Part 1

Up north, the way is blockaded by a thick sea of trees. With no choice, we forge our way forth.

Upon entering the forest, colors fade into varying shades of gray. And the light, so meager, dims from time to time; things from afar seem to vanish into the obscurity of darkness. And strangely quiet, not a single cicada sings – our crunchy footsteps can loudly be heard, echoing. And wind, cold it blows against my bare skin – chilly, I feel as if ice touches the back of my neck. Careful against the unknown, I take each step with caution.

Ricardo, the wilderness expert, goes on far ahead. He says he could better monitor for threats by scouting far ahead. So off he goes, leaving a trail of slash marks on the trees ahead to signal whether it’s fine to go on ahead.

A diagonal slash much like a check mark means okay, while a cross mark he says meant danger and that we have to prepare for battle. Peculiar, yes, but I find it reassuring and useful. I did not expect the old man to be this useful.

Following the trail, we have seen only check marks, so good, no danger as of yet, until those marks stop appearing completely from the trees. Ricardo, he must be, ugghh I hate to think of that scenario.

Drop! “EIIIYYYAAAGGHH!” Nina throws a fit, kicking a pile of dead leaves. She jumps, and hugs me tightly, trembling.

“What’s wrong?”

At the pile she points, shaking. “Th… the… that! There’s something in there!”

CRASH! A shadow suddenly rises from the earth, blowing the pile of leaves away like a tornado.

“EIIYYYAAAGGHHH!” Panicking hysterically, Nina shakes me violently.

“UUWARRGHH! HAHAHAHAHA!”

“MMPPHH! MMMPPHH!” Nina hugs me tighter, and tighter. The thing as flat as a board, too much it hurts. I’d rather she let me go.

Suddenly, Nina lets go – flushed red, she frowns, and fist clenched, she violently trembles. Upset, very upset she looks. She kicks and blows away pile of crunchy dead leaves next to her.

“F***!” She yells, turns around, and walks away, pounding the earth with her heavy footsteps.

“Wait! Where do you think you’re going?” I reach to her.

Not looking back, she snorts. “Look behind you. That… that… that! Arrgghhh!” She makes a fuss, violently stomping and pulling her hairs.

Back I look at the object of her complaint, the shadow, it’s Ricardo. He looks beat up with his right eye, blackened, swelling, and outfit, which appears to be muddy. As it looks, the man stirred the panic, unintentionally scaring Nina.

“What happened to you? What happened to the marks?”

“Nyaahaha! I tripped and fell asleep. Boy, what a scaredy cat you are. HAHAHA!”

Nina rushes back, and gives the old man a good kick in the shin. Then she turns away and spits.

“OUCH!” Ricardo jumps, holding his shin, singing a melody of curse while he’s at it.

“Boy can’t even take a joke.”

Sighs, I don’t know now if I can rely on the clown that much. Let me t-

ARROOOOO! A lone creature howls.

All of the sudden, the forest becomes noisy. The shrubs, the trees, all over the place, their leaves rustle noisily. And the birds fly, and the small animals squirrel atop trees and places high away. All it seems warn us of the danger that lurks ahead. We have to run.

ARROOOOO! ARRROOOOO!

The creatures sing in chorus, and too late, they have arrived and in great numbers. Wolves! They surround us. Monstrous, each of the predators stand as tall as an adult man. Look at them smile, their eyes round, and their teeth too, sparklingly white and dangerously sharp.

We organize ourselves within this encirclement, standing back to back. We unsheathe our weapons, prepared to defend against the attack.

“What a lucky day we have. Surely, I have good luck.” Ricardo utters. And smiling, his teeth sparkle. Bling!

“You’re kidding, old man. All you brought is bad luck.” At his back I lean.

“BAD LUCK! BAD LUCK!” Nina curses; she trembles.

The wolves lunge forward, going my way as it appears I’m the easiest to pick. WRONG!

I swing my bat, exerting a deadly force I never used in fights before in fear of killing. CRASSHH! The bat tears across the predators’ necks like it would paper. And exploding, blood spurts out from the severed parts; gravity pulls the bloodied mangled carcasses down.

Three dead in an instant, the wolves sly picks another target, and the rampage continues.

