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Chapter II: Dehsyre

“Where am I,” Ken said as he slowly sat up at where he thought was the park he was at earlier, “Oh, my head hurts so much.” Suddenly looking up he realizes that he is no longer in the park that his friends and himself always hung out at but at a meadow sitting under a tree. Immediately the same old man who had given him the sword which he still gripped in his left hand appeared out of thin air, “You are in the Over World, a safe haven from the Shadow,” he said walking up to him measuring up the new inhabitant of the so called “Over World”. Still confused Ken got up and quickly asked, “The Over World, where the hell is that and who are you anyway just appearing out of thin air like that?” Quietly laughing to himself the old man replied, “ The Over World is everywhere, it exists in all realities, it is the place children dream about, a place they believe fairy tales happen”. “So wait, I’m in a fairy tale world right now!” Ken quickly said shocked at the idea that he was stuck in some sort of twisted fairy tale world, “Wait, what happened to everyone else at the park and you still haven’t told me who you are!” Looking back at Ken the old man replied, “ Yes and no, this is not a fairy tale world, this is a world where magic is real and since magic is usually incorporated with fairy tales then this place can be called one.”

Suddenly looking serious the old man finally said, “ Your friends are gone, they have been lost in the darkness of mankind’s ignorance. Your friends may have survived if they were able to find the strength required to combat the darkness inside them and fight the Shadow. I am Lantis, the protector of the worlds people I have already told you this however and you know me as the old man who gave you the sword you used to combat the Shadow’s agents.” Realizing that this whole thing was for real and that this old man was the only way to get back to his world he quickly looked at the sword resting in his hand and said, “ This sword right?” “Yes indeed, that is one of the Seven Great Swords of Legend, that one you possess is the seventh, the Sword of Oblivion also known as Kadnesama, the sword of nothingness.”

“Wait are you kidding me about all this seven great swords stuff because this isn’t funny anymore dude…” Ken said starting to get angry at Lantis’s slow paced explanation. Looking at the sky Lantis calmly said, “I understand that you are confused and angered at what I have said but it is all the truth. I gave you the sword because I thought that you would be the one capable of finding the power within yourself to use the sword for good. Sadly I was mistaken to give it to you at such a sudden time for you were only able to unleash its power when you saw you friends in danger. It is a good sign however because since you friends are trapped in a ruined world, your desire to want to protect your friends may very well lead you to the power necessary to overcome this great evil. There is something that you must understand however, you may save your friends and defeat the evil but your world can never be saved.”

Overcome with shock Ken was barely able to respond, “W-Wait, so you mean that my world is d-d-destroyed… how can I defeat the darkness yet not save my world…” Lantis then looked at Ken again, “You must understand that the Shadow draws onto a beings dark desires… even if defeated, the world will still be engulfed in it’s own darkness. There are only two ways to save a ruined world the first is to force the Shadow to call off it’s agents and to purify the world again with my help, the second is for the world’s inhabitants to overcome the darkness in their hearts… Sadly, both are impossible, the Shadow greatly hates me and mankind is sadly an ignorant race with few people who still believe in the great beings of old.”

“How do I save my friends,” Ken said solemnly thinking about his friends he left behind, “ how do I save my friends and defeat this cursed evil” Shocked with his dedication, Lantis slowly said. “ First you yourself must completely release yourself of your ego, desires, hatred, and to replace those dark qualities with the sole desire to save and protect your friends. I must say however that the journey is exceedingly difficult and few even are able to attempt it.” Suddenly Ken looked him sharply in the eye, “I will take that journey, I will survive, and I will get my friends back…” “Very well,” said Lantis, “we start tomorrow.
That night they had slept at the meadow and in the morning when Ken woke up, he found that Lantis had breakfast ready and a new set of cloths for him that seemed like the type of cloths that one could only possibly wear in a video game. Getting up Ken mumbled to Lantis remembering what Lantis had said at the park when he was with Ellen, “Didn’t you say that I had to stop the world from entering a world of chaos, what did you mean?” Slowly, Lantis looked at him and smiled, “What I meant was that you had to stop your world from becoming a part of the Shadow’s kingdom, it takes about seven years for a world to enter the Kingdom of Chaos… A world no, a void where all things that enter it make it grow in power until it consumed everything, that is the Shadow’s domain. Ken put these cloths on, it’ll be easier to enter the journey in.” “Enter the journey, what do you mean Lantis?” Ken said wondering how to enter such a journey that was suppose to be so difficult to take. At this Lantis couldn’t help but laugh again and said, “By entering a trance of course! This journey is a battle with your inner self, if you win, you get out sane, but if you lose… well it’s not too pretty to see your dark-self running around in your body now is it?”

