Book I — Chapter 2: A Saga

Day 3 into their journey, halfway there according to Crea.

“You both have demonstrated a lot more patience and discipline in these last few days, I think a reward is in order.” Crea says, picking up and strapping her shield. “Let’s play a game, land a clean hit and you win.” She enters a fighting stance, but leaves her weapon sheathed.

“You want us to attack you?” Rui asks. “We didn’t bring any training weapons, what if we hurt you?”

“Oh please.” Crea retorts. “I’d like to see you try.”

The three spar, Rui and Haruno taking turns attempting to get around Crea’s shield, but each time they are met with a block, deflection, or unarmed strike from her other hand.

“When you’re out there fighting for real, you’ll be with a group of people you should trust to aid you.” She says as the two pick themselves up again. “Work together. Monsters will always win in a one on one duel.” 

She begins addressing the two individually. “You’re too predictable, Haruno. You need to broaden your attack patterns. Otherwise, any skilled fighter will learn your form too quickly.” 

She continues, “And Rui, you’re too reckless. Aggression is good, but you leave yourself open to preemptive strikes or easy counter hits.”

The two begin to put Crea’s advice into practice, working together. But even 2 on 1, Crea’s experience in battle seems too much for them. That is until…

“You want reckless? I’ll show you reckless.” Rui says as Crea blocks another strike from her spear. “Ishe!”

The crystal embedded in the spear glows red before releasing a burst of force. Crea’s shield is knocked out of position as Rui is sent backwards due to the blowback, but Crea herself seems to stand her ground to some extent.

“Now Haruno!”

Haruno rushes in, and Crea uses the spin of the explosion to ready her other arm to deflect, but Haruno’s attack comes in differently this time, and lands a solid blow to her chestplate. The armor is too strong to fall to a single strike, but for a few seconds nothing can be heard over the clang.

Everyone takes a good moment to catch their breath, but Crea bursts out in a fit of laughter shortly after. “Hahaha! It’s been a while since I’ve been able to feel like this. Excellent job you two. I’m just glad my armor still works after all of those layers of polish.”

“But we damaged it,” Haruno says, eyeing the dent she made in Crea’s chestplate. “Isn’t that a problem?”

“It is no such thing. This may be good armor, and a tad expensive, but these markings are the signs of a warrior, and that the armor works. After all, dented armor is much better than destroyed armor. The guild just likes to keep mine all pristine and proper as a showpiece for when I attend their public events.” Crea takes the time to unstrap her shield and take off her armor. “However, after all of that, it would be wise to check your gear for maintenance. You wouldn’t want to go into combat with a dull blade.”

She quickly evaluates her gear before checking on the others as they evaluate theirs. “Speaking of, I don’t remember seeing your weapons anywhere else before or at training camp. Where did you get those?”

“My family’s blacksmithing workshop.” Haruno responds. “I made my blade myself, reforged from a sword of my ancestor. Half stellar jade, half steel. Heaven and earth intertwined.”

“Right, the Hanmei legacy.” Crea recounts. “The smith who forged 100 blades from a stone descended from the heavens. I didn’t think your family actually had any of that metal left.” 

“Each child of the Hanmei forges their own sword when they come of age, taking the jade from another’s blade and adding new steel,” Haruno explains. “A symbol of growth, and respect for those that came before you.”

“Haruno’s parents also made my spear, and all the other weapons too.” Rui adds. “But the spear was a custom design.”

“And the magic?” Crea continues. “That’s not something anyone at the academy would've taught you. Only a skilled mage like Ivan would be able to manipulate Red Crystal Ore with a command word.”

“My mom had a lot of them lying around the house because she works for a jeweler. She told me that they respond to some kinds of ancient magic, apparently a party trick she pulls to sell more of the merchandise,” Rui answers. “I experimented with a lot of different runes and words, but besides mom’s command word that makes it glow faintly, the only thing I've been able to do is make it explode like that.”

“It’s not consistent too,” Haruno chimes in. “The result depends on her current mood. And I don’t seem to have the correct magical attunement to even make it glow, it might be something in your bloodline.”

Crea seems intrigued at the speculation, “We don’t teach about Red Crystal Ore because of how unintuitive it is. You’re right, we believe it was a catalyst for ancient magic, but all of our experiments have proved rather unsuccessful in using it as a tool for anything. Most mages fail to utilize it in any meaningful way, and all of Ivan’s attempts just ‘recreate pre-existing outcomes with more steps,’ or something.”

A smile creeps up on her lips as she imitates Ivan’s speech, before returning to normal. “The small gems your mom sells wouldn’t hold enough power to do anything really. A crystal like the one you have there, an adventurer with some training could extract mana from it, but they would destroy it in the process. To be able to command it like that, and have it remain intact, is something incredibly useful. You should talk to Ivan after we get back.”

“What about your armor?” Haruno inquires. “I heard it’s one of a kind.”

“This armor isn’t anything too special, just one of the best an adventurer can buy.” Crea responds. “It’s heavy and hot as hell though. I usually have a few magical devices tucked in there to lower the temperature during the parades in the summer, but they’re not practical to take into a fight.” 

“The shield however, is the only of its kind.” Crea goes on. “Before you were born, The three ‘guilds’ gathered together to fight a monster that threatened to take down the whole city, maybe even the whole continent. When we defeated that monster, its core was harvested, but no single guild could lay claim to it, so they came to an agreement. Everyone who fought would nominate the greatest among them. And thus, as the Tri-Guild Champion, this shield was forged from that core and given to me. The core absorbs magical attacks and turns them into mana, it's why your blast only lightly knocked me back.”

Rui’s ears perk up. “Three guilds? I’ve only heard about the Parali and Kadore.”

“Urase and the Kadore branch are still a part of the Parali Adventerur’s Guild,” Crea corrects. The other ‘guilds’ aren’t actually guilds, but groups of adventurers that have their own structure: a secretive organization we call The Keepers, because they tend to keep to themselves, and The Guildless, mercenaries who work outside of a guild structure, and only band together because they like to work alone.”

“The Guildless are real?” Haruno asks. “I thought that was a children’s ghost story”

Crea chuckles at that question. “They indeed are, but they aren’t the dangerous organization they’re led on to be. Most of The Guildless are just former Parali members who don’t want to be bogged down by the bureaucracy of the guild. I’ve fought along many of them when they were with the Parali.”

Rui seems to pick up on something Crea said. “Not bogged down? Like being sequestered inside the city as a teacher and political figure instead of fighting monsters?”

That question got a laugh out of Crea. “Exactly so. My previous partner even left me to my crystal prison to go join them because he couldn’t stand not being out in the wild. From what I understand he’s still out there, doing what he does best.”

“I’m still curious about that monster. What kind of monster would require the combined force of three guilds to defeat?” Rui presses on. “Usually adventuring parties are around 4 people, and they tend to handle most monsters out there.”

Crea looks up to the sky, seeing the sky has dimmed after their sparring session. “Why don’t you two get food started, and I can start with the story of the people we met, those we fought with, and those we lost, in the Tri-Guild Alliance.”