|
Chapter 5
Schimmel left the Cleric's House
a bit confused after the strange lecture from the Warrior. He shrugged it off
and walked up to the group of three that were waiting for the boat to Victoria,
which could be seen quickly coming closer. He figured he may as well listen to
the Warrior and talk to them.
"Well, how about we all introduce ourselves. My name's
Schimmel, J Man already knows me of course," he said, looking around at
everyone, hoping they were nice enough people to at least act friendly.
He quickly found out that they were, "Nice to meet you,
Schimmel. My name's Raquen," the other Beginner Warrior said, holding out
his hand. Schimmel smiled politely and shook his hand. "And this lovely
lady is my girlfriend, Astreryl," he continued, nodding toward her.
She smiled at Schimmel and also held out her hand. "Nice
to meet you, Schimmel-kun." Raquen realized Schimmel didn't know what
suffixes for names meant when Schimmel had a slightly confused look as he shook
her hand.
"Ah, you don't know of suffixes in names, do you?"
Raquen asked him.
"Is that what kun was? I've heard of them before, but
never heard anyone use them before, so I'm not familiar with them,"
Schimmel explained.
"I see. Well, kun just means friend. So when she says
Schimmel-kun or Raquen-kun, she means friend," he explained.
"Okay, thanks," Schimmel said, then turned back to
Astreryl, "You rescued us down at the beach didn't you? I recognize your
voice, thanks for that."
"Really, it wasn't just me. You kept it away from the
town so it was saved, and Raquen-kun and this boy," she said, gesturing to
J Man, "held it off long enough for me to come back with help."
J Man took the opportunity to join the conversation, "No
probs! Name's J, call me J Man though," he said, holding out his hand just
to try and fit in. He put on a corny smile with his eyes closed and waited for
Astreryl to say "Glad to meet you," but it never came. He opened his
eyes to see that the boat had arrived and the others were already getting on.
"He-hey, wait up!" he called after them as he ran to
the boat and boarded it with them.
The boat was really small. There was only a small room with a
few boxes beneath the deck. On the deck, there was only the captain and his
assistant, besides the passengers.
The four became quick friends aboard the boat on the way to
Victoria. They talked about what class of Hunter they would be. Schimmel was to
be a two-handed sword wielding Fighter class. J Man was going to train as a
Bandit, using a stinger in one hand and a dagger in the other. Raquen was going
to become a Page, which is a class that uses a single-handed sword with a
shield. Once he advanced further in his training as a Page, he would learn sword
magic. Astreryl wanted to become a Cleric, and travel with Raquen to help him by
using the Cleric's spells to aid him in fighting.
It was only a short trip, about ten minutes long Schimmel
guessed. They arrived in the port town of Lith. It was the largest town on
Victoria besides Henesys. It also, being the port town, had a few boats that
people travelled on to get to other islands, namely Florina Beach and Maple
Island. There was another island, Ossyria, but it was only possible to travel
there from the small forest village of Ellinia. Ossyria was dangerous though,
and only for really strong Hunters anyway, so Schimmel decided he wouldn't visit
there for a while.
Raquen spoke up, "Well then guys, now that we're here, I
suggest we escort Astreryl to Ellinia to become a Cleric first thing. Perion's a
pretty far distance away anyway, so we can head there after Ellinia.
Agreed?"
"I'ma go to Kerning instead," J Man protested,
"Ellinia's across the island from it. I'ma meet you guys in Perion, kay?
"Oh right, I forgot you have to go the other route. Sure
thing then. We'll meet you in Perion then after you become a Bandit and Astreryl
here becomes a Cleric," Raquen agreed.
Schimmel remembered something everyone else obviously
overlooked, "Uh, guys, doesn't it take a few days of training with the
Expert Hunter in the area to become the Hunter class? I'm not waiting around a
few days for J Man and Astreryl before I head to Perion. We can just take the
training all at once. It would be much faster."
"I see, no one told me about that. Okay, I'll escort
Astreryl to Ellinia, then meet you in Perion for the training, Schimmel. We may
as well do it together since we're warriors," Raquen suggested.
"Right, I'll go with J Man through the Kerning route
then."
"Sounds good, let's head off then, the sooner we're
Hunters, the better. See ya."
The four of them split into two groups. Schimmel and J Man,
and Raquen and Astreryl. They each said they're goodbyes and headed off in
different directions. Schimmel and J Man headed north, along the east coastline
and Raquen and Astreryl headed east, along the southern coastline. Schimmel and
J Man made it to Kerning quickly, it wasn't a long walk, about two hours at
best. When they got there, they saw the Party Quest training grounds. It was a
huge area where many Hunters trained to become stronger. It was a long involved
task to finish the quest, and it involved some teamwork, but the hard work paid
off in how quickly it advanced the Hunters to their next Hunter class.
The tavern was where J Man and Schimmel headed to. There, J
Man would train under the "Dark Lord" in the ways of a Bandit. He
would learn how to effectively wield two weapons, one in each hand. One being a
dagger, and the other being a cutter.
J Man went into the hidden training area of the tavern alone,
so Schimmel headed off toward Perion. The path from Kerning to Perion was to the
north-east, up a mountain path toward the northern tip of Victoria island. It
was a difficult trek, Schimmel slipped a few times off platforms that led up the
mountain path. There were many small monsters along the way too. Mainly tree
stump-like creatures. They weren't too hard to fend off, at least the normal
ones weren't. There were some that were colored dark, and Schimmel couldn't beat
them. He managed to dodge past them around rocks and other things though.
