Been busy with a little something

Hello, and welcome back, my lovely readers. Cozy here!

Well, for this post, uhm. I understand that the story is still going at a rather slow pace despite the increased amount of time I have to type it. Well, I have been busy. With the story.

My main priority is to reach Messiah 20 before my school ends and I enlist for National Service. Well, that's compulsory so there is nothing I can do about it. If, and if, I say, if they let me bring my smartphone into the camp, maybe I can continue the story from there. The story will take longer at that rate, though.

It is relatively harder to type on the phone than it is to type on a solid keyboard with a big screen and an easy to control mouse. Now I sort of regret that I didn't start the story early enough, but I've already promised myself to take my time writing this. It may feel a bit long and draggy, but I hope I do my best to write it.

Not all adventures have the characters dive headfirst into action, though that is an exciting take for the story. If it were, I may as well call this Action, not Fantasy. I may as well write about that other story idea I had, regarding the Six Paths of the Desire Realm selecting a candidate from a dystopia to resolve a crisis. That one would be pure action as a main driving force of the plot with other themes like romance and comedy and other themes taking a backseat, and an exhilarating read if I may, but I won't feel as satisfied as I would be writing Words of Power Quest.

I really am excited for Words of Power Quest. So excited, that I think I'm insane. XD

Look at this marvel. This, is an aluminium rod. What makes this aluminium rod so special, you may ask?

This would be me filing the aluminium rod down to shape.

Three hours of progress got me this far. The entire thing is hand-made, and I literally spent hours holding a file, and filing the rod down to shape.

Another 6 hours to do the remainder of both sides. It was easier on the second side because I picked up a good method to file it down by hand. The tricky part isn't the filing, though - It's angling one side such that the blade portion thins out from the base. That really makes it feel like a stiletto dagger for piercing, and I get that good vibe when I run my thumb from the base to the tip, how it thins out like this really is a dagger.

I am really afraid, though. XD Although this is a prop, and though it is made of aluminium (Meaning it's not a real weapon), I could potentially get arrested for defying the arms manufacturing law, since I have no permit to make a weapon. It's not a weapon, though. It really isn't - It's a prop. The blade part bends, and I softened the tip such that it only looks shiny. Shine bright like Rihanna's forehead~ XD

I made this dagger prop to get a better feel for how Katachi would attack and act during the action scenes. Though Katachi's dagger is wooden and his sword is steel (SPOILERS FOR HERALD WHOOPS), I have a dagger made of metal (aluminium to be precise) and a sword made of wood. Ha. Hahah. What a reversal.

The materiel affects the weapon's weight, inertia, swing speed and stuff, so I strapped a few weights throughout the wooden sword's hilt and blade to make it feel heavier. The dagger's fine, though - Lightweight wood weighs about the same as aluminium, but the uh, the durability of the wooden dagger is much higher than this aluminium bendy stick with me, so I have to exercise caution and practice their attack patterns in a spacious area where I can roll, slide, leap, kick against, and so on. (I'm not that athletic, though, so feats like backflips and cartwheels and those kinds of stuff... Nah. Can't do it. I can only imagine those.)

In any case, this is a small update on what I have been up to. Another good session of filing and the dagger prop should be ready for use. I'll make the action scenes that much more fluid and beautiful with this giving me a good sensual aid, hopefully.

Signing out! Peace!

Cozy

Messiah 10 : Eliasbury

Night fell rapidly as the two refilled their water pouches from the river stream. Their tired faces changed into ones of relief as they sat on the soft grass next to the river.

R : "Haah... This is nice. Fresh, open wilderness, and earth that doesn't smell of soot or grime."

K : "Soot or grime?"

R : "Well, yes. Rugnud has a lot of mines, remember? There's bound to be deposits of sand and coal, and sweaty areas for miners to rest. It's hard to find a nice spot there where the air is so clear, and invigorating."

K : "... It's cold at night, though."

R : "Well, there's that, but it beats having to smell some random person's sweat or vomit throughout the stay. I would rather take a little cool over that stench." (... That's also why I often hunt in Findel regions, but I don't think it's smart for him to know that.)

K : "... To each his own, I guess."

R : (I'm sticky. I should take a bath.) "Well, I'm all sticky, so I'm going to take a bath."

K : "... Go ahead, then."

R : (Rejecting my invitation?) "What, you don't want to join me in a bath?"

*Cozy's Notes : Yes, Katachi, join Roberia in the bathing. Slip your foot on a smooth pebble and die, and let the story end right here. XD This is ACTUALLY a choice if I ever make this into a visual novel, you know. XD That is literally the saddest bad end possible - Slipping on a pebble to the bottom of the stream while trying to get away from Roberia, and inhaling too much water into the lungs. One of the most pitiable ways to die, if I may. XD*

K : (... She's making this hard on me. It may be dark now, but that doesn't mean I can't see her. The moon's pretty bright. Still, I better make some sort of excuse...) "... Well, I'll be watching over our stuff while you enjoy your bath. I wouldn't want some traveler or animal take our stuff away, especially since we don't have any replacements left."

R : (! Right, there's the issue of our stuff getting snagged away by some groundswine or raccoon...) "If you say so. I'll leave our stuff to you."

*Cozy's Notes : Wow, you would trust a stranger you JUST married that deep, huh, Roberia... Well, I am not surprised. You would expect honesty since you offered honesty. Rugnud culture.*

K : "... Just try not to take too long."

Roberia took some of her clothes, and headed off to the river to wash up.

*** ***

R : "Ahh, so refreshing~"

K : (I hear nothing, I hear nothing, I hear nothing...)

While Roberia enjoys the cooling, clean bath, Katachi is trying his darndest not to look at her, not to hear the splashing sounds, and not to fantasize about anything strange.

R : (This river water is so soothing... Ahh.) "This is the best, Katachi! I'll take my time here a little bit longer!"

Nothing echoed back.

R : (No response? I'll take it that he heard me then.)

*Cozy's Notes : Heh. Silence means consent. Even in the past, consensual rules worked like that - qui tacet consentire videtur. "He who is silent is taken to agree". And that, surprisingly, is one of the only things left from history that is passed down to our current era without much corruption in its general structure.*

R : (... I hope it's fine for me to urinate in this river?)

*Cozy's Notes : On that note, children, DO NOT relieve yourselves in river upstreams. Everyone after you, along the riverside, downstream, is going to suffer. They're gonna scoop water and go like "What the- Why is there a piece of faeces in my water?" or something like "Why does this water taste so... Weird?" PLEASE, don't.*

*** ***

Roberia twisted and squeezed her hair dry, and walked towards Katachi.

K : "You're done, then?"

R : "Yes. I bathed and relieved myself. It's your turn."

K : (Relieved herself? But, I don't recall hearing her coming out of the water to relieve herself?)

*Cozy's Notes : Yes, people are SENSITIVE about this. 'Am I going to wake up the next morning with a piece of turd or extra 'salt' in my stew?' This is a serious matter. Don't do it like how Roberia did. Please follow a more righteous and morally appropriate example.*

Katachi walked over to a spot between a tree and the river, and dug a small hole next to the tree with his dagger. He dug and dug, until the hole was large enough to contain his bowels.

He relieved himself above the small hole, and then buried his bowels underneath the sand he had piled up.

