Bandits, men and women who were on the run from Lawmakers and Taxmen, had holed up within the forests between Stormhaven and Stonewall. Both had been tasked with removing them, but neither had the man power to perform the task. As such, they were left alone to run rampant in fighting against those who held many a shiny bauble or coin upon their persons.

It was here that a few pairs of eyes watched from the shadows as Karastak and his group walked passed an ambush site. However, instead of launching into their normal tirade of demanding everything they had at the cost of their life, a dirty, gloved hand belonging to a woman was held up to stop the others who hid.

“,” incanted this individual, whose eyes flashed a brief gold in colour, but frowned as the ability came back with more question marks than anything relevant. Whereas the staves seen caused her eyes to widen when the information gathered reported that it was made up of 'Flawless Diamond'.

“Go get the boss,” she whispered in haste, pushing the closest off in the direction of their base, “Tell her that we've found the motherload of riches, and that an old man and a kid is holding them.”

“What about you?” grunted the other in a heavy voice which barely contained a sneer.

“We'll shadow them,” she grinned, revealing her canines, “It's not like they can see us with our high Stealth skills.”

*****

On the contrary, Karastak knew exactly where they were with his ability, as he spoke to Puella whom he was carrying. For she had become tired after walking for several hours, whilst the Wolfgirl was being carried by a nonplussed Sia. Of whom took on the task in order to ask the child a few questions of her own.

“So what's a Wolfgirl and Cat-kin like you two traveling with an old Human like him?” she wondered softly, directing her gaze behind her where Lupa was stationed on her back.

“Huh?” her ears perked at the question, then laid back as she answered with a mutter of, “He's not a Human, but he's our saviour.”

“What do you mean he's not Human?” the Wolfwoman's eyes widened and she nearly tripped in surprise.

“Mr. Karas is a Mage, and his... body? Is a Foxman, Kitsune, thing... He's very fluffy,” she muttered the last to herself in a soft tone in remembrance of her time petting and scratching his head and neck fur. The skin underneath her face fur was flushed with heat at such a thought, and laid the top of her head against the back of the now curious woman who did not understand what was wrong with the child.

“You okay?” she asked with some concern, and when the other nodded against her back, she continued with, “What did you mean by 'your saviour'? What did he save you from?”

“Slavers had taken them in, forcing them to perform unimaginable tasks,” Karastak replied, causing the pair to jump in surprise as Puella giggled whilst resting against his robed chest, “They came to me hungry and exhausted, and when their 'owners',” he sneered out the word, “came to collect them from my side, they were dispatched easily enough.”

“Yep,” grinned the cat-eared girl, who giggled as her right ear was scratched. Of whom only increased her giggling as a small pair of beady, red eyes appeared within the illusory Human's hair, squeaked once, then crawled into the lap of the child. Whereupon she began to stroke the little bat's body with widened eyes full of wonder as Little Mother wiggled her body with glee.

“What's that?” Sia pointed at the creature who was receiving attention from the child.

“That is Little Mother, my soul-bound companion,” he replied as though it were of common knowledge, and accompanied it with a shrug. “By the by, why did you call Puella a 'Cat-kin'?”

To which Sia blinked with confusion, her head tilting towards her right shoulder, “Huh? Isn't that her race?” when no one made a motion to reply, she sighed, “When a Human, or a non-Beastial race, pairs with a Beastial race, the resulting offspring comes out looking like her. A Human with the ears of the animal in question, along with their tail. Whereas the rest of them takes on most of the qualities of the other parent.”

“Interesting,” he commented, moving forward once more. Within his peripheral, the Minimap had revealed half a dozen red blips, each within the Level range of 8 and 10. Now, however, the blips were steadily growing in number upon either side of them. To which he frowned immensely, and pointed his staff's spike towards the ground whilst summoning up his energy to cast, “.” Energy crackled into life before himself, as a Greatsword came into being. The tip was embedded within the well traveled earth, and such a sight caused the rest of his party to frown.

Congratulations!

You have created a Greatsword!

Grade: A

Durability: 105/105

To which Sia sidled up to himself, demanding, “What are you doing?” in a heated whisper.

“We're about to be ambushed,” he replied softly, swiping the placard away and setting Puella down upon the ground. Of whom was now holding Little Mother with questions forming in her eyes. She then giggled as he reached down to ruffle her head just as the bat squeaked with minour irritation from the lack of attention. Whereas Lupa slid off of the Wolfwoman, and trotted over to her friend in order to give the tine creature a small scratch on her back.

“What?” Sia's eyes started to scan the trees around them, but was stopped as Karastak flicked her nose.

As she rubbed it slowly, glaring at himself, he growled out a, “Don't. You'll only antagonise them to attack early.” However, his statement was unneeded, as the red blips on his Minimap showed them to be moving at a leisurely pace until they emerged from the thicket. Each a male or female of the Human and Orc race, some a combination of the two. All were wearing a mixture of leather and chain for armour, as they wielded bows, knives, swords, or axes with the ranged weaponry pointed towards their bodies.

