Start of the Journey

"Hyaaah, huaggghh, hyaaaah"

Albo's training could be heard throughout the whole town, Albo, being born in a town full of master swordsmen and magic casters, dreamed of becoming a hero of justice and be the one to conquer the legendary Tower of Trilrak.

Trilrak is an ancient demon lord who used to rule the Kingdom of Fridania with fear, the queen of the country would continuously try to bring the demon lord down but to no avail. Albo hoped to kill the demon lord one day; however, unlike most people who visit the town of Xegnum, she did not desire treasure.

Albo had only one friend, Shini Kanami, Kanami is an 18-year-old girl with snow-white hair, white skin, and blue eyes. She has a lovely personality; she comforts others when she sees someone sad, and helps out people whenever she can.

Albo met Kanami when she was a little girl, Kanami was adopted into her family and they would both defend each other and protect each other. Albo loves Kanami like a sister.

Kanami walked over to Albo to check on her best friend.

"Ah, training as usual?"

"Yeah, today I tried for a different technique; maybe when I fight the demon lord one day, I will surprise him with it!" said Albo with a cheerful tone.

Kanami looks at Albo and smiles, not being able to contain herself, she lets out a soft laugh.

"You know that you won't need any complicated techniques like that, you're already a master at sword fighting anyways."

Albo lifts an eyebrow and tells Kanami,

"Well, that's true, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared beforehand. Well, I'm done with my training here, do you wanna go home?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Right after that, Albo and Kanami finally head home. As they walk back, they bid farewell to the townspeople on the way. While walking home, Albo decides to ask Kanami to a little date at the nearby lake. Kanami accepts, and they both head to the lake. The water of the lake shines in the dark town, and fireflies can be seen flying around. Both of them gasp in awe as no matter how many times they see this sight, they cannot get enough of it.

"Wow, I can never get tired of this view, the lake is pretty as usual, don't you think Albo?"

"Mhm, remember when we used to come here to play when we were little?"

"Yeah, you would practice your water magic here and would get me all wet, then your parents would-"

"AH OKAY OKAY, that's enough of that, but yeah, great memories here."

After a few moments of silence standing by the lake, Albo decides to ask Kanami.

"Kanami, what do you want to be in the future?"

"Huh?"

Kanami looks at Albo in confusion as the question came out of nowhere.

"I mean, you haven't trained with the sword or used much magic even though we live in a town full of master swordsmen and magicians."

Kanami gives a little bit of thought, and answers Albo in a serious tone,

Well, I guess I haven't given it much thought. I guess I can go to the capital city Atrila and start a business. Ah! Maybe start a family!"

"Hmmmmm? Married and start a family too, huh?" Albo asked with a smile on her face. In an instant, Kanami's face turns red and she turns away.

Albo then quickly runs behind Kanami and grabs her by the waist. "Not on my watch you won't!"

Kanami laughs as she tries to get Albo off her. "Why get married when you have me? What is something a man offers that I don't?"

Before Kanami can respond to Albo's question, she let's go and stands in front of her.

"Well, definitely not as intense as becoming a hero by killing a literal demon lord, but I guess it works!"

The two finally decide to head home, knowing what Kanami wants to do in the future, she prays that her wish gets fulfilled.

"Kanami, do you want to stay over at my place today? I kinda want to talk more about the stuff we were talking about earlier."

"I don't see why not, but you're acting a bit strange today. Usually, you'd want to hurry home and go straight to bed for the next day's training."

Albo lets out a soft laugh and tells Kanami,

"I guess, but I want to spend some time with my bestie in the whole world!"

They both take a bath, put on their pajamas, and go into Albo's room. Albo's room is very dull as she doesn't use it very much.

Most of the time, it would be Albo sleeping over her house, Kanami's room is more girl-like, with dolls and walls painted to look pretty. All Albo had was a bed, desk, and a place to hold her weapons and armor.

"You have such a boring room," Kanami says as she looks around her plain room, herself down in Albo's room.

"Well, yeah. All I do is sleep in here, I spend most of my time outside."

