Our Courage is Boundless

/This Chapter is exceptionally long for personal reasons. Enjoy!/

[*=1,500 words]

Our Courage is Boundless

(Chapter 1)

****

"Useful," was a word that described everybody but him. Just imagine how he felt being lumped in with a paraplegic, the cause of the death of his father and the sole confidant of his mother. "Why has life been so unfair to me alone?" he constantly asked himself, especially on his insomniac bed. Well everyone has been there before. His world's full of swords and magic. There is no time to grieve over defects, for their sun rises from two directions.

In an evil looking forest treads a considerably handsome gent with black overlapping hair, akin to the feathers of a crow, and lovely but intense brown eyes. He's got quite a simple getup going. He wears black clothing with blue highlights and some armor plates; and black greaves and gauntlets as well. What really stands out is the sheathed ethereal blade on his back. It's simple in terms of design, but makes up for that with its crystalline hilt's blue glow. What's even lovelier about it is the hilt's shaped like a maiden to the finest detail.

"You bastard! If you think you're so strong, why don't you come out and face me? Think picking on innocent defenseless girls... I promise you a bloody and painful death; just you wait."

He draws his blade in anticipation of the imminent, but he isn't fast enough it SEEMS.

"{Watch out!}" the inner voice forewarns.

An ogre jumps out and hurls its club at his face, but he charges into it head on with his shoulder. "WHUMP!" The impact knocks him back a meter or two, but he stands his ground. His body starts to tremble so vigorously, and it's not that he's cringing—the ogre soon comes to understand.

"If that's all you can do with those giant muscles you're a waste of protein. I-I-I-I...*gasp*. I really can't wait. Wait to rip you APART!!!"

He lunges in at the tower of muscle as if he were going to impale it, but rather jumps into a rising slash, parting its face open. He twirls while airborne; unleashing a series of slashes to its torso—blood spurting every which way. It attempts to kick him but he simply guards with the edge of his blade, and its foot is soon parted. He dismembers it for starters, but its grotesque muscles are bulky to the point of closing off the bleeding. It only means he can take his time dissecting it. Crying out doesn't help it.

"I will never forgive trash like you!" He starts to pummel it with a branch he cut from an adjacent tree. "All those innocent children you killed. Even if an ogre child with red eyes and horns... I could never rip it apart in such a cruel manner. I will make sure that you pay the ultimate reprisal! Amitha!"

He gets too intense and the 7 foot ogre dies from shock. He finds it's premature death unsatisfactory, and roars out on top of his lungs—eyes looking more bestial than divine. On the other hand...

[?]

"Hello there? I heard that there was supposed to be a guild hall somewhere around here." The girl with the orange hair inquires so cluelessly. From the looks of it she didn't arrive so long ago. Her head is adorned with vibrant orange hair and a golden hairpiece. She wears a heavy suit of armor to boot.

"Umm," the peasant says. "You're actually standing in front of the guild hall."

"Really?"

"Uhunh. {Is this girl for real?}"

"Well thanks then. See you around!" She pauses at the base of the stairs for a while as she looks up toward the sign on top of the large door.

"Tyrannus hunh."

At first thought you'd think she was dumb for failing to notice, but that was not the case…She finds herself inside the hall very soon. It's not as fancy as you'd think. It's all wood and barely any metal. The vibrance of most of the lacquer has faded away. —But the people inside seem elite—quite a contrasting picture.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" 'he' asks. She turns around to a kid in a small and heavy suit of armor.

"..."

"If you're confused on how to get started just walk up to that pretty la-y over there. She will get you started..."

"Thanks."

"..." he walks away in silence.

"{What's up with him?}"

Well one thing's for sure: the next step is approaching the attractive guild girl with the beautiful pink hair. Her name's Anika—just Anika. First impression is she's very kind, not just because she's in charge of dealing with people. She could easily get familiar, but doesn't seem like one to overstep her boundaries. Anika hands over the registry forms and she fills them out relatively quickly. Anika advises her to join a party so she'll get to know how things are done firsthand. She spots a voluptuous redhead with caramel skin, rocking the gypsy outfit. She appears to be more than confident, so she asks her first. She said,

"No...but I can tell you anything you want to know about the people here." With that the orange haired maiden takes her seat. It's not like she was expecting the cream of the crop to accept her right off the bat.

