Chapter 10: Fare De Well

(TARK NORM)

“The Avariel have been sighted, sir! They will be in range in one hour.” – said an humanoid with pale skin and white hair as he directed the news towards the people in the room. The room was spherical in shape and colored in dark red stone; a wooden table laid in the middle of the room with various people of similar race to the soldier listening to the report.

“I see… Thank you for the report, please return to duty and send message if something else happens.” – said Eliseus. The soldier merely saluted and exited the room in a hurry. Eliseus turned towards the others in the committee room, everyone had a dark expression in their faces. With the isle still anchored and the Avariel closing in, it was only a matter of minutes before they were assaulted by the enemy. Hope had dwindled as the month passed and news of the Avariel reached them; to no avail they continued their attempts to cut the seaweed the anchored them to the ocean, even now as the enemy closed in on them…

“So… we fight, is that it?” – said a rather elderly person of the committee.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Taho!” – said an obese man with well-trimmed hair and elegant clothes – “This isle has no combat potential; other than the soldier and their carry-on weapons, we have no means to combat the Avariels. On the other hand, the Avariel have a full battle-ready combat ship at their disposal!”

“Sigh… Where did those Avariel even get that battleship from? They aren’t known for being technicians, that’s for sure…” – murmured Taho.

“Rumor goes that the Eladrin may have something to do with this…” – answered Eliseus – “They say they’ll take any opportunity to cripple non-elven races. With the Avariel coming down on us, it’s no surprise they would aid their blood-kin.”

“If only the human blood-lines were as tight as that, huh?” – said Taho in an amused tone.

“We wouldn’t have any need to run away from the Avariel if that were the case. The Gnacks alone might provide some support, but it would be costly financially. The rest of humanity is made out of hypocrites, megalomaniacs, and hermits; depending on them would just bring our downfall…” – reasoned another.

“True, Trux. But some help is better than none.” – said Taho in a striking tone. The words cut deep in the minds of the Icarians in the room. There would be no aid from their kingdom, as the isle would fall long before they could arrive. The risks of a scout have never been so clear to these individuals…

Eliseus stood silent as the others went into deep thought. He had not yet mentioned the possibility of relief from this battle because he was still not certain of the way it would occur… or if it would occur at all for that matter.

He could accept the blame for losing the Sky Isle, but not the betrayed gazes of his companions as they plummeted towards their doom. No, better to stay silent until something happens and he can be sure that they will survive this day. This is what Eliseus had decided upon.

He gazed at the people in the room, and said in a clear tone – “Thinking about such matters will be of no use at this point. Better to strengthen our defenses even if only slightly.”

“We have no hope of survival anyways, why bother?” – said someone in an ill-humored tone.

“Because dying is not the worst case scenario that I wish to envision.” – said Eliseus in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Please explain your reasoning, Lieutenant…”

“Today’s worst case scenario should be Kamikaze not death.”

The people in the room held their breaths as they took his words in. If they stood no hope for survival; it is only natural for the soldiers to take down as many enemies as they could in their last moments. This is a truth and one of the few that allowed cornered prey to fall down satisfied that they did their best.

Humans were no different in this regard, the Icarians knew in their hearts that come goes to worse, they would try to take down their enemy with them. However, to plan the kamikaze beforehand was heavy on the weary hearts of these Icarians. It was no different from giving up in a way, but then again complaining about things and not saying anything else would be about the same thing…

“…what do you propose?”

Eliseus sighed as he began to elaborate on a plan to ensure the enemy ship is destroyed, if nothing else, should Tark Norm fall.

(AVARIEL BATTLESHIP: CREW QUARTERS)

“The Avariel are fully prepared to launch their assault upon Tark Norm; all systems and weapons are ready to go.” – said a tall, proud elf towards a machine that stood before him. On the screen of said machine, another elf looked over to the one finishing his report.

“Time until the attack begins?”

“Roughly 50 minutes, sir.”

“Good, Emos; you have leave to leave the ship.”

“Understood, my liege.” – as Emos answered, the screen went blank and shut down. He quickly picked up the machine and hid it in his inventory before being on his way. He could finally escape the chatter and banter of the Avariel, which was great news for the annoyed Eladrin. Any more time and he might’ve gone crazy and given himself a blooded feather buffet…

He walked over to the Hold where his sky ship rested. The sky ship looked, for all intents and purposes, like a jet plane. However, it was built not with metal, but with stone. Dark Red stone that gleamed as mana coursed throughout it like veins of power, Gravitite Stone. This particular stone had the ability to convert mana into a special anti-gravitational energy; the blood-life of the sky isles.

