Chapter 88: Armored Figure & Lazuli

Slingshotting back to where we started, leaving the dark continent, traversing the sea, and eventually arriving at the Center continent, famously known for its many names; however, most importantly, it's where our Hero, Alexander Vestalis, currently resides. Moving south, some hundred kilometers away from our Hero, we arrive at the closest prominent city called Hyphen, a place where all manners of races can freely mingle with each other without worrying about being oppressed or treated differently.

Hyphen is also home to a sub-branch of the adventure Guild, one of the most famous, if not the most famous, guilds in the world, with only the Mage guild being comparable in authority, power, and influence worldwide. Very few know where the Adventurer's main base resides, but it's believed that by reaching the adventure rank of an "SS", one will learn of its location.

Deep within Hyphen, at the center of the city, the most crowded place in the city, there was a large hill; embedded into the side of the large hill was a cave that would lead anyone who walked its path downwards before expanding into several different paths that networked beneath the entire city like a labyrinth and even partially beyond.

Though the said path was actually a dungeon owned by the city, and exiting from the dungeon was a large, heavily armored warrior with two blue horns sticking out their helmet, pointing to the sky; their large frame towered over nearly everyone they walked past. With every step they took, their armor rattled, and as they moved through the crowd, their two great shields were placed on its back as it headed toward the tall wooden building in the distance.

As they arrived before the building with a large sign that read "Adventurer Guild", they entered the double doors, knocking two unsuspecting men out of the way.

"Hey; watch where-" Said a bald buff man angrily as he rubbed his head and turned around, only to freeze and nervously gulp when he laid eyes on the massive figure clad in thick platted armor; only their piercing yellow eyes were visible through the slits in their helmet.

"C-C'mon, Jack; w-we've got s-something to do." Said the man as he fearfully backed away, keeping his eyes on the large armored figure while helping his buddy up before the two ran out of the building.

"Are you okay?" Asked the large armored figure quietly in a deep, muffled voice before sighing and shaking their head as they watched the two men fleeing in fear.

In a slightly downcasted mood, the figure moved through the building, passing by several tables of adventurers, resting, drinking, conversing with friends, and whatnot before arriving at one of the three desks where a woman stood on the opposite side with a bored expression.

"Ah, can I help you, Mr?" Asked the woman with a professional smile as she tilted her head up, eyeing the large figure.

"Yes, I've got a few Monsters to sell." Replied the armored figure with a deep voice as they reached into one of their armor pockets, grabbing a decent-sized space pouch before handing it to the woman.

"I see; if you can wait a few moments, I'll take it to the back and have someone examine your spoils." Said the woman with a light smile as she nodded and walked away, entering into one of the many doors.

While waiting for the secretary to return with an estimate of their spoils, unknown to everyone nearby, the armored figure suddenly felt a great deal of sadness wash into its body, causing them to turn right, heading down a hall directly toward a door with a symbol of a man above it. However, instead of entering the one with a man above it, they entered the one to their left, which had the symbol of a woman above it, causing the few people watching to raise their eyebrows, but none made a move.

Entering inside, she locked the door and quickly took off her helmet while looking in the mirror, revealing the face of a beautiful woman with light blue skin, shoulder-length white hair, canines sticking out her mouth, and slightly pointy ears.

"Crying? Why am I crying all of a sudden?" Asked the woman in a soft, pleasant voice, unbefitting of her intimidating appearance as she touched her face with her gauntlets.

'It's been years since I've cried; what's this sadness that's overtaken me?' Thought the woman in confusion as she stared at her bright yellow eyes that leaked tears into the sink below her.

___

___

Leaving Hyphen to its lonesome, we head far north into the rocky, mountainous terrain, inhabited mostly by golems, the occasional drake, birds, and many other beasts; however, hidden deep underground, away from the numerous beasts and harsh environment, was a sanctuary of some sorts. The inside of the sanctuary was filled with technologically advanced components that didn't fit with this world's era, which could only mean one thing: whoever built this place was from a different era or world altogether.

However, further into the technological sanctuary, you'd see many different things floating in a tank filled with green liquid: a horn, teeth, scales, bones, eyes, and a heart. You could find any kind of body part, whether it belonged to a beast or not, floating in those large tanks, which were connected with pipes and closely monitored.

At the deepest part of the sanctuary were two massive tanks filled with green liquid hooked up to tens of highly advanced machines as they closely mentioned the things inside the tanks. In one of the tanks, there was a small glowing crystal, barely even the size of a human hand, which was a rather amusing sight, considering those tanks were plenty big enough to house an elephant.

In the other tube was what looked like a young woman with bright blue eyes and short, silver hair, though besides her head, the rest of her body was that of highly advanced prosthetics connected to thousands of wires. Standing in front of both tanks was an old, hunched-back man who would glance between the two with unconditional fatherly love.

"Haa, my sweet daughter Lazuli, it's taken me decades, but I've finally perfected and revived your body; only a little bit longer, and you'll finally return to me." Stated the old man softly as he placed his hands on the glass of both tanks, though before he could do anything else, loud sirens suddenly started going off.

"No, no, no, no! Don't tell me something is wrong!" Yelled the old man angrily as he quickly hobbled toward a large machine that was flashing red as he looked at the screen, depicting several wavelengths.

"No, t-this shouldn't be happening so quickly; t-to think the synchronizing process would be this perfect!" Declared the old man with youthful exuberance as he intently observed the machine before looking up at the Lazuli floating in the tank of unknown green liquid, only to see her eyes flutter while a single tear streamed down her face.

"Hahahaha!! YES, YES, LAZULI! My daughter, you're alive!!" Exclaimed the old man with a burst of crazy laughter as he ran up to the tank Lazuli was in and pressed his face against it, observing her peacefully floating in the tank.

___

___

While four very different women and one future woman cried from our heroes' powerful emotions that were felt around the world, let's return to our Hero, Alexander Vestalis, and watch him start his journey in the world of Azarath.

(Note: I've uploaded the images for them onto discord)

___

___

It's been a few days since Master's passing; after we finally released all of our tears, we buried her body right underneath the tree at the center of the clearing.

Currently, I was lying on the ground in the middle of the forest, mindlessly looking up at the sky as I thought about my next course of action, which I already knew what it was.

With Master dead, there was nothing holding me back from venturing around the world and becoming an Adventurer; I would've preferred to have her by my side, but I suppose you can't have everything in life. Ever since her passing, Talis has been staying by my side, keeping my company, which I've greatly appreciated; her presence is helping me accept Master's death.

Another thing that happened was I spoke the name of Trina's elder sister, Zartha. Apparently, in order to speak her name, I was required to experience a massive burst of emotion, and in the midst of my crying, her name had appeared in my head, though only yesterday did I bother actually speaking her name.

I haven't spoken with her much, but unlike Trina's childish personality, Zartha was much more mature, a little detached as well, if I will add, though other than that, she's very knowledgeable, calm, and, most importantly, knows how to explain something properly.

Hearing the crunch of leaves, I turned to my left and spotted Lily approaching me with a small smile. Simba, Lily, and Marlin haven't left yet as they stayed the past few days, though just like me, today is the day we'll be leaving. I can't stay in this forest for a day longer; as much as I try not to think of her, every tree reminds me of her; it's tortuous yet blissful at the same time.

"You ready, Alexander? We're about to leave, so unless you wish to get lost, you better hurry up and pack your things." Remarked Lily softly as she neared Alexander and lightly kicked him, causing him to smile slightly while knocking her foot away.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming; let's go, Talis." Said Alexander with a shake of his head as he poked Talis, who was resting on his chest, prompting her to take to the skies while he stood up.