"The name's Valentina," the orange-haired maiden acquaints as she reaches out.

"Mine's Tamar. Nice to meet you too!" she says as she takes her hand and it's sealed.

[Guillelmus]

He's been walking for quite a while. His ocular focus falls short of the horizon by several dozens, seeing nothing but terra in actuality. He's completely absent-minded, moving like a drone. He finally breaks through the foliage. The afternoon sun isn't "fatally" hot today, so he fails to realize the city gate is just up ahead. A woman runs towards him but he doesn't notice.

//I used curly brackets to represent thoughts instead. Kinda close to a thought bubble, don'tcha think?

"{Amitha. What the hell IS THIS? Children too?}"

"{What did you expect? Monsters are monsters. Irrespective of the age of their victim... Must've been hungry, and a child looked like a helpless and delectable snack. Incoming.}"

The woman stops in front of him, but he rather bumps into her.

"Sorry, I didn't see—*gasp*"

"Elmus..."

"..."

"Please tell me that she's alive... I'm begging you."

"... It so happened that when I got there... gah. I can't tell you this."

"She's my daughter; just tell me!" she cries.

"Blood was dribbled all over the forest floor. I saw body parts of the kidnapped children. It seemed like it didn't like spines, if you get the picture...It's not enough that I killed it... so I brought back her hair..."

Her lips quiver as all sorts of emotions rush through her body when she has a look at the orange hair. She drops at his feet and her tears trickle onto his greaves, as if he didn't feel bad enough.

"So I can hang myself or something, right? ...Because that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"Please don't."

"Tell me why I shouldn't. Speaking from a neutral standpoint, you know what I've been through to take care of her. I got to you as soon as I heard about it…and you promised..."

"...If you do that I won't ever recover from this."

"But you knew that she was my only. You knew that she was my dearest. She's probably calling out for her mommy up there."

"And you knew that she was practically my baby sister. Don't you think I did everything I possibly could?"

"...Although it hurts, you're right about that." She scrunches up her skirt. "I just want to die right now! I wanted you to save me from my guilt, from my failure as a mother. It's my fault! I have to follow my daughter!" she cries.

"Please don't Ms. Laura. There is much more to life than death. And like I said before, I won't recover knowing that both of you died because of my incompetence. Let me rather take you home and make you some nice tea. I'll follow up on you in the night. Sound good?"

"...You promise?"

"It might not weigh much to you anymore, but I promise." He says as he starts on the way, holding her hand.

After taking her home he heads back to the guild. It looks like he just came back from a raid, and since there's no one receiving him or asking him how it went, we can safely conclude that he probably has no party.

He heads toward the counter where Anika stands. She puts on much more of a caring but concerned expression when he approaches, because there's obviously something wrong. He just came back from a raid after all.

"You're not hurt, are you?" she asks as she tilts her head to the side. He asks if she's gonna clear his raid or not.

A fine gentleman with vibrant, golden, short and luscious hair; white clothing with golden highlights and a very elegant looking blade with golden highlights as well, is also at the counter. He stands with a maiden with pale blonde hair. She wears a very innocent but alluring outfit with the same colors, and she has a beautiful face to boot. The last one is another guy with black trousers and a blue jacket. He looks the coolest. A void purple blade hangs on his back.

"Hey there Elmus, You're finally back!" he exclaims as he lands his hand rather heavily on Elmus' shoulder. He doesn't yelp, but he isn't able to conceal it either. He unintentionally cringes and gasps out from the pain.

"I knew it; you're hurt!" Anika says so concernedly.

"I'm perfectly alright"

"Then what's this?" the golden haired male says as he struck Elmus' shoulder once more.

"Aack! Back off!" he snarls.

"So what? It's none of your business, Arthur!"

"But we're only concerned about you," the maiden interjects. "You still have a place in our unit—"

"Hell no! I don't need a babysitter." He further adds, "You know what, just leave me alone!"

"...Well, if that's how you want it." Arthur pulls his party away.