This Gravitite Jet had been plundered from an Icarian Base long ago, but still remained operational till today. While the elven had yet to break down the jet and recreate it, they were still able to operate it with ease.

The elves desired more relics such as these, but the Icarians never again allowed them to steal “working” relics after that event. There was always a tinge of elation when Emos thought of the Icarian’s creations being used to exterminate them.

Emos walked over to the jet and climbed inside. There, he took hold over the controls and began to inject his mana into the jet. Slowly, but surely the jet began to lift off the ground and float in the air. After a full minute of infusion, Emos operated the relic and flew outside the Battleship.

He would remain around to see this battle through to the end… But now he could see the slaughter without having to deal with the Avariel! Emos could only smile joyfully as he left the jet in standby, floating perfectly still in the sky giving him a perfect view of the spectacle that was about to occur.

(VILLAGE OF SED)

Xeno stretched as he rose from his bed. Phio and Josh were complaining about the racket that the alarm was creating while Colonel urged them to hurry it up. Swiftly, Xeno began to pick up his things in the room. He placed inside his backpack the various corals and plant seeds he had obtained.

Quickly, without missing a beat, he had decomposed all the herbs he possessed in order to obtain a good quantity of seeds. They were placed all mixed up within a few bags, but he could easily rearrange them at a later time.

The corals he gently placed in his backpack. He had plans to have the Polyps rebuild the corals for better efficiency, but that would take some more time than he had, so he left it for later.

His room, where he had been living for nearly two months now, was empty of any object that was his personal property. Xeno gave a final look around the room and nodded satisfied.

“Alright, guys. Let’s get going!”

“To-today’s the ri-ritual… right?”

“Ritual? What ritual?” – asked Josh clueless.

“BAKA!” – grunted Colonel as he hit Josh in the head – “The ritual for which thou have been helping the Maomer fools in!”

“Oh… Is it tasty?” – Colonel continued beating up Josh. Seeing that this was going to go on for a while, Phio started healing Josh with her powers as Xeno answered her question.

“Yes, we’ll be going to the ceremony now.”

“Th-then… Why did you…”

“Clean the room out of anything that’s mine?”

“Y-yes!”

“That’s because we won’t be returning to this room afterwards.”

“H-huh?” – responded Phio with surprise – “W-WHY?!”

“Well…” – Xeno began to think about how to explain it to her – “I’ve been in this village two months today… It’s time I began to do what I wanted to do in the first place.”

“Er… Th-that is…?”

“Exploring the world, going on an adventure, making a legend for myself… You can call it any of those things and be right, I suppose!” – answered Xeno with a smile – “But the actual fact is that I simply want to see this new world and everything in it! And maybe meet up with some old friends once I’ve gotten the hang of this world…”

“ADVENTURE!”

“Shut it! I’m not done with you!”

Ignoring the two ruffians that interrupted their conversation, Phio asked – “Fr-friends? B-but then why n-not…” – she fell silent.

“Meet them now?” – asked her Xeno trying yo guess her meaning.

“Ah, ha…”

“Well… They’ve been here much longer than I, so if I went to them now I’d just be baggage in all honesty…”

“Ba-bagage! But w-why?!” – she asked not understanding his meaning.

“Haha… They won’t say it, but because I am much weaker than them at the moment… They’ll have to do much simpler quests and missions than they usually would else I might end up in danger I’m not ready to face yet.” – explained Xeno – “I’ll only want to travel with them IF I can actually pull my own weight at the very least!”

“Excuse me, Xeno-san… but would not travelling with strong compatriots help you become stronger as well, only much more quickly?” – inquired Colonel in doubt.

“Maybe so, Colonel. However, I want to become stronger without having to rely on the help of old friends… It just doesn’t feel right to do so, and my friends are of the same opinion!”

“Truly?

“Yes, unless strictly necessary due to… unaccountable reasons… we try not to rely on each other to become stronger when we are too weak. It’s something completely different if we are strong “enough” though!”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well… If we reach what we believe is the current limit of our personal growth, we go towards another so that they can help us discover another direction in which to grow stronger. Understand?”

