The Etheria Swordsman. Prologue. Tragedy in WhiteA Story by Emmanuel Fena Prologue of The Etheria Swordsman. Original Story by Emmanuel Fena Tragedy in White [16 December
1698] 21:15 Adderone Region Time The dark starry night sky drawn at
the background for a lone hunter in the midst of a forest as the half-moon ascends
to the endless void, trees swaying following a cold breeze in the forest while
the hunter finishes its prey. That.. Would be a good start for a
night story, unless the hunter is starting to shakes its whole body, of course
it is because the whole white snow covering every inch of the forest is truly
cold. It’s been very cold lately, and it has been a very early winter this
December “Fyuhh...” A sigh slip out of my mouth creating
a small cloud in front of my face, ascended and disappears as it
becomes cold air. I bend down carefully on top of the
snow, not wanting myself to fall and hit my head. I take a pink jelly-like substance
sized as big as my fist from the ground, It drops a few liquid as I lift it, then
I put a small vial below it to contain the pink colored liquid After beating “Drops”�"A jelly-like
monster commonly sized 30 to For myself, I think this essence is
quite tasty, they have a taste of grape-strawberry mint juice, and on the field
of alchemy, this substance has unlimited yet undiscovered uses. The problem is
even though they are a low-class monster or ‘easy prey’, it’s hard to get the
essence regarding their nature to break their form a moment after their death
leaving nothing to loot. But when it gets cold their dead body will mostly
leave a big chuck that contains their essence, which means... Alright!
Tonight I will be feasting on a lot of food!!! I receive a lot of Drop’s Essence
after 3 hours of hunting and I’m planning to sell it in town. I think with this
much I could have at least 1000 Val, It’s the same as a week working as a
clerk. Well not
bad.. I gain more money this way and it’s refreshing out here.. Though it’s
been quiet lately.. Everybody is busy preparing for town events and private
events.. I put the last vial on my sturdy
leather backpack, after finishing my looting ritual, I stand up, fix my cloak, cover
my body from the chills this season sent me and start to realize how far I’ve
been from home “Oops, I think I’ve gone too much
today that I forgot I’ve been this deep into woods” I mumble to myself while taking out a
compass that I brought from home and start to figure out my way home. Yap, if I go
this way, I will definitely back in about 1 hour. When I decided my destination, the
rest of the Drops body melted into transparent liquid absorbed by the snow
leaving no traces of the deceased Drops. Knowing my way home, I walk happily,
holding my tummy to greet a large quantity of feast I’m going to have tonight. I stopped at a riverbank that I pass
halfway home. On the glassy ice I could see a reflection of a white haired boy
with bright red eyes on the ice. I could see myself, my fatless body through
the dark black cloak, I might be skinny, but thanks to the not-rich-situation
and hunting habits, I have a well-built body. Yap. I’ll
definitely gain another pound tonight! “Food~ Food~ Roasted Chicken~
Vegetable Soup~ Warm Bread~” I couldn’t stop myself being so happy
about tonight’s going-to-be-dinner that I will make. Even though I’m a boy, I’m
proud of my cooking skill, and thus I could have a delicious dinner with less
expen�" �"!! I sense a monster nearby..! Crack, crack, crack, BUSH! A basketball sized Drops come into my
sight from the bush around the left, it’s sniffing a bit before facing me, I
think he smells his comrade’s essence that I brought with me Normally Drops aren’t dangerous, and
actually suited as domestic pet but a non-trained Drops will attack humans if
they are threatened or saw their comrades attacked or sniffed their comrades’
essence. When I see carefully, his water
drop-like body is normal but there is a pair of wings hanging behind its back
and a halo above his body! A mutant
drops?! An angel drops?! What?! I wonder how
it tastes like?? Does his essence worth like thousand normal essences?? While wondering the taste and price
of this creature I grab my iron sword from its scabbard on my waist and get
ready for an extra round of Drops hunting, but- �"This is
weird.... This creature’s movement is not like
other hostile creatures, no dashes only small hops. No, I can’t even sense his
hostility. Looks like he doesn’t care about his dead comrades. What an arrogant
little man.. He slowly approaches my standing
ground, leaving the bush behind him. It’s like he is trying befriending me.