There's a group of people sitting on a table afar. Although they couldn't hear from that distance they seem to be commenting about sth in that direction.

"So that's Arthur, Angelica and Daara," the redhead says.

"Tamar, why can't I join your party, if I may ask?" There was yet another girl at the table with pink hair. She wears black and white; a scarf with elbow pads, and carries a sniper looking weapon. She says there was no way she could join them. After all, it's "The Twins," so a non-twin can't join them.

"What do you mean?" Valentina asked. "Where's your twin?" She remains silent as her head grows heavier. Anyone could notice that quick change in mood. She can't help but get up and leave. The only man at the table is around Tamar's complexion and wears some awesome robe. He wields a staff like the classic mage. He simply asks her, "Do you think before you talk?"

"Don't tell me..."

"Yes...Paz's twin sister took an abrupt leave from the mortal plains," Tamar adds.

"I'm sorry; I didn't realize."

"That's why you shouldn't run your mouth faster than you can think. Whosoever keeps his tongue, keeps his soul from troubles."

"No need to be so hard on her, Jedi."

"He's right... I get that I can't join your party...but that means everybody apart from Eris has rejected me."

"It's because you really reek of inexperience, dear," Tamar clears her chest. "You look like you don't know what our world has to offer."

"If no one's willing to let me into their party how will I get to know anything?"

"The survival rate of inexperienced raiders is a mere 20% regardless of their affiliations."

"And why is that?"

"If somebody will, they will die regardless of all your vain efforts. If you don't want to believe it, ask the Guild Girl" Jedidiah interjects.

"You didn't need to say that, hon..."

"Okay, I think I get it now. No one wants that weight on their conscience... but wouldn't the mere thought that you could have helped make you feel even more guilty?"

"No one ever feels that way anymore. You get used to it. In this line of work, you have to accept the fact that death is super-imminent. If you can't accept it, you'd be better of somewhere else."

"Could you teach me please? Anything at all."

"When you say anything at all you know it means this can get dirty," she whispers as she draws her closer by the chin. That leaves her flustered for a moment. "I was just kidding but you're kind of cute."

"Phew!"

"Well, it's time to get down to business." she says as she begins to explain. "Although the Emerged are monsters, we come close to several species in looks. You're a doll, so I'm sure if you capitalized on that, you could definitely kill them with your first strike. Well, that's all for today's adulterated lesson, cutie pie."

"But you didn't teach me any way to survive!"

"Natural selection deems those worthy of living." Jedidiah chips in. "Baby girl, let's go!"

"Toodles!"

"Wait... isn't there anybody left," she asks?

"There's certain death sitting over there. Name's Guillelmus. 'Guy-lel-mis'."

"No" Jedidiah says as he starts to pull her along. "The literate pronunciation is 'Gillie-elmus.'"

"I DO admire his efforts, but everybody expected him to have died YEARS AGO." She leans backwards and glares at her upside down. "Try your luck!"

Tamar and Jedidiah are soon off on a Raid. She thinks about it carefully and realizes, "What is there to lose? If no one is willing...He's obviously taken care of himself up till now. Maybe it'll work out."

Anika is worried about him as always. She can't help but say something. "Is something wrong? You look torn apart."

"Aren't you used to it?" Guillelmus asks.

"Not physically...You look very sad."

"Can't a man enjoy peace here?" He lets out, with overtones of annoyance. "You people are always pestering me. I'm sick and tired of this. I swear if this persists I'll transfer to another guild."

"...If that's the way things are, I'm done. Here is the reward."

"Give it back to her; I don't want it."

He leaves the counter and takes a seat on an empty table. He kicks back, crosses his legs on the table and embraces his blade tightly.

"Amitha…you've caused me a great deal of in.con.venience." He sighs.

"{So you're blaming it on me now? People do cast blame on others to make themselves feel better.}"

"I'm not blaming you. I'm stating the obvious truth. I never say it, but my life would be so much different if you didn't waltz in."

"{If you keep at this, you'll hurt my feelings.}"

"But I'm not done."

"{...Well, if it makes you feel better...I'll endure it to the end, just for today. You can keep flowing,}" she says, a bit sorrowfully.

