"W-what.. where am I?" Robin slowly recovers her senses, only to startle awake as she realizes her situation.
She found herself kneeling on what seems to be an inundated floor with chains around her wrists, connected to what she supposes is the bottom of the water below...
But it's weird. The water clearly isn't that deep, probably to her ankle at most, but how comes she cannot see it's bottom?
She tries to escape from the chains, the sounds of them crashing against each other is resounding despite the fact that there's nothing around her at all, only an infinite void that she could never see the end.
"Damnit! Those are clearly rusted!" She curses under her breath, panic and confusion mixing together.
But then, she stops, heart hammering against her chest as she hears footsteps from afar.
She looks up, and for a fraction of second, her heart stops. There's a person standing in front of her. She swears there wasn't anybody around her just a few moments ago.
She squints her eyes, then opens them wide, trying to have a look at that person's face, but their face is covered in the shadows, almost... blurry?
Their posture is calm, hands clasped behind their back, and then, they speak up, their voice low and slow.
"We have kept vigil in your name. We have waited in silence. We will wait still, until the day of your awakening."
–––––––––––––––
"GAH!" Robin sits up on the bed in panic and awe, her chest heaving with ragged, uneven breath, her face now full of sweat as she looks around, realizing she's still in the medical tent.
Then, her eyes meet Freya's worried gaze and Lucius's unreadable expression.
"Are you okay, dear? It seems like you've got a bad dream." Freya speaks with concern in her tone, hands folded neatly on her lap as she sits besides Robin's bed.
Lucius, however, doesn't seem to be as empathetic as Freya. "Just a bad dream. And you've already acted like you will die." He scoffs, arms crossed as he leans on the bedrail. "I do wonder what will happen when you actually face a life-threatening situation... probably too scared to even run away?" He smirks mockingly, but then the smirk quickly disappears, replaced by the usual stoic face. Then, he stays silent.
"W-what happened?" Robin asks in confusion and slight panic. Except for the dream, the last thing she remembered is standing outside of the tent... why is she on the bed again?
Freya stays silent for a moment, her eyes full of worry and hesitancy, but she eventually speaks. "You passed out on the spot after finding out the portal had vanished. I was so worried. But I think the cause is probably shock."
"I-I passed out?" Robin's eyes widen in surprise, her gaze veers away from Freya's and looks at her hands, her mind racing, trying to retrieve some memories.
"AGH!" Her hands holding her head as a sharp pain shoots through her brain, almost as though she is shot in the head. Freya immediately stands up in worry, her hand grabbing the nearby box of painkillers.
"Be careful, dear. Please don't think too much right now." Freya says in a slightly shaky tone. As a nurse, she cannot stand the sight of others in pain, especially when it's the one who saved her son.
"Ugh... Don't worry, I'm fine..." Robin grunts, clearly in pain. "I just... where is my group?"
At the same time, footsteps can be heard outside, and then Viktor enters. His brown eyes stern, but concerned. "Finally awake?" The man says, striding towards Robin with a fast, worried pace. "You made me worried sick. What did I say about wandering off too far?"
Robin parts his lips, trying to say something, but then her mouth presses close, not daring to look straight into Viktor's eyes. "Alright, alright, at least you're fine now..." He sighs loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"So... where are the others?" She finally speaks up, her tone a little shaky.
"They're at the nearby academy for morning exercises and lessons. I was supposed to be there too, but I guess I couldn't leave you alone by yourself, so I asked for permission to come here." He states, crossing his arms as he stares down at Robin.
"Y-you didn't have to do that just for me, I'll be fine!" Robin looks surprised by how much Viktor cares about her despite the fact that they barely know each other.
"Well, it's still a disadvantage that you couldn't attend the lessons, because they're the most important ones." He continues, his eyebrows furrow. "So I come here, not just to visit, but to teach you personally as well."
Then he looks at Freya and Lucius, his eyes darting between the two of them before landing on Lucius. "And... you're the boy from last night. Why are you here?" He raises aneyebrow, seemingly speechless by his presence.