When his business had been done, he picked up his ragged towel from the ground and headed for the river.

K : (The water's cold...)

He dipped into the river slowly and scrubbed himself clean with a small brush.

*** ***

Roberia sat beside the campfire, and gazed at its dancing flame. The night coolness had started to become harsh as Katachi spread the groundsheet and blanket out onto the floor.

K : "... It's ready."

R : "Ah. Right, thank you."

Roberia walked towards the groundsheet and unfastened the belts and straps around her shoes. She crawled and snuggled against the blanket, and had reached a comfortable position quick.

Katachi picked a few more firewood, and kindled the fire a bit.

K : "It won't last throughout the whole night, but we didn't exactly have time to gather more wood, so this would have to do."

R : "It's not a problem, is it? You can always use that rune thing of yours to keep us warm."

Katachi replied back with a stupefied face.

K : "... That's not a sound idea, Roberia. Kaba runes are too hot. The blanket might burn."

R : "Oh. It's that strong?"

*Cozy's Notes : YOU DON'T SAY. OF COURSE IT IS, IT BURNT WOOD. IT BURNT. WOOD. ROBERIA. GOD-DAMN. I KNOW YOU'RE THE DEUTERAGONIST AND A TITULAR CHARACTER, BUT REALLY, DOE. WHY YOU DO THIS*

K : "Yeah."

Katachi slipped into the groundsheet, and faced his back against her.

R : (Back-to-back again, huh... Findeli people don't really show much passion, do they...)

*Cozy's Notes : That's a cultural issue. In Rugnud, marriage is considered a great love pact formed between the couple, and those married usually express love and affection passionately. In their case however, for one, Katachi is young and doesn't know how to please a girl, for another, he's not even sure if he likes her. Yet.*

K : (... My arm still hurts...)

R : "... Katachi."

K : "... Yes?"

R : "Promise me you won't do something stupid like that again."

K : "... Like what?"

R : "Throwing your life away like that. The intention is appreciated, but I was... I was really scared, you know. I was afraid that you would have just died from battling Yvolki."

She leaned her back against his own.

R : "Don't endanger your life like that for me. Ever again. I can fend for myself."

K : (She's angry...) "... Okay."

The response cheered her up a little bit, and her hissing tone became gentler.

R : "Good."

Roberia turned around, and tried to wrap her arm around Katachi-

K : "!! Ahh!"

R : "!? What's wrong?"

K : "... My... My wound..."

R : "!!" (Oh yeah, his left arm was bleeding quite profusely earlier! I can't believe I forgot about that!) "Sorry about that. I... I forgot for a moment."

She retracted her hand and turned around in shame.

R : (... He must think badly of me now...)

K : (It's freezing, even with this blanket on...)

Roberia curled up into a foetal shape and rummaged through her thoughts a bit.

R : (I... I wouldn't be seen as insensitive, would I? I touched his wound, even though it was so clear that he was obviously injured. He even slept on his right arm, so his wound wouldn't be agitated. He wouldn't start to hate me for this, would he?... He probably does. I imposed on him pretty badly, to have him marry me despite his reluctance, to have him put up with me. And now, this... He's probably angry at me...)

K : (She argued that the cold wouldn't be a big problem, but she's not accustomed to this, is she? She probably just wanted to feel warmer, seeing how she kept shoving her back onto me. It is pretty cold, so I guess I can understand her desire to keep warm.)

*Cozy's Notes : Two differing thoughts at the same time is actually quite confusing and hard to write. I mean, most stories have a single, clear focus, like a centralized focus on a certain character's feelings, before the story shifts in angle to the other character's thoughts. Having two separate thoughts on the same issue, at the same time is like having my brain's left and right side each take on a personality, and have them think and debate with each other at the same time. I'm just glad I did a (self-proclaimed) good job on it.*

Katachi shifted his body backwards, and their backs touched, and glued to each other ever so gently.

R : "!!" (This is his back! He... He doesn't hate me?)

K : (There. She shouldn't have to worry that much about the cold anymore.)

Katachi straightened his relatively smaller back as much as he could, to increase the exposure between their backs. Roberia followed suit, and their feet, legs, butt and back tethered to each other with an unseen force.

K : "Good night, Roberia."

R : (... Good night, Katachi...)

As the boy lulled himself to slumber, the girl wept a bit, and snuggled against the small, minuscule boy.

*** ***

The two packed their things, and continued on their journey.

A long day of nothing occurred to them, which was a blessing greater than any other they could have asked for - A time focused solely on moving forward towards Eliasbury.

*Cozy's Notes : D'oh. I am NOT going to write about every second they spend in their existence.*

*** ***

And finally, the two arrived at the stone-walled town Eliasbury, just as the sun's last rays reached the horizon.

R : "We made it!"

K : "Made it..."

The two looked at each other, with a satisfied and relieved grin.

K : "Heh. We actually made it. I was worried that the path would have gotten dark."

R : "Yeah. We won't have any problems if it were to rain."

K : "True, that too would be a huge problem. There aren't any mountains or hills around, so finding a cave to shelter in is hard. What worries me the most is when it rains while we are walking. Fereport from here is a straight route with vast open plains and no means of shelter."

R : "Let us hope the weather is with us then. For now, shelter is important."

K : "Yes it is. Where should we spend the night, Roberia?"

R : "... How about that inn over there? 'A good night's sleep at an affordable cost! We serve all kinds of customers!' That sounds pretty friendly."

K : "... Okay."

They walked towards the inn with a simple wooden sign that says 'Inn'.

*Cozy's Notes : Huh. Pretty generic. I like that.*

*** ***

A distinct, neighing sound reached her ears.

R : (Horses?!) "!! They have horses!"

Roberia excitedly ran towards the stable of the inn with her hand outstretched, gently caressing their ears. Meanwhile, Katachi hoisted their bags into the inn to register for a room.

D : "Curses! Where did it go? I know I have it somewhere around here!"

K : (? A familiar voice?)

Katachi slowly walked up towards the counter, and from the clerk's desk emerged a figure he had despised.

K : "... Dante."

A spiteful grin formed on his face immediately upon seeing Katachi once again.

D : "... Well, look who it is. The heretic scum who got me expelled."

K : "I am here to book a room."

Dante smirked, and pretentiously looked into his notebook, fingering the rows with his left hand and 'searching' the logs, as if looking for something.

D : "Oh, I'm sorry, we're all out of rooms. Come back never! Hahahahahah!"

K : "..." (A ring?)

Katachi squeezed the bag in his arms slightly.

K : (That log looks pretty empty though.) "... You have nothing on your logs."

D : "!! ..." (Guh! He noticed... Shit. You won't best me!) "... This is the checkout log. This being empty means that all of our rooms are taken up already. Our other, more worthy customers are still using their rooms."

K : "... So be it, then. I'll-"

The door behind Katachi opened, and Roberia walked towards the counter.

D : (! It's a cute one!) *keeps left hand beneath desk* "Hey there, miss, you from around town? Because I would have noticed you sooner, with how cute you are."

Roberia's face changed into one of disgust. Almost instantly.

R : "... That is one of the most disgusting ways to flirt with me. We're leaving."

*Cozy's Notes : OHOHOHOHOHO, GET BURNED, SON*

K : "Where should we stay for the night, then?"

D  : (That orphan and cutie?! They're together!?)

