The Abyss Walker

Whittham reveals to them a plan he thought of inside the hall. He asks to have Jervaintus accompany him back to his capital city of Pirhya to better equip him for his quest to take down the rulers of the abyss. Everyone else agrees to it and will hold the line for as long as possible. Sirena demanded to accompany Jervaintus also, which catches him off surprise but Whittham grants the request.

The rest of them make final preparations as Jervaintus, Sirena and Whittam, escorted by his personal guards, heads toward Pirhya. As they walk through the valley leading into the city, he strikes a conversation with Jervaintus about his journey through the abyss.

"I was once known as the great raven in my childhood." Whittham tells him.

"Why is that? You transform into one by playing pretend or something?" He jokes.

"You're an entertaining fellow, but no. I had the curse of foresight when I was young." Whittham reminisces.

"Curse?" Jervaintus looks at him, confused.

"I had nightmares worse than any child could have. I end up waking up in a cold sweat, my fingers would tremble uncontrollably, and I there were several times, I want to end myself." He retells.

"And what stopped you?" Jervaintus wonders.

"The people who I swore to protect." He said.

"What a cheap answer. So what does this have to do with me?" Jervaintus rolls his eyes.

"My last dream involved events somewhat similar to what happened to you." Whittham replies.

"Tell me." He listens.

"In my dream, I saw a great warrior. His strength was rivaled by none. He was felled by another warrior and fell into a dark pit. The darkness within the pit tried to consume him like it did countless others and yet, they couldn't consume him. After a long struggle, the darkness was consumed by the warrior and he made it out of the pit and he was reborn. He used his new abilities to deliver vengeance upon those who have wronged him and other innocent people. Eventually, the power got into his head and he believed himself as a god. A hero rose and challenged him. The battle was fierce and they were almost even…and then that was the end of that dream." He recalls.

"Holy crap, that is long." Jervaintus stretches his arms out.

"That dream is starting to come true. You are the only documented person to have survived the abyss and now you're our best chance of defeating the abyss rulers." He explains to him.

"I am really not a believer of these kinds of stuff. I just want to fight stronger opponents. I get my thrill knowing I'm fighting against the odds." Jervaintus says excitedly.

"Heh, you really are quite the warrior. Ah, we are home." Whithham points towards the city.

They stand before the city of Piryha. Their walls of steel are high, and populated with so much high buildings like they've never seen before. Whittham stands in front of them, tapping his cane on the ground and gesture them inside.

They enter the always busy city, the markets are unlike Jervaintus has seen before. Moving machinations and technology he has not yet grasped understanding of marvel before his eyes. An immense crowd forms around them.

"Is that the Abyss Walker that people have been talking about?" A voice from the crowd says.

"Abyss Walker?" Jervaintus whispers to Whittham.

"That's the monicker I told my people about when word reached to them of my return. Consider yourself famous here." Whittham whispers back as he is proud of himself.

The guards break the crowd away to let the group pass. They make way to the castle which is an absolute sight to Jervaintus. Giant gears are connected to the castle, spinning at a lumbering pace yet with so much purpose. He guesses that Whittham must have designed the entire city himself, it was well within his capabilities. They come inside and Whittham has his guards escort Jervaintus and Sirena to a guest room as he goes to fetch some things.

Jervaintus takes off his armor and sits on the bed, he nearly surprises himself. He has forgotten what sitting on something so comfortable felt like. He gazes at the decorations on the walls, yet even more inventions with visible gears move. He then remembers something and turns to Sirena,

"You were quiet the entire journey here, is there something wrong--"

She pushes him onto the bed and embraces him even tighter than before. He starts feeling the tears gathering on his shirt. He sighs and embraces her back.

"We…I thought you were truly gone." She weeps.

"Even I thought that was my end…" He calms her down.

"I do not know why but my heart refused to acknowledge even the idea of you gone in this forsaken world." She says.

She places her hands onto his shoulders and look up at him, still with tears rolling down her cheeks. They stare at each others' eyes intensely, inching their faces ever so closer to each other. A knock of the door forces them to separate from each other as a guard enters.

"My lord Jervaintus, Whittham wishes to see you now. He is at his personal armory. You may bring along your companion." He says.

"Ah, I shall be there shortly." Jervaintus tells him as he fixes himself up.

He looks towards Sirena who is covering her embarrassed face on a pilow. He takes a moment and almost hear a faint squeal from her.

"We should go see him now, Sirena." He tells her.

"I know." She slowly gets up, her grip on the pillow so strong, it nearly rips it from its seams.

He also nearly forgets how terrible she is when she is angry. He waits a few moments before she is ready to go. They proceed to meet Willhelm at his armory. He shows them both a set of black metal armor with some green metallic engravings. It also holds a sword of the same make, its pale green aura almost visible to the naked eye is emitted from the weapon.

"I have been working on this for one of the longest times. I've come across this chunk of pale green ore and through extensive research have discovered that it is extremely effective against the abyss demons." He explains.

"You can give me the sword. The armor, no. I travel light." Jervaintus says.

"The black metal has a special property. It is as strong as the scales of a dragon and yet it is as light as a bird's feather. You will not have any weight problems with this thing. If I may be so bold, you would feel like you're wearing no armor at all. I call this the Demon's Bane and it is my gift to you, Jervaintus." He gestures him to the armor.

"Why give it to me freely?" He looks back at Whittham confused.

"I told you before, you are our best chance now that the demi-god warrior has betrayed us all. Plus, it's good PR." He reassures him.

"PR?" Jervaintus asks.

"Public relations. It's one of the backbones of business." He smiles at them both.

Whittham helps Jervaintus fit into the armor. A few minutes and Jervaintus stretches and adapts to the armor, his weight was as if he was just wearing regular clothing. Whittham hands him the helmet to complete the armor, an extremely ornate piece of work, crafted by the best smiths in the city. Jervaintus takes hold of the sword and does a few practice swings. It is lighter than he expected and yet it feels so right. Sirena could feel the excitement Jervaintus is having right now. If she could describe it, it would be as if a child receiving a new toy for his birthday. She smiles at the thought of that.

They get interrupted by a visibly shaken up and wounded soldier, his arm slumping over the back of a castle guard. Whittham notices and checks up on him,

"What happened, young man? Was it an attack by the abyss demons?" He asks.

"Yes…my lord…they were too many. We evacuated the people first and had the others stay behind to buy them time…my commander sent me ahead to warn you but I was not alone…" He explains in between his pants.

"Where did the attack happen?" His voice became a bit aggressive but still maintained his composure.

"Jed's Landing, my lord..." The soldier slumps further, he cannot bear to speak anymore.

Whittham approaches Jervaintus,

"Now it is a good opportunity to test your new toys. I shall send forth a small company of soldiers with you, you shall be in command of them." He commands.

"Good, I want to see how good this sword is." He looks down the engraved runes on this awe-inspiring sword.

"I'm coming with you. I'm not going to let you get away this time." Sirena tells him.

Jervaintus smirks and nods,

"Let us go demon hunting." His eyes glow red once more.