That after noon Lantis sat Ken under a waterfall in the mountains and said, “If you can withstand the pain and remove it from you body, you shall enter the first stage of the trance, if you fail however, you back will be broken and you will be crippled for life…” “Wait, crippled! Are you sure this is safe?” Ken said urgently feeling the pressure of the waterfall pound on his back threatening to rip it open. Quietly pondering Lantis finally said after five minutes, “ I honestly have no idea but this is the only way that I can think of…. You’ll do fine, I can tell you’re already fading away.” Ken was startled by his last words since he himself had only started to feel that faint feeling of fading away.

After a couple more minutes, Ken started drifting away

“Where am I” Ken said but realized that words were not coming from his mouth but that it resounded everywhere as if he was hearing his own thoughts. He then realized that he was surrounded by darkness just before hearing a mysterious voice, “You are in your head Kenny boy,” said a dark figure that seemed like a black and white version of him. Shocked at the figure’s sudden appearance Ken nervously said, “W-Who are you and what do you mean that I’m in my head.” Suddenly the dark Ken started laughing uncontrollably and nearly shouted, “You idiot! You’re in your mind, you very infrastructure of your being. Since our birth I have been sealed here like every other Dehsyre out there, just waiting for a chance to come out and play. Now here’s my chance, upon entering here you have released me and I intend on gaining control of our body!!!” “Desire? Did you just say desire?” Ken said totally confused at the figure’s sudden fit. “It’s Dehsyre, the darkness of a being’s heart. Almost everything has one in them. Some of them are incredibly weak and thus cannot force their will upon others. Some however just have strong beings controlling the body. I however have just been sitting here waiting for a chance for the darkness to free me. BUT NOW THAT DAMN LANTIS HAD TO GIVE YOU KADNESAMA AND RELEASE YOU FROM THE DARKNESS! THAT FOOL, NOW THAT HE’S SENT YOU HERE THERE IS NO ESCAPE!” the Dehsyre shouted as he rushed towards Ken.

Suddenly Ken realized that Kadnesama was in his hand and realized that it was already released and was overflowing with energy. Just before the Dehsyre reached him he dodged to the right and rushed at him in turn hoping to catch him off guard. His plan had quite the opposite effect, just as he thought that he had the Dehsyre within his attack range, he suddenly appeared behind him and quickly said, “Foolish human, you can never defeat a Dehsyre! It is over for you!” Just as the Dehsyre was about to attack Ken quickly turned and stabbed it through the heart or at least where it thought its heart would be. Suddenly the Dehsyre started to dissolve and disappear. Then when the Dehsyre seemed as it had fully dissolved there was a quick flash of light as Ken felt himself disappearing.

“Ken… Ken… Wake up Ken…” said a somewhat soothing voice. Slowly Ken tried to get up but had to struggle just to be able to sit upright and tried to look up to the voice talking to him. When he looked up however he realized that he was soaking wet by the waterfall lying down on a blanket with Lantis sitting down next to him as he slowly mumbled, “Lantis, did I do it?” At first it seemed as if Lantis was asleep but then he suddenly answered, “ Yes, yes Ken you did it. You went beyond all expectations however; you have awakened the anger of your inner Dehsyre. This is not the last you’ll have from him; he’ll be back and will try to control you. I am confident though that you will persevere in the mission to save your friends and will discover the power to overcome your inner Dehsyre… Ken get some sleep, I realize that you must be tired…” Suddenly Ken felt an odd grogginess and was once again surprised at Lantis’s ability to know how another feels and Ken almost silently whispered to himself, “ Yeah, sleep seems good right now…”