S : "HOLD IT! PLEASE, WAIT!!"

Out from a side room, a lean lady wearing a brown dress and apron came forth and smacked Dante in the back of his head.

D : "Ow!"

S : "I am sorry! I am deeply, deeply sorry for my husband's misconduct!- ?... !!!" *eyes widen*

K : (That's the girl from when I sneaked out, Sherayal, isn't it?) "Husband?"

R : (!! That glare... She recognizes me?)

*Cozy's Notes : Refer to Chapter 8, when he tried sneaking out of the library and caught these two trying to fuck-I mean, have sex- That's not it either, I meant penetrate- Uhm...connect heart-to-heart via genitalia... They're doing something related to pushing the penis pOnOs into the vagina vagOOO. WHOOPS DIRTY TERMS. Better strike them out - They don't do much since they are somewhat readable, but I can still try to be non-vulgar.*

S : "... Aren't you... Aren't you Matal-!!"

R : (Oh no! She's going to blow my cover!!)

Roberia jumped on her and covered her mouth with her hand, and pushed Sherayal against the wall.

R : "... Can we... Can we have a little chat over there?"

S : *gasp* "Cer-... Certainly! Anything for you, sweetie!"

The two girls headed off into a guest room to chat, leaving the two boys outside.

*** ***

R : "That was too close for comfort."

S : "You're the Princess of Rugnud, aren't you?"

R : "Yes, I am, but keep it down! My hu- I mean, my partner there doesn't know that I am the princess."

S : (Did she almost say 'husband'?) "He... He doesn't?"

R : "No. And I want him to stay this way. Don't mention my name or my status as a princess before him, I beg of you."

S : (Maybe she will pay me a good amount for this?) "... Oh, I don't know... This mouth of mine is pretty loose..."

R : (Figures. They always want a few extra coins.)

Roberia reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small pouch with a bit of gold within.

R : "... As much as I would have liked paying you a bigger sum, I am now out on a journey, so I can't access my castle's funds immediately. I would have paid two full gold bars, but this is what little I have on me now."

S : "!! Gold!! Real, shiny, quality Rugnud gold!" (Two gold bars? That's wonderful! I don't have to work that desperately anymore!)

R : "Listen - You keep your mouth shut about me being a Princess, and I'll reward you with an appropriate amount of gold. But there's a bonus for you, if you want."

S : "!!! A bonus! I'll take it! What do you need me to do?"

R ; (She's pretty avaricious...) "Make sure that nobody in this town questions my identity. Not even a single peep or clue that I am Matalpalhallafaelladrapahamo Roberia. Katachi must not find out for as long as possible. If you do, I'll bestow upon you a gift greater than all the gold in the world, when you send us off."

S : "Greater, than all the gold in the world?" (I won't have to suffer and work harder to pay for that stupid Dante's gambling habits again!) "What could possibly be that good, to be greater than all that gold?"

R : (She bit the bait.) "This."

Roberia withdrew a beautiful feather - Yvolki's feather - from her chest pocket. Sherayal's eyes met the feather, and entered a trance immediately.

S : "... This..."

R : "-is Yvolki's feather. It's worth more than all the gold in this world." (I'm not too certain on this feather's real value, but hopefully this is convincing enough...)

*Cozy's Notes : The feather is actually worth a LOT. A WHOLE lot more than what Roberia thinks it actually is. Roberia's really ignorant of the feather's price - In another sense, everyone else overvalues the feather way too much. It is enough to have men starting wars and massacring each other to gain possession of it because it has a hypnotic ability to make the owner's dreams surface. I'll leave the talk about this for another day. Well, its importance in the Messiah route isn't too significant, at least. (#EyeGlintHint)*

S : (... If I get that feather, I would never have to work again in my life. I can leave Dante for the slums, find myself a man who really loves me for who I am, settle down, and have children... And when we are done, all that wealth can be passed on to our descendants to come...)

Sherayal collapsed with a huge and greedy grin on her face, drowning in her imagination.

R : "... I'll take that as a 'I got the message'."

S : "Yes, yes, I hear you! I'll do my best to ensure that nobody in this town calls you the Princess of Rugnud. I promise!"

*** ***

Their deal had not been secretive.

A tall, lean man outside the guest room, comparable to a bundle of sticks tied together into a human shape, overheard everything.

"... The Princess of Rugnud, in Eliasbury? This is great news!"

He ran out from the shrubbery and tree, and headed back to his office as quickly as his skinny legs could carry him.

"I got a tip that she would be visiting, but to think it was actually true... This is wonderful, wonderful news! The truth must be known!"

He reached the door and tried to turn the doorknob, but his excitement caused him to charge into the door before he had even pulled the door open.

"Oof! Ah! Ow... I need to make this a two-way someday..."

The man took a step back while pulling the door, and then a step forward into his office. Inside were a lot of bamboo slabs with articles written on them. On his desk was a small wooden sign that said "Mandred".

Mandred picked up a knife, and began carving his next story immediately.

*** ***

D : "..." (I can't believe this heretic found a beautiful partner like her. What does he have that I don't?)

K : "..." (Those two are taking a while...)

D : (I hate him so much right now. When did he get all these nice things? He's become so different I won't be able to call him scum at this rate...) "... Why are you even here in the first place, you unwanted heretic?"

K : "... I'm traveling. Traveling with her- Or, rather, well, she's the one traveling with me."

D : "... Lying is not good for you, scum. I thought Segus was against lying unless you had to."

K : (He probably meant 'One ought to tattle only lies of white when need be.' He's right on that, but I am not lying.) "I am not lying, and I see no need for me to lie to you anyway."

D : "... Yeah, keep telling yourself that, liar."

Katachi stared at him, and sighed.

K : "... I had imagined you to be more matured than this, now that you are wed to that lady Sherayal."

D : "Shut up! What do you know? It's not like you've married! You don't know how I feel!"

K : "... You might be right on the part where I don't know how you feel. Everyone does have a different marriage."

D : "That's right! So keep your mouth to yourself!" (Hah! He admitted it!)

Katachi checked his pouch for the amount of gold he needs for the stay.

D : (... Wait. He's keeping silent?... 'might be right on the part'?) "... Wait a minute... You..."

Katachi heard the cue word he wanted to hear. He nipped his thumb and index finger through his ragged shirt, and pulled out a white-gem ring attached onto a chain necklace.

D : "... That's... That's the ring you- !!!!!"

Dante's eyes widened so much, it almost appeared as though they would pop out.

D : "... You... You actually managed to marry that girl?... "

Katachi kept the necklace back into his shirt and remained silent.

D : "I don't believe it. You..."

The two girls exited the guest room, back into the lounge.

D : "You... You did that with the red-haired girl already?!"

A silence befell the room

K : "Wha- No! We haven't reached that point! Don't group us as you did for your relationship with Sherayal! We're not that vulgar!!"

S : "!! You... YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?!"

K : "!! Uhh, uhm... Yes. I did, senior Sherayal. I... I know what happened between you two, sad as it may be."

Sherayal's face turned red with shame.

S : "You... Recognize me... Ahh... AHH... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

The girl with the brown dress and apron vanished into the next room immediately.

Messiah 9 : Penance

R : (Yvolki? I've heard of it before! It's been here since a long time ago!)

