I really don’t want to stain your hands and your pure mind.
But I do not have a choice… If this is the only way to save our clan, so be it. Kill me.
In
this world, different methods were used for combat, namely Techniques, Spells,
Magic, Summoning, Hand-to-hand combat, and Weapon. Weapon types were separated
into few categories: sword, arch, blade, twin-dagger, axe, and lance. The weapon
types had an advantage in normal battles because those people could buy a weapon
that had spell or magic inflicted in it. Hand-to-hand types had no advantage
over them. However, the hand-to-hand ones were the fastest ones because they had
to constantly train to be at level. Magic and spell differed from each other by
elemental or not. Magic was used for fire, wind, earth, and water, and spell for
other stuff. Summoning was one of the strongest types there were, although it
required the capturing of the beast wanted to be summon. The one that specified
the most was the techniques. It is a name used to design the special attacks or
abilities that ran in a clan. Per example, the Shaloring clan had their purple
eyes that enabled them to use their special abilities.
Jobs
varied according to the types in which a person excelled. The fighting ones were
weapon and hand-to-hand combat. The weapon type were those like swordsman, knight, archer, twins
daggersman (used two daggers), bladesman (used a blade) and axesman (used an
axe). The types differed themselves by the type of weapons they chose. They
usually rely on weapons only. The hand-to-hand types were usually teachers for
basic training.
The magic varieties were the spell caster, magician, and healer. The healer perfected the side of healing only. His attack magic may be even worst than the fighting type. The magician and spell caster differed themselves by their types of EX: if it was elemental (wind, fire, water, earth), he will be a magician, if not, he will be a spell caster.
The other type were all those said to be ‘unclassified’. This category was the type to be less seen. People usually had not choice of choosing the magic type or fighting type because they excelled in one or in the other. In the beginning, they were the weakest people. However, later on, they will be one of the best because their ability of having both types (magic and fighting) mastered. The other types were those who were travelers, beast trainer, item master, and the book holder. The beast trainer had the ability to summon any beast that he conquered in the past to their aid. The traveler was the most badly seen job of all. His reputation was usually the worst since he never had money for food or shelter. In reality, the traveler was a bounty hunter. The vision that people had of them was only because they loved to laugh at people’s misjudgements. The item master was the one that created different items for battle. During fights, although he will be the worst member ever, his items were very useful. There were a lot of items yet to be seen so it is very tricky. The book holder was the most boring job ever. All he ever did was recording all that techniques, magic, items that he saw in different books or inventing new moves (it had to make sense though). The special think about him was that he could use the same thing that he recorded for one time. He usually never moved and wrote in his books because he had had to have a lot of techniques for his ‘one-time’ use.
With
the help of Elwynn, mostly her cards, Roy became much more stronger. He mastered
the weapon type, especially in swords. Trina, seeing that he became this strong,
started to train him more than usual. Now, he mastered hand-to-hand combat. He
was a genius. Everything that he saw, he could remember them all. He absorbed
all those moves without wasting a sweat. Within the time of a year, his fighting
skill surpassed all of the students. Magic and spells were no mystery for him.
He forced himself to remember all of them then practiced on his own to
perfection them. The only fields that he had problems with were the summoning
one and the technique one. He couldn’t learn the techniques because it was
only for the Shaloringans. The knowledge and the ability, which they were able
to see, were not his. Since he did not know the origin of his clan, he was
powerless faced to the technique part. About summoning, he simply had not tried
yet since it required a capturing before summoning. In the Crescent Wing city,
there were no monsters that hadn’t been captured. He could do much about it.
The beast, inside of him, did not appear for a year. His desire to protect
Elwynn vanquished the power of that monster.
On
the other hand, Elwynn wasn’t as good as Roy was. Actually, she wasn’t half
as good as he was. Teachers and well-trained people went to train her everyday
but still couldn’t make her remember everything. After a year, she only
learned to summon, few spell and magic, and basic hand-to-hand combat. In terms
of weapon, she only knew how to use arc and sword. Do not even talk about
techniques with her. She was, sigh, too dumb to learn… She was good at one
thing: her unique special ability.
