From afar, the riverside town of Smillia looked marvellous with its small wooden houses scattered throughout the land, extending along the endless river that disappears towards the sea. Many of the buildings that reside beside the river had a water wheel attached to it. The river, huge, deep and clean, had been exploited by the locals for generations long, providing them fish to eat and water to drink.

As expected from a fishing town, many fishermen were seen rowing their boats to and fro, stopping at perfect spots to throw their nets in hopes to yield some fishes. The place's entire economy is solely based on fishery since its first establishment. Farming is normally done only on a small scale, as to provide some greens for a family's meal rather than acting as an economical source.

Like most towns in Europia, there is a local legend surrounding those who visited the place. Many travelers and adventurers have claimed to encounter a mysterious skeletal figure, walking along the street during certain nights at times where many had gone to sleep.

Wherever the skeleton goes, deafening thunders and mighty lightnings followed. Some said the figure is a revenant, roaming freely across the realm of the living, searching for people whom oppressed him during his living days. Others claimed he is an elemantalist or a powerful sorcerer, trying to play vigilante as its victims mostly consisted of bandits, cutthroats and other scums. Either way, the skeleton earned itself a name. 'The Storm Revenant' was what many have come to known it as.

However, the mythical creature did not bother the townsfolk that much who were oddly oblivious toward its existence. After all, the legend started from a travelling merchant and was popularized by visitors instead of locals. Hence, there was no fear surrounding the locals regarding the Storm Revenant's presence or the carnage he might or might not have done.

One sunny day in the town of Smillia, people were gathering at the town square where a public execution was held on the gallows. As usual, the ceremony began by announcing the accused's name and crimes and ended with the executioner pulling a lever that dropped the platform, leaving the accused man hanging. It was a fun and wonderful event for friends and family to enjoy.

"Such a horrible person that man is. Good thing he was hanged just now," a woman spoke to her friend.

"Seriously, since a few months ago the crime rate of this town increased suddenly. My family and I are worried sick about our safety and if this goes on, we might consider moving to somewhere else," her friend replied.

"Sorry to interrupt madam but I believe it's best you do so asap."

The two ladies looked behind and saw a short man who greeted them by tipping his hat. He was approximately 150 cm tall and wore a navy coat quite huge for his size.

"Well if it isn't Isaac Nikola, the Storm Revenant."

"Shush! Not too loud lady. Don't want any outsiders to know about it," the short man admonished while the two ladies giggled annoyingly.

"By the way-" one of them stopped snickering-"you're saying that man is innocent."

Isaac shook his head, "He's guilty alright, but he ain't the one terrorizing the town right now."

"Well, good luck on getting your hands on whoever the real mastermind is."

"Yeah and I pray for all of your family's safety," Isaac waved as they parted ways.

It's true what the lady had said. Several months ago, a gruesome case of murder occurred involving an elderly couple that lived quietly on the far outskirts of the town. The killer had not been caught and since then, one crime after another happened every week.

Arson, murder, kidnapping, robbery, rape, dozens of cases had been reported yet less than 10 folks are convicted. All of which are guilty towards a single crime only.

Isaac Nikola had known the town of Smillia as much as the back of his hand, for he never left the place ever since his birth 18 years ago. For a person who spent his entire childhood in this beautiful town, it was quite heartbreaking to witness it descend to terror by who knows what. Therefore, he is determined to restore the harmony of the town he once knew.

As the coat wearing shorty was walking peacefully across the town square, he and everyone else there were caught off guard when a loud explosion was heard. A large black smoke appeared at east side shortly after. Everyone panicked and immediately the guards were called.

On the other hand, Isaac Nikola ran into the nearest dark alley where no one could see him. The moment he was out of sight, a loud thunder roared, surprising the already panicking townsfolk once more. Isaac Nikola had transformed from a coat-wearing shorty to a terrifying coat-wearing skeleton shorty. Immediately, he flew towards the direction of the smoke faster than lightning.

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Isaac Nikola arrived at the incident just in time. A building was on fire and he could hear the dramatic pleas of the trapped victims within it. Without further delay, the storm revenant entered the burning building, ignoring the flames that were unable to touch his body. One by one he walked out of the blazing place whilst carrying a victim traumatized by the event and the sight of their skeleton saviour. He quickly passed the victims to the crowd that gathered outside whom treated them upon arrival.

"M-m-my child. She's still in there!" a woman cried as she was handed over to the helpful crowd.