SHK! SHK! SHK! Nina shoots the freaks with her crossbow. Sharp eyed, her bolts accurately hit the critters, digging deep holes in their eyes, and while the shots kill not, they disable, enough to keep them predators at a safe distance.

TCHK! Ricardo impales a charging hound. BUFF! He hits another one with the pole. And SLASH! He neatly severs the neck of the next one. Wash, rinse, and repeat, he fluidly does the moves in succession. Then he charges, and thrusts his spear, impaling the wolves disabled by Nina’s bolts, all done at an incredible speed. Even at dim light, his smiles glitter the same.

And to clean up, I chase the remaining few away.

“That takes care of it. Why not rest, then we’ll move on.”

“Kid, look at all the good fur. They’ll sell well. And the meat will spare us food!” A seemingly odd, but bright suggestion comes from him. Good, that’ll solve our money problems.

Nina and I gather the heavy carcasses and place them neatly in rows to be processed, while Ricardo does the skinning, which he does so well. The speed he works shows the years of hard work he put to gain the skill.

Meanwhile, it’s getting dark, so with much effort, I get Nina to help me look for rotting wood and dead branches. In a race against the sunset, we gather the bunch in a pile and light it. Then we prepare bread, noodles, and dried meat for dinner.

Ricardo on the other hand has just finished skinning and preparing the carcasses. Up the branches and the bonfire, he hangs the meat and the hide to be smoked and cured.

Done, we say our thanks and eat. We pig out on the food, but meager we can only eat so much, our stomachs get filled easy, while Ricardo, like the last time, eats serving after serving, after serving. Leave some for the dogs, will you?

And as usual, Nina and I stay up, writing our journals. Funny, I check her previous compositions. It needs much refinement.

Suddenly, Ricardo rises up on alert, clutching his spear tightly as he scans the surroundings.

“It looks like we’ve got company.”

Part 2

Cold wind blows, the leaves rustle, and the critters panic once more, fleeing in all directions.

Crunch! Crunch! The dark and sneaky predator reveals itself, confidently. Known as the king in folklore for its massive size, there isn’t a need to hide or fear, for this dense forest is his to rule, his dominion.

Grabbing my bat, I rise up to join Ricardo. Then I have a good look at the beast. Large it exceedingly is, a little taller in height than the wolves, but more than double their mass and bulk.

“This isn’t a lion?” Yes, but odd it’s dark.

“It is.” Ricardo confirms; sweat runs down his temple.

ROOOAAARR! The beast stares Nina with eyes, glowing like gold.

The lass freezes and trembles, staring at the predator like a frog to a snake, not moving a single hair.

“NINA!” She scrambles for her crossbow.

A chance, the beast king leaps forward, swinging its massive paws at the lass.

To the rescue, Ricardo pulls her forcibly to the side, and CRASH! Missing its target, the beast king’s sharp steel claws slash a poor tree, leaving deep, deep scars on its trunk. It rebounds, pursuing the two in a massive leap.

“HEEEEYYYAAAAHHH!” Mightily, I swing the bat at an attempt to stop the beast king.

SHLING! It swings its paw against my weapon like nothing, parrying the blow and sending my bat to hit earth.

BATT! My bat sinks in the mud, stuck, and the beast continues to rage on.

SWOOSH! It swings a paw at me, and far back I jump unarmed, leaving the weapon behind.

Ricardo with his great spear throws a barrage of thrusts aimed at its body. SHNK! SHNK! SHNK! Steel it seems to hit, the strikes get deflected, easily – it fails to penetrate the beast’s coat of steel. Yet something the strikes does effectively; they earn Ricardo the beast’s undivided attention.

ROOOAAAARRR! Bubbly spit flies from the rampaging beast’s mouth. The ground trembles. Crunch! Crunch! It makes a call, another one of the sneaky beasts makes an appearance. Only now it dawn to me the apprehension of the guildsmen; they know very well of the dangers involved in the journey.

Off the beasts leap to get us.

“Secret Arts!” Ricardo thrusts his spear forward.

[AURA LANCIA]

Glowing golden, the tip penetrates the side of the beast like a bolt of lightning, deeply; and forcefully exits on the other side, creating a gaping hole.

BAG! The dark beast drops to the ground, motionless. Success, Ricardo stops it from moving forward, leaving us only with an opponent to deal with.

“Back away and find a safe place. I’ll handle the rest, kids!” Ricardo confronts the other one.