"Let me finish, will you?" whispers Guillelmus. "If I had never met you...For starters, I wouldn't have had a good best friend. I would've probably had a best friend with legs to run away after betraying me." he whispers.

"{HEY! Are you mocking me?}"

"What do you think?" he giggles. The orange haired maiden closes up on the other end of the table. She tries to get his attention but he's so busy with Amitha that he doesn't notice.

"Hey! Looney tunes, I'm talking to you... Can you not hear me?"

Her tolerance can only endure so much. She mightily slams her hands down on the table. It startles him and he falls to the ground.

"OWW!" he exclaims as he gets up. He landed on no other part than his injured shoulder. "What the heck is wrong with—*gasp*…you?"

"{Amitha. You've gotta be kidding me...Can you see this?}"

"{Orange hair? Unfortunately yes. It's like the world's playing a horrible prank on you.}"

She folds her arms and ignores that. "Finally got your attention."

"What do you want?"

"I want to join your party," she says as she reaches out to shake his hand. "The name's Valentina."

"My name is Guillelmus, and unfortunately for you, I have no party for you to join. Besides, it's called a Raid Unit. Bye."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"How many times have you been out on a Raid?"

"..."

"Judging by the visible parts of your skin I can tell that your overall sun exposure since birth has been kept at a minimum. You are wearing heavy armor. It's surprising that you can even move in that, let alone survive an attack. I could keep going on, but I'd like to keep it short. You have absolutely no combat experience. Your mannerisms and what you've told me so far make it evident."

"Could you quiet down? Any idea what discretion is?"

"No need when everybody can already see it. If you're here it means you've been rejected by everyone else already."

"Look, are you gonna help me or not?"

"I would if I could, but I can't, so I'll have to decline."

"{Plan B.}" She means to sit on the table, but it creaks upon contact, so she pulls a chair, sits and turns him towards her. "I'm sure I'd be a pretty good team mate, even if I seem inexperienced. Let's start with knowledge."

"That's the stupidest thing you could ever start with. Let's say a Spectre creeps up on you: will you run or fight?"

"Clobber it of course."

"Pshh. Have your will prepared as soon as possible."

"I have other desirable qualities that can be of use."

"Like?" And like that, she throws a hundred arguments at him, but he's relentless. She exhausts everything in her arsenal while maintaining her dignity, but he still says no.

"But-why? It's like everyone just wants to say no to me. Is it because I've not exposed my cleavage like Tamar or—"

"Hold it!"

"What now?"

"Do you really think this is because of you? Has anyone not told you about me?"

"Yes...but I'm honestly not in the position to be picky," she says as her enthusiasm dies out, like a withering flame.

"You sound so down-spirited right now. Truth is, I've been doing this thing for years, and I'm probably more useless than YOU ARE. It'd be very selfish of me to put you in danger like that. I've seen what team mates do. Whereas you could run away if you were alone, you'd get yourself hurt trying to save me. That's why. It's no joke out there..." His voice sounds sad once again.

"But—"

"The Emerged have no clemency whatsoever. They will rip you apart."

"And what if I said it didn't matter to me... because companionship is all that I yearn for?" Valentina asks sincerely.

"I'd be delighted," —Her face lights up—"But I'll still have to decline."

"What? Why would you let me get my hopes up you jerk?"

"Because that's what life has done to me..."

"What life has done to you? You don't just grovel in the mud claiming life is trampling you over! You have to fight for yourself!" Valentina roars.

"Wanna see how long you'll survive with THAT attitude and lousy suit of armor."

"Go to hell for all I care!" she grumbles undertone. "You are alone because you deserve to be, you idiot!"

"It's just like you said. I believe you should get going now. It's better to be alone than to have rotten company."

The infuriated Valentina storms out on him. What else would you expect? It would've been better to ask a hundred more people than to stumble across such a drenched blanket.

"{Amitha.}"

"{Why'd you say those things? You could've been nicer. Don't tell me her hair got to you?}"

"{It was exactly that. I couldn't save Laura, nor could I accept my third raid unit request, all because I'm so darn weak. How can I take so much BS in one day?}"

"{Physical prowess isn't all there is to strength. There is emotional and psychological as well.}"

"{Hmm. Still trying to cheer me up?}"

"{Aren't I enough to cheer you up?}"

"{You can't touch me, nor can I touch you. No matter how we put it there's a boundary between us. Another piece of bull crap.}"

"{I see...You didn't whisk that filthy blood off of me...I feel dirty.}"

"..."