It did not bode well for either of them to fight any longer. Roberia knew with her heart that they had to run away quickly. For them to challenge an eldritch, antecedent creature like Yvolki, whom has lived long enough to have interacted with at least 7 legends directly, is akin to ants facing a mischievous human, hoping that they would not be crushed by Man's curiosity and little regard of life.

Regaining her balance, Roberia picked up the sword and ran out towards Katachi quickly.

*** ***

The great white Firebird stepped forward, its wings outspread and its head cocked and primed towards Katachi.

R : "Katachi! Run away! That's a Divine Beast-class creature!!"

Roberia had come running towards Katachi, her heavy broadsword dragging across the ground.

K : (That sound... Something heavy-?? Roberia? She has her sword back??? When did that happen?)

*Cozy's Notes : He didn't even notice the sword when he was running to her before, it goes to show how chaotic the entire situation is. Or, if you'd like to argue otherwise, she held the sword in a pose that hid it from his view. Whichever theory suits you.*

As he turned away, the beast lunged its beak towards him. Out of pure instinct, Katachi loosened one of his leg muscles and slumped down rapidly, dodging it barely while catching himself with his palms.

Its neck withdrew, and it took another close aim at Katachi, who now stared the beast back in the eyes.

R : (! It's looking at his feet, not his body. It is trying to predict where he can dodge towards, and limiting his movement-)

Katachi leapt towards the beast, with a golden 定 on his chest. With his palms, he pushed the beast along with him, away from Roberia.

*Cozy's Notes : That is another interesting way of using Constant Velocity. Though if you do plan on attempting something like this, exercise caution - If you're trying to push a whole mountain, you should first worry about your body flying forward into the rocks. You can potentially crush yourself into mush with that because your durability as a human isn't that high to begin with. Bone is hard, but brittle.*

K : (Even if I am to give my own life... If it can save another...!) "Run away!"

The boy shoved the beast with him all the way to the middle of the plains. The beast, surprised by the sudden and unprecedented attack, extinguished its flames and shook its head in confusion, trying to look behind at where it's going to land. Katachi prayed that he would live from this height, and undid the Word of Power on his chest.

The two fell.

The beast, in an uncomfortable and panicked state, went crashing into the the field headfirst, pushing apart another mound of land. Katachi, being lighter in comparison, fell onto the beast's belly simultaneously, and bounced off onto a sandy path in the middle of the field.

Where the soft earth did little to cushion the beast's rough collision, the sandy path's abrasive nature was more unforgiving. Katachi slid along the path, the little rocks and bits of rough, unrefined sand lacerating what little skin had been left on his arm.

K : (!! Pain!! It hurts!!) "Aaaack!!!"

The little slits on his sleeves opened wide, and stretched to its fullest, as his arm ground against the sandy path. His body, out of reflex, changed in position, and he tumbled after a good bit of sliding to cushion the impact.

Katachi held his arm in pain as he glanced over toward the creature, still immobilized from the crash.

K : (... Divine Beast-class creature, like Hraxiif? I haven't heard of a dragon-like creature like this, though. 解释! Explain identity - Divine Beast!)

In that instant, it became clear to him as the hoarse whisper echoed information into the back of his head.

(Yvolki, the Bird of Dream. A creature that has lived since the arrival of Kavnel. Yvolki is known to be the counterpart of Hraxiif, the Wolf of Fear. The most notable records of it include being a messenger of Kavnel at one point, assisting Kafki in the extraction of the Dream Poison, shielding Diehl and Urdythari from a sneak attack by bandits, guarding and raising Sha'koth's reincarnate Pinrae, thr-)

K : (Too much information!)

The word faded off his chest quickly.

*Cozy's Notes : Wise choice. Yvolki has done LOADS of things, being as old as it is. If he had the Word of Power recall every single detail Yvolki has done, he would suffer from Memory Overload.

On a side note, using Understand identity would have been better for him, since explain is an elaborating term. That's another weakness of the Words of Power - Knowing which term to use is important because they are fundamentally different, and the wrong application could cost you your life if it's serious.*

Katachi gazed at the beast while gripping his left arm in pain. The wyvern, Yvolki had the shroud of black skin covering it again.

K : (Ahh! It's Yvolki... So this, is the Bird of Dream... It looks so pretty, as if... As if it's absorbing all the light around it, and letting out tiny little glints. It sort-of looks like a bird, I guess. The no-feather appearance is a bit offsetting, but that looks like a hawk, no doubt.)

As he slowly walked towards the creature, it changed back into the original wyvern form, and lifted its body off the ground slightly. It stood on all four legs once again, and stared at Katachi maliciously.

K : (!! It's awake!)

"!!!▅▄▅▂▃▂▃▂▄▄▂▅▃▄▅▂▃▃▂!!!"

The beast roared at Katachi, and started heading towards his direction. Katachi turned around, and tried to beeline away as fast as he could, only to be pinned by the beast gliding across the plains and pressing him down with its forearm.

K : (Not good! I need it to calm down, I'm not attacking it anymore! 平定! Calm mind - Yvolki!)

The word formed between the beast's eyes, and it withdrew its head for a moment.

K : (... It worked?)

-Only to have the beast shake its head furiously, and the word wore off.

K : (!!! I remember! Shelly's mentioned this before - Divine Beasts have some level of resistance against the Words of Power, because they are both granted strength from the same source!!!)

The beast, appalled and enraged by the gimmick, roared into Katachi's face.

"!!!▂▃▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▄▃▂!!!"
K : (If only there's some way to stop this thing! 了解! Understand solution to dilemma!)

The dry whisper from before echoed in his head once again.

(Amplify the power of 安 and 定 together.)

K : (安定! Calm down - Yvolki!)

Two words formed above its eyes this time, and the beast's shoulders drooped and lowered slowly. Its neck cringed slightly, and it stepped backwards, removing its forelimb from Katachi's body.

*** ***

*Cozy's Notes : Okay, this could get confusing, so brace yourselves. Well, then! Do you guys recall Layering magic from Lotz's lore? I hope you do! It's a form of magic that places the spells and runes over themselves repeatedly, and amplifying the result by triggering multiple attacks with a single attack - Much like how demolitions work with a fuse connected to make all bombs explode at the same time.

Layering is a technique used to amplify the result. What we have here, however, works under a different law. Much like how magic works under its own law, and how these Curse Words function under their own law. Think of these as moss and algae working together to form a lichen. They combine and create a new organism with its own property. So, where people think adding two WoPs together increases its precedence level by 2 fold, it actually boosts by 6 fold.

The fun and annoying thing is, the math here seems really confusing, but well, here's my best attempt at it. If you're originally a single being, and you split into two, you form 3 entities - The twins you created, and 'yourself'. The three of you feel the same things, and what one feels is fed back to the other two. Say the twins hold hands with each other to stay together and not be separated in a crowd - The twins and 'you' receive the feeling of grabbing one's hand, and because there are three of you, the sense of touch is amplified by 9 fold.

For the scenario regarding the Words of Power, 'you' which is the power formed from the two, is not sentient. So instead of a 3 x 3 chained feedback, it's a 3 x 2 feedback - Thus 6-fold. Think of it this way - Instead of a squared increment in image power, it's more of a factorial increase. 3! = 6, 4! = 24, 5! = 120, and so on. To give a definite formula, image power = (n+1)!, where n is an integer and n > 1. The single WoP he placed onto Yvolki had a slight effect - Multiplying that effect by 6 times is amazing.

