenary!
Even so, Louie snatched the pouch out of the hands of the woman and shot her a glare before walking away. "Don't be mistaken, porc. I'll accept your mediocre gift, but I'd never do such a thing for you." Louie replied, making his way for the Church of Cedar. There was no use falling back asleep now that the town's guard was likely on the move after that incident, and he didn't want to be gawked at by the likes of these townspeople more than he could stomach.
"That Holy Water will be mine."
Post Word Count: 1639 | Total Word Count: 1639 | Needed Word Count: 1500
Health: xxx/ xxx | Magical Power: xxx/ xxx | Muse: Infinite
Passives and Spells Used:
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Health: xxx/ xxx | Magical Power: xxx/ xxx | Muse: Infinite
Passives and Spells Used:
- Testing:
- xx
- Testing:
- xx
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