"{Elmus?}"

"I'm sorry that I forgot to clean you up, but we're going out again." He rises to his feet.

"Why? You deliberately hurt yourself, and now you wanna fight again? You wanna die?"

"If God wills."

[Valentina]

Valentina is so. upset. There's an elderly man sitting on an unoccupied table. He looks about youthful I'd say. His hair is graying; dresses like any normal civilian male but has an epic giant lance. His coolest feature is a crack like scar on the corner of his forehead, that runs all the way into his hair. First instinct gets her seated over there. She greets him—just not gracefully, then sits folding her arms on the table. She stares down at the ground in frustration.

"Got no one to talk to, hunh?"

"Don't tell me that you're gonna reject me too?" He can't stop himself from laughing at that. It's frustrating.

"You know, if you're just gonna laugh at me, I could just leave," she says as she begins to get up, but he sits her back down.

"No need for that. I was just messing with ya, but since it's not a good time...the name's Alex. Nice to meet you."

"Valentina. Nice to meet you too, Mr. Alex."

"To what you said earlier: on the contrary. I'd rather enjoy your company."

"..."

"What's bothering you?"

"Everybody rejected me and I'm really feeling bummed about it. I came here with high hopes of finding a partner. Why is everybody being like that? Yes, in the beginning I might slow them down a bit...but that Guy-whatever...I couldn't possibly do him any more harm than he has already done to himself. Why did he have to be such a jerk? I already have enough to deal with, but I'm trying to maintain a smile."

"Have you ever wondered why the aged grow blind?"

"Want me to ask why, right? Why?"

"Because they begin to grow other eyes so the older ones slowly become vestigial."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because I'm a hundred percent sure that he wanted to form a Raid Unit with you," he deduced.

"And what the hell makes you say that?"

"The guy in question is so lonely he claims he has a sentient blade, which is his best friend by the way. As if that weren't enough, he lost his father earlier on in life and his mother has been afflicted by an incurable disease. He tagged along with Raid Units until he found out that it was just out of pity for him, and he had been dragging them down. He once sat in the very place you're sitting and told me, "If I can't accomplish even half of what YOU have, my parents' suffering will be a waste. So... I will... I must surpass you no matter what it takes.' That's Guillelmus."

"I still don't believe it." You can't blame her for her disbelief.

"Oh really. Then why did he just take on a Spectre not too long ago?"

"He made mention of that. What IS a Spectre?" Valentina asks.

"It's an Emerged that phases through Intrinsic attacks and...I'm not making sense to you am I?"

"Unfortunately no," she says giggling.

He explains quite briefly. "The monsters that invade the mainland are technically called Emerged Threats, 'Emerged' for short. The ones that stay out of bounds are referred to as Potential Invaders, also just 'Invaders' for the sake of brevity. Primitive weapons didn't really have much effect on the Emerged, which came in with the purpose to fight, if not devour them. Grieved by the heavy bloodshed, they sought out for ways to defeat them with ease. That's why they developed the Raid Gear. There were two types of users however: Intrinsic and Extrinsic. Intrinsic Mana Users could only pump their mana into their bodies to enhance their performance, while Extrinsic Mana Users like Guillelmus could cast magic. It's kinda like warriors and mages. I'm leaving you with a bit of ambiguity here so you can explore the rest of the details on your own."

"At least you gave me some useful information, unlike Tamar."

"And that's that. Guillelmus does not use mana because of a complication. That's why he seems to be so weak."

"And why should I care?"

"The Spectre is an Emerged that's almost exclusively vulnerable to Extrinsic attacks. What makes it worse is it phases into physical attacks and absorbs the mana, enabling it to grow bigger and stronger."

"He seemed pretty confident about running away."

"You aren't getting the point. Are you youngsters blind? Whatever you said to him reminded him of something bad, and he took it because he actually wanted to join you. He's fed up and he isn't gonna run away from this fight. We'll probably lose him today if 'someone' doesn't intervene."

