1 Grand Records

     "Are you ready, kid? No time to screw around this time!" Said a soldier, running across an old bridge. Behind him would be soldiers following his lead.

     One soldier stood up from the box he once sat on, he slicked his hair back and grasped at the sword on his back. With a swift kick backward, he sent the box flying into a wall, shattering it. He scratched the back of his head and took a step forward, and suddenly went into a full sprint. Within such a short amount of time, he was already past the infantry that was in front of him. Finally, he drew the sword on his back and swung it at the large door that stood in his way. He applied great force into the mighty swing, and the two doors came off, and were sent into the infantry that stood guard on the other side. The soldier jumped onto the doors and punched them, sending it further into the ground and crushed the enemy. He made his way to the other side of the gate and walked toward the group of soldiers that blocked his path. He scratched the back of his head once again, and sighed. "It's just one thing after another, huh?" He said to himself, then charged for them. "You guys just go ahead of me! This might take longer than I want it to!" He yelled back to his comrades still making their way behind him. With a single leap, he landed on the heads of two soldiers, and removed two knives from his hip and sunk them into the heads of them, he jumped back and raised his weapon over his head, his eyes burning a fiery red. 

     Already he could smell the smoke fill the air, the smell of blood mixing in, concocting a stench that could only be described as foul. He heard screams of women and children around him. He had the instinct burning inside of him to heed their cries for help as they withered away into nothingness, their souls returning to their makers. The more he experienced the terror that played before him like some sort of theatrical performance, it made him hope it crashed and burned. A flicker of light came off the edge of the blade, and the sword was engulfed in black. 

     "You kiddin' me, Arnum?!" Yelled a female voice, an arrow flew past his head, piercing one of the enemy's skulls. A grin curved upon his lips, and he swung his sword, cleaving through a massive chunk of the infantry. The sword released the darkness like a miasma. It latched onto the soldiers closest to their fallen brethren, and it corroded their very souls, bringing them the same fate as the rest. "Let me guess, Pendragon…" He paused, seeing a feminine figure standing before him. "You were worried about me?" He smiled, teasing the female. 

     "I always am, you goof." She said, punching him in the arm. 

     "Yeah, I thought so."

     The two of them made their way through another set of doors, and they found themselves in the middle of an entire city. All of it was burning away. 

     "Ren, use your water magic to get rid of the fires. I want this place preserved as much as possible. Healers, I need you to bring any injured back to camp and heal them along the way. I don't care if you're surrounded by fire. If you're that worried then have a water mage accompany you." Arnum said to the group behind him.

     "A natural leader."

     "Yeah, yeah, yeah… let's just get this done, Clara."

     The duo ran through the empty streets, the burning buildings that would soon become ash if not attended to, and the corpses that became nothing except charred remains of what they once were. The smell of smoke was much more potent here, but he knew it wasn't going to stop. They were halted by a man covered in flames, but he had no indication of being in pain. He pointed a blade made of the same inferno that surrounded them. It was directed at Arnum.

     "You! You dare break into our kingdom? If our kind cannot have it, then you never will! We will burn this to nothing!" He yelled, his voice ringing in Arnum's ears. 

     "Oh really? And are you going to stop me? With what? These flames?" 

     As he posed the question, the flames were engulfed with something much more dangerous. The blaze was shrouded in blackness, and soon became nothing. The flames on the roofs of houses disappeared, and so did the corpses. 

     "Now…"

     The darkness surrounded the fire mage, and spectral hands reached out from it, and began to pull him in. He attempted to set fire to them, but it meant nothing. His legs were soon trapped in the darkness. 

     "Reunite with your people."

     He said as he made his way past him. The shadow below had disappeared, leaving not a single remnant of whoever that man was. 

     Arnum walked up the long staircase with Clara close behind him. Another set of doors stopped their progress. The sword in his hand shifted into a large hammer, and he swung it with great force, breaking the hinges off and sending the doors back, breaking pillars that held the roof up. A few still stood to keep it stable. The hammer returned to its previous state. Arnum looked back at Clara.

     "You wanna take the lead?" He asked, his head cocking to the side to the interior of what was the castle. Clara smiled and walked in front of Arnum. She drew her bow and pulled back on the string as far as it could go. She loosened her grip of it, the tension that was built was finally released and the arrow ripped through the air. Four light blue copies of it emerged from itself, making a total of five. All of them pierced the air, but the sounds of bodies dropping were heard through the hall. Five wizards using stealth magic were killed instantly without them even registering that the arrow was fired. Arnum followed the Huntress's lead, and they ran up another set of stairs, and any assailant making their way to them was dispatched by the woman. The male didn't even even have to lay another hand on his weapon. A wave of nostalgia broke through his calm demeanor, and his eyes had shown a glimpse of glee in them. He quickly regained his composure and the two made their way to the final set of doors.