“Do you expect me to fight with that?” the Wolfwoman hissed, her snout bobbing towards the large sword sticking out of the dirt.

“No,” Karastak's eyes drooped, “I expect you to shield the children from harm as I take care of this mess.”

“What do you mean?” she demanded, but snapped her jaws shut as a burly Human woman wearing rusted platemail stepped through the and trees to their immediate right, a Greataxe leaning against her left shoulder.

Only her face was visible to the crowd and the group, and looked as though it was once a beautiful sight to behold, until and axe was brought to her flesh. Now there was only rough scar tissue and a forever smirk upon her lips from a rough healing. Whereas her left eye, as the right was missing, shown with the light of greed filled malice for the party before her.

“So,” her voice thundered, full of authority and no weakness, “These the ones with those diamonds, Kid?”

A small, Orc woman appeared by her side nodding with excitement and pointed at the illusory Human's staff. “My skill said it was flawless, and it looks bigger up close, too.”

From the back, a male's voice snickered out, “That's what she said,” which led to the group to chuckle.

The woman in question glared in the direction of the comment, before flushing under the gaze of her leader whilst muttering, “Won't know how much it'll be until I get a hold of it, boss.” More chuckling ensued, but was quickly followed up by a grunt and a thump as a Human head full of surprise flew across the their peripheral.

“Idiots,” rumbled their leader as she shook her head before turning back to Karastak and his group. “Well, you know the drill. Hand over your valuables, or die by my axe.” To which he only grinned, then laughed at the statement with a deep voice full of thunder. This continued for a full minute, whilst the group frowned at his laughter.

“Such a cliché,” he grinned, wiping his face down from forehead to bearded chin. Such a motion caused his eyes to burn with hatred as the hand washed over the organs, releasing a malevolent light the colours of Chaos upon the world. After which he pointed towards the sword, chanting, “!”

Immediately, a vortex appeared next to the sword in question, as an ethereal and smoking hand reached through with a satisfied grunt. One that then lifted the weapon high and stepped through the opening before taking the weapon and piercing through the vortex of energies to who knows where? After which the sounds of angered screams from a multitude of voices howled in response as it retracted the weapon and allowed the opening to another world to close.

Whereupon it was revealed that standing there was a creature the size of a Goliath, its form fading away in the harsh light of the sun until only a pair of radiating pitch-like orbs floated above the Greatsword. “I... will... serve...” hissed a cold and uncaring voice which caused all, including Karastak, to shiver. Though his was in excitement, the others were in fear or uncertainty of this unknown creature.

“Good,” he grinned, an insane glint in his eyes as his illusory flesh cracked with red lines. This was immediately followed by a booming laugh as he commanded, pointing towards the bandits, “Then go. Fight. SlAy mY EneMIes!”

*****

Between the Material, Astral, and Celestial planes of existence was the Shadow Plane. One which was often ignored or forgotten, unless a foolish enough of a Mage appeared to summon the beings within to their own plane. Here, Shades congregated together in societies, and fought in a never ending struggle to become one of the Divine.

The Divine were a group of Shades who had obtained the right to copulate with females, spreading their dark seed across the lands whilst fighting against all others who would dare strike out against them. However, this was all accomplished through brute strength of their fists, and the cunning wit in their usage of shadows which continued to flow throughout their world and towards other planes. No. They did not have any weapons, as they were without the tools to advance along with the rest of the races outside of their world.

One Divine was called Zabartik. A name which meant little to those who were not of the Shade's race, but to those within? They knew it was a powerful name meaning 'Strength of Arm', and he had remained a Divine for thousands of years. Unfortunately, a year within this realm only constituted as a day upon the Material Plane. So for him to have lived for thousands of years would, in fact, be changed to only a few years without.

Not that it mattered, of course. That is, until one day a young Shade appeared with a Dagger from the material Plane. One who was no more than a child who had gone missing within another's territory, but soon found out that his brethren easily fell to the blade and extinguishing their life. Therefore, this youngling soon found their way to the top, and stood with the older Divines such as Zabartik who was nonplussed about the situation.

What is more, a pair of Saber wielders also appeared, and quickly climbed the ranks into Divine. More so, when they came to challenge for his position. Whereupon he accepted it, and was swiftly beaten within a few slashes as his ink coloured life blood splashed upon the ground. Therefore, knocking him off his pedestal and forcing him to walk amongst his former territory, banished forevermore.

Or so he believed. For it soon came to light that a gathering of Shades had come together nearby just as three others vanished. Each chosen to wield a weapon of the Material Plane, and within a year, they reappeared with two holding daggers, the third a battle axe.

With excitement surging through his tar-like blood, Zabartik rushed to a Colosseum where others of his kind had gathered after learning of a weapon being offered for others to wield. One which was far greater than the others, and promised far more power than Dagger, Saber, and Axe ever could.

For its name was Greatsword, and it was beautiful to his eyes, mind, and heart.