“No, let me help you. Just a moment.” I rush to my bat, pulling it out of the mud.

ROOAARR! Holy Cow, what a handful! From our flank, another predator appears rushing, hoping to have Nina for its meal.

“EEEYYYAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!” With a pale face and a widened pair of eyes in, Nina sits paralyzed.

DUG! DUG! DUG!

Not another one? Run we must!

Mightily, I kick the earth, rushing towards Nina, but crap! Not enough, I don’t think I’ll make it.

DUG! DUG! DUG! Nina closes her eyes shut, afraid.

DUG! DUG! DUG! CRASH! A shadow crashes in the scene, knocking the offending beast down to the ground. Sitting on top, it grapples, subduing the beast helpless. Yes, it! But a man? A robot? Humongous, the humanoid thing’s covered like a tank with thick steel plates, from top to bottom.

Clink! Clink! The beast swipes the hunk of metal with its sharp claws, desperate to scape; but still, the rock sits unmoved – any struggle the beast makes seemingly does it no harm. The lion’s as tame as a housecat to the strange thing.

BANG! BANG! BANG! On the dominant position, the hunk of metal grounds and pounds the predator in the head with its massive steel gauntlets, MMA style.

[ D o n ’ t y o u e v e r p r e y u p o n c h i l d r e n ! T a k e t h i s , a n d t h i s , a n d t h i s ! ] a dry metallic voice utters things incomprehensible to my ears.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Splatters, the beast’s blood paints the hunk of metal red batiks with each blow.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Shortly after, the beast’s head gets disfigured – its eyeballs hang to the side, its muzzle folds in, flattened, and its fangs and jaws, broken. It was beaten so bad that it can no longer be distinguished. I’ve never seen such animal cruelty in my life.

[ T h a t ’ s t o u g h ! ]

Meanwhile, Ricardo’s still busy fighting the last remaining beast.

The hunk of metal jumps and charges in to help the old man. Down it swings its massive steel gauntlet in the predator’s head. CRUSH! The blunt blow connects and drives predator’s skull down the earth, shattering it, spilling its contents. Gross.

CLANK! CLANK! It approaches Nina and removes its head piece, revealing the face of the youth clad beneath the thick sheets of metal.

He reaches to her. “Young miss? Are you okay?” The wind blows, sweeping the youth’s long blonde locks. His eyes exposed, glitters bright piercing blue, and his face, so young, so photogenic, and so innocent looking, you’d never suspect he could kill a fly.

Charmed, Nina’s eyes glitter, she takes the hand, firmly grasped. “Yes, young sir. Thank you very much for saving me. May I have your name?” Beet red, her face blushes.

He puts his hand in the chest, bowing. “Call me Albert. Albert Reginald of the Teleknights is my name.”

“Sir Albert…” Nina lost it. Glittery eyed, she spaces out. Her head is in the air.

This feeling, I don’t know what to say, but my ears feel funny; they burn.

Ricardo comes closer and inspects the lad. He knocks his spear against the thick steel plates, confirming they’re solid. Shortly, he turns to Nina, and inspecting, he scans her from bottom up, halting in the middle. He closes his face an inch to it and strokes his long silvery beard and comments, “Impoverished! I never knew~ OUCH! F***!”

Nina sends an elbow, plunging downward, coupled with a knee, rising upward, clamping the old man’s head, forcefully.

“OUCH! Let go!” He pushes against Nina’s knee.

“All this time, OLD COOT!” Nina lowers the knee, and launches a shin kick. Ouch!

“OUCCHH! DAMMN YOUU BOYGIRL.” He curses, and jumps in agony, holding his shin.

“Ahhmm… can I camp the night with you?” The knight asks politely.

“Oh, sure.” I haven’t answered yet, but Nina replies, holding his hand reassuringly.

“Someone’s jealous!” The old clown remarks. Who? Nobody knows and nobody responds. Ignored.

PSSSTTT! Steam blows; the chest of the hunk’ometal opens. The knight gets off, unstrapping himself from the contraption.

“Albert, Sir, what do you call that thing?” Everyone’s interested to hear from the man.

“Ah, that’s a TAU.”

To thank the knight properly, we spare him provisions for the night, which he accepts gratefully. I doubt our supplies will last long considering how voraciously Ricardo devours them, but proper courtesy, proper courtesy.