From the rumors Viktor had heard, Lucius is a boy who grew up orphaned, he had to work hard just to earn the right to live, and that alone made him a distant person. Lucius, despite his young age, is very mature, but also very, emotionally, detached. Basically, the boy usually does not give a damn about strangers. The fact that he volunteered to go inside the forest and find Robin last night is extremely suspicious.
"Mind your business, old man." Lucius sneers at Viktor, obviously irritated. "I choose where I want to be. That's my right."
"Excuse you, I'm 37." Viktor clicks his tongue at Lucius's mocking, annoyed tone. And here he thought the boy is nice when he first saw him. "And I never forbid you to be here. Why so mad?"
Lucius just curses under his breath, but he shows no signs of leaving.
"Alright then. Stay if you want." Viktor just tolerates his behaviors and sighs. Then he turns to Robin. "Are you two like... really close or something?" He raises an eyebrow in suspicion, his words are vague, but what he means is clear.
"What the fuck makes you think that?" Lucius snarls through gritted teeth, his tone full of anger and annoyance.
"Woah, please calm down you two." Freya, after just standing by one side watching, immediately stands between the two of them when she sees the tension rising. "This is a medical tent, and we literally have a patient here."
The both of them stay silent for a moment, then Lucius scoffs again, but he does comply the request.
"Thank God. I thought you two were going to fight each other right in the tent." Freya sighs, hands on her hips as she looks at the two with that "disappointed mother" look. And let's just say, that works.
"Alright, I guess I should probably start teaching." Viktor says, his earlier passive-aggressive tone vanishes, now only a voice that's three steps away from a whisper.
Then he walks to the other side of Robin's bed and points at her watch. "Turn it on," He says, "And open the encyclopedia, I will explain whatever's summarized."
"Oh.. o-okay." She quickly complies the man's request, the holographic screen again appears in front of her eyes.
Life Force: A kind of energy that flows through the entire universe. It can be used in different ways, but the problem is not everyone can use it.
"As you can see," Viktor speaks up. "Life Force flows through the universe, and only those who are compatible to it can use it." He explains slowly, occasionally glancing at Robin's face to ensure she understands.
"But that doesn't mean the compatible ones cause it freely." He continues. "There are also other problems, limitation, elemental compatibility, and more." His hand waving vaguely. "But... that will be for later, now we will talk about the ways you can use Life Force. Turn to the next page."
And Robin does.
There are three primary ways to use Life Force.
Boost type: Like its name, those who use Life Force this way can boost their endurance, strength, speed, anything physical. Mental capacity is excluded.
"Hm." Viktor hums softly, a hand to his chin. "I guess you probably understand this one, so I will talk about the sub-types instead."
"Sub... types?" Robin turns to look at him with a confused face, obviously not understanding the context.
"Basically, there are also two ways to use 'Boost Type'." He explains. "First is self-boost, a person can boost their own physical capacity. And second is Other-boost, those who use Life Force this way can quicken one's healing process. To understand better, they are the examples." He turns to Freya and Lucius. "Freya is Other-boost, that's why you healed fast. Lucius is Self-boost, which helps him kill Beasts with less efforts than a normal person have to use. Most of the time, one can only use Boost type in one of those two ways. A hybrid case is never recorded."
"I see." Robin hums, nodding her head with every words spoken. Without waiting for Viktor's instructions, she turns to the next way to use Life Force.
Taming type: One can use Life Force to tame a Beast. This heavily depends on elemental compatibility as a Beast of the with the conflicting element(s) cannot be tamed. For instance, a person who's Fire-compatible cannot tame a Water-type Beast.
"This one is also easy to comprehend." Viktor says. "So I will talk about the ways one can use Taming type. There are two ways, Dominance and Harmony. Dominance is basically when you brute-force tame a Beast, this way you even have a chance to tame a contrast-type Beast, but it is risky. Harmony, on the hand, works on trust and bonds, the more the Beast trusts you, the easier it is to tame it, but this one cannot surpass elemental incompatibility."
Robin thinks for a moment. "So, are there any other ways to tame a Beast?"
"Good question." Viktor smiles. "Of course there are other ways to do it, but those two are the most widely-used and most well-known. One of the less well-known ways is to use certain artifacts. Those, however, are illegal in most towns and cities because they affect the Beast negatively, and it would be bad if those said artifacts fall into the wrong hands."