The following morning he found that Lantis had once again awoken already and that he had fried two fish on a skewer for breakfast but soon realized that it was already afternoon. As he got up he noticed that his arm was pulling him towards his sword and quickly thought to himself that it must’ve been from his encounter with his Dehsyre that prompted his sword arm to instinctively grab for his sword. After eating his surprisingly delicious lunch, Lantis quickly said, “Ken, we’re going to head into town today. If anybody asks I am your grandfather Taen. There are people that will cause trouble… spies of the Shadow, human spies… trust no one but me in the city.

Ken and Lantis then made their way down the rocky path into town as Lantis explained the place that they were going, “Ken listen to me, the place that we’re going is a town called Yobari, like I said before I am your Grandfather Taen, do you understand?” Realizing that his “grandfather” was speaking to him he promptly answered, “Yeah, I understand.”

After about ten minutes of walking they finally arrived in town.

Chapter III: Magister

When they got into town, Lantis almost immediately ducked into an alley. He continued walking for a few minutes with Ken trailing behind him until he reached the end of the alley. Lantis knocked three times on the wall and quickly said, “ The Lotus of Light blooms twice.” Suddenly a door appeared and was opened by a young man in his twenties who hastily said, “Welcome master Lantis, this must be your apprentice,” as he gestured to Ken, “please come in master, I shall prepare you a bottle of Tislanen wine. Quickly Lantis ushered Ken to a small table in which seemed like a tavern.
“Where are we Lantis and how do they know you?” Ken quickly said when he got a chance to speak with Lantis alone while the man who seemed as the bartender fetched them their wine. Lantis quickly said under his breath, “We are in the Lotus Guild base of Yobari, the Lotus guild is a very secretive guild that directly combats the Shadow himself. For that reason alone that I allowed them to know my true identity. The only reason they let you in however was because you are under the assumption that I have taken you in as my apprentice. The guild recruiter is here to initiate young apprentices into the guild. Tomorrow I have scheduled for you to meet with him.” Confused by Lantis’s words Ken couldn’t help but ask as the bartender brought them their wine, “Um, Lantis, what do you mean by “meet with him”, am I suppose to take some kind of test or something?” Taking a deep sip of his wine Lantis carefully said, “ In the Lotus guild there are many different classes. Among the beginner classes there are mages, swordsmen, archers, and rogues. The latter one of the more unreliable of the classes; among these beginner classes, they branch out to a variety of classes with their own specialties. This is only one of a few other guilds that have a class system.”

Listening carefully Ken hastily asked, “So what class are you Lantis?” Lantis was caught off guard by this question but quickly recovered and said, “I am a grand council wizard, that means I have mastered many forms of magic and have a say with the town and guild governmental decisions. You can say that my class holds great power. Also, I have forgotten to tell you that there is a hybrid class between mage and swordsmen. It is the Magister class. The Magister class is a group of swordsmen who are also adept in the use of offensive magic. Some however choose to learn the art of white magic in order to heal those in battle. Both of those skills however are very beneficial to a Magister.” Once again Lantis took a sip of his wine but then quickly got up and said, “Ken come, we must bring out things to our room on the upper floor and prepare for the test tomorrow.”

Feeling tired and wanting to lie down already, Ken almost immediately got up and followed Lantis up the stairs. It seemed as if they were walking through a mansion since their room was at the end of the hall. When they got into their room, Ken found that the room had two beds and a single large mirror leaning against the wall. Ken quickly made his way to the bed nearest to the window and set his bags down as he jumped onto the bed. Seeing that Ken was tired, Lantis quickly said, “ Ken, tomorrow the height of your abilities will be tested. When the recruiter asks which class you want to enter I wish for you to reply that you aspire to become a Magister. The reason is because all of the Seven Great swords of Legend are ideal mediums for magic since they themselves hold great magic. Because they are swords however and not staves or other sorts of magical items, they are best suited for Magisters. When you become a Magister, you will be able to use elemental attributes in sync with the Kandesama. You should get some rest and contemplate on a strategy for tomorrow, good night Ken.”