Kanami laughs as she notices that Albo took slight offense to the comment, "I was kidding! Well, I wasn't but I didn't mean it in a mean way."

After they get the blankets ready, Kanami's heart beats fast, her can't calm herself down and her face turns red. "Albo!"

She calls out to her instinctively, I want to help her in her journey. On one hand, I can't fight. But I still want to help her no matter what.

"Hm? What is it Kanami?"

"Albo I need to tell you something important."

""What is it?"

"I WANT TO JOIN YOU IN YOUR ADVENTURE!"

Kanami yells it out that Albo jumps back in shock. All her life, Kanami has never yelled like this before.

Kanami has held this in for the longest time, and it took her a long time to decide, but she finally said it, and she felt relieved.

Albo, surprised with what Kanami tells her, replies in a very excited but worried tone,

"No, no, you can't, you don't have any training in sword fighting or magic, you'd be in trouble."

"But! You don't have any money right?"

Albo makes an awkward face, the face a child would make if they were busted by their parents.

"I have SOME money. But life is tough know."

"Ah! So you're telling me that you were going to spend all your money on taverns three times a day?" Kanami clicks her tongue and wags her pointer finger sideways.

"Sounds like you need my help after all! Besides, I'm the one that cooks for you."

Albo turns her head to the right to look away from Kanami, "I dunno, your cooking is great. But! It's not good enough to convince me!"

Kanami makes a sad face, she looks down and lets out heavy sigh. "I guess my sandwiches are no good for you."

"Huh? I never said any-" Before Albo can react to the comment, Kanami quickly cuts her off.

"Ahh, it's too bad. I guess all those times you said my food was great was just a lie."

Albo starts to sweat, she looks around for an escape but Kanami holds her hands firm. She then moves closer to Albo and whispers in her ear.

"Not just the sandwiches, but the salads and pies too."

"AHH! FINE! You can come!" Albo pushes Kanami back and she wipes her fake tears, she laughs and smiles. "I'm glad we got this new partnership going!"

"Also," Albo turns to Kanami with a serious face, "What happens when it's time for me to fight the Demon Lord?"

"Hm? I would use a teleportation crystal." Kanami says it so easily, she looks at Albo as if it was the most obvious thing to do. Albo blushes.

"You would use the only teleportation stone you have for me? I mean, if you're okay with it, then it's fine since you'll only be tagging along to the journey there."

"Just make sure to kill the Demon Lord as quickly as possible so you can come back home."

"I will, I will, but you should know, I won't stay here long after I become a hero, I gotta go to the capital and get a medal from the queen or something."

"And I'll be here to wave you goodbye."

Both friends look at each other excited, then, Albo gets motivated and tells Kanami,

"Alright! Let's head out tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow? This soon?"

"Yeah I don't see why not, I'm already the best sorcerer and swordsman in the entire kingdom, a demon lord is going to be easy pickings."

"I still think we should wait for at least another year. This all seems too sudden."

Albo sits back and thinks,

"Hm, you think so? I dunno, I still say we go tomorrow, I'm ready anytime really."

"If you believe you're ready then sure, but let's not fight the Demon Lord as soon as we get there, we should find out some info about him first."

"Of course we gotta do that, who knows? Maybe the demon lord has a second life, and I get tricked by it. You never know."

"Okay then, I guess we are heading off tomorrow."

"Yup! I'll let my parents know they've been supporting my dream, so it should be fine."

Kanami lets out a soft chuckle and lies down.

"Okay then, tomorrow it is, goodnight Albo!"

"G'night"

Albo turns off the light, and they both head to bed. Albo can barely contain herself. Her dream is finally coming true. Her path to becoming a legendary hero officially starts now.

The next day, the two girls pack their things and head off. Albo's parents see them off with tears in their eyes, as Albo and Kanami walk through the rough dirt path, Albo lets out a small surprised sound as if she just remembered something.

"Kanami, we have to stop by the church; they have holy water that might assist me in killing the Demon Lord. I heard he mainly uses demonic magic, so I should be able to counter him easily.

The church is not that far ahead, after a few minutes of walking, they both enter and are greeted by the priest. The priest is tall and has long brown hair; he is middle ages and has a serious look on his face.