All
black haired Shaloringans had unique special ability. The white haired ones were
those to be more common. That was why the white haired ones must protect the
rare breeds, like Christopher Ulrike Eleanor to Elwynn Eleanor.
The
techniques that the Shaloring clan was able to perform were the Tensetsu,
Censetsu, and Rensetsu. The Tensetsu was the way to see through one’s
power’s origin. The Censetsu was the technique to perform seals to seal
one’s power source. Finally, Rensetsu was the battle technique that the
Shaloringans used to utilize one’s blood circulation to hypnotize, to
paralyze, or to kill the enemy. Which one Elwynn learned? None, to be truthful.
Sixteen years old was the age that Shaloringangs were allowed to go to
the outside world. Roy wasn’t part of the clan so people forced him out of the
city. As for Elwynn, she couldn’t pass the annual test that granted them to go
out of the city and couldn’t go out there with Roy.
Roy waited until Elwynn appeared to him. She was in her usual outfit. She
signaled the other people to go away to let them be alone.
“Roy, sorry
that I can’t go with you…”
“It’s ok.”
“But I will
pass next year, then I will go find you!”
“It’s too
dangerous.”
“But…”
“A year from
now, I’ll be here.”
“For real?”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“I will pass
the exam for sure! Then I can see you again!”
He shook the hair of her head. Elwynn looked around and secretly gave him
the necklace that she had.
“This is the
necklace of the Eleanor family. It has been passed down for a long time. It
always saved me when I have trouble. So I think that you should have it.”
“You keep it.
I will be safe.”
“But if you
don’t keep it, I will always worry about you. Can’t you even keep it for
me?”
“Ely…”
“If you
don’t feel ok about it, then give me something in return.”
“That’s your
plan, isn’t it? Giving me something to exchange something new?”
“Yup, yup! So,
what are you going to give me?”
“Hum… Let me
think… What would you like and that I don’t need to spend any money?”
“Hey!”
“I know!”
He lowed down and kissed her on her lips. She blushed and didn’t dare
to look up to see the boy. Then, she felt something licking her. She looked at
it and realized that it was a small animal. It was still a baby. Its soft light
baby blue fur was shinny. The fur that had its hair, neck, and part of its wings
was oceanic blue. That little beast used its furry paw to scratch its tiresome
eye.
“It’s so
adorable!”
“It doesn’t
have a name yet.”
“Oh! Well…
Hum…”
“Its specie is
Lokitillirian.”
“Lokitillirian?
This long?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll
just name you Loki!”
“Bree~!”
That little animal let out a sound.
“Oh! So
adorable! I love you just too much!” She gave Loki a kiss.
“Hum, Ely,
what about me?”
“Hun?”
“I gave you
Loki and a kiss. And I only got a necklace… No fair!”
“Here.”
She gave him a small kiss on his cheek and quickly went away.
“Bye Roy!
I’ll see you next year!”
“Bye, Ely.”
Not
even a month after Roy’s departure, something happened within the clan. Elwynn
did not know neither what it was nor what happened. Trina Di Onria and few other
Shaloringans sneaked her out of the place as soon as it started. Unlike the
usual times, Christopher Ulrike Eleanor was not there with her.
In the dark tunnel, she, with the others, ran from the city. This secret
passage was to go the castle. One by one, the people that was with her stayed at
certain position without moving, but she didn’t see them coming back. The last
one with her was Trina.
“Elwynn,
listen to me. I don’t know how many Shaloringans will survive. You may be the
only one.”
“What?”
“You may be
the only one that will live. Do not seek for revenge now. Wait until you are
ready. Wait until you are strong.”
“Revenge, but
for what?”
“Our clan.
Survive at all cost and revive our clan. Do not go to the Wingasirum castle.”
“But aren’t
they our ally? We come from the same clan…”
“My last
advice for you is this: do not trust others. I don’t know who caused the
downfall of our clan, but I know that that person is one of us.”
“Then where
should I go?”
“I don’t
know. Go to somewhere that you will be safe.”
“But… Oh!
Chris, where is he?”
“…Do not
trust him…”
“But why? I
don’t understand!”
