A clash of iron. A devastating gust. The grass forms in shapes akin to writing, laying out this intense conversation. A conversation of swords. A conversation between two worlds colliding against one another.
A battle between two masterful swordsman.
The clashes continue. They spread across the plains and leave behind the sounds of metal hitting metal. Finally, they stop for but a moment. One of the swordsmen can be seen now.
Sharp, black locks spread from his head to the back of his neck while two ears poke out from underneath them. Separate gray armor plates could be seen attached around the boy's body. Radiant blue eyes shone like a beacon, eradiating his masculine face. As if reflecting it, a massive iron greatsword was beaming with that same light. It looked too big for one man to wield, yet the boy lifted it effortlessly. After pausing, he started approaching the other figure.
This figure could also be seen in detail now. His hair was brown with a tint of orange, in the same shape as the boy, only it was accompanied by a well-grown beard of the same color. A long, brown, open, sleeveless overcoat was wrapped around him, with a white shirt underneath. On his left hip was a sheath decorated in silver, while in his right hand was a typical longsword adorned in the same silver decorations.
The man readied his stance in anticipation of the boy's charge, however, a palm of flame had almost reached him first. He quickly blocks the palm with his sword before spinning around and kicking his heel into the one who attacked him. They get sent back around five meters, revealing their appearance.
Long, luscious brown hair flows along the wind, with two yellow eyes bursting through a beautiful, yet cold face. A sleeveless, black robe hides her robust figure.
She prepares another attack before being interrupted in kind by roots that emerged from below her, restricting her movement. She turns to the side and spots a woman with yellow eyes and pure black hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a greenish yellow robe and wielding a wooden staff with a swirled end.
The lady in black burns the thorns with bright flames, holds out both hands and readies two ranged attacks, one for each opponent. Massive balls of fire appear on each palm before being shot at the targets.
Giving no time, the man with the overcoat cuts through both masses of flame with an ethereal glow akin to moonlight. He then tries to attack the lady, but is stopped by the boy and his colossal weapon. The boy's slashes move like the wind despite his blade's size, grazing the man.
Before the boy's cleave could finally make contact and hurt the man, a magical barrier appeared between them, cracking on impact, but not shattering. Without pause, the man took this chance and thrusted his sword into the boy's side. Blood spilled out.
The man then took his sword back before trying to attack again. This time, the boy blocked it, letting off yet another devastating gust and booming clash. The lady backed the boy up by throwing another palm of flames at the man. The barrier was shattered immediately and it connected, scathing the man's chest with a searing burn, tearing though his shirt, before being launched back a few steps with a powerful explosion of fire.
There they stood, in pairs of two, fighting in tandem against the other pair. As they all get ready to finish this...
************************
The morning sun shone through our dining room windows. Today had clear skies. As we ate our last meal here, we cherished each moment, each passing laugh as the sun rose higher and higher. This will be the last day we see each other for a long, long time.
And so when the sun reaches high noon, we know it's time. Time to face the larger world and prove ourselves worthy to live in it.
Time to truly enter Liebe, the land of sunshine and moonlight.
We prepare ourselves by stuffing our possessions in bags. We'll need about two weeks worth of food and water, so we'll prepare for a week more. You never know what could happen in that place.
We'll be accompanied by mother and father until we get to the forest. After that, we're on our own. Of course, we've arranged for one more party member to lead us through the forest. They work as a guide of sorts, making sure people travel to and from safely.
At the sun's peak we leave our house and traverse these yellow plains. I've spent seventeen years here now. I was able to grow in strength exponentially these past five years. Just recently I caught up to father, putting me at the level Linsheng Hu was at when I killed him. I'm still not back to my original strength, but I'm still plenty powerful. It should suffice for now.
We travel for a few hours before stopping to rest. We find a good grass field to sit down.
- "Whew, it's always so exhausting to get to the forest. We don't really walk this much normally."
Father said, taking a breather.
- "You mean you don't walk this much because you take your motor carriage everywhere..."
Sera replied with a slight annoyance. She doesn't really do walks as she never strays too far from the house, but she's constantly exercising and practicing for combat.
- "Hey I paid good money for it! A friend of mine was willing to sell a prototype to me and I've been using it since. It's truly a remarkable invention, practically eliminating the need for a horse."
- "And it costs even more to fuel it since we're so far away from an oil dealer... So I'd say you're using it a bit too much dear."
Mother passive-aggresively affirms.
- "Well it's not my fault I work so far away! I'd have to spend half the day just to get to work."
- "Then why not use a horse like a normal person?" I ask
- " Horses are way more expensive to maintain, not to mention that they also get tired and have emotions! If the horse isn't feeling it then I can't go anywhere!"
- "Sounds to me like an excuse to seem superior to your own family to me, Leonard."
A hint of passive anger wells up in mother's gentle voice. Father gulps. I'm guessing he regrets bringing it up now.
- "What academy are you even sending us to? You never told us. Said it was "top secret."
Sera makes quotation marks with her fingers.
Yes, this is the reason for our trip. We're leaving the commoner realm and enrolling in an academy to grow stronger, as well as experience our youth. To do this, we need to get through the Dead End Forest.
Though it's recommended to have four or more D-Tier Users in your party when traversing, three higher-ranked fighters is fine as well. I myself seem to be around B Tier while Sera is undoubtedly A Tier. And the guide is a C+ Rank Tank, specialized in taking the brunt of damage to let the party dispatch of threats. Mother insisted to come along to complete the party, but we all turned her down. She'd still have to go back through the forest if she wanted to return home, and the guide and her wouldn't be enough to travel safely.
- "It's run by a friend of a friend, let's say. From what I've heard it's pretty popular. They call it the "Twin Sage Academy"."