Holy water is used for someone to be able to use divine magic. The water enters the body and stays there for the rest of one's life. Typically, the church does not grant anyone the holy water; however, they have been closely watching Albo since she was little. The church sees a lot of potential on her; besides, the local villagers all vouched for her.

With such masters of magic and swords, there is no way the church can decline this request.

Demons are known to use mind control or torment one's body with demonic magic, it is not rare for someone to have demonic magic in this world, but low-level monsters use them the most. The villain Albo is planning on facing is the Demon Lord, so she needs to be prepared to the max.

"Albo Flore, are you prepared to take the holy water to defeat all the evil in the world? And commit acts that would help the world become a better place?" The priest asks with a deep voice.

Albo looks up at the priest, at with a very respectful tone she answers,

"I swear to defeat all the evil in the world and that I shall become a force of good for this world."

The priest hands her the holy water, which is contained in a small glass bottle, one could see the sacred magic radiating inside the container.

After Albo drinks the water, the bitter taste of the water causes Albo to react loudly. After she finishes, the church priest tells Albo,

"Normally, even the most experienced adventurers would not get these benefits from the church. However, you have trained your whole life in this town, and we of the church acknowledge your skills. We may have granted you the holy water, but for you to succeed in the smoothest way possible, we shall grant you the holy sword Oukori."

Oukori is a legendary sword; nobody knows its real origins. The sword was used back when Demon Lords ruled the world; at the time, Trilrak was the one to lead these evil beings. Then, out of nowhere, a group of adventurers defeated them all. The Oukori was used by the woman that led the group of adventurers, Viera Mare. After the war, Viera established the kingdom of Fridania and became queen.

Trilrak was forced to retreat, but the queen never pursued him for some reason. Albo was eager to change that, especially with the sword she once owned, she can complete something that not even the legendary hero Viera could.

Kanami looks at Albo with a happy expression and says to her,

"You finally have all that you need, holy protection, every type of sword fighting skills, mastery over elemental magic, and even got the legendary Oukori."

"Yep, now I am fully prepared to kill this Trilrak. I'm so ready to kill him and tell everyone that I've done something that not even the hero Viera could."

The priest walks over to the two girls and asks them,

"Are you sure about starting your journey now? It would not hurt to train for another year or so."

"Nah, I got this under control; besides, it's not like I'm going to march to the castle alone. I'm going to look for strong allies and beat him as a team."

"If you are looking for someone strong," replied the priest,

"I suggest you find Kos Sivongsa. He was one of the few adventurers that fought alongside Viera. He owns the sister sword of Oukori, Aiea."

Kanami, surprised, as she has heard the story of Kos and Aiea, asks the priest,

"But Kos was part of the war one thousand years ago. How can he still be alive?"

"Kos is a user of soul magic, once he turned around forty years old, Kos decided long ago that he wanted to live on to serve his queen, so he bound his soul Aiea and doesn't age a day now. His organs, his body, functions as if he was still forty."

"I see, do you know where we can find him?"

"Kos has been in many wars; he lacks an arm and eye and has a fake leg. I doubt that he will be able to perform as well as he did a thousand years ago."

Albo, still eager to meet one of the legendary heroes, tells the priest that she would gladly look for the man anyways.

"Understood, now that you have all this holy magic, you will be able to defeat the Demon Lord Trilrak. Remember that he specializes in demonic magic; make sure to use Oukori at the very beginning."

"Yes, I understand, I've trained my whole life for this priest. I won't let you down. I won't let anyone from the town down. And most importantly, I won't let myself down."

The priest looks at Albo for a few moments; he stays silent and has a rather severe and worrying look. He breaks his silence with a sigh and tells Albo,

"I shall pray for your success, may the gods be on your side. You can finally rejoice, the moment you've been waiting for is about to arrive, a dream come true for you."

Albo grabs Oukori and heads outside the church, while she is leaving; however, she can feel a hostile stare from somewhere, but she can't pinpoint where. She turns around to the priest with him just standing still, smiling. Albo thinks nothing of it and leaves the church building.