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Reality One: The Noble Hero’s Rise to Fame
Chapter Two: The Pros and Cons of Magic
‘Alright, that should be good. No way this roof is going to break again.’ Drae grabbed his tools and dropped them on the ground before dropping down himself.
“Ready to go? It’s nearly dusk already.”
- Reality 1, April 6, 1247, 17:01 -
‘Let me grab my pack and bow first. I assume we’ll be gone for a while, so I don’t want to take any risks.’ He went inside for about a minute or so, with his bag on his back and bow on his shoulder.
“This way.” I point towards where this guy should live. “Let’s go.”
When we get to most of the way there, I start feeling like I’m being watched again. “Uh, do you feel that too?”
‘Feel what? The breeze? Yeah, it’s really nice today.’ Drae replied. I looked at him with a face that lacked amusement. ‘Ugh, no, I don’t feel anything.’
“I feel like we're being watched. It’s like, this uneasy feeling is really getting to my head, and I don’t know what it is. It doesn’t feel like an animal is watching us, but like a person is.” Drae just looked at me, with concern plastered on his face.
‘...Let’s hurry.’ “Yeah, good idea.”
Another minute or so later, we happen upon a small, modest house made of cobblestone and thatch. It doesn’t look like much, but hopefully looks are deceiving. We walk up to the door, and I knock on it. The door opens about 10 seconds later, and we’re greeted to a deer on the shorter side of the spectrum, his antlers making him seem taller than he really is.
“”Hello? Who are you two?”” He says.
“Uh, hi.” I reply shakily. “I’m Unum, but you can call me Neo. This is Drae.”
‘Hello. Nice to meet you.’ Drae says politely.
“I was told that you would be able to translate this text for me? Tobias referred me to you.” I showed him the book.
“”Ah yes, Tobias. He sells me potion ingredients often, even the rare ones I need on occasion. I’m Tess by the way, nice to meet you two.””
He seems friendly enough so far. Hopefully he doesn’t ask for payment.
“”Here, come inside. We can talk more here.”” Drae and I walked in, seeing a fairly large room with an altar to the side, a staircase going down to a sub-level, tons of books of all shapes, sizes, and ages, and an area for making ritual circles. Standard magic user stuff. “”Want anything to drink? Tea? Water? Wine?””
“I’ll take some water, it was a long walk down here.” ‘I’ll take the tea.’ He walks down the stairs, supposedly to go grab our drinks.
“I like this place so far, it’s quaint but what you’d expect for a talented magician.” Drae always appreciates this type of stuff, as he wanted to get into magic too, yet could never find the time. “Maybe he could teach me some spells so I could do more than just shooting people with an arrow.”
Tess came back upstairs, with a tray full of snacks and our requested drinks. “”I rarely have guests, so I wanted to accommodate. You can help yourself to any of this.””
“Woah, thank you so much!” I replied. “Oh, the book.” I handed it over to Tess, which he promptly opened and observed.
“”Yeah, I can translate this easily. I’m basically a historian for this area, learning how to read ancient scriptures and translating them for others. This text right here is the language I call Hex. It’s origins date back about 900 years or so, but fell out of use about 750 years ago, despite it being a really nice language.”” He looked back up at me. “”Where did you find this book? A dungeon?””
‘I came across it in a chest. It was in a cave I discovered while exploring, being occupied by old gold and a rusty sword, which I promptly sold to Tobias. He could tell that the sword was 800 years old or so from the runes on it.’
“”Interesting.”” He looked back at the book, reading it’s contents carefully. His expression slightly shifted every so often, I assume from the book saying something interesting. Suddenly, his expression changed from focus to fear.