Robin eyes narrow slightly as she looks back at the screen, then at Viktor. "In that case, there are probably artifacts that help strengthen the Beast too, right?"
Viktor smirks at Robin's sharpness. This is why he likes the girl. "Of course there are, but they're called Runes. And Runes is only be used on certain Beasts, because those Beasts have their own Runes, while others don't."
"I didn't know about that?" Freya raises her eyebrows in surprise, which, makes sense, this town is not only behind on technology, it also isn't very good at catching information.
"Well, I suppose that's normal. In fact, not many people know about this either, living in cities or not." Viktor chuckles, shaking his head.
"Well, I guess you should tell her about the Zirierocies too?" Lucius suggests with a blank face.
"I actually planned of doing so." Viktor rolls his eyes. "Zirierocies... Let's just say, they're weapons, but ones that are alive."
Both Robin and Freya flinches at his words. "So like..." Robin clears her throat. "Like biological weapons or something?"
"Not entirely, they're more like weapons but with a soul. They can communicate, they get to choose who would be their partner. Being accepted by them means you're their companion for life." Viktor explains. "They don't see their wielders as owners, but as companions who would put their loyalty into... until the wielders pass away or betray them."
"Woah... sounds like a myth." Freya says with a fascinated expression.
"Alright, enough. Turn to the next page. We're at the last type now." Viktor instructs.
Magic type: One can cast spells themsleves, but only the elements that they're compatible to. Using a conflicting element can cause a temporary or permanent effect.
"This one sounds like those wizards thing." Robin comments. "Or... are they?"
"Well, I guess you can say that." Viktor just shrugs. "I think I don't need to explain anything about that. Any questions?"
"Well, I do have one." Freya suddenly speaks up. "Are there like... cases of a hybrid? Like someone who use two or all the types?"
"Well, that's not impossible, certain conditions can make that impractical though. But it is unlikely that anybody would use all three types, because draining your own Life Force is the least thing anybody wanna do." He says with a serious tone. "That will definitely lead to some permanent cost, death is not excluded. Life Force is the internal energy of all living beings, draining it is like harming yourself. A big no-no."
"Well, there's still one more page left." Robin says. "What could it possibly be?"
"Oh, that?" Viktor raises an eyebrow. "Well, you guys aren't supposed to learn this yet, but I guess I will teach you that as well."
So Robin turns the next page.
Core: The core that stores and allows one to use Life Force. It could be there since birth, or be developed after. A strong Core indicates a less limited use of Life Force.
"Core?" Robin doesn't seem surprised by this revelation; on the other hand, she seems to expect it.
"From your expression, I think I don't have to elaborate more." Viktor straighten himself, stretching a little after standing for too long.
"Well, thank you a lot, Mister Viktor." Robin smiles politely at Viktor, her eyes full of gratitude.
"No problem." The man says, nodding his head approvingly.
When suddenly, a voice speaks up from outside the tent. "Viktor?" It is another guide. His eyes full of concern. "Can you come out here for a moment?"
Sensing something wrong, Viktor's eyebrows immediately furrow, he looks at Robin, then nods and goes outside.
"Great." Lucius snarls. "Probably another bad news. I know that look on their faces. Saw that same look too many times."
"Don't be pessimistic, dear." Freya says, but her face is also full of concern. "Maybe... Maybe they just really have things to talk about."
Just as Freya finished her statement, Viktor again enters the tent, his eyes, stern and worried, prove her statement wrong.
"We will have to set off to another town tomorrow morning." He says, and that sentence alone makes all three of them flinch. "They said, it's too dangerous to stay in a town surrounded by a forest full of carnivores."
"W-what?" Robin's voice immediately becomes uneasy as her brain replays his statement. "We will walk on foot?-"
"Unfortunately, yes, that's the case." Viktor sighs, shaking his head. "There's a subway called Juniville's Underground that has a station in almost every towns. But sadly, the station in this town has been having a few problems that prevent the train from helping people travel around. And since this place is kind of isolated, nobody has fixed the problems yet. We have no choice but walking."