- "Isn't that the one that was attacked a year ago? By the Astrum Kingdom in the south."
- "Well yeah, but no one died there and very few got hurt. Plus, the next day the academy's professors personally took the charge in an assault and took over a good chunk of Astrum territory. They got their payback in full."
That immediately caught my suspicion. I remember a similar moment happening back in my old world. They attacked a stronghold, we fought back and took their territory. However, the stronghold fell later down the line due to an overwhelming number of enemies attacking when most of our warriors were away and we lost the territory as well as the stronghold. Could they be planning the same thing...? Although it would be the sign of a foolish leader if that was the case...
Oh well, I'm probably thinking too hard about it. Maybe the professors are just that good.
About half an hour had passed. We got back up and proceeded towards our goal. After a bit more, we had finally reached it.
Massive, twisted and malformed trees grew bundled up closely together while dark blue grass grew around them. A fog encompassed this entire ring, spanning across the whole of the commoner realm. These trees were blocking off the sun, but you could tell its position. It had reached evening now. Multiple ominous howls could be heard in the distance.
This is it. The Dead End Forest. I can see why its called that now. The trees are so close together, it leaves little room to travel. Each path is only wide enough for one person. And the fog spans across it all, figuratively filling in the space left between the trees to make a giant, impenetrable wall.
This was truly a dead end. Even if you squeeze through the pathways, the fog distorts your sense of direction, making it into a pseudo-labrynth. A single person could not realistically make it through alone. And a group of more than four people would likely split off due to the fog. That is why it's recommended to stay at four party members when traversing it.
- "...maybe I really should go with you three after all... It's meant for four party members."
Mother worrily offered. I raise my hand in rejection.
- "And how exactly do you think you'll get back home? You can't go with just the guide. Are you planning on becoming a teacher there?"
She lowers her head in acceptance. We have to do this alone. We did consider to move out altogether at one point, but we couldn't possibly afford it. The price of living in Liebe is too high.
As we were discussing this, a large man could be seen approaching from behind us. He was more than two meters tall and had the build of a bear. His face was grizzled and he had a beard that twisted into two braids, dangling off of his chin. His head, in stark contrast, had no hair to speak of whatsoever. He was wearing a green vest on top of a white shirt with brown pants covering his legs.. On his back was a gigantic hunk of steel in the shape of a shield.
- "Well, there he is now. Ready up, you two. It's almost night now."
He strolled up to the hunk of meat and steel. Tensions grew as they were coming closer and closer. Once they finally reached each other, they stopped in their tracks before staring each other down. They both raise a hand and...
A clap. Or a handshake...? I couldn't tell. This form was unfamiliar to me. They both raised a hand close to their head levels before clasping them together, giving off a thunderous clap as father's hand met his. An interesting custom.
- "You seem to be doing good for yourself, Bart! Wish I could say the same for your empty head though, haha!"
- "And you look like shit yourself Leo. Guess parenthood takes the light out of anyone, even the "Moonlight Lion" himself!"
Father blushes.
- "God, that's SUCH an embarrassing title. I never agreed with it myself but the guild insisted. Said it was "good for the brand"..."
They continued to catch up for a bit before pointing at us. The large man walked up to us before checking us out. After scanning us with his eyes, he smiles.
- "You two must be the two little gremlins of that moonshiner. Victor and Seraphine, right?"
Moonshiner...? Moonshine... Oh, that makes sense. Clever nickname.
I respond.
- "Yes, that's us. And you are?"
The man is gleeful for a bit before easing up and does a reverential bow, his step shaking the earth below us.
- "Bartholomew Ferran, at your service."
Incredible form. He's much more sophisticated than you'd assume at first glance.
- "Well then, guess we'll split here. Come here you two."
Father embraces us with a wide-spanning hug. We respond in kind.
- "I'll miss you two."
Mother joins in as well. We all have a moment together.
After a few moments of warmth, Sera lets go. Me and father follow suit. Mother seems reluctant, however.
- "I'm sorry we can't follow you... Stay safe. Make your way through slowly, don't get separated. Don't try to fight everything in your way. And when you get to the academy, don't get into fights. Eat well and sleep lots. Listen to the instructors and attend your classes. Don't sneak off campus behind the staff's backs and avoid engaging with such-"
- "We know, mother... We'll be fine. I promise."
She tearfully starts to let go before backing away. She is such a caring mother. It's jarring, since my mother was nothing like this. She was a concubine of my father. Caring nothing for me, I grew up practically by myself. By day she'd stay at father's side along with his true wife, but by night she was off to the red district for reasons that don't need to be stated. It was quite impressive, given the fact that we lived up on the highest peak under the heavens.
She did this in secrecy, until father found out and had her exiled. Later on I avoided an assassination attempt and it seemed like she had orchestrated it to get back at my father. Years afterwards I had heard of her gruesome fate, torn apart limb by limb by one of the men she was bedding.
Anyway, having this doting of a mother was a nice change.
- "Take good care of them, Bart."
- "That's a given! Protecting things is all I'm good for, after all!"
We put some distance between us. I'll miss them, truly. It was nice, having caring parents. Once I'm done with academics, I should pay them a visit again. I expect to be able to get through this forest by my own by then.
But for now, I must take the aid of this large fellow.
- "See you two! Make sure to write!"
I don't know if we'll even get the chance to do so, but I shall try nonetheless.
And so, we bitterly separate, slowly escaping out of sight as we approach this hazardous land. Like a mother sparrow letting its young out of the coop to learn to fly, they release us into the wild and leave us to fend for ourselves through this no man's land of a forest, in the hopes that they've prepared us well for this moment.
Well, rest assured, mother and father. You've taught me and my sister everything we'll need. We shall make it through this trial alive.
And we shall see the world beyond these walls.