“I see… You and your friends must have quite a close bond then, to so readily reveal ones abilities towards each other just to help each other grow stronger…”

“Well, we HAVE lived through much together… Around twenty or thirty years or so, keeping count becomes quite hard when you travel between worlds.”

“Travel between worlds?” – Josh asked out of curiosity.

“Huh? Yeah, Josh! You know how I am an Outworlder?”

“Yes!”

“Well, this is not the first world in which I’ve been an Outworlder, it’s actually my fourth.” – said Xeno offhandedly. – “And I’ve met my old friends in those occasions.”

“WOW!”

“I see… So thou have lived through three lives already and this is your fourth?”

“Not quite right… There’s my original life in which I am a natural inhabitant, not an outworlder or any sort.”

“Ah, my pardon… Fifth life it is!” – Colonel corrected himself – “So… How were your past…”

“Erm… I’d love talking about the past, but we’ll be running late as it is… If I start talking about that we’ll be here all day.” – interrupted Xeno.

“Ah, yes! Quite… Sorry delaying, Xeno-san...” – Colonel excused himself.

“No prob! Let’s go! Or else someone might get mad…”

“NO!!!!! I DON’T WANT TO BE BACON!”

Colonel and Xeno looked surprised at the frenetic Josh, then turned towards Phio in hopes for an explanation – “Err… D-Don’t ask!” – she was trembling slightly, but seemed in a much better condition than Josh.

“Remember me to ask pointers to who-so-ever got Josh to scream like that…” – said Colonel

Xeno could only hide his smirk as he opened the door and led everyone towards the fields.

(TARK NORM)

“Are the preparations ready?” – asked Eliseus

“All done, sir!” – answered a soldier promptly.

“Good… Estimate time till arrival?”

“Thirty minutes and counting, sir!” – answered someone who was looking over a monitor with various graphs, lines, maps, and lights blinking in and out.

Eliseus went over the plan in his head once more to see if he could find any faults in it.

First they would allow the Avariel ship to come as close as possible. At that point, they would shoot the mid-level magic blasts towards them. With the prior knowledge of the Avariel, they should dodge upwards and continue to move in their direction before launching an attack from above… Quite cocky of them, really!

Once the Avariel were exactly above them and began to descend, the crew would overcharge the Gravitite core. With enough mana, it should be possible to cause a meltdown which SHOULD, if everything goes right, create a pillar of quantum energy to buzz upwards through the chaffs.

The energy would be enough to deep-fry the attacking Avariel and lethally wound their ship. However, overcharging the Core would deem their destruction as well. Even those who somehow manage to survive the gravitational radiation of the explosion would ultimately die.

Be that dying from the remains of the enemy ship falling on top of them or drowning in the seas below… It was a real shame that due to the high affinity to gravitational forces, the Icarians had to relinquish many affinities, water being one of them. Once one of them fell to the ocean, all it could do was futilely struggle while sinking to the dark depths.

This weakness had also prevented the Icarians from simply going down and seeing just what it was that had anchored them. Pitiable, really…

“Everyone, on guard!” – ordered Eliseus with as much dignity as he could muster at the time.

Soldiers began to orderly move towards their stations, the ones in charge of the core began to chant their own prayers as they prepared for their suicide mission, the officials in the command center relinquished themselves to their demise. Unable to stomach this much longer, Eliseus excused himself from the command center for a moment.

He walked towards his room for what could be his last time. On the way, he met the grim, resigned faces of the crew of Tark Norm, but he moved onwards. In his room, Eliseus took out an artifact from his pocket: a cellphone. He quickly ran through his contacts and found the person he was looking for. He dialed the number and waited impatiently for the other party to answer the call…

“Yes, something wrong Mark?” – said a female voice over the cellphone. The tone implied business which was elevated due to the sounds of heavy machinery in the background. However, Eliseus ignored all that and simply asked:

“Will you tell me exactly how and when your supposed reinforcements will arrive, Kris?”

“Hai, Mark! You sure are impatient! I told you, you would all be able to survive, no?” – responded Kris amused.

“Maybe, however, the enemy is in our doorsteps and if something doesn’t happen soon, we will have to go Kamikaze!” – said Eliseus between his teeth as he tightened his jaw in impatience.

“Kamikaze? Wow, you guys really go all out when cornered, huh?”