Under the campfire, we interview the knight while he eats. Ricardo, on the other hand, is busy processing the newly harvested carcasses – I ask him so as to give the knight some shares.

“It’s rude, we never had a formal introduction. My name is Linus, that guy over there is Ricardo, the silver wolf he claims, and this girl by my side is Nina, my assistant. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” The knight smiles. Then he munches on bread and sips soup.

“Kewl, the TAU looks heavy. You must be strong.” Nina remarks.

Interrupted rudely, he complains not. He pauses and answers the question. “Not at all. TAU stands for Telekinetic Armor Unit. It moves by telekinesis. That’s all I can say.”

Psychokinesis or PK, back in my old world, its study is considered pseudoscience. Dad has a book about psychokinesis, but I never took it seriously, thinking it’s not real. I’ve seen it, now I’m a believer. I must get my hands on that.

He finishes the bread and drinks a cup of water, after which I ask, “Does that mean, anyone can use a TAU?”

“Nope, not anyone can. What I know is that psi power resides only in the blood of nobles. And it’s so rare, not all nobles have it. If you want, you common folk can try.”

True enough, we all tried moving the TAU, but no good, it doesn’t budge at all. Even with my strength, it’s not possible to wear such an armor and move normally. PK is real but rare; it’s impractical.

Floating in air, Nina asks, “Sir Albert, sir do you ~” I interrupt the lass, pulling her by the arm.

“We’re not done yet, let’s study. Come on, don’t be rude and let the man rest.” She stomps the dirt and kicks it. What’s the deal?

And so, the interview stops and the fire is burning out. I fed it more dead wood and branches to last the night. Then, I supervise Nina’s writing, giving her tips on how to improve, while both men slumber peacefully. We stay up late.

Part 3

Early in the morning, we prepare for the journey. And what a drag, there are too much wolf and lion commodities to carry. Even with Ricardo’s packing skills, it’s just too much for three people to carry.

“You seem troubled. I’ll lend you a hand.” Nina’s head is afloat once more, staring blankly at the man.

Taking the man’s kind offer, we strap much of the wolf and lion hide to the TAU. Now Albert stands 12 foot high, thanks to it.

GANK! GANK! GUP! GUP! His heavy footsteps sink in the mud, he stops.

“I’m stuck. The more I pull, the more I sink.” Calmly, Albert says unconvincingly.

We unstrap the cargo to help him, but it doesn’t help much. And the TAU’s massive, pulling him out is not an option.

The knight raises both hands, pointing at a nearby tree. “Let me try this.”

BOOM! The gauntlets fly to the tree like rockets. CRING! CRING! CRING! The chains attaching them to the armor rings. CRANK! Suspended in the air they stop; the chain hits the limit. Short of an inch, it won’t reach.

CRING! CRING! CRING! The gauntlets fly back. He retrieves them.

“Well, I need help, I guess.” He shrugs.

Hmm… “Ricardo, can you fall that tree?”

“No, I don’t have an axe.”

“I’ll do it myself. Watch where it falls.”

I focus all my might, swinging the bat at the thick tree trunk.

PACK! Leaves and dirt fall. Not enough, the stubborn tree stands still, shaking. Kids, never cut something with a blunt object, it just doesn’t work.

But since I don’t have a choice, over and over, and over again, I strike the stubborn tree until it falls down. By luck, it falls exactly in front of Albert.

“Pull yourself out using that.”

“Thanks!” He pulls himself out of the mud. And since then, we become more careful with our steps. The terrain is an enemy worse than the monsters we fought so far.

And heaven’s luck, monsters never come our way, making our journey smooth and easy. With enough perseverance, we continue our journey, north, and out of the forest we make it to the road.

“Pew! We made it.” Nina exclaims.

“It’s all due to the silver wolf.” Ricardo smiles; his teeth sparkles.

Pack! Nina kicks the old man in the shin.

“OUCH!” The usual reaction, he jumps, holding the sore part. “Why you!”

“Hahahaha!” Everyone laughs except for the old man.

The road we trail, and a few leagues away we make to the bustling town of Mercantium. On the entrance, we say our goodbyes.

“Sir Albert, thank you very much. Please take your share of the booties.” I offer.