     "Final stretch. This time, I'm not letting this get away." Arnum said under his breath. Clara perked up and looked at him longingly. She understood him more than anyone and she knew what he was feeling at the present moment. He put his hand on the door, and she placed a hand on it as well. They gave it a hard push and they opened, revealing a grandiose throne room decorated with red furniture, golden statues, and a large carpet leading the way to the throne that was erected in the back of the room, right in the middle. A chuckle reached their ears. Arnum's eyes shot daggers and the man who sat on his throne with his head resting on his open hand. His black hair rested on his shoulders, and he stood up from his chair, grasping at air, and made a gesture as if he was drawing a blade, which was pulled from said air. He brandished it, and held it firmly whilst pointing the tip of the blade at Arnum. 

     "Are you here for this? Or are you here for my head? Oh, I want to hear your answer so badly I might start getting too excited." He said with a wide smile, his eyes showing a glint of madness. Arnum would grit his teeth, and he quickly drew his sword. 

     "Give both of them to me. I don't care in which order… I'll have both by the end of this!" He held his weapon firmly, placing it in front of him with his legs in a wide stance. Darkness flooded the room and it was drawn to his blade. 

     "Hoh? Why would you want this sword when you already have that? I don't understand you, Arnum!" 

     "That sword you have in your hand…" 

     His body flickered out of sight, and he appeared in front of the man he hated so much. The supposed king of this land. His body, his soul, every fiber that was Arnum burned with everlasting hate for this man. He swung his sword with as much force as he could exert, but was then stopped before he could make contact with his neck, as he was pierced through the chest. He looked down, his eyes widened as he saw the black blade run through his body, blood trailing off of it. His eyes moved up to see that smiling face. A shriek was heard, somewhere.

     He could not heed the call of it. The only one he could not.

His vision was then obstructed by an intense light that blinded him. He did not feel pain, he did not not feel anything in fact except for a light breeze, and it felt… 

    Nice.

    "This reminds me… of when I first got here… funny how they always say that your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die…"

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     Arnum Kurei. An eighteen year old boy who just graduated from high school. He recently got his diploma and was living an honest life with a decent paying job and a happy family. While he didn't have the best grades in the world, he still got by and even got a scholarship to a pretty nice college not far from him. His family was out of town for vacation, and he was left at home with nothing to do. While on the couch in the living room, he turned on the TV and watched whatever was on. The boy scratched the back of his head, then reached over to grab a can of soda in a mini fridge he bought just yesterday. He cracked the cold beverage open and enjoyed the program he had found on the television. 

     "Hm. I haven't seen the news lately. I wonder what the hell is going on this time…" He said, changing the channel to a news broadcast. The news anchor started with a report on recent break ins in town. Arnum immediately locked the doors and the windows upon hearing this. It was getting pretty dark and so he didn't want to risk anything. If anyone were to break in, Arnum did keep a knife in his pocket and there was a firearm just underneath the couch for him to grab. He wasn't entirely worried but he knew it didn't hurt to be prepared. He sat back down and listened to the rest of the report. The anchorman finished and went onto a new topic of people suddenly going missing out of nowhere. It was an odd occurrence since it happened even during broad daylight in places packed with people. Arnum himself was confused, so he couldn't help but become enthralled with this piece of news. The boy turned off the TV, and the light to the living room but dimmed the lamps so he had some light should he have to come back. He walked into his room, locked the door, and fell onto his bed.

     He closed his eyes and fell asleep. 

     All of a sudden he felt something tickle his nose, then a light breeze brushing against his body. He opened his eyes and gasped sharply. He stood up and looked around. Arnum found himself in a forest. He didn't remember going out last night. All he remembered was going to sleep. Maybe this was something he did while sleepwalking? No, he didn't even have instances where he did it in the past. He tried to remember anything about last night that could have made him go outside. He quickly remembered the broadcast detailing odd disappearances. 

     "Did I… no, was I taken somewhere? I don't have any marks on my body. What the hell? This doesn't make any sense." 

     He heard a sharp whistling, it got close to him in such a short amount of time he barely had enough time to react, he moved slightly, and caught a glimpse of an arrow moving past him. A female jumped out from the trees and landed on her feet in front of Arnum. He fell onto his back and looked up at her. A blade was soon held at his throat. 

     "What the shit!? I just got here and I already have a knife to my neck!?" He yelled at her, but as it got closer to cutting him, he bit his tongue and shut up.

     "You don't get to ask questions. Who are you and why are you in my territory?" She asked him with latent aggression in her tone.