“Sigh, just answer the question! If Tark Norm falls, I’ll be going after you, you know?!”

“Yeah, yeah… Tell me that when you have the power to take me on!” – answered Kris jokingly. Eliseus could only grumble as it was indeed true that he was no match for her… He’s only been here for five Helix years while she came when the game was just beginning… She’s had nearly thirty years of experience in this world, and that’s not something someone can reach in a few days… Still, if come goes to worst, he will find a way to take on his revenge!

“Anyways… I’m not totally sure about exactly what type of help you’ll be getting…”

“WHAT?!”

“Calm down! I said I’m not sure about the type of help, but I AM sure that you WILL receive help in SOME way!” – explained Kris.

“Oh, really?” – said Eliseus in an ironic tone – “Then, pray tell, what makes you think so?”

“Savi is the one who offered to do so…”

“Wait…” – said Eliseus in a doubtful tone – “Savi started playing this game? Since when?!” – hope began to bud in his heart as the possibility presented itself.

“It should’ve been around two Helix months or so, approximately…”

“And you think that would be enough to provide me with support in MY situation?!” – all hope he felt when he heard that his old friend was playing the game was lost once he heard that.

“Well, now… He does feel responsible for your situation, so he’s planning to help you with this!”

“Respon… HE’S THE ONE WHO ANCHORED US!!!” – yelled Eliseus in rage as his vision turned red.

“It wasn’t on purpose… Also, give him credit for doing that within his first two months.” – she tried to calm him down.

“Yes. I’ll be sure to congratulate him as I punch him in the FACE!”

“Hey! He’s helping you out of the situation!”

“That’s why I’ll only punch him instead of torturing and killing him.” – answered Eliseus unconcerned.

“Really… You need to do something about that temper of yours. Revenge won’t solve any problems you know?”

“Lies… Revenge helps relieve accumulated stress and pent-up anger, thus allowing one to think more clearly in future situations.”

“Memorizing a line Savi said about you as you use it as an excuse to punish him… I guess he would be proud of you in some sort of way…” – Kris gave up trying to convince Mark of anything else. – “Anyways… You should expect some sort of help sooner or later.”

“Better be soon…” – he looked at the clock in his room – “The Avariel should be arriving in ten minutes, got to go!”

“Ok, good luck!”

Eliseus shut down his phone and stashed it in his inventory before making his way back to the command center. All along, he was thinking about the Savi and could only smirk deviously as he considered that he had finally come to this world.

(AVARIEL SKY BRIGADE: COMMAND CENTER)

The Avariel were having an early celebration of their victory by singing songs and eating bird-meat of various sorts and sources. They didn’t truly care about how the battle went as long as their enemies, the wingless chickens, were thrown down to the ground where they belonged.

As such, they hadn’t minded that the Eladrin downer had left their ship, if they had even noticed it at all… They simply continued to sing songs about their victory and chickens, mindless songs without reason or lyrics, just a bunch of Avariel making noise as they drew closer to their targets.

(GRAVITITE JET: EMOS)

Emos waited patiently as the time the slaughter would begin drew nearer. Only a minute remained until he expected the Icarians to retaliate. The battleship was ready to repel their attack however… He had ensured that the battleship had an innate, contracted Mü Machina operating it’s trajectory in battle. The battleship would not fall for any petty tricks which the moronic Avariel would’ve fallen for with ease…

Emos smiled as he knew that a petty last-front assault is exactly what the Icarians would do in their situation, to no avail. Victory was in the grasp of Elven blood, and Humans would be unable to change this fact.

As the minute came to an end, he merely grinned as the petty attacks of Tark Norm were repelled by the administrator Mü, much to the chagrin and frustration of the Icarian forces.

(VILLAGE OF SED)

“Alright, settle down.” – said the Elder to the village-folk who had gathered at the outskirts of the village, some meters beyond the main gates. Most of them did not know what was about to happen as the Elder’s plans had not been made public to the common-folk. However, those who knew of the plans were waiting in anticipation.

Once everyone had quieted down, be they Maomer or animal, the Elder began to speak:

“From many years ago, the Maomer have always remained hidden away from society in general in fear of persecution and apprehension. This is particularly true for those of us who have met or have any sort of relation to our Solven siblings… Thus, we remained in the depths and hid ourselves from view.”