As soon as Lantis finished however, Ken was fast asleep even though it was still early evening. Smiling to himself, Lantis quickly unpacked his belongings and placed an amethyst stone amulet on Ken’s nightstand. Afterwards Lantis himself got ready to sleep and made a prayer to himself that Ken would do well tomorrow.

The following morning at early dawn Lantis quickly jostled Ken to wake up as he quietly said, “Ken it’s time to wake up, you still have to prepare for your battle today.” Groggily Ken got up and somehow found his way to a underground hot springs with the help of Lantis and soon found himself immersed in hot water. In about ten minutes Ken was out and dressed. Lantis hastily rushed Ken into another room not too far from the hot springs as Ken slipped Kadnesama between his belt and waist as he suddenly felt the amethyst necklace against his chest. “Ken hurry up or you’ll be late!” Lantis growled as Ken was taking his precious time getting to the training room. Finally they somehow made it and next thing Ken knew, the recruiter had his sword drawn and said, “ Welcome, I am Iruka the guild recruiter. Just to know how to test you, what class are you wishing to be?” Just realizing that the recruiter was talking to him, Ken quickly replied, “ I wish to become Magister.” At this Iruka couldn’t help but laugh as he managed to get out, “ A Magister? Well what a surprise, I am a Magister myself! I challenge you to a duel, if you can break my Frost Edge weapon form, then you can join the guild.” Suddenly Ken noticed that the blade of Iruka’s sword started frosting up as it become totally coated in ice. Suddenly he heard Lantis sternly say, “ Unleash Kadnesama Ken…” Quickly realizing that Iruka was already rushing at him, he sidestepped to the left as he drew his sword and fused his sword and sheath as his Oblivion Edge came into affect.” “ Ah, Kadnesama’s semi-released weapon form, Oblivion Edge.” Iruka said as he quickly turned and sent a wave of ice towards Ken.

Without thinking, Ken quickly shouted, “Oblivion Strike” as he took on the wave of ice head on. After the impact, a thick cool mist occurred as Iruka shouted, “ Very good! Now try on my Frost Dive attack!” Suddenly Ken noticed a spear shaped hunk of ice crashing towards him as he jumped backwards to avoid the hit. Then the hunk of ice exploded in hundreds of pieces of ice as Iruka emerged. Immediately Iruka made a gesture towards Ken as the shards of ice started darting towards him. Quickly Ken started to deflect the shards with the flat of his blade but suddenly a shard caught onto his leg and froze it to the ground. Seeing that he could no longer move, Iruka quickly sent another wave of ice sure that it would hit this time. Knowing that he couldn’t use his Oblivion Strike in this position Ken quickly improvised as he shouted, “Flying Oblivion” and sent his own wave of magic towards Iruka’s wave of ice. The resulting explosion caused Ken’s leg to get free as he quickly rushed towards a surprised Iruka.

Suddenly Ken crashed into what seemed as a mirror of ice. “Frost Mirage!!!” Iruka yelled as ice mirrors started to surround Ken and shoot out shards at him. In desperation Ken used Oblivion Pulse to destroy the mirrors but found it as a mistake when he saw Iruka with a huge claymore made out of ice. “ Take my ultimate technique! Frost Destroyer!!!” Iruka yelled as he started rushing towards Ken. Quickly Ken gathered energy into his blade and shouted, “Shining Oblivion” as he rushed in with his shining blade. In the resulting explosion it seemed as if both of the fighters were blown away.

When the mist cleared however Ken was the one on the ground next to his shining blade. When Ken looked over at Iruka he saw that his Frost Edge weapon form was broken as Iruka said, “ Congratulations Ken, you are now part of the Lotus Guild…” Before Iruka could say anything else though, he suddenly collapsed. Not long afterwards, Ken collapsed as well only thinking about how rigorous the “test” was and wondering what would come next.

“He seems to be growing more powerful every day huh Master…” “Yes… yes but he still has a long way to go before he can meet me… In time however… in time…”