Valentina gasps. She finally understands after enough of the extensive elaborations that he was also bummed about it, and that's what he wanted her to understand when she thought he was being a jerk. Now he's going to get himself killed. Wouldn't that be a waste? She catapults up and rushes to the Guild Girl.

"Hi! Have you-?"

"No time. I want to join the Spectre Raid!" Valentina interrupts.

"Which one? A lot of people go out on Spectre Raids since they are prevalent in the evenings."

And that's when we all get to know that she can't remember his name. She runs back to Alexander but he tells her to be more meticulous next time. After kicking around and building up frustration she realizes that she won't remember "Guillelmus."

"Anika right?"

"Yes."

"I can't remember his name because it sounds so absurd. Couldn't you help me out?"

"You'll need to describe him"

"…Nut job that talks to his blade—?"

"Guillelmus???"

"Yes! Guy-whatever! Please hurry."

"I was worried about that, so this makes me feel better. Please make sure to bring him back alive."

"Just tell me where he is."

"You wouldn't be able to find him since you're clueless about the zoning."

"I can ask for directions."

"Evil Forest- Zone A. After heading for the Evil Forest... ask somebody for the major entry point. When you find it, travel 20 kilometers inbound. You should find him before you even go 15, but just to be sure."

"Thanks!" She tries to go after him, but the veteran halts her. "What now?"

"That wasn't free. When you come back, your Raid Unit will sit at my table."

"Got no problem with that."

She takes it back to the Guild Girl.

"May I help you Valentina?"

"You better start the paperwork because I'll be coming back, and when I do... Guy-whatever is gonna be my partner."

Valentina gives chase. She's able to sprint faster than a bike in that heavy suit of armor. There is no doubt that she is an Intrinsic Mana User. On Elmus' side...

[Guillelmus]

He continues to work his way through that baneful forest. It's dark and gloomy. A thin and sinister mist wafts just above the ground. There's this faint howling sound that you just can't seem to ignore, even if you've been there time and time again. The owls hoot and the crickets chirp relentlessly. AND the finishing touch: the Portal Beam) appears red from there (i.e. the large beam of light that pierces their sky, but appears a few centimeters wide because of the distance. What makes it worse is the scratched up bark and blood stains all about. Yes, this is the sort of place he went to before, and it's a thousand times scarier at night. However, he manages to find himself absent minded yet again.

[<<] (//this obviously means flashback.)

This happened back at the guild when he told Amitha that they were going out again.

"{Elmus, talk to me!}"

"{...I'm not gonna play this game anymore. My evanescent smiles are haunting me,}" he thinks to himself as he marches on. "{Why am I the only one that has to endure this sort of hardship? I'm taking her words for it. I'm not gonna wallow in the mud anymore. This is do-or-die.}"

"Anika, I want a Spectre"

"Elmussss. Can't you see that I care about you?"

"Will you give it to me or not?"

"...Alright then...If you...you know...at least tell Irene that I am sorry for what happened," she says as she hands the raid details to him.

"Thanks," is the last word he says to her before he departs.

"Amitha, we're heading to Zone A of the Evil Forest."

"Irene? Did I hear her right? Don't tell me..."

"Yes... If we aren't able to cast magic today... I will die."

[>](This means back to the present)

"Elmus. Don't! if you really die...you'll leave me all alone! Think about your mother!"Amitha cries.

"That's why you'll have to help me if you want to save me."

"We both know that I have no power over that."

"Well you do starting from now, so try and do something to help me if you actually want to live—"

"Behind you!"

Guillelmus quickly dives sideways and evades death by the skin of his teeth. As protocol advises, he executes the Night-Light technique (i.e. He throws a light bomb(a globule containing kerosene) at the base of the adjacent tree and casts his torch on it so the area can light up to enable visibility for a fight.)

"If you want a piece of me, I'm right here! Amitha, let's go!"

[Valentina]

"It was light outside so why is it so dark inside?" Valentina thinks to herself. Apparently, Valentina's such a brave person, but she so ISN'T afraid of the dark.