    "M-m-my name is Arnum! I don't know how I got her, I just woke up and I found myself here!" He tripped over some of his words as he tried to answer her as quickly as possible. She moved her golden blonde hair out of her face to get a better look at the boy, she took her black and sheathed it in the scabbard at her hip. A sigh escaped her lips and she turned away. "I'm still skeptical. Come with me, my family will see if you are telling the truth or not." She said as she walked away. Arnum was still having trouble understanding what was going in. So much happened in such a short amount of time that he was getting a headache as his brain was having a hard time processing everything. He slowly stood up and followed the girl. 

     "Okay. Lemme try to think this through a little better… I woke up in this strange place with no idea how I got here, and in just a few seconds I was already threatened by some chick in armor with a knife at my neck. Dammit … the hell have I gotten myself into? I just got here two seconds ago." He thought to himself. He took the time to observe the world around him as much as he could to understand it better. He turned his head to the trees, watching them sway back and forth as the gentle breeze pushed them. This place looked so much like Earth, but he could tell it had it's set of differences. Something was in the air and he could smell it, he looked down to the grass and saw some spots of a deep blue mixed in with it. Maybe this was the cause of the smell that lingered in the air? He looked up at the girl leading him to God knows where. 

    "Hey, do you smell something?" It wasn't an unpleasant smell. In fact, it actually didn't have much of a smell, he could just tell that there was something just by sniffing it. The girl looked back at him, surprised at his question.

     "You can smell it?"

     "Yeah. Is it bad?"

     "I didn't know that humans could smell it." She said to herself.

     "What? What is it? C'mon, I'm just getting even more nervous than I already am."

     "Mana. You are smelling mana. It isn't normally detectable for humans who are untrained. I don't know how you can. This is something I have to tell my mother as well." 

     This has gotten even weirder. Mana is in this world? He knew it existed in fantasy worlds, commonly in RPGs that are too unoriginal to think of a name for an energy source. Mana was the go to name. He knew he couldn't be in a video game world since this felt too natural for it to be like that. Plus, wouldn't he have been placed at a village? Some place for new players to start out at? Nothing like that happened to him. So, virtual world made real was off the table. The girl stopped herself and held a hand back to halt Arnum. She looked back at him.

     "Stay back. Monsters are around this area. Keep yourself out of sight." She warned, then drew her knife. Two wolves came out of the trees. Their fur was dark red with white accents. They were much larger than normal wolves and appeared much more ferocious and aggressive. Arnum stepped back and went behind a tree. The two monsters looked down to a dead horse on the ground with a human slumped over it. The man was bloody and beaten to a pulp, while the horse was cut up to pieces. The two beasts made their way to it and immediately commenced ripping both a part and eating them. Blood gushed from their bodies, bones snapped and crunched, eyes popped from their sockets and eaten whole. Everything was eaten, they just left the bones with not a single shred of meat remaining. The girl ran for them and swiped in multiple directions to attack the two of them. They dodged her flurry of swings. They swiped with their claws but she dodged their attacks. Three more wolves came out from their hiding spots and surrounded her not long after the battle started. Her armor was being crushed by the might of their jaws, and cut apart by their dagger like claws. She tried not to scream, the sweat rolling off her forehead indicated that she was nervous and scared. 

     She ran for one of them, and dug her blade into their head. She rolled over it and pulled the dagger out, then kicked the body of the wolf toward the two by the tree that Arnum hid behind. The remaining four had extended their front two fangs, becoming as long as the dagger that the female gripped in her hand. He watched in horror as two of them dashed for her, and sunk their fangs into her shoulders, causing a horrifying shriek of terror to escape her. She fell to the ground, and that shriek flooded his ears. The boy would grit his teeth. 

     "No. This isn't going to end like this. It can't end like this. If she dies then it's only a matter of time before I do." Darkness flooded his vision, he looked at the motionless body of the girl he only just met. He would sit there in silence. Arnum heard the shriek again and again, the next one becoming much louder than the last, all the way until he heard nothing but the shriek filling every cell of his body. Arnum stood up from where he sat, and went around the tree. He went to the wolf on the other side of the tree and wrapped his fingers around one of the fangs. Despite it digging into his skin, drawing blood as he ran his hand along it, he tried his best to remove the fang. He snapped it and held it in his other hand. The blood dripping from his hand filled the air with a familiar aroma that the other four had been all too acquainted with. They turned around and didn't hesitate for a moment before running toward Arnum. "I'm not dying. I'm going to live…" He ran for them, and he rammed the fang into the head of the leading wolf, grabbed its leg with his bleeding hand and used its corpse as a weapon, he slammed it into the other two, and used his wait to press them into the ground. He removed the fang and swiped to the side, cutting the last wolf along its side, critically wounding it. The two pinned down were met with the same fate as the one that held them down. Arnum went to the other wolf and slit its throat. "And I'm saving her."