He is approaching me slowly, perhaps he is afraid of me and my buddy-sword. He
jumps carefully nearing the distance between me and him I sheathed my sword responding to
this little grudgeless creature. He saw my action and suddenly dashed
towards me! I thought he is going to knock me
down after deceiving me with his “I’m not dangerous” move, instead it looks
like he wanted a help He stops right in front of my feet,
pulling and grabbing the hem of my cloak with his mouth Does he want
me to follow him? Is he trained or something? Or perhaps he want to deceive me
with his “come-I’ll-show-you-something-good” moves??? As I wonder every weird possibility
in my head, his pulling becomes harder. Well I don’t
sense any hostility coming from him, not even the slightest... I think he’s
trained and his owner is in danger... I think I should just follow him
instead of thinking weird stuff. Whatever it is, I’m ready for it.. I follow this little guy to where he
leads me After a good 20 minutes of following
this little friend, I arrived at a little space between the forest, this place
looks good for a night rest, spacy and plain. Well not for now, if I sleep in
this place, I will be a dead frozen body at the morning Speaking about sleeping, it’s probably
about 9 o’clock at night at the moment and I should be heading home, my foods
are waiting for me. I inspect the spot where this little
guy jumping unstoppable Hm... There
is a small human-shaped snow crater printed on the snow, perhaps a child
stumble and fall here. I wonder where she went. I could see steps of the child that
walked and fell here, probably a few minutes ago�" �"!! I see some unusual foot marks near the child’s.
After a few second of inspection and memory collecting This! This
is a goblin footprints! But why is there a goblin here? Just when I start asking I realize
that I went deep to the woods without thinking of the safe border Even with my 2 year experience of
hunting, I’m still not good with aggressive monster such as Big-mama-bear,
Green-stink-goblin, Meany-fatty-orc, and else Why? I don’t know. They’re scary. I
mean they’re either big, stink, scary, dangerous, or... big!! Anyway why do
they have to exist? From what I’ve read and heard, it said that Gods power was
too much that it started to divide itself and corrupted by humans thus making
more creatures, dangerous creatures. It said that in the past, monsters were a
lot more than now and more powerful, the examples are Demon, Titan, Dragon and else.
Luckily most of their races are already extinct or decreased significantly
since [The Second Eternal War]. Anyway, what I need to concern most is
the child who got kidnapped by those goblins, or so I think he was. The Drops that can’t stop pulling my
cloak gives an impression of “please help him” in his eyes It’s true that I should help a
harmless child from the hand of savage goblins, who knows, perhaps they will
torture him, sold him, or even eat him. But, Goblin... They are no small
matters like Drops, many adventurers died of goblins, and I’m not ready to die. But, it’s a helpless child we are
talking here, and from my perception Goblins is not a good babysitter. But, my life could end as fast as you
say “Smithy Webber Jaggerman Jansen”. But, the child.... But, my food... But... Aaa! Whatever!! My foods could wait a little longer, just
after I take back this child, and I hope my life is as many as Ms. Cat’s Life
stock. I dashed through the woods, following
the goblin’s footsteps leaving behind the Winged Drops. I know I’m
not smart, I’m not
strong too, I’m just a
normal human, Yes, I AM
human! If I leave that kid alone then I’m
not worth of having the title ‘human’ I passed every tree that was blocking
my way, thrusting through the freezing atmosphere, piercing through the night’s
darkness, only the moon’s eerie light following my noiseless steps on the snow. Until a light appears in my sight. I steadily
decrease my pace and stopped right before the light reaches my feet, then I hide
behind a tree Hm?! A few meters before me, a bonfire
emitting warm light covering its surrounding, protecting it from the night. Not
only that, a green skinned creatures appears before my eyes, three of them.