"Guy-whatever, look at what I'm going through because of you. You better not die before I get there or I promise that no one will be able to piece you together. Speaking about together, Valentina, pull yourself together...How can people run into such a spooky place without second thoughts. The government needs to expand the Asylums and hire physicians who can diagnose this type of madness! "

That's until she thinks she hears something behind her. The fear sets in, and for a moment there, she freezes up. As expected adrenaline surges through her veins and she comes back to her senses. You'd expect her to turn around cunningly and fight, but no. She rather boosts ahead.

"If you can catch up to me; go on ahead, but I'm not gonna waste anymore of my time on you."

It's not long before she notices that there's light emanating from up ahead. She dashes there to behold the nightmare.

"Oh. My. God!" Valentina exclaims.

[<<]

He kept on trying, but the Spectre just phased through his attacks on end. Something went terribly wrong, but he just didn't care to notice. Speak about foolhardy.

"{Elmus! You have gotta stop!}"

"Don't give me the chance to use offensive words on you!" He keeps swiping, evading and trying to cast magic.

"{That's not it! You're blinded by rage. Don't you see anything different?!}"

He stops for a breather, and that's when he notices how foolish he's been. He must be a big idiot to have not realized this one. The Spectre that was once 6 feet tall and hovering about 4 feet off the ground was now over 10 feet tall. He gasps.

"It's gotten bigger, but how?!"

"{I just realized that you actually CAN use your mana but since you're probably using it with an incompatible mana crystal, you can't put it to use. All this while, you have been discharging your mana and its size is proportional to what you've discharged so far.}"

The Spectre starts to attack aggressively. A smirk slowly stitches into his face too. The mere fact that he can actually discharge mana is fulfilling enough to tackle this with a smile.

"Elmus, we have to get out of here. You have no chance of winning."

"Like I told you before, we aren't leaving till I'm either a 'magician' or 6 feet under. Let's go!"

He tries to discharge more mana in an attempt to perform some sort of limit break, but it doesn't work. The exhaustion starts to set in, and so do the effects of his hustle earlier on.

[<<]

Back when he accepted Ms.Laura's Raid Request Guillelmus hurried to save little Laura. Unfortunately they had set an ambush up for him. He had to take on five ogres at once and got battered up. If it wasn't for the fact that he promised to bring Laura back he might've given up the ghost. That once...he shook vigorously to flare up his overcome the stagnating pain.

[>]

"{Elmus! You have to stop this madness!}"

"Leave me be!"

"{As you wish but I'm not going to let you die holding me, so have it your way!}"

Amitha does away with her weightlessness effect. He finds himself struggling to keep her off the ground. The mere fact that the Spectre deliberately prolonged the battle shows that the Emerged DO possess intelligence to some degree, and Guillelmus is in deep trouble, because its new attack pattern is far different from the initial onslaught. T doesn't take long to thrash the unarmed lad. He falls to the ground. The sum total of the damage received since the start of the day should be enough to kill him. All he can hear at that moment is Amitha crying.

"{Darn it. So it was really meant to be this way after all,}" he thinks to himself. He starts to space out, but nothing like a good old thunderclap. He's rendered affright by a very loud impact. It's wasn't your normal "BAAM!" or "WHACK!". It was more like a "BANG!!!" Even though he felt like he was on the verge of death, he could only think to himself, "{Something must have hit it really hard to make such a sound.}" He lifted his head to behold it was the inexperienced Valentina who landed such a devastating blow. She actually made a giant gash in its back. He cannot believe his eyes. He even begins to feel sorry for it.

"{Am I dreaming?... No, this is too painful to be a dream. But how'd she hit it? I've been trying for ages.}"

"Guy-whatever! Are you still alive?!"

"I don't think so!"

"This isn't the time to be kidding around! Can you walk?!" she shouts out.

"... I think!"

"So get out of here!"

"It's phasing through her attacks now. She's definitely an Intrinsic Mana User."

"Can't you hear me?" she yells as she tries her best to hit it.

"That won't work! It voluntarily phases through attacks, so I think it will only work when it doesn't see it coming!"

"Just leave everything to me and worry about yourself!"

"{What the heck... I can't believe this. She of all people...}" he thinks to himself as he crawls over to Amitha.