“”Let this be a lesson that shall lasteth until the demise of us all. Such a book was created to warn of the great danger incoming towards thou's peers and thouself. A great evil has besieged upon the very land you rest upon, and it must be slain. A powerful relic used to lay here, gauntlets of unimaginable strength and fortitude. However, such gauntlets were cursed to make the bearer lose their will and thirst to kill. In this same tomb of the gauntlets lays a sword in a stone. If thou is worthy to wield such a weapon, thou shall be the slayer of the demon that resides upon lands. Said weapon is just as powerful as the gauntlets, just with the curse be gone to the superior creator of the artifact. Us citizens of the past plead for thou to slay the demon and destroy the gauntlets as to not allow the suffering of more innocent souls. Descend further into the dungeon and behold your strength. May He bless thou all.””
‘...So basically, there’s another sword in that cave and I have to use it to defeat this “demon” that wields the cursed gauntlets? Simple enough.’
“”This is no simple task, Neo. This requires the utmost skill and knowledge of all the tools available to you. You simply don’t fuck with cursed artifacts unless you are sure you can defeat the wielder.””
‘Okay, teach me some magic and there should be no problem.’
“”Neo! I’m not joking! I will teach you all the magic I have available to me, but after that, you are on your own.””
‘Ugh, fine. Teach me.’
“”I take it you already know some magic yourself. You sound like you use it regularly.””
‘Yeah, I know some basic stuff like how to cast a couple of spells, but that’s about it.’
“”Let me explain. As of now, there are currently 7 known spells that can be cast, Pyra, Lumium, Aquaea, Agrium, Njorea, Geomium, and Displium. Each requires the use of a sign on the hand to cast. Some spells can be combined with others to cause different effects like how Agrium and Aquaea combine to make a healing remedy. What sp-””
“Wait, Tess. Can I learn how to do that?”
“”Yes, later. Now, what spells do you not know at this time, Neo?”
I grew accustomed to casting each spell after some time. Displium is probably the most useful, as it creates a point of where to teleport and allows you to activate it at any time.
“”There you go, you’re doing it right Drae!”” exclaimed Tess. He’s trying to teach Drae the healing spell, stating it might become useful at a later date.
“Finally! I fulfilled my lifelong dream to learn magic!” Drae yelled out of excitement. Clearly, he’s happy to finally learn a bit.
“”Now that you both learned how to do some magic, you should be able to take on what lies ahead. Just try and get to the cave sooner rather than later.””
‘Alright, thank you. I think I’m gonna head home, it’s fairly late already.’
- Reality 1, April 7, 1247, 00:42 -
‘You coming with, Drae? Or are you going to stay here for the night?’
“The latter. I don’t think leaving in the middle of the night is the best idea, but I think you’ll be able to handle it. Plus, you have to work super early tomorrow.”
‘Alright. Thank you both. I’ll see you later.’
“Bye!” “”Thank you for your time, Neo.” Before I left, I set a Displium point, just in case.
On the journey home, I felt even worse about being watched. It felt as if eyes were leering directly into my soul. I stopped walking to listen to my surroundings with my eyes closed. It sounded silent, yet not silent enough.
***BAM!!!*** ‘AAAOOOWWW!’
I get thrown down to the ground by what feels like a punch. I look up with my face throbbing in pain and see a massive figure standing in front of me. It was a panther, with dark blue fur and red accents, his muscular figure outlined by the glow of the moon. His eyes were cold, his expression lifeless yet full of malice. I start trying to get up, but before I get up much, he bends down and punches me in the gut. I’m pushed back down to the cold dirt below me with my face and stomach throbbing in pain.
He starts punching me repeatedly, drawing blood from a few places. His punches are much stronger than an average punch, enough to bring me to the ground in the blink of an eye. Hit after hit, he’s on the brink of making me pass out. Before I fully lose consciousness, I weakly engage the Displium spell.
“NEO! WHAT HAPPENED?” “”DID YOU MEET THE DEMON? DRAE, STart using the spe–...””
Their voices get quieter and quieter as I fall into unconsciousness.
I now know my enemy.
END REALITY ONE, CHAPTER TWO
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