Their skinny body, fatless limbs, and bent back moving slightly here and there
proving that they are alive. Rugged brown dirty clothes are hung between its
waist and various accessories such as a decorative skeleton, fang necklace,
stone bracelet coloring their body. Three goblins, three
green-short-skinny-goblins seeking heat around the bonfire. Considering their number,
perhaps they are just some kind of small sized hunter or perhaps a scout team. They are shivering each time the fire
goes small, and each time the fire sways and fades they throw one or two twigs
into the fire. My eyes searched through the area and
found what I’m here for. A small body, covered in a brown dirty tattered full
round cloak, his face is covered by his hood and from his size perhaps he is 13
years old. Considering his size, I think I could carry his body with one hand. I wonder
where his parents are. Did they get killed?! Just imagining it gives me chills
more than the snow gave me. This helpless boy would soon join his parents if I
don’t help him I won’t let
him die! I fixed my mind. I will! Save the
child no matter what happen! To kill 3 goblins I couldn’t be careless.
It’s not like facing a few Drops or boar. These creatures have some brain in
their head, so I must face them either strategically or excessively. Well, I’d
better choose strategically... I wonder
where are their weapons, impossible for them to go out without weapons. Where is
it... Where is it... Ah! There! I found their weapons at the edge of
their camps laying guard less on top of a rock. Well
perhaps, they need to learn to always keep their weapon near I think I could grab their weapon if
I flank to the side, I should prevent them of having weapons to fight back. Yes, that’s the right thing to do
first. I carefully step around their camps
evading the fire light or a stupid wild twig that could reveal my presence.
Here it is! I slowly grab their weapons from the rock,
upon inspection it’s just 2 bludgeons and 1 hand axe. Are they
really a searching group? These weapons were not meant for killing, more like
to ‘capture’. Are they searching for this boy after he ran away? I thought
goblin does not chase their running prey It’s true that they usually hunt a
group of hunter with a large number ambushing group, but mostly they will just
let some of their prey slip away as long as they get some. Now, there are only 3 unarmed stinky goblins.
I could kill one of them with a surprise attack, but the rest could strike me
back. Even though I know that they are unarmed right now, they are still a
savage being, they could just grab a stone, throw it on my face and then I died
of blunt hit on the face. I too myself aren’t armed heavily, I
only have an iron sword, survival knife, and a few throwing knife with me. My
armor is also low-tier armor, some iron padded leather piece on chest, lower
arm, and knee. I stop for a moment hiding behind a
big stone, thinking for every dying possibility and the possibility of being
found dead by another hunter. I think if I die here then it might be
troublesome for my dead bodies. But, this child might be dead if I don’t kill those
goblins right now. But�" �"Aaa!
Whatever! I unsheathe my iron sword, my only
friend to survive. I prepare my mind and my body for a fight I never want to
have. With a big jump, I dashed toward one
of the goblin ”Haaaa!!!” With a big shout I swing my sword
with all my might. Red drawn across my eyes, blood gushing out from a
decapitated head of a green creature, rotating midair, leaving traces of red on
the air, then a second after, a head rolled on the ground facing my direction.