Isaac nodded and went back in quickly. He looked left and right, listening carefully to a sound that might lead him to the child. After a while, he heard a frightful childish cry coming from the floor right above him. With that, he flew upwards ramming himself through the ceiling.

There, Isaac saw a small hooded figure cowering near the walls, turning his/her back against him.

"There, there. There's no need to be afraid child-"Isaac slowly approached the small figure, trying to assure him/her as he walked closer-"I'll get us out of here and bring you to your mother."

All of a sudden, the figure opened his hood, turned around and blasted a fireball towards Isaac that sent him flying backwards. The figure revealed his identity not as a child but a grown man with a fierce looking face.

"You rascal!" Isaac raged, getting himself up and wiping his face from the ashes.

Surge of electric charged through his hands as he prepared to deliver a beatdown to the idiot that dared to do such violence to him. However, his reaction was expected by the pyromancer who quickly revealed a young girl whose head was currently locked under his right hand's grip.

"Move an inch and I'll burn her head off," the pyromancer threatened.

"Tsk. What a coward to use a little girl as a hostage," Isaac insulted as he continued to move forward.

The pyromancer was shocked to see that the skeleton totally ignored his warning and for a split second did not know how to respond.

"You asked for it-" The pyromancer's eyes glowed as his right hand burst into flames-"wait, what!"

To his surprise, the little girl was already gone. He looked to the window on his right and saw the little girl crying uncontrollably under her mother's hug. The only individuals left inside the burning room were him and the short coat-wearing skeleton in front of him.

"Well mister hottypants, what are you gonna do now?"

The pyromancer turned to the front where a bone fist greeted his face. All of his teeth immediately shattered upon impact.

"DORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORADORA"

Isaac bombarded the pyromancer with hundreds and hundreds of electrical punches throughout his whole body. Each punch obliterated the man's bones, sending part of his consciousness away from the real world on each impact.

"DORA!!!"

As the last punch was delivered to him, the man's soul had probably flew way above heaven itself.

Isaac sighed in relief. He approached the man's dead body and sure enough, there it was.

On the back of the man was a mark that Isaac was all too familiar with. An upward crescent with three lines passing through it was scratched onto the man's back. He had seen similar symbols at the back of many other individuals he had beaten or killed, and all of it had supernatural powers of some sort.

With that in mind, Isaac left the burning building, but not before extinguishing it by making the weather rain that day.

But as the storm revenant flew away, a mysterious man was watching all of it from his apartment room on the other side of the road.

He turned away from the window and went towards a nearby table where his diary was wide open. He took a feather and dipped it with some ink and began writing.

Dear diary,

Looks like he did it again. The one man that had been haunting my dreams defeated yet another individual that I cursed to distract everyone from my actions.

'But Will, why don't you just move to another town?'

You don't understand, I have been living happily here ever since I was born and I refuse to move away. Doing so is such a hassle, and I could not imagine myself travelling through the bumpy roads filled with thugs, monsters and whatnots.

I, William Shadford, refuse to run away from danger and will do whatever it takes to get rid of anything that stands my way. All I wanted in life is to live peacefully like any other beings in Erde.

'But Will, normal people don't kill normal people, so why you do so?"

I don't just kill people for fun goddammit! I only do so when they attack me! When they started to breach my privacy, my boundaries, my well-being. Like that damned family when their dog started to charge at me while I was enjoying a peaceful walk admiring the surrounding scenery. My clothes were filthy with the unhygienic saliva of that accursed beast. You know how much I hate filth!

'But Will, I think you should learn to control your anger'

"I AM NOT ANGRY!!!"

The man furiously slammed his table, accidentally splitting it into half.

He looked at the split table and slowly sighed, calming himself down as he whispered to himself, "No, I'm not."

The man walked back towards the window and gazed outside quietly. It was raining slowly thanks to the Storm Revenant and the burning building had long been extinguished. The crowd had already left the area leaving only some local authorities that busily investigated what was left by the fire.

"Looks like I have to change my place of living again," he said to himself, "as well as my face."

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Supposedly, the magical stagecoach that carried Jakob, Marie, Claude and Ryleigh were to arrive at Smillia within two hours. However, they were off-schedule by 48. Bandits, beasts and bad weather, all teaming up to postpone their travels. Despite that, they managed to arrive at their destination safe and sound. The same could not be said about their transportation though.