“Unfortunately, this precaution was inefficient as many threats lived in the deep seas, causing us to lose just as many inhabitants as are born each year! Our race is on the border of extinction in comparison to the other races who have slowly but surely extended their hold throughout the world.”

“Our village on the other hand is subject to attacks from the least gentle Aquan races, the Sahuagin and the Samebito, who see us as nothing more than prey… Now, a defense has been prepared in order to counter their threat to our society.” – she waved her hand and signaled upwards – “As luck would have it, another race will be saved alongside us. A race of Human-bloodline, with which we have shared a long history with, is in danger caused inadvertly by ourselves. Our defense will prove their salvation as well, a salvation which we owe them as we were the ones to place them in danger.” – she stopped talking and looked upon the villagers who were now talking amongst themselves, asking each other if they knew what she was talking about.

“Simon Q, the village’s Arch Warlock, will be in charge of peaceful communication with the Icarians once the threat that menaces them is dealt with.” – she said as she waved her hand and signaling for the warlock to make himself known. He wore light clothing; similar to those a hunter would wear only in a dark bluish color. A magician’s hat stood proudly on his head as the pearls that seemed sewn to it shined brightly in luminescent colors. The aura around him charmed the people as it mixed well with his goofy smile which easily calmed their hearts.

“Now, without further ado…” – the Elder turned towards the fields of sprouts that created a huge circle around the entire village, encircling everything from the village and its surroundings. She chanted a spell in an unknown language as she blessed the sprouts; they began to shine and said bright shine went from one sprout to the next until all the sprouts that had been planted in the last month shone.

The people looked at the sprouts which shone in luminescent light, filling the once void land with a gentle green gleam. The Elder uttered the final words of her chant – “SEAL, RELEASE!” – and the people’s wonder soon became fear and dread as a horrifying quake of humongous magnitude began to shake right under their feet. Many who stood lost balance and fell to the ground, whilst those who floated or swam in the water were pulled her and there as the waves crashed upon them in the depths…

(GRAVITITE JET: EMOS)

Emos watched as the Avariel’s battleship flew nearer Tark Norm, evading the incoming shots when the Jet’s systems began to make noise. He looked at the console and saw that the system had picked up an anomaly downwards, approximately at the seafloor.

Emos was curious about the anomaly, but didn’t want to miss out on the slaughter… Then again, he would be questioned about the anomaly later on, it was better to know something rather than nothing.

“A quick peek, then I’ll get back.”

Emos guided the Jet downwards to inspect the area. The sea was rough with large waves crashing about as if an earthquake was occurring underwater, but nothing else seemed amiss. Believing that it was merely platonic movement, he decided to return and see the rest of the slaughter.

It was at this point that the systems went haywire with noise. The scanners showed something exceedingly large coming upwards from the bottom of the sea at unbelievable speed!

Thinking fast, Emos willed the jet out of the way as fast as he could. He barely managed to get away with a broken jet tail when the seaweeds abruptly leapt out of the water and continued to grow upwards.

“Damn it! Avariel!” – he tried to warn his blood-kin, but it was too late. The seaweeds, numbering thousands or even millions in numbers pierced the battleship all over. Echoes of screams were heard for a moment before the reactor blew and the ship lighted in flames. Emos could only watch aghast as the entire fleet of Avariel were eliminated and a huge wall of seaweed stood between him and Tark Norm.

“What the hell is this…?!”

He willed the jet to circle around the wall that stood in his way since it obstructed his view. However, the wall just kept going and going, hiding away the Sky Isle in its perimeter. It was only after fifteen minutes of flying that he found a gap in the wall, just big enough for the Jet to enter.

Emos closed in on it, making sure to remain out of sight from the inside as best as he could. He had no intention of entering the structure, but he would be damned if he didn’t figure out what happened!

(TARK NORM)

Eliseus watched in shock as the enemy ship was stabbed by the same thing that had anchored Tark Norm to the sea. Everyone in the Isle was in a daze as the enemy ship finally caught on fire and the last screams of the Avariel were heard…

“Ch… ickens!”

Eliseus chose to ignore he heard those final screams which in turn got him out of his daze. He looked around and saw something that deeply disturbed him… - “We are… SURROUNDED!”

His yell, imbued with the power of a commander, woke the rest of the soldiers from their daze. They looked around only to find themselves enclosed between seaweeds which created a circular wall around Tark Norm. The Sky Isle was completely surrounded and trapped. While the enemy may have been utterly eliminated, they were more ensnared than before.