A green colored head with a long nose rolled on the snow, its blood taints the
pure white snow with its dark red color. Not a second after, a body thump the
ground, soulless, a river of blood leaving its decapitated neck. “Eeww, you all are really disgusting
aren’t you?” The rest of the goblins turn their
head towards my direction, only their eyes are fixed toward their decapitated
friend’s head HAARRR!!! They let out a threatening voice from
their ugly mouth “Danger Human! Kill we must! Human
kill friend!” Hiiiii!! I never knew that goblins
could talk! From what I heard in town, they couldn’t even say “A”. But just
know he said an almost proper sentence! Their head moved left to right with
eyes glancing here and there, seems like they’re searching for their weapon. I’m
glad that I took away their weapon. Ha! I know
I’m a genius!! Now it’s time for them to run away. “Harr!! Weapon gone! Human has
weapon!” Just after their incomplete sentence
blurred out, they moved their hand to their back and pull out a small knife
with their hand Daamn! I
didn’t think of a secondary weapon!! Aaah!! Why am I such an idiot!!! As their body starts to bend down and
ready to fight, my adrenaline raises to its peak. Their body isn’t huge but their
10-year-old-human-like body could move quite fast and their random movement is
something hard to predict. That. Will be a nuisance if I don’t react fast to
their movement. As I stood frozen in front of the
fire, there are only 5 meters between me and my potential-death separated by a
small bonfire. One of them starts to move forward, while the others stay behind
and strafe side way. Tch, they
want to surround me eh? Not happening! I slip my hand through my cloak to
reach a small knife holster on my hip, I grab one of my throwing knife with my
left, and throw it to the goblin on the rear. Unfortunately he dodges it
easily, well it doesn’t matter as he now knows that I won’t let him has outsmart
me. But it was fool of me, I put too much
attention to the goblins on the back and didn’t pay attention to the one
approaching me head on. The goblin let out a shout and jumps towards me. Haarr!! Like a curtain on a stage, the fire
pushed aside and the show begin, my opponents swiftly approaches me, swinging
its knife towards my head Startled, I swing my iron sword but didn’t
hit him, and he passed me instead. Suddenly I feel a pain aching from my left When I see my left arm, it’s already
flowed with blood. My own blood. Is it only me, but I couldn’t even
feel the cold steel that tore my flesh a moment ago. As I thought I’m not ready
for this kind of action Tch, bleed
on the first strike eh? So uncool... As my blood dripping uncontrollably,
my fear of dying before supper starts peeking through my shadow. I hold tight the sword on my right
arm, with this condition I wouldn’t be able to strike a hard blow but I could
still put up a fight. The situation turns worse than what I expected. Well after all, after that first
strike I’m already surrounded both side by these goblins, I can’t easily run. Bad.. This
is bad.. At this rate not only the child could be in danger, but me too.. I need to retreat and need to be
fast.. I push my brain to its extend, just
to find a way escaping this doesn’t-look-good situation, and if I retreat this
boy should come with me. Should I do
it?! Should I use it?! No, that kind of thing is bad! Real bad! I MUST not use
that power. What the heck should I do?!?! Then an idea strikes my head. Ah yes! I
still have that thing! A critical-can’t-run-away-situation solver!! Rigidly, I move my left hand and put
it in the small pockets behind my waist, searching for the right thing to use.
The high tense situation give me chills to the bone, one second of unawareness
could lead me to my death. Fire in front of me starts to sway
and fade slowly, as I began to stabilize my breath the fire was gone leaving
traces of ember on the ground. The night feels colder, twice than it was
before. My body starts to shiver from the cold as The goblin starts to give
more intimidating sound. They didn’t give a space for me to relax, their
hostile intent keeps stabbing me with unsafetiness, their eyes following my
movement restlessly, nor my mind or body could tense down even a bit. With no more hesitation the Goblin
which stood in front of me dashed and slashed downward, fortunately I still
have a time to react and rolled on the snow, facing both of the Goblins. This is it!
The thing! I finally find what I searched! I must use
it now. I push the tip of the thing just
before both of them jumped on me, I evade their knife just enough to keep my
face safe and proceed to dash forward, backing them. As I push the steel tip of the glass
cylindrical thing, which contains Firefly Lucerin and Mimic Liquid. It gives a
‘CLING’ sound a moment before the dim-lighted particle dive into the mimic
liquid. As the golden light inside begin to
expand, I throw it a meter from their green feet. With a blinding light the ‘Flash
Lantern’ activates just in time when they head faced me and I turned my head
around. KHAAAA!!! The goblins shout a painful cry after
the flash fill the entire place with a golden light, most likely their eyes are
as good as burned right now Alright, I
only have about 10 seconds! I sheathe my sword, run towards the
child, grab his hips with my right hand, and carry him on my back with less than
5 second. As I thought this child is as light as 2 or 3 flour sacks, it’s so
light that it doesn’t really affect my speed. I run even faster than when I came here,
I pierced through the dark night, I don’t care about the chills my body tell me
and the blood that flows from my arm, for now running away from the goblins is
what I care most. Slowly, the light disappear from behind me, my tense build up
as I know that the goblins must have recovered from their ‘blinded’ state, but
as I begin to blend into the dark white forest, I sense none of them following
us. My last effort of running away, the Flash
Lantern. It worth 1500 Val.. Sigh.. Well at least nor me or this child is dead. After approximately 15 minutes of
frozen-woods-dashing, I brake my leg to catch my breath. Now that I’ve stopped,
my brain starts to tell me which part of my body that needs most treatment. My
arm still tingling with pain, my legs exhausted from the sudden exercise, My
lung need more oxygen, my brain need more rest, my stomach need more filling. Fortunately, my bleed had stopped, thanks
to the temperature, it stopped. “Hah.. Hah.. Hah.. Is this child..