"Well that was a pleasant journey," Marie sarcastically commented, wrapping a bandage around Jakob's body that got scratched by a wolf's claw.

She pulled the bandage hard as to tighten it causing Jakob to yelp.

"Not so hard Marie!"

"That's what you get for going out hunting without bringing me along," she scolded.

Meanwhile outside the wagon, the knight and the behemoth were busy inspecting their vehicle and much to their displeasure, it was in a terrible condition.

Holes here and there, followed by scratches of blades and claws as well as a half eaten wheel. It was fortunate that they managed to arrive here just in time as one more mile of travel might cause it to break down completely.

"Good tin' Smillia's only a kilometer walk from 'ere. I reckon we should push this tin' somewhere safe and 'idden. Git sum supplies from the town and patch this tin' up til it's good ter travel again," Ryleigh suggested.

Claude approved of the knight's idea, "We should send those two to fetch it for us. They are somewhat responsible for this mess."

"Yeah but I'll tag along though. Who knows, if i'm lucky I'll might bump wi' the 'Storm Revenant'!"

"You seriously believed in that legend?"

"It ain't a legend Claude. Merchants an' travelers kept seein' 'imself lurkin' around causin' stormy weather. An' look at the weather recently! Depressingly rainy every evenin'. This might be the perfect opportunity for me ter seek the revenant an' confirm whether or not 'e/she is a mere folk tale or a real tin'!" Ryleigh explained excitedly.

In fact, this was the very reason why they ended up traveling to Smillia. The knight wanted to meet the so called 'Storm Revenant'. Such meeting would surely make a fine addition in his adventure journal.

And so, Ryleigh called out the duo to fetch some supplies at the town.

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When the three arrived, the sky started to drizzle lightly and cold wind brushed slowly through their skin. Jakob wore a scarf that was wrapped around the lower parts of his face as well as his favourite "dead bird" hat while Marie had her short hooded cloak on.

On the other hand, Ryleigh proudly marched across the town square while sporting normal peasant clothing yet at the same time wearing his knight helm with its visors down. His presence earned some curious glares from the locals.

They finally arrived at the town's Central Market which earned quite an awe from the three of them. The place was quite huge for a mere town's market, and even then it was packed with shoppers and merchants; locals and foreigners alike. It was the heart of Smillia's economy.

"Hot bread! Hot bread! Get your hot bread here!"

"Pots and pans, we got it all here! Made from the finest copper and the best ironsmith: me!"

"Leeches! Leeches! Get your leeches here to remove all the bad humours from your body and achieve the best of health!"

The market was lively with the hustle and bustle of customers and merchants alike despite the drizzling weather. Soon after, the three of them entered the place to look for spare parts to restore their damaged stagecoach.

" 'ere's the list of all the stuff we need, as well as the nicker ter pay for it-" Ryleigh handed the two a piece of paper and a small pouch- "Fale free ter buy anythin' yer want if there's leftover."

With that, Ryleigh left the two to further explore the huge market. Jakob and Marie watched as the knight disappeared amidst the crowd.

"Well, lets just get this over it," Jakob spoke.

But as he turned around, he accidentally bumped a little boy and they both fell.

"I'm sorry mister," the boy apologized, immediately fleeing from the scene without looking back.

"Darn kid, watch where your going-" Jakob got up and realized something was missing- "Oy! That kid took our money! Get him!"

The two of them started to chase after the boy who frantically ran for his life. The boy navigated his way through every corner and alley he could find as he had knowledge of the place like the back of his hand. But Jakob and Marie, athletic as they are, parkour their way through the crowd, climbing walls and jumping through rooftops. In the end they managed to corner the kid at a dead end.

"There's no way out kid. Hand over our money and we pretend none of this happened," Jakob threatened, slowly approaching the boy.

However, the boy showed no signs of fear and smiled instead.

"I've got you both exactly where I wanted!"

Suddenly, both of them fell face first to the floor, pinned down by some sort of powerful force. They tried to get up but the gravity of the place was too powerful. Marie managed to get on her knees when she saw a weird mark glowing at the kid's forehead.

"Ha! You can't get up unless you give me all of your stuff to me!" the boy taunted, "and that includes your weapons too!"

"Alright, you caught us" Marie responded bitterly while Jakob's face was still stuck to the ground, "But you need to come here and get it yourself because we can't move thanks to whatever spell you did to us."

The boy cheered as his plan was a success. He approached Marie who is holding a pouch of her belongings, snatching it from her hand and immediately opened it.