Of course, it seems overpowered, but consider the effect 安定 brings - Calm. It's not offensive or anything. Finding WoPs that can pair with each other in a sort of useful way is tough, UNLESS your WoP is a word that can be commonly used in everyday speech. (On that note, if you think about it hard enough, you can probably guess right now, the most powerful Word of Power that exists.) Have fun with your imagination.*

*** ***

The beast seemed to have simmered down as Roberia ran towards the center of the field, cutting through the grass and straight towards the two.

R : "Katachi!"

The boy's head perked up and looked in her direction. His face contorted into a weird expression when he saw the gray greatsword on her back again.

K : "Roberia! You have your sword back?! What happened?"

R : "You imbecile!!"

Katachi's cheek greeted a fist from her right hand. It hit his cheekbone hard, and his head rang with an unpleasant, dull sound.

R : "Don't do something this rash by yourself! This is a Divine Beast we're talking about! We can't even hope to challenge that thing in a fair fight- ?..."
K : "..."

R : "It's... Not attacking?"

K : "... That's the least of my worries."

R : "? What do you mean, that's the least of your worries?"

K : "..." (了解! Understand intent - Yvolki!)

A golden 解 formed on Roberia, and she heard a voice in her head.

(You two hooligans have damaged my shrine. I demand penance!)

Roberia looked back at the wyvern, whom stared back at them intently.

R : "Seriously? We have to pay this bird for its shrine's damage?"

K : "... Yes. Apparently we have to."

R : "That's nonsensical! We don't have the coin for this! This bird can't possibly use the gold anyway! What can a bird do with gold?!"

*Cozy's Notes : You'd be surprised what a bird can do with gold. Heh heh heh heh- Sorry. I made another revolting genitalia joke. That aside... Yeah, how would Yvolki use gold?*

K : "That's fine. It doesn't want gold, it wants our stuff."

R : "Our stuff?!"
K : "Yes. 'Give me half of everything you have, rounded up!' Or, well... Or so it says."

R : "... I can't believe it..."
K : "Let's go, then."

R : "!? 'Let's go'"?! What do you mean, 'Let's go'?! How can you listen to such a stupid request by a bir-"

Katachi wiped the sand stuck to his palm onto a clean part of his shirt, and covered Roberia's mouth with the cleaned hand.

R : (!?) "Mmmpf?!"
K : "Let's go."

He said nothing else, and headed towards the forest. Roberia could only follow him without complaints.

*** ***

Katachi unpacked the things from his bag once more, this time separating the items into two sets - One with one of everything, and the other stack was whatever that had been left..

As he spread the items out neatly, Roberia walked up to him and handed him something brown.

K : "! Ah, my wooden dagger!"

R : "I almost tripped over this a while ago, so... Here you go."

K : "Thanks. That saved me the trouble of having to search for it."

*** ***

The bird took a good look at the piles of items, and then back at the two.

R : "What? Are you still unsatisfied with this? We did a pretty good job separating them! You better be grateful!!"

*Cozy's Notes : Aggressive as always - Except this aggression isn't a tsundere sort of aggression, but a warrior's assertiveness. Ahh, the womanly aura she gives off... It leaves me in a trance sometimes.*

The bird looked back at the piles of adventuring items.

"!!!▅▂▃▅▄▃▅▃!!!"

Yvolki slammed the earth with its forelimb, and a strange, void circle appeared on the ground, devouring a pile before fading away.

R : (Figures. It took the pile with more stuff.)

Then, the wyvern shrunk. It shrunk, and shrunk, and the ebony skin faded off. A few flaps of the wings and a cry to check its voice affirmed itself that it had transformed into a parrot.

R : "?"
K : "?"

Y : "Waargh! Are you a follower of Dardicel, boy? Do you enjoy this setback offered to you? Waargh!"

R : (!! It spoke! A talking bird!!)
K  :(It talked?) "... No, I am a follower of Segus."

Y : "Segus? Waargh~! I see, I see! *whistle* Segus! Segus!"

K : "... Yes, I am a Segus follower... ?"

Y : "Waargh! Eyes! Eyes! *whistle* Waargh!"

K : (Eyes?)

Katachi looked into the parrot's eyes unconsciously, and purple sigils formed on its pupils. The sigils were burnt into Katachi's eyes, and he felt some sort of weird spell cast on himself.

K : (... I feel, I feel... Nauseated... Giddy... Woozy... I don't even know the meanings of the words I just used...)

*Cozy's Notes : In case you don't understand what he's talking about, 'Nauseated' was coined in 1625, 'Woozy' was coined in 1897 A.D., but they are in 1570 A.D. (Yes, a year has passed both IRL and in the story.) Heheh. The tiny, uncanny details are the best. On a side note, this little trivia is actually *bleeeeeep*. So... Yeah.*

Yvolki the parrot then flew onto Roberia's head, and plucked a feather from its wing. The feather, removed from the parrot, formed a gigantic feather that looks just like its original skin - Black and starry, just like the night sky. Its beak loosened and the feather slowly descended onto Roberia's hands.

Y : "Waargh! An offering is an offering! Blessing! *whistle* Blessing! Waargh!"

*Cozy's Notes : I've had a lot of debate and internal conflict for this chapter. Really. Should I give Yvolki the ability to speak? I thought about it from a lot of angles, and decided not to. There really is no need, no rationale, no solid meaning behind Yvolki being directly capable of human speech - So I omitted it. There's a huge meaning behind Hraxiif speaking human, though.*

R : "Blessing?"

Without staying any longer for an explanation, Yvolki took off for the shrine in the forest, and disappeared from their sight.

R : "... Well... That was weird. I didn't expect that at all."

A wooden sound was heard from behind her, and Roberia turned around - The sword which had been stabbed into the ground had changed back into a simple twig.

R : (Wha- It turned back! Damn, what a pity. Just when I got used to its weight again, it's gone! Again!)
K : "... Well... At least the bag's much lighter now, thanks to Yvolki..."

R : "... ?... !! It sure is, isn't it?"

K : "I lost the triple braid rope and the nice shoes, though. Mother Rin didn't pack extra rope for us." (Which would make sense, since we didn't have any sort of oil to soften the rope fibers.) "Such a pity."

R : "... Ah. That rope you used then..." (That nicely-prepared and well-made one with no burs he had before's gone...)

K : "... Guess I'm going to use these sabots for a while to come. It's a good thing I swapped the ones I had before for these, then."

R : "Katachi? Let's keep walking. We're wasting time, you know."

K : "... Ah, right. Eliasbury won't magically become shorter. Let's take the sandy path again."

R : "... Before that, can I get some water? I'm parched. The weather and battle sure works up a thirst!"

K : "Water? Ah, sure... !? What- No!"

R : "? What's wrong?"

Katachi's face turned glum and long as he faced Roberia bearing bad news.

K : "... Yvolki took the water pouch with water inside."

*Cozy's Notes : Guess they should have halved the water in the water pouches as well, since Yvolki considers that as part of the penance. HA! XD*

*** ***

And so, the two had to take a detour and hiked towards a nearby river. They set up camp and rested their exhausted bodies under the warmth of the one blanket and groundsheet they now shared.