“I don’t
know, my instinct says so.”
“…”
“Elwynn, your
health does not permit you to go outside of the city. You won’t be able to
breath, just like the last time that you were out.”
“So what
should I do?”
“I really
don’t want to stain your hands and your pure mind. But I do not have a
choice… If this is the only way to save our clan, so be it.”
“Trina, you
are scaring me…”
“Kill me.”
“What?”
“Kill me, I
said. We, the Shaloringans, have the power to transfer our knowledge and power
to the one who killed us. Kill me, and gain my power.”
“I don’t
want to!”
“You have to.
My ability is to see through the mind of others. I was forced, at some time, to
kill my own master. I killed him because he ordered me to…” For the first
time, Trina showed a sign of sadness and pain. “He was the one person I loved.
I did it, and I gained his ability, the power to copy the fighting skills,
spells, and magic. In me, there is all the knowledge and techniques of our clan.
Survive. Become strong with the power that my master and I gained. Please, I beg
you.”
“But… Trina,
I really don’t want to!”
“You have to.
In your heart, you know about that too.”
“I… I
just…”
“By killing
me, you will also earn the power to go out in the air without having to cause
problem for your health.”
“…”
“Do it, for
me, and for the clan.”
She did not have to chance to say more since there were people coming.
Those people were all masked and were wearing heavy weapons. As soon as they saw
the girls, they took out their weapons and aimed for them. Trina used a tree
barrier to protect Elwynn from those attacks.
“Elwynn, we
don’t have time. Kill me now, or my power will go to other people…”
“NO, I
won’t! There must be another way!”
“There
isn’t!”
The enemies broke through the wall and prepared the next attack. Trina
protected the younger girl by standing in front of her.
“Run…” She
whispered.
“They hurt
you…”
“Just go…
I’ll hold them for few seconds…”
“They hurt
you…”
“Elwynn!”
Elwynn concentrated all her power in her right hand and attacked her foes
with her energy. BROOM!!!!! That blast was so strong that the secret tunnel
blasted too. All the people there, except Trina and Elwynn, died. Elwynn looked
at her hand and felt power so strong that she couldn’t imagine from where it
came. She tried to hold it back but couldn’t. Her hands were shaking with
power. She could even see the energy flowing out of her hand.
“Elwynn!
Where… Where is your necklace?” Trina’s voice began worried.
“I… I gave
it to someone…”
“What?!?”
“But I thought
that I have everything under control… I am fifteen now!”
“It is not a
matter of age or time! You need it, and that’s final!”
“I… I…”
“Ok, now,
don’t panic. Here…”
Trina took out two white bandages and attached them to her hands.
“This should
hold it for a while. Listen Elwynn, the necklace that you had is to help you to
control your power. To whom did you give?”
“Roy… Roy Al
Zetrac…”
“Oh, him…
Listen, go find him as soon as you get out of here, ok? Take that necklace back.
In the meanwhile, do not use your power.”
Other people arrived to them and shot spells at them. Elwynn, unwilling
to see anyone she dear died, did not listen to Trina and attacked them. Trina,
seeing the black haired one was about to strike, stood in the way of her attach
ranch. Elwynn wanted to withdraw her attack but couldn’t. It was too late…
“Trina!!!”
“Elwynn…
Run…”
Those were her last words. Suddenly, Elwynn felt great power pierced
through her entire body. It was those of Trina. The corpse of Trina disappeared
right afterward. Seeingny dead bodies on the ground, Elwynn’s mind was
starting to collapse.
What… What
have I done? I… I killed…I killed people… These hands…I…I…
She wanted to run away, but her feet would not listen to her. Then, she saw him, Christopher Ulrike Eleanor. He was slaughtering the remaining Shaloringans. She was in the underground so he did not notice her. His face was covered like when he went out of the city, and his eyes showed signs of cold-blooded and of evilness. He wasn’t the Chris that she knew. The one that she knew was kind and compassioned. He wouldn’t… He wouldn’t kill so many of his siblings! She must go talk some sense into him. She must go see him! However, her legs did not respond to her and began to run away from the place that she lived for fifteen years…