Eliseis seethed in anger as Savi had managed to save them from one threat only to leave them stranded in the middle of the sky! – “Search the perimeter for an exit point!” – If there wasn’t an exit point they would be unable to leave. Even if they find an exit point, if it’s too small, they’d become dependent on outside help to escape their entrapment, forcefully leaving behind Tark Norm and their duties.

Just as the soldiers scattered about to follow his command, Eliseus caught some water in the corner of his eye. He ran over and saw a pillar of water sprouting from the sea, a geyser which reached the altitude of the Sky Isle!

Keeping his surprise in check this time, Eliseus watched calmly as a figure began to ride the geyser upwards towards Tark Norm. – “Everyone, continue with your duties, I’ll handle our guest!” – Most of the soldiers did not understand his command, while those who were close by looked downwards and silently nodded towards him.

Eliseus impatiently waited for the individual to present himself so that he could ask an explanation of just what the heck had happened…

(VILLAGE OF SED)

The plan was a success, Xeno thought. The village was now surrounded by a wall of steel-hard seaweed that would ensure its protection in case of war or danger of any sort. Only a single portion of the wall was missing, one a bit farther away from the Southern Gates. This would allow the guards of the village to leave of their hunts without many changes.

*DING*

Xeno smiled satisfied as he opened the window to his latest Job.

A pretty good sum of money, that’s for sure. It will definitely help him out in the future… or at least in preparing for his imminent travels. Getting a Platinum this early, Xeno could only attribute it to receiving the salary of himself, his pets, and additional recompense as pet owner. Under normal circumstances, he would have barely obtained around 84 Gold, and that’s IF he had managed to complete everything efficiently and on time. The amount of money he earned alongside his pets basically doubled thanks to them!

Xeno was a bit confused about the disparity between Colonel and Josh, seeing that the first had earned over 200 times what the other had earned. However, he decided it must be because the workers were more intimidated by him than by Josh. There was little doubt as to how Phio earned her keep, though Xeno believed she deserved more than him for the work she provided over the last month…

Speaking of Phio, he must’ve raised her stats more than anyone else in the group in the last month since she was blessing everyone tirelessly…

Her Mana increased by 300 while her Health increased by 100 approximately if Xeno remembered correctly. This is most likely a result of her Faith and Devotion stats growing. Her stats themselves seem to not have changed as much as his had last month, which was understandable as he had been under the NewBorn status back then… Still, it was a good growth for the month for her!

Since he was checking out Phio, might as well check the other two as well… - Xeno thought.

“Okay… He didn’t change much, just become a bit more intimidating and got more infamy.” – Not even a change in his loyalty… Hope he wasn’t too bored this past month.

Xeno did a double take when he saw Josh’s Status Window. He had expected a bit more from his growth than this. His Mana raised by 100, however this amount could’ve been much higher… His Wisdom was reduced due to his “not wanting to study” as such his Mana was reduced as well… His growth cannot be compared to Phio’s in any way…

“Sigh, I REALLY need to get to work on training Josh… He’s getting left behind right from the start. I want to tell him to put his stat points in intelligence, but it’s better to wait till he gains the Arcane stat.”

After watching the progress of his pets, Xeno opened his own Status Window.

The stats Xeno has gained through his various classes already outclass the stats he gained throughout the last two months. This is the magic of this multi-class system as it allows multiple ways to increase one’s stats to high degrees. The biggest and most obvious growth would be in Mana as most of his new classes actually depend on Mental Stats quite a bit…

Xeno decided to check on his classes and leave it at that for today as he had no wish to go seeing around his SSA Window right now.

]

A real shame that monsters can’t have classes under normal circumstances or else he might have a solution for Josh’s problem. Still, monsters possess an equivalent in order to allow them to reach the same level of power as the main races: Evolution. It’ll be a long time before Xeno’s pets reach that point though… and even then the evolution path greatly depends on the way they were raised and acted in the previous period. He can’t allow Josh to procrastinate any further on his growth into a magician!

Having closed all the windows, Xeno looked around to see that everyone was still celebrating the success of their mission to create the protection for the village. Everyone was cheering together in harmony, making preparations for the food and dance of the night. The perfect opportunity to excuse himself without raising too much complaint…

Xeno made his way towards the Elder alongside his pets and said:

“Excuse me, Elder?”