Words of Power Quest First Anniversary! Yvolki and Hraxiif!

Cozy :

It's been a year.

It really, really has been a year.

I started this story out on November 7th, 2012, because I was like 'Fine, to hell with everything, #yoloswag, if the world's going to end I may as well write to my heart's content! I ought to give myself the fair chance, to write as much as I want, as much as I wish!' It was a simple thought like that. To have come this far after a full year... To have made 32 pre-Route chapters and 8 Messiah chapters, this really makes me shed tears of joy.

No, I mean it literally, in actual terms, not figuratively. I'm emotional like that. I cry a lot, despite being a guy.

Considering that every post is weekly, I'd have taken 3 months' off either rushing my project, or gathering materials to improve the story and the plot for improving the true route, and I'd have worked on this for 9 months in total. That's a load of effort and words and text put into a small story driven by one person alone, with slight help and feedback from my readers. (You guys rock! <3)

Back then, the story's plot wasn't even set in stone. I had the plot running off in a) weird, or b) predictable directions. I had imagined things like "What would I do with Bael's personality? How could I play around that and make the journey they're going to have exciting?", before I realized that making her a sort of psychotic, crazed wench with a 'brother' complex would make it work sort-of good too. That was the birth of the Bael you read about now. (Speaking of which, you'll see it soon, how Bael absolutely flips out when she finds out that Katachi and Roberia are married.)

I've also tried making good guesses to the characters' thought processes by giving them appropriate personalities. For Katachi, I tried giving him the sort of detached personality, one who strives for spiritual maturity and *bleep*. WHOOPS THE SPOILERS THAT WAS CLOSE HEHEH, anyway, essentially what I wanted to give him was that sort of serious, kind, and at the same time, fragile, sort of personality. He's a nice person and all, but he's easy to break. Perhaps a bit too easy - And that's what makes the story quite interesting later on.

For Roberia, I've given her the sort of personality that would click well with Katachi - I've made Bael so interesting, that I couldn't keep her in a romantic relationship with Katachi, without him freaking out or doing something interesting as a counter. Roberia is sort of a check to that, and I've made sure to put her pivotal in certain aspects such that her presence in the story doesn't seem filler-like. In Messiah, which you're now enjoying, she is Katachi's wife under official terms.

It's good and bad in itself - They do get along on good terms, but it's never really strong enough to be considered love. In Herald, I have plans of making her an enemy, an ally, and love interest at the same time - Divided and never to meet because of their status. I maintained the 'love interest' part because I've tailored Roberia in a way that she'll always be compatible with Katachi, no matter what kind of story it turns out to be.

So... Yeah. That's the general synopsis of how I'm moving with the story progression.

*** ***

Well, that's me rambling on and on about the plot development to come. In any case! Let's get on with the actual event I've been waiting for - The important, titular characters that will take up the three routes predominantly!

Welcome Yvolki, the Bird of Dream!

Welcome Hraxiif, the Wolf of Fear!

Now, what are they, you may ask. It's obvious you'd ask a question like that - I haven't gotten that far into the story yet! XD D'oh.

Well, from the previous chapters, you've learnt that Image Power, this mythical force of a person's subconscious, forms the basic building block of many, many spells. It's quite direct - If you believe something to be true, your energy will be oriented around the fact that it is true. It will get to a point where that energy simply swells up and bursts forth, in the exact image you had envisioned it to be.

Yvolki and Hraxiif, essentially, are the 'side effects' of Image Power. Just as Image Power reinforces a spell's strengths and weaknesses, it too, on a subconscious level, reinforces everything a person thinks and believes. Yvolki and Hraxiif are formed from the knowledge of people - What people consider to bring hope, will collate the subconscious energy they release into this sentient being - With the same vigor, what people consider to bring fear will too collate into a sentient being.

In Messiah , you learnt that Yvolki is a bird-like beast. This is not without base - The dragon has been a symbol of strength, and the bird, a symbol of freedom. The wyvern, a mix of both dragon and avian, has no specific classification unlike its parents; But that also means it is free to choose both, to inherit both benefits at the same time.

That is why Yvolki's shape is wyvern-like : People of that time have yearned for both the strength and power to do what they wanted, and the freedom of a bird to perform as they wish without ostracizing eyes. The wyvern had been the best representation, thus the primary, 'raw' form Yvolki assumes.

Hraxiif is a character you'd first know, in detail, during the Herald route. For now, that's too early to speak of, but I can say one thing for sure - I like the way he turned out. You'd love Hraxiif. You'd definitely love him a lot, if I manage to emulate out the desired effect. If you're the type who enjoys a sort of intellectual, dangerous and powerful anti-hero, whom despite his evil actions is surprisingly rational and charismatic, you'd definitely enjoy the route where Hraxiif appears.

Because, the scary thing is, despite how horrible it is, despite how callous, cruel, merciless it's been portrayed, he convinces Katachi, with a resolute and unshakable foundation and will, why it is necessary. I really like the way he turns out - It brings out his purpose, which at one point Katachi questions and he elaborates the difference between himself and Yvolki.

And, from the way I've phrased that, you guessed it - Unlike Yvolki, whom can only roar and speak in a vulgar manner, Hraxiif is refined, and speaks the human tongue properly. If I can make a sentence that describes him... He is a professional gentlemanly merciless strategist and assassin who will never get flak for his actions.

Yvolki and Hraxiif play a rather important part in each of the routes : Although Yvolki's role in Messiah isn't as clear-cut as Hraxiif's role in Herald, Hraxiif will state a casual comment in reply to Katachi's question. When I write, and you read that far, you'd look back and go "OH~! SO THAT'S WHY!!" to what happened in Messiah.

I really want you guys to have that sort of realization, that discovery effect, where you see things a second time and understand so much more than you did in your first look.. It's really, really awesome to experience something like that, and I try my best to provide you faithful readers with the best content! Someday I will! SOMEDAY!!! *stabs own arm with stylus accidentally* OWWWW-

... Well, that's about enough information disclosed, actually. Give any more, and it's going to spoil the story for you. I wouldn't want that at all. XD Look forward to another happy, fruitful year (hopefully) of the Words of Power Quest! Peace!

Signing off,

Cozy

Messiah 8 : Insult

R : "Katachi? Katachi! Can you stand?"

Roberia desperately tried to get the boy up, while the ebony beast slammed the earth with its forelimb, causing a slight vibration on the ground, increasing in magnitude with each step.

R : "Katachi!!" (No good! He's still dizzy...)

The beast slowly approached the two humans before it, staring at them intently. Roberia turned to glance at the monster, only to have it roar in her face.

"!!!▅▅▂▄▂▄▄▂▅▃▂▅▂▃▃▅▂▅!!!"

R : (That thing seems seriously angry... I've never seen a monster like this before. What the heck is this thing? Whatever it is, that thing is definitely looking this way, at us.)

Roberia peered at Katachi, who was still lying on the floor, too dizzy to recover anytime soon.

R : (Not good. He's unable to move at all. If I leave him alone, he'd most definitely die. Looks like I have to hold out until he can get to.)

Jumping to the right, Roberia picked up a good and solid chunk of rock, and hurled it at the beast. It collided with the side of its... 'Head', and the beast turned to face Roberia on its left.