“No need. I’m just a fellow traveler. Pulling me out of the mud and the food is enough to repay my good will.” So humble, it must be the chivalry. Again, Nina is dazed.

“Young man, that’s a waste, you know? We’ll be making almost $300 out of these, are you sure you don’t want a part of it?” Ricardo asks.

“No thanks. I’m just fine.” Ricardo sticks to him, whispering something.

“Oh, no. Such obscenity! I have a meeting too. So long!” Off he goes away. He waves to the afternoon sun.

“What a waste! Well, so much for the rich guy.” Ricardo spits.

“How about you?” I ask Ricardo.

“Well, let’s split the provisions.”

“Nope, let’s go the market and sell them off first. It’ll be better that way.” My facial muscles twitch.

“Oh, there goes Sir Linus.” Nina smiles brightly.

To the bustling market we go, dragging the provisions. Merchants, as noisy as hyenas, all of them go crazy for the fur. Ricardo says we would make $300, but with my business savvy skills, I cut a good deal. Now we have $500, way more than the bargain he thinks.

“Okay, we’ll split hmm… definitely you brought good luck. Here, have $200.”

“Kid, you’re cutting me. That’s half, $250.” He frowns.

“Oh, where’s my commission? I think 50 is too far generous.”

“Why?! Alright.” His shoulder drops, and he turns away.

“Wait, you can have your $50 back.”

“Really?” He springs back.

“One condition, join Scientia.”

I explain the details to him, and he gets pumped hearing my plan of building the technology, the village, and all the wonderful stuff.

“To cut the story short. We’re gonna be rich!” I whisper to him.

“Julius never disappoints.” He smiles; his teeth sparkle brightly. Ricardo joins the party.

We split ways. Nina and I go look for an inn to stay, while Ricardo goes to the smith, saying he needed his spear sharpened.

Bump! On the way, a dirty kid bumps against me, falling to his rear.

“Are you okay?” I give my hand.

“I’m alright.” He pushes the hand and runs away. Brat, he needs to learn some courtesy.

And a few blocks away, we make it to the inn. The manager gives a discount, as usual, so I pay loose change from my pocket in advance, knowing we’re a few hundred dollars richer. To our room we go.

Down go our things, and everything. And accounting, I have thoughts of buying some raw materials. I check my pouch for some parchment and cash.

Right and left pockets, the other side pockets, the bags, their pockets, under the bed, and everything I check.

“F**K! It’s gone!” my flesh trembles and burns.

“What’s wrong?”

“Darn it!” Clack! Fist clenched, I break the pencil in my hand. It must be THAT kid! It must be!

From the rear, Nina hugs me. Warmth, a bit I calm myself down. Exhaling, I confess. “Nina, our money’s gone.”

“Good heavens! Must be the kid!” She looks down from the rear.

“You know, right.” To her I look up.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him.” Nina consoles me, hugging me even tighter. “If it’s Sir Linus, I have high confidence.” Right, I know damn well. We’ll get our thief.

**************

Journey Day 3

Ferocious Monsters rage; Sir Reginald saves the day

A pack of giant wolves and a pride of black mountain lions attacked Young Master Linus’ expedition in the Great Forest of Nullus.

Early in the afternoon, the expedition dealt with the giant wolves.

The giant wolves were ferocious predators, known for preying on smaller and weaker animals. They stood as tall as an adult man, and are known to inhabit the forests of the River Kingdom.

The young master proved versatile in battle, mowing down a sizeable number of giant wolves. While the old coot, Ricardo, only did so few.

In the evening, while this journal entry was written, the black mountain lions attacked.

The black mountain lions were far more ferocious than the wolves; they stood a foot taller, stretched far wider in bulk, and had a coat that protects from slashing attacks. Not much is known about the ferocious beast.

The young master held his ground well against the lions, standing unharmed. While the old coot, proved incompetent, letting the mountain lions run amok.

The old coot’s fault, the expedition was surrounded by the ferocious beasts, putting the life of yours truly in danger.

By the River God’s intervention, the young and wholesome Sir Albert Reginald of the Teleknights came to the rescue, rushing with all his strength and brilliance in his invincible suit of armor, the Telekinetic Armor Unit (TAU).

Sir Reginald, so graceful and gallant, gloriously dealt justice against the predators. With shining gauntlets, he put a clean end to them, saving the day.