"Amitha!... Amitha!... Alright. I'm sorry, but I need your help."

"{I won't help you so you can go and get yourself killed. Just lay down till it's all over.}"

"Don't be absurd. She'll obviously end up like me and we'll both die."

"{I doubt she could be as much of an idiot.}"

"Ouch! Shots fired. This isn't the time to be playing around. Can't you see it's getting bigger? It's even beginning to change color. People are gonna get hurt if it's not stopped."

"{You should've thought of that earlier.}"

"Amithaaa."

"{Alright, only If you promise to live.}"

"I promise, for what it's worth."

"{Although it's undesirable, I'm syncing our mana streams. Don't let me down.}"

"Alright. Here we go!"

The instant he touches Amitha mana surges into his body and he is rejuvenated—although, not healed. He doesn't make a sound though. As Valentina distracts it he gets ready to deal the most devastating blow and lunges. However, it dodges at the eleventh hour, and he only gets to cut off one of its arms.

"What?! C'mon!" he says disappointedly.

"{You accidentally discharged mana at the last moment. Concentrate,}" Amitha implores him.

"Forget about it, guy! It can't track both of us at the same time! Fight!"

The two of them move as if they had been fighting together for years. The instant the Spectre stops phasing to absorb mana from one, the other attacks from behind like a well oiled machine. This works until the Spectre gets enraged. It flies upward and dashes down to the ground in a fraction of a second. The thunderous impact throws sand into the air and also sends the luminance down a notch.

It takes advantage of the poor visibility to return the favor to Valentina. She slams the tree at a brain-busting speed. That's it for her; she passes out. It thinks it can be done with her, but on the contrary, Elmus was prepared for it. He thrusts his blade into the punch and demolishes its fist.

The dust soon clears up. It took a tree branch! It starts to bully him. Once again he fails to defeat it. Valentina wakes coincidentally due to the adrenaline that was surging through her veins, and bullets a rock at it. It slowly starts to close in on her.

"Get the heck out of here while you still can!"

"No way am I gonna let you die. Not again!"

"I won't! Just save yourself so I won't have to worry about you!"

He gasps. After all, he's on all fours. He looks down at the ground and a tear drops

"{Elmus?}"

"She...She's obviously lying. She can barely move. Why? After all our efforts I haven't changed. I'm still weak."

"Elmus, I've figured it out! I know it might sound crazy but burn me!"

"What the?"

"We don't have time. You can't cast magic through me but you can accumulate it inside me. Pump your mana into me! BURN ME!"

"Alright. Amitha here we go!"

[/]

(when there is a change of perspective from two people in the same locality)

The Spectre raises her up by a leg and starts to swing her at trees. Luckily for her, her armor is able to absorb some of the damage. Soon she starts to get really hurt and something changes. For a split second something like an invisible blood red gas oozed out of her hands. The Spectre stops for a moment. The temperature just went up a few degrees. There Elmus stands; blade enveloped in fire. (No one except him hears Amitha scream the whole while.) His moxie is back.

"{Elmus. Hurry up!}"

"No worries! Amitha, let's end this!"

"*screams* Just go for it already!"

He lunges at the Spectre. It thinks fast and tries putting Valentina In the way but that is no hindrance to him. Elmus launches the blade at the Giant Spectre. It impales it in the head and bursts out with flames, burning it to nothingness. He snatches Valentina and lands safely with her, although the weight of her armor causes him some pain.

"We're compatible, aren't we?" Valentina asks in his arms.

"So much for having to babysit you."

"So what do you have to say about my offer? It still stands."

"You DID save my life…You just have to promise you aren't gonna die," he says.

"I swear it... on your life," she adds and giggles.

"Isn't it too early to get married?"

"What? In your dreams ogre!"

"Only if you could look in a mirror."

"Then what?"

"You wouldn't have the nerve to call me an ogre—"

"{Elmus! I'm still burning!!!}"

"Sorry! Amitha I'm coming!"

------------End of Chapter 1-------------

Chapter 2 teaser

It's far from started. You might meet someone who your body remembers but your mind doesn't. When that happens...How'll you react?

To be continued...

Thanks for reading!