He finally made it to Perion after the last long, straight
path. It took him nearly five hours to get there, so he immediately sat down at
one the benches overlooking the rest of the mountain when he got there. The view
off the bench was amazing, he could see almost the entire island. He could see
Kerning to his right, a thick forest to his left, a bustling city on the other
end of the island, and in the corner, the port city Lith that he first arrived
in Victoria from.
He took in the amazing view as he rested from the long trek it
took to get to where he was. As he explored the island with his eyes from the
vantage point, he noticed something strange from the very center of the island.
He saw an extraordinarily large tree... with the strange shape of a skull on it.
He heard of that place before, he was warned about it when he first wanted to
become a Hunter. It was called the Victorian Dungeon. He was told that there was
an evil aura around the place and very few Hunters dared to go too deep into it.
Many Hunters make it down to a strange place called Sleepywood. In fact, it was
a small village where Hunters who were strong enough to make it could go there
and rest in the sauna, or even buy items from a man there who would sell them.
The problem with the place was the Ant Tunnel and any places
further. It is a strange cave filled with extraordinarily powerful monsters. No
one has ever made it to the bottom and survived, though surveyers with advanced
technology could explore down to a place they deemed the "Sanctuary"
with a small robot called a Sentinal. Once a certain depth into the Sanctuary
though, the small robot would crash and the surveyers would lose contact with
it. They haven't been able to explain it yet, and probably never will.
Over in Henesys, Raquen and Astreryl had just arrived. They
needed to make it through Henesys before they could get to Ellinia. Raquen knew
the route to Perion through Ellinia was longer than the one through Kerning, but
he figured Schimmel would wait up for him, and he would hurry as fast as he
could once Astreryl had left for training. In Henesys, they stocked up on
supplies at the item store before they began the next trek toward Ellinia.
After the 2-hour walk through the thick forest, with Raquen
cutting through thick bushes along the way, they had made it to Ellinia. They
stared upwards as the town rose into the trees. The flowers sparkled and the
trees only let in small bits of sunlight. There were fairies everywhere... it
was beautiful. Raquen and Astreryl could immediately tell why it was called the
most beautiful city in the world.
There were many ramps and ladders leading upwards toward the
very top of the city. It may have been the most beautiful, but it wasn't the
easiest to travel through. Once at the top, they saw a large building with
symbols covering it. They went in and met an old man in grey robes. He had pure
white, waist-length hair, and a beard equally long. His face was wrinkled from
age and he was sitting at a desk with a snore bubble coming from his nose.
"This is the guy you train with to become a Cleric? By
the looks of it, even I'd be a better Magician than him," Raquen whispered
in Astreryl's ear.
"I guess so. He looks old enough to be really, really
good at it though. Maybe he's better than we expect," Astreryl wondered.
"Let's hope. Should we wake him up?"
"You can go meet up with Schimmel-kun now if you want,
I'll wake him up."
"Good luck then."
"Thankies, see ya in a few days."
"See ya."
Raquen and Astreryl gave a little hug to each other before
Raquen headed out the door. Luckily, the path to Perion was clearly laid out
just to the side of the large building he had just come out of. He followed it
for a short while and a few minutes down the path, he stepped out into a burst
of sunlight. He had stepped out the forest and it immediately broke into a
mountain path, the sun beating down on him heavily.
"Schimmel better be there already... If Perion is as
scorching as this, I don't want to stay outside waiting for him very long,"
he said. He then realized he was talking to himself. He wasn't used to Astreryl
not being by his side, she had been there for years now. He tried to get over
it, but he kept talking to thin air, catching himself as he did and trying not
to do it again.
By the time Raquen travelled the entire route up the mountain
path and to Perion, it was getting dark out, "Almost night time... I wonder
if Schimmel started without me," he said aloud, catching himself talking to
thin air again. The sun set only a few minutes later and he was left with only
the moonlight to let him see Perion. He made his way up to the large building at
the very top of the mountain and went in the huge stone door that was always
left open, since it was much too heavy to move.
He saw Schimmel on the floor of the small cave-like area,
sitting in the corner, asleep. He saw another boy, around his and Schimmel's
age, training in another room. He had long and wavy brown hair, a red bandana
and blue lolica armor, which was a strong type of leather armor which was dyed
blue. He was swinging a short sword, real, not wooden, around at what seemed to
be an infinite amount of creatures like tree stump-like monsters, slimes and
orange mushrooms.
After a few minutes of Raquen watching and wondering how the
monsters were just appearing out of nowhere, someone tapped him on the shoulder
and he spun around to see who it was. It was a strange man who looked pretty
old. He was wearing old style indian warrior clothing and a bandana with
feathers sticking out of it.
"I supposed you're wondering what that room is, hm?"
he asked Raquen.
"Yeah, how do the monsters come infinitely at him like
that?" he asked.
"That is a simulation training room for people who are
not yet Hunters. The monsters look and feel real, but they really aren't. That
button on the wall," he pointed to a small red button, "turns the
simulation on and off," he explained.
"I see. Well, I'd assume you're the person we three have
come here to learn to be a Warrior under?"
"Yes, of course. But the training is intense, I would
like you to get some sleep for now. That boy in there is determined though. I
suggest you sleep despite him, you will need your rest for the training."
"Well then, I'd better follow Schimmel's lead," he
laughed, right when Schimmel let out a snore.
"Good plan, training will start very early tomorrow, so
be ready for it."
"What exactly will we be learning?" Raquen inquired.
"You will find out promptly tomorrow, when you wake up.
Please rest somewhere for now."
"Okay then," Raquen gave up on asking him anymore
questions, leaving them until tomorrow. He took off his black headband and used
it as a pillow to rest his head on. He fell asleep after a few minutes.
|