“Yes, child?”

“It’s time for me to go for some time.”

“Ah, yes I thought so.” – she said knowingly – “Dio is some meters further South with your reward as well as some things he determined you would be buying. Naturally, the cost of said items was mostly taken out of your payment, around 50% of the cost though!”

“Th-thank!” – answered Xeno not knowing what to say to this.

“Worry not! The work you have done for us is quite enough recompense for such a small detail.” – she said offhandedly – “You should get going before everyone comes over here and realizes something as well though…”

“Right! Thanks! Byeee!” – with that, Xeno left towards the South were Dio waited patiently with a very large, heavy looking backpack on his side.

(GRAVITITE JET: EMOS)

Emos seethed in rage at what he was seeing before his eyes. As soon as he came over to see how was the side inside the walls, he saw a pillar of water sprouting from the sea. Soon enough a figure could be seen from within the pillar of water: bluish skin with webbed hands and feet, pitch-black eyes and no other animalistic characteristics… It didn’t take Emos a single second to recognize the Maomer.

The Maomer have always been determined as a threat both by the Eladrin and the Solven, seeing one now aiding an enemy and eliminating their combatants in a battle. This was the straw they needed, the excuse to exterminate the blood-traitors for good.

Taking a picture of the Maomer speaking to who he supposed was the leader or commander of Tark Norm, Emos flew away on the Jet determined to give the report in person to his Lord. Sometime in the future, the Maomer would be no more!

(TARK NORM)

Eliseus watched as the guest, a Maomer apparently, set up a strange magical contraption. It looked like it was made out of coral, but when Simon uttered a spell it began to gather water until it created a mirror-like surface. Soon enough, the warlock finished preparing the instrument and said:

“Alright, it’s connected!” – he pressed a button in the relic which caused the water to begin to fluctuate and change colors. In mere moments, another Maomer was looking at him from beyond the water glass. She seemed like young adult Maomer with weedy long hair and a voluptuous body. – “This is the Elder of the Village of Sed” – “Eliseus quickly eliminated all ero-thoughts as this lady could very well be an ancient being who bears the image of her younger self. Needless to say, Eliseus was not really into that type of person.

“Why, hello Mr. Lieutenant! It is good to meet the representative of the Icarians of Tark Norm!”

“It is indeed a pleasure to meet the Elder of the Maomers, but why did you cause this in the first place?” – Eliseus said his scripted line. From what Kris had told him, it had been an accident caused by Savi, so he wasn’t mad at the Maomers… him on the other hand…

“My apologies… The event last month was an incident in which one of our superiors neglected his duties which caused a growth rampage. Needless to say, we are very sorry for that event.” – the Elder shamelessly excused herself – “Of course we provided some recompense by eliminating the enemies who planned to eliminate you, though I don’t believe you will find this to be sufficient recompense for your troubles?”

“Not at all!”

“As I though… However, before we begin further discussions, how about releasing you from the anchor? Simon?”

“Of course, mi lady…” – said Simon with an exaggerated, almost taunting, bow directed towards her. He rose and took a needle from within his robes and proceeded to puncture each of the seaweeds that pierced Tark Norm with it. Soon after injecting the red substance within each seaweed, they began to dry out and crumble in the very eyes of the ones who had spent the last month trying to cut them down. Eliseus could only watch with a helpless smile in his lips as the warlock returned and said:

“Now then… About those cupcakes?”

“What cupcakes?” – asked Eliseus confused.

“The one’s you’re going to buy me since I’m hungry!” – said Simon in a jest.

“Sigh, please ignore the eccentricities of this clown… He is a good warlock, but the rest is questionable…”

“I see… I’ll be sure to tell this to the others so as to not cause any more problems!” – said Eliseus worried. – “By the way, is Savi… I mean (what was it…) Xeno? There?”

“Oh? May you perhaps know him?” – asked the Elder curious.

“Yes and no. It’s an outworlder thing.” – said Eliseus evasively.

“Well… He was here until just a little while ago.”

“What do you mean?” – asked Eliseus not wanting to know the answer.

“He just left in search of adventure it seems! He as quite ecstatic to begin it since he’s been in this village for two months now.”

“damn…”– he escaped!