Hah.. Cold resistance?? Hah.. Hah...” Between my panting, I see the child
that I put down, sitting between two trees. He is probably sleeping, since his move
less limbs are still producing heat and pulse. I wonder how
could he sleep in this normally-not-suited-for-sleep situation. But- His body trembles a bit, curling up,
trying to warm himself Well after all, he only has that
tattered cloak before his cloth to keep him warm, if it’s still in a good
condition then his cloak would absolutely be warmer than my thin cloak. But it
had holes here and there, it literally has no use “So you’re not cold resistance huh?” I unhook the button from my cloak and
take it off to put it on him. And fortunately (or unfortunately) snows start to
fall, painting the black and dark woods with a bright white color just after I
put off my cloak. Brr... Gee.
It’s so damn cold out here. Boy you should be grateful, helped by this overly kind
and gentle man. I think his tattered cloak isn’t much
needed anymore. I stretched his curled up body to
ease me doing my job. I took my knife to cut off the cloak.
Just when- Eh?? EEEeehhh?!?!?? “EEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeehhhhh!?!??!?!?” I let out a loud scream after the
cloak spreads wide, following the knife that cut it apart He’s is not
using anything behind his cloak?!! So that’s
the reason why I don’t see a any pants below this knee long cloak.. I mean not
that!!!!- -HE!! HE IS
A ‘SHE’?!?!!??! SO SHE IS
NOT ‘HE’?!?!?! The I-thought-this-boy-is-‘he’ is
actually a girl! The night get much brighter after a
group of cloud gets swayed by the wind, letting the moonshine baths the whole white
forest in its dim soothing light. Before my eyes, her long golden hair
spread all over her body bathed by the smooth light, its golden color shines
reflecting the moonlight, brighter than the whole pure white snow that rain us,
and from between its intertwined thread of hair I could see a mounds of
marshmallow protruding among the hairs, and at the end of the hair there is a hidden
treasure every man longing to see, revealed in front of my eyes. I just stand there frozen, not by the
cold but by how am I supposed to do now. I see an unripe yet indescribable beauty
worth of millions Val in this snowy night. AAhh!! What
am I thinking?!?! The girl body moved and curled up, suddenly
covering its innermost beauty Aww what a
waste... The HECK?!! He- I mean she is naked in this cold night it must be
cold! It’s natural to cover herself! I mean
it’s.. She of course.. That might be... Aaaaah!!! I hastily put my cloak around her and
cover her once more with the half-cut tattered cloak to make sure she is warm
enough. After finally catching my breath, I lift the deep-sleeping girl from
the ground and continue to walk silently through the woods while having my head
rained by the snow, heading home after this tiresome night. Gladly those goblin
might not chasing her anymore I arrived at my house in Adderone
City, and the last thing I remembered before going to sleep is putting proper
clothes to this girl while trying to look away and held my rumbling stomach.
I’m glad I still have my old clothes, it fits her. And I’m glad both of us are
okay. For now I
think it’d be the best to get some rest and worry about everything later..