"Are you serious?! The nearest town is more than one hundred kilometers away! Not to mention there's a snowy mountain along the way." Freya says with a concerned expression.
"That's the matter. From what we expected, we will have to walk for 4 days straight to get to Harvick Town." He responds, eyes narrow in unease. "And that's without the mountain as an obstacle and without stopping for a single second."
"I see..." Robin's eyebrows furrow, her eyes darting away from Viktor's gaze.
"That's all, I suppose." He continues. "I will help you prepare your belongings, so rest well."
But just as he's about to leave the tent, Lucius calls out.
"Wait!" He says, his eyes showing sparks of nervousness, but those vanish as quickly as they appeared. "Can I go with you?"
That surprises the other three. Robin and Freya look very shocked by Lucius's request.
Viktor, however, isn't as surprised. "Are you sure? We cannot ensure our students' safety, let alone yours." He says sternly.
"I'm sure." Lucius replies firmly, his eyes showing determination.
Viktor stays silent for a moment, but then he just sighs. "Alright, if you want." And then he walks out.
"Lucius..." Freya looks at him in awe. "You've never left town before. Why now?"
"That's because I've never got the chance." He says. "I won't pass up this one now."
"I-..." Freya tries to say something, but then stops herself. "If you wish, please at least stay safe."
"I promise, Miss Freya." Lucius gives her a reassuring nod, then walks out of the tent as well, leaving only Robin and the aged woman alone.
"Things escalated faster than I expected..." Robin lets out a quiet, concerned sigh.
"Don't worry, dear. I promise things will get better soon." Freya puts a hand on her shoulder, giving her a firm, reassuring squeeze.
"I hope you're right." She smiles at Freya, but her eyes are still full of concern.
Will she ever manage to go back home?
–––––––––––––––
"High Elder." Lucius speaks up, his eyes narrow in irritation and maybe reverence. "I will go with the humans out of here tomorrow."
"I see..." An old woman, probably in her 70s already. She turns around slowly, her hand gripping her stick tightly. "It seems the prophecy has come."
"Yes. I suppose." Lucius replies, his eyebrows furrow. "... I don't know if I Cando this, High Elder."
"You can, Lucius." The old woman says, her eyes full of determination despite her age. "God had given me foresights. You are the one to go and seek our Savior."
"But what if... God, is wrong?" Lucius asks, his tone full of skepticism. "What if you got the wrong person?"
"I'm never wrong, Lucius." The woman says, her eyes narrow in slight anger at Lucius's questions. "You will go. We all belive in you, dear." Her gaze quickly softens as she approaches Lucius and puts a hand on his shoulder. "You will seek the Child of Light. For the sake of this world."
"I-..." His tone wavers slightly, his eyebrow twiches. "I will, High Elder."
But as he gives her a firm nod, a laughter can be heard in the shadows.
"Who?!" The High Elder immediately turns around, her eyes widen in surprise.
Emerging from the shadows, a figure of a man wearing what seems to be a ninja costume continues laughing.
"Oh. There are still people who belive in that stupid tales. How rich." The man chuckles.
"That logo is..." The High Elder seems uneasy. "You're from the Shadow Clan."
"Oh, so there are still people who know us, huh?" The man lets out a low chuckle, his eyes never once breaking contact with the Elder.
But then, a claymore was swung at his way. It was none other than Lucius, with his eyes full of rage.
"Do not disrespect the Elder!" He shouts, but to his surprise, the figure turns into smoke and vanishes, the only thing that man left is another mocking laughter.
"Be careful, dear." The Elder says with a scolding voice. "Most of the Shadow Clan people are Shadow-type Boost. Fighting them in the shadows would be the least thing you wanna do."
Lucius only tsks, his eyes still full of fury at that man's attitude. "I'll be more careful next time."
"It's getting late now, you should get ready and go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day." The Elder says, her gaze once again softens. "We all put hope in you, Lucius."
"I won't disappoint you all." He turns around, giving the Elder a quick bow before walking hastily out of the place.
The High Elder only shakes her head. "Time passed by fater than I thought. And I suppose he's still a kid."
Then, the Elder also walks back to her tent.