(XENO)

“And here some books Mr. Rupert thought you might want to read, as well as some cook books since I had not the chance to teach you yet.” – Dio finished explaining Xeno about the contents within the backpack as well as transferring Xeno’s items from his backpack and into this one, which could reduce the weight of everything within to less than 10% of its real weight.

“Thanks, Dio!”

“Don’t mention it. Be sure to practice.”

“Of course…” – said Xeno awkwardly.

“Have a good journey. Please be sure to stop by now and then. Fare De Well.” – and with that Dio left Xeno and his pets alone as he went back to the village to join the celebrations… No, more like make sure everything goes well with the festival.

Xeno looked over to the others who waited patiently, except for Josh…

“Where are we going?” – he asked excitedly.

“Haha… See that hill over there?” – said Xeno as he pointed towards a remote location on the East.

“I don’t see any hill…” – said Josh trying to strain his eyes to see further.

“That’s because it’s too far away to see it yet.” – said Xeno jokingly – “We’ll be scaling it for starters.”

“Scale? Why not simply swim over it?”

“Because, there are plenty of Urchins over in that area and they could easily knock us down to the ground with their variety of poisons.” – explained Xeno.

“Ooooohhh… What’s an Urchin?”

“MORON!” – yelled Colonel as he hit Josh in the head once again. Before Phio even managed to recuperate him, Josh had already swum over to Xeno and continued talking – “Why?! I’ve never seen one, that’s all!”

Colonel seemed to be thinking for a bit, then said – “True, sorry dumboy-san.”

“Stop calling me that!”

Xeno could only smirk at the ways of these two as he began to think about the things that awaited him in the future.

That wraps up chapter 10, only the epiloque left in this volume and we can start with volume 2.

Sorry for the delay, bad week left me no time to write OR play my ORAS game… The light coming on and off was of no help either!

In conjunction with the Epilogue, a Volumes Thread, a Character Thread, and an RPG Thread will be made. The Character Thread will include some basic information about the characters as well as an image in the case of Xeno’s pets. You will be unable to post in that thread though, so any comments about it should be made in the RPG thread.

The RPG thread will include most information about the game The Helix itself. The definition of the stats, calculations for various amounts such as Mana, Skill, Life, Health… This thread will be made much more slowly than the other ones and will be constantly updates as things are revealed in the story. Or course, some things may be revealed in the RPG Thread that won’t be revealed in the story, such as the equations I mentioned previously.

An example would be:

Mana = Basic Mana + 5x(Gained-Intelligence+Gained-Wisdom) + 10x(Faith+Devotion+Tune) + 15x(Divinity+Arcane)

Basic Mana is 50 for all main races mentioned in chapter 1A, while all others have 0 as basic Mana. A Gained Stat is any stat that was not given to you because of your race, for example Xeno got 11 points to Intelligence and 7 points to Wisdom when he created his character, so those stats are deducted from the equation.

There are other stats that affect Mana other than these stats, but they are yet to be mentioned or released in any way, so I’ll refrain mentioning them for the time being.

Furthermore, there are restrictions in play such as Faith, Devotion and Divinity having no effect what-so-ever if one doesn’t have a patron deity, devil or guardian of some sort. Having multiple deities, devils or guardians serving as patron for the same individual (unlikely) will multiply the effect of these stats in the previous equation:

(# of Patrons) x [ 10x(Faith+Devotion) + 15x(Divinity) ]

You should get the idea with this, right? By the way, I do my equations and tables in Excel, which auto corrects numbers but not words. So if there are any mistakes in the tables you know what happened, just tell me to fix it. If you guys comment and guess stats by the time the RPG Threat is made, they'll be added promptly into it, regardless of whether or not it's in the story yet. However, you have to give the exact name, not it's look-a-like, else I might give you one stat when you expected the other one.

An example would be the distinction between Intelligence and Wisdom or between Speed and Agility. In the first one, Intelligence is the net value of the knowledge you have while Wisdom is how well you are capable of applying that knowledge. To have knowledge and not know how to use it or to not have any knowledge but be able to apply the little knowledge you do possess.

In the second example: Speed is the maximun velocity you are capable of running, swimming, moving ect while Agility is how quickly you can reach that maximun velocity. So what if you can run as fast as a cheetah? It takes you a long time to pick up to that speed and your stamina forces you to rest almost immediately!

Better have a good balance between these stats than only one of these!

Next will be next week at an unknown date, Saturday at most.