R : (I have no weapons... I can't hope to face it properly in a fair fight. I have to hold out until Katachi comes to!) "Come on, you big, smelly louse! This way!"

"!!!▂▄▂▄▄▂▂▃▅▃▂▅▂▄▃▅▄▅▂▄▄▅▂▃!!!"

The beast, taunted by her words, let loose a mighty roar, and leapt at Roberia.

R : (The legs are angled, and the body is wide. That pattern and way of jumping means that it wants to crush me underneath it. I should retreat backwards first and see how it reacts.)

Roberia somersaulted backwards forcefully, and planted her palms on the floor. Rhythmically, she rotated her inertia around her wrists, and spun her feet around her body before keeping her legs together and carrying her own momentum to her right.

*Cozy's Notes : A standstill backflip into a 4'o'clock? Damn. She really is acrobatic. And that one's not an average-distance backflip neither. If you haven't done gymnastics or tried the pommel horse before, let me just say this - That is extremely hard, and if not done carefully, can break your wrist and destroy your hand entirely if you can't balance your weight perpendicular to your hand supporting your body. Don't try this at home kids - If there are any kids reading. I doubt it, but I'd rather play it safe.*

The beast belly-flopped onto the soft grass, and the earth shook with another forceful impact, blowing away the leaves and twigs beneath it. The beast eked its head to stare at Roberia, before roaring once again its otherworldly cry.

R : (! It paused for a moment there. It reacted to me dodging that attack somehow? Most creatures I have met don't pause or hesitate like that. That monster can think?)

Roberia reached down, and picked up a small twig to use as a weapon.

R : (I don't know how tough its hide is, and this twig probably can't do much... I still have to lure it further this way, until Katachi recovers. Curses! If only I had my own weapon!) "So roaring's the best you can do? Seems to me your bite is inferior to your barking!"

"!!!▄▄▂▄▄▂▄▃▅▃▂▄▃!!!"

R : (The shoulder is lowered, and retracted. It's a swiping motion.)

The ebony wyvern swung its massive wing at Roberia, in a huge sweeping motion. Having sensed it beforehand, Roberia leapt into the air, and thrust the twig at the beast's wing.

R : (It's not much, but let it do something, please! Maybe let it feel some sort of strength over my inability to hurt it! If only that was my sword, so help me!)

The twig turned into a greatsword as it rubbed against the beast's scales..

Specifically, it turned into the very greatsword she had started out on her journey with, the high-quality sword made of reinforced iron, a much tougher material than the classic laevinstone sword she used for hunting animals. The very same sword, that Katachi had sealed onto the floor at the end of their first encounter.

R : (A sword?! The twig turned into my sword?!) "Wha-!?"

"!!!▂▃▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▄▃▂!!!"

*Cozy's Notes : ... Oh boy. That cry doesn't sound good. In your case, it'd be 'look' good, since you're seeing what is supposed to be the sound and decibels.*

It ripped out from the blade what comprised its left wing, staring at the 'wound' that had formed on it. But the miraculous regrowth at the wing made the attack seem trivial, pointless. With its attention snapped back at Roberia, the beast's eyes turned into a burgandy, deep red, and the strange, living mass that was supposed to form the eyes spidered out from the eyehole and covered most of what its head was supposed to be. Pink pupils formed from where the amber circles once were, and the beast menacingly glared at Roberia. A strange, ominous feeling emanated from the beast.

R : (Its eyes ... What just happened to that thing?! Did I hurt it with this twig- I mean, sword- Twig? Sword? Twigsword? What's going on?)

*Cozy's Notes : IT'S ENRAGED THAT'S WHAT'S GOING ON TO HELL WITH THE TRANSFORMED TWIG AND GET OUTTA THERE GOOD LORD DON'TCHA PLAY MONSTER HUNTER*

The beast's menacing new form rushed at Roberia, with a unexpected alacrity.

R : (!! Fast!! Too fast! I can't dodge it!)

Swinging her weight down, Roberia hid behind her twig- Sword, now impaled deep into the ground. The beast ran its massive body right across the sword, trying to crush Roberia under the sword and its weight.

R : "Kh!" (Heavy!)

Yet, with the huge mass and sword pressing against her, Roberia did not feel as much pain as she had imagined. The beast, gliding across the forest ground into a clearing, demonstrated its lightweight body and ability to fly.

R : (That roar of wind... It was swooping at me. It flew... Is it a bird?)

The beast landed onto the plains, and slammed all four limbs into the grass. With another foreign, otherworldly roar, its form changed further.

It grew in size, and strange tendril-like stems formed on its wings, elbows, head and back. It grew to a size that doubled the trees' height. And its clear red eyes with pink pupils had the spidered cracks resealed, forming a fierce, determined look. It pushed off the ground with its forelimbs which have folded in and formed a mighty pair of wings, and stood on its hind legs. The beast had become a strange, gargantuan-sized version of another bird.

R : "!!!" (It... It changed into a giant hawk!?)

The beast had transformed into a giant hawk, except the beautiful, black skin with little star like glints replaced where the feathers would usually be. And it roared once more, with its wings outspread, ready to attack Roberia.

*** ***

Katachi opened his eyes, and tried to regain his sense of balance.

K : (... How nostalgic. I remember spinning like that on my free time, mimicking the water wheels and enjoying the warm sun while lying on the soft, moist moss, unable to move...)

His eyes kept rolling to his left, still dizzy from the vertigo.

K : (But, that girl, Roberia... She sounded worried, panicked. And those roars were nothing I'd ever heard of. I need to get up...)

Katachi struggled, and tried to get up, but his right arm and leg kept moving while the left side of his body fell asleep, causing him to topple over when he tries to get up.

K : (... Dizzy... Ugh, I have to get up.)

Katachi tried once more, and this time, he planted his right hand and foot on the ground properly, allowing him to push himself up to a kneel.

K : (... Uch. My insides feel a bit weird, like, it's spinning within myself... I wish there was a better way to recover from this. The insides of my stomach are churning. I feel like vomiting...)

*Cozy's Notes : You don't think a follower of Segus would suffer from something like that. I mean, come on, it's Segus, for crying out loud. He's a legend, and for good reason. I'll cover the Segus backstory soon. It's coming after the November 7th one-year anniversary celebrations & lore.*

Katachi clenched his stomach muscles, and distributed his weight across his palms.

K : (*deep inhale* *exhale*... Hoo... Okay. My mind feels clear now.)

Looking up, Katachi saw Roberia hiding behind a gray object, as the gigantic beast glided above her.

K : (What is that thing? I've never seen a creature like that. Skin that looks like the night sky, four legs, sprawled like a lizard?)

Katachi tried glancing around, to examine what had happened while he was still recovering.

K : (... That part of the ground has no leaves. That sort of pattern looks like the beast attacked that place, blasting the leaves away. I felt a breeze while I was down, but from my position, that must have been a really strong blow if I could feel it from over here...)

K : (? There's a sort of house or something over there?...)

The house-like structure at the bottom of the cliff he had probably rolled down from caught his eye.

K : (I don't think it's time to worry about that... Roberia's still fighting that thing.)

Katachi ran over to the two, his hand on the book to his side and his head lowered slightly.

*** ***

The sound of footsteps came from behind her after the deafening cry.

These fluttering steps most likely belonged to the boy that had laid on the ground just now. Roberia increased the grip on her tw- Sword, and turned back to see the small demeanour of a black-haired boy running out towards the open.