Much to his surprise, inside the pouch was not only gold but a wild squirrel that Marie brought along for some reason. The squirrel hissed and lounged towards the poor boy, clawing and biting his face wildly.

The boy panicked as he tried to remove the squirrel from his face not realizing that he released the two from his spell. Jakob, pissed off by the previous humiliation, got up instantly and rushed towards the boy.

"Here! Let me help!"

The boy finally managed to get a hold of the squirrel only to be greeted with an unrestrained boot to the face. He was knocked out cold.

"What the hell Jakob! That was uncalled for!"

"I've warned him, kid had it coming," Jakob grumbled, "by the way, what's up with that?"

He pointed at the boy's forehead that had a red, upward crescent mark with three lines passing through it. It seems that the mark was responsible for his strange powers.

The two grew curios and began approaching the unconscious kid to take a further look of the mark when the sky suddenly thundered. The duo, startled by the sound, looked behind them.

And there he was, the Storm Revenant, floating menacingly behind the two. Jakob and Marie prepared their fighting stance but the skeleton simply went pass them both. He inspected the boy and saw the crescent mark on his forehead. Despite his skull face, the two could tell that the revenant had an expression of familiarity towards the mysterious mark.

"You both got assaulted by the kid right? Did he show any strange powers?" the revenant asked.

"Well, he somehow magically pinned us to the ground." Marie explained.

"I see-" the Storm Revenant carefully picked up the boy- "I know this kid. He's from the orphanage down south and quite a rebel. Loves to pickpocket people wherever he goes despite constantly getting beaten up when caught. Guess I have to bring him back there."

He turned towards the duo before making a final statement, "You two aren't from here ,and I know that you both live in that broken stagecoach near the woods outside the town."

"I'll stop by tonight so best get prepared."

With that, he vanished in a blink of an eye followed by a loud thunder. Jakob and Marie looked at each other in disbelief.

They went home that evening without spending a dime.

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"Wait wait wait, yer tellin' me dat yer met the Storm Revenant, an' yer man told yer both 'e's comin' over for dinner?"

"I didn't say dinner but yeah, he'll be visiting us anytime now," Jakob replied, chopping some vegetables for tonight's dinner: fish stew and bread.

Every night, the crew took turns preparing dinner but Jakob insisted in taking the role full time after being disappointed (or in other words, disgusted) by the knight and the behemoth's cooking. Apparently, the two could only cook vegetable stew. The moment meat was added the food looked like something straight from an alchemist's pot.

On the contrary, Jakob was excellent at cooking to the point he might challenge and even surpass the finest of royal chefs. He firmly believes that 'every men and women blessed with a proper kitchen should be able to produce at least something proper'. Hence, he could not accept terrible cooking from the kitchen and would give "constructive criticism" to anyone who serves something like that to him.

Back to the story, Jakob dumped the chopped gingers, garlic and carrots into the cauldron before giving the stew a little taste, only to find it too bland. With that, he put in a pinch of seasoning before heading back to the chopping board.

"That's great! I mean, that's why I wanted ter go ter Smillia in de first place. Imagine al' the wonderful tales I cud put into me adventure journal! Ah wait, dat means I nade ter give 'imself a gran' first impression," Ryleigh babbled as he left the kitchen.

" 'Ey Marie! Can yer fetch me sword in me room?"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door which excited Ryleigh greatly.

"Ah it must be none other than the Storm Revenant 'imself! Let me fetch it!"

"Where the hell do you think your going you big piece of meat! Help me set up the table!" Jakob shouted but was ignored.

The knight flung open the door excitedly but instead of the Storm Revenant, a short 150cm fellow wearing a navy coat quite big for his size greeted him.

"Heh, kept you waiting huh?" the fellow smirked cynically, "I believed your friend had told you about my coming, and I could feel that you're very excited about my arrival until you chose to ignore your friend's plea to set up the table-"

"Kid, 'tis already past bedtime," Ryleigh interrupted, shutting the door immediately.

The individual, still outside, stared blankly at the closed door. A gust of wind flew by mocking the silenced individual.

Then, it hit him. He noticed his hands were still made of flesh and skin.

Ryleigh had yet to leave the vicinity of the front door when it suddenly exploded.

"I FORGOT TO F#####G TRANSFORM!!!"

And just like that, the crew discovered the Storm's Revenant real identity the same day they met him.

《 To Be Continued...|/|