[16 December
1698] 23:56 (Adderone Region Time) *****
[17 December
1698] 08:12 (Adderone Region Time)
Chirp Chirp Chirp~ I was awoken by the noisy birds chirps
outside followed by the dim light coming from my window’s curtains Hm? Why am I
on the couch? Sleep walking? I raise my body from the couch and walk
to my bed to catch more sleep, I slip through the blanket while still keeping
my eyes shut. Then- “Huu~” What??
Someone breathe in front of my face... But... I
live alone.... I peek a little bit with my sleepy
eyes, somehow it’s a very heavy eyelid, and then I see a bright skin of a young
girl’s face sleeping soundly beside me Eh?? EEeeehhh?!?!?! BRAG!! “Itta!!![1]” I do a reflect almost-back-flip
because of the shock and land on my head on the ground on my own house. It
hurts..... Ah yes its right, I remember now. After putting my old clothes to a
girl, I sleep on the couch to prevent my unconscious self to caused troubles I lift my head up from the ground and
sit beside the bed. I faced my face to the bed just to see a pair of green eyes
blinking in front of me.. Eh?? I strafe backward with my hands and
butt in response to the ‘surprise!-I-wake-up!’ event in front of me “Ahahahaha, aaaaah... Sooo, you wake
up little girl??” I asked hastily while putting a weird
smiling face. Hoping the girl doesn’t scream by a man sudden appearance, even
though people said my face is quite friendly (subjective thought included)
everyone could think this situation as kidnapping or another crime act. She got up and sits silently on my
bed. Surprisingly she only shook his head left and right a little bit Now I’m glad that I don’t have such a
scary face like a certain old man “Ve...” She opens her mouth a little bit,
trying to speak “Venus Grigoria, seventeen” She said it with a calm tone and a
somehow flat expression “Ha.. Hi Grigoria-san[2].. My
name is Rune Midgard, it’s nice to see you wake up healthy” Aaaa so her
name is Venus Grigoria Seventeen... ... ... What?.. Wait.... “Grigoria-san, how old are you???” I ask her to make sure what I thought
is true or false “Seventeen” As I
thought...... Whaaaat?!?!?!?!
With that young face, small body, undeveloped breast!!!! Seventeen!?!?!?!?!?!?!!??!!??!?!!??! “ AAAAA!! WHAAAAT?!?!?!?! JUST WHAT
IN THE WORLD HAPPENING?!?!?! IS THERE AN ERROR IN THIS DAMNED WOOORLD?!?!” I hold my head with both hand and
shout to the ceiling after realizing that I’ve seen and touched the naked body
of a same age girl as me “Sobs..
Noisy.. Hungry..” I
stopped my complaints to the whole world after hearing her words. A second
after that, her stomach let out a small rumble followed by my low pitched
stomach rumble. Her face become red and she hold her head down while hugging
her own belly, I could hear a small sob coming from her Bad... This is bad. She’s absolutely
hungry, and I haven’t bought anything. My plan of feasting got delayed for last
night rescue mission. I hope I have something left in the kitchen.. “Ah yes! Food! I’ll make something
soon. Don’t worry” She lifts her face and gives me a pure sweet smile
with a wide round
teary pair of eye with hope and happiness filling both side of her innocent eyes Ah.. What an
irresistible response... But does a
17 years old girl actually act like this? I walk hastily into the kitchen,
preparing to cook something to fill both of our empty stomach While I could hear she explores my
small house, probably inspecting every small spot on my messy house. I wonder
how I ended up in this super-eventful morning. Sigh... It
starts because of that Drops, to that Goblins, and now this girl. Ah... I
wonder if this is the end of my quiet and peaceful morning or a beginning of noisy
days But, somehow I think, I will attached
to her from now on.
-Prologue End- “I’m not smart, I’m not strong too,
but I’m a Human!” -Rune Midgard-
Story by: Emmanuel Fena
[1] Ittai: An expression of getting hurt; can
be shortened to ‘Itta’ [2] -san: A polite way to address someone © 2016 Emmanuel FenaAuthor's Note
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