*Cozy's Notes : input soundclip here that sounds like FWHOOSHHHHHHHHAAAH. The -AAAH at the back makes it more realistic, like the vacuum from the flap sucking in the nearby air forcefully. It'll make the entire experience that much more realistic.*

But, before they could even communicate or formulate any sort of plan, the beast fanned its wings hard, and an intense gale blasted the both of them backwards violently.

*** ***

The roar of wind hurled at them deafened their ears, such that a ringing sound stuck snugly at the back of their heads. It helped in a sense that it clears their head such that they can focus better, but it also means they are now insensitive to attacks they can't hear.

*Cozy's Notes : Since, y'know, their hearing's temporarily disabled and all.*

K : (!! We're flying backwards! I better return control to our bodies with solid footing! 恒定! Constant status - Roberia! Constant status - Self!)

The words formed on their bodies, as they were sent toward the cliff at frightening speeds.

In its truest essence, they were thrown back, indeed - But it was not powerful enough to knock them back all the way towards the cliff. However, the word Katachi had placed set their status to 'Constant', which meant their bodies were thrown back much farther than it ought to have been, right into the cliff Katachi had thought they would smash into - Yet, their backs colliding into the rocky wall proved to be painless.

After their bodies embedded themselves into the wall, Katachi released the Word of Power on them, and they fell naturally. Katachi, accustomed to this method of displacement, got off the wall and recovered immediately.

K : (How's she doing?)

Katachi glanced over to where she roughly landed, to see her falling from an upside-down position a good distance, and landing on her front.

K : (Ouch. That's a rough landing. It must hurt a lot, she'd probably need a while to recover from that.)

"!!!▂▄▃▄▅▄▃▂▄▅▂▄▃▅▄▂▄▄▅▄▂▃!!!"

The beast may have transformed into a hawk, but its mystical roar is not something simply altered by a change in appearance. Something in Katachi's heart beat when the huge, ebony hawk trampled the trees and approached them.

K : (This familiar feeling... ?)

The beast snapped at Katachi, whom dodged the peck just by inches, out of instinct.

K : (Now's not the time to relax... We'll have to outrun or outsmart this thing somehow, probably by hiding in a cave or in a lake or something.) "You missed!" (I have to distract it while Roberia gets back up on her feet.)

But the beast was not as foolish as Katachi had believed it to be.

*** ***

R : "Nnnngh..."

A painful feeling stung Roberia throughout her body. Roberia tried to make her body move, from the sheer power of her will.

K : "You missed!"

She tried to get up, knowing that the boy was now trying his best to distract the beast. The sword in her hand was flat on the ground, and she pressed against the handle and the earth, trying to get her upper half up at least.

As she began lifting her head off the ground, the beast roared once more, and another gale pushed her back - Into the house-like temple at the bottom of the cliff.

R : "!! Bhhah!! *cough, cough, cough* "

The impact of her back and head against the stone, unprotected by the Word of Power, shockwaved through her. The pain was immense, and the dusty air forced into her mouth and nostrils had to be painfully expelled.

(Here lies the shrine of-)

Roberia leaned forward to straighten her back, trying to compress her muscles and reduce the pain.

R : (Ahh, it's painful... my vision's all blurry... But, what was that? 'Here lies the shrine of'? Why did that surface in my head?)

Roberia tried to close her eyes, and brought her fingers to her temples.

R : (Recovery comes first. Grogginess can be cured with an acute pain to the temples...)

She rubbed her temples together painfully, keeping her consciousness ajar just barely.

*** ***

The gust did not affect Katachi.

This is because Katachi had fixated the air before him, forming an invisible air wall before him. A huge golden word formed before him, in mid-air, and that had protected him from the gale.

That same fortune could not be said for Roberia, however.

K : (Shoot! I forgot Roberia for a moment there!)

Katachi turned his head to Roberia for a bit, when the outstretched wing of the beast blocked his sight. The beast, clearly unhappy with the indifference of Katachi withstanding the attack, swung its wing and knocked Katachi back to the opening.

K : "!!!" (恒定! Constant status - Self!)

A golden word formed on Katachi, and he was thrown towards the ground, pushing the mounds of earth aside as he slid across the mud and grass.

Katachi clawed his fingers into the earth, and shifted his feet backwards to assume a balanced position immediately. The golden word on his chest disappeared, and Katachi leapt from the mole-hill to his right - Just barely dodging the beast's swooping talons following up on its wing attack.

The beast slowed its charge and flapped once, its simple movement causing all the trees and leaves to quiver and shake vigorously. Its two talons planted into the grass and soil with an earthshaking force, and it eyed its head around, to stare at Katachi again.

K : "Haah!!"

Katachi gripped the dagger with two fingers and flung it at the beast rapidly, and the slot with the carving was filled up with a patch of gold. The dagger, empowered by the Word of Power, continued flying straight, piercing the beast from its center.

Or, that was supposed to have happened.

The beast, demonstrating its intelligence once again, leaned its body to the left and side-stepped the dagger cleanly. But Katachi, too, had leapt off the ground towards the dagger he had thrown, and caught up with it almost immediately.

He grabbed the dagger and sent it flying at the beast's back, this time the attack succeeding and the dagger piercing through the beast's blind spot, back, chest and all.

"!!!▂▃▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▄▃▂!!!"

The beast cried out in anguish once more, as the black mass reformed where the dagger had entered and exited. The black shape-shifting wyvern gathered a huge, huge amount of 'something' around itself - So much, that it was visible to Katachi. 'It' ripped and gnawed at the ebony skin, and the stars on the night sky-like epidermis grew larger and larger.

K : "!? Wha-"

And then... The black skin immolated. It caught on white flames, and burned off bit by bit, to reveal a sort of silver scaly skin beneath, and the hawk-like wyvern had become an enormous white-scaled Firebird.

*Cozy's Notes : IT'S A PHOENIX YO, WE ALL GONN' DIE~!*

*** ***

R : "... Uugh..." (I... I need to get up somehow...)

Roberia tried to boost herself up from the ground by sheer force.

R : "!! Aaahkk!!" (Ahh, my back! It hurts too much! I can't! I can't do it in a go!)

She set herself down on the floor once again, gasping for air and trying to relax her muscles as far as she could.

R : (It's not good to get up immediately like that. If I want to get up, I need to do this bit by bit!)

Roberia slowly shifted her weight to press against the ground at first, and then slowly, after feeling around for a bit, her hand felt a sort of smooth wall to press against and slowly get up from.

R : (Good. I'm close to a wall. I can't see too well with everything being this dizzy, but at least I can feel what's around me.)

She slowly pressed against the wall and got up, still leaning on the smooth wall. She didn't expect, however, for her hand to press against the circular panel on the 'smooth wall'.

(Here lies the shrine of Yvolki, the Bird of Dream - In honor of its selfless protection of Urdythari and Diehl.)

*** ***

*Cozy's Notes : Oh, you think their encounter was random? Son, that ain't even make sense, no~ This world isn't a nonsensical one where something happens because it had to - Had Katachi shared the load with Roberia properly, this would never have happened.

Think - What if they hadn't encountered this monster? The time they saved - What could have happened in that short window? Find out when Herald starts. Look forward to it when it does, yo :3*