User:Nextoy/Rookchester/1

The dawn glistened through the window of the quaint study. The books were all over the various work tables instead of on the shelves as they normally were, hence the notes on the back walls of the book shelves so that people knew where they went. The door had been left open ajar so that nobody would wake when anybody had to work at night. The light of day nearly blinding young Rowan as he worked relentlessly on another one of his insane projects, for he decided to take the workbench that was right in front of the big, stain glass window that made the building the landmark it had become. The door opens a little and a teenaged girl walked into the room. "Goodmorn-" She started, but quickly changed her thought process when she saw him trying and failing to see in the glaring light. "Brother... did you pull another all-nighter?" She asked scoldingly, trying to hide how worried she is of him. "You know how much a lack of sleep can toll on someone..." "If you absolutely have to ask, yes." Rowan replied, in his usual 'I'm trying to sound important but am too tired to really care' voice. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, glancing at the chemistry kit he had out. "And before you ask, no it probably isn't really all that important." She sighed at this and buried her face into his back. "Fine, I'll bite... then tell me what crazy invention you're trying to make now..." She begrudgingly asked, somewhat scared to find out. "Simple, I'm trying to make an acidic potion of sorts that can dissolve any runic markings that a person might have." Rowan told her proudly, although a deep yawn shattered his proud voice before he can continue. His sister took this opportunity to mock him a little. "But brother, aren't you a rune master? Why would you want to create something that can screw you over?" She asked innocently, although he can tell the slight teasing intentions. "That way I can screw over other rune masters who try and attack me." Rowan answered, completely oblivious to the fact that it could render him practically defenseless. She giggled a little at this and let go of him. "Anyways, did you sleep well?" He asked, taking his eyes off of his work at just the wrong time. Right as he turned he poured a liquid into the beaker he had been compiling different things with and it all melted through. "Well, there's your acidic potion. Why not just use actual alchemy instead of the chemistry set you got there?" She asked, giving him a weird look as she walked over to pick up some of the books. "By the way, you really need to stop leaving these out. It's getting annoying to pick up after you..." She added on, the mentioned annoyance in her voice. "Too acidic... and I'm taking chemistry in this one so that I can learn how to make it!" He happily called out. "And besides, in order to become a sage I have to learn both sides of the coin. Both magic and science." He reminded her, ignoring her comment on the books entirely. "Well can you at least clean that up and then take a break? I bet that you probably haven't eaten since the inevitable midnight snack." She teased. She always teased him for his all night invention sessions, as he came to call them. "Sure thing! Doubt I can really convince you to let me do anything else anyways." He happily teased her. Despite already being in his early twenties, she still treated him like a child. Sometimes she was the more mature one, while other times she was just the person that kept him from overworking himself. Sometimes she is the reason why he was still alive, and they both realized this. She never really wanted to get a real job anyways, she was happy being his assistant. After all her pay was in knowledge, and they lived happily off the same low income After cleaning up his little mess he made his way over to a corner of the building where they made their home. It was small, and could just barely fit them to be honest, but they loved it there. It was close to where they worked, and it gave them an excuse to be near each other at all times. She had prepared a heartful breakfast for them. On your planet you could say it was ham, eggs, and orange juice, but it came by a different name there. Well... eggs were still called eggs... but you get the point. This was his favorite breakfast, which was good because it's the only one she ever really made. They were very poor, so they were thankful for everything they owned. Course, the main reason behind this is that Rowan was known for being a little clumsy with his experiments. And since it was always at his workstation it came straight out of his, as you would call it, paycheck. "It's all I could find, I hope you like it." She always told him this, since it was the raw truth. It was really all they could muster up, since it was always dirt cheap. Then again, it was the time of year where the fruits would be on sale because they were losing their quality. "Well if it was anything like last time, then I'm sure it'll be great!" Rowan always told her this to keep her hopes up. And he really liked it too; is the thing. He was always good at finding the bright side in things, even if they seemed bleak. Everyone loved that talent in him, at it made him a little famous in the small town they called home. Survira, home of Rowan Rookchester. Well that's what it would say in a few years, but right now he was more of a small town celebrity I guess you could put it. The two sat down and ate together as they always did, sharing predictions as to how the day might go. This is something they always do, simply for fun. Most the time they were wrong, but on occasion they got some parts right. "I bet someone from one of the bigger cities will come into town!" "Sis... don't be silly. Like anyone would-" Rowan was cut off by a knocking at the door. "I'll get it." He walked over to the door and opened it. A larger man stood in the doorway and was staring down at him. The man looked very professional, but almost a little too professional. Rowan noticed a sword hiding under the man's cloak, and decided to be very respectful so as to not cause too much tension. "Is there a girl by the name of Guenevere Rookchester here?" The man asked in a deep, intimidating tone. Rowan whistled and motioned for his sister to come to the door, and she quickly walked towards him. "So you're the girl that he was speaking of. Which makes you Rowan Rookchester, correct?" He asked. They both just nodded and stared suspiciously at him. "Then in that case I need you both to come with me. The Grand Chalstiel has summoned you two." The Chalstiel are a religious group that has been studying the runes for quite some time, and the Grand Chalstiel is known to summon random rune masters to put them through crazy trials to test the power of the runes. "Alright. Just let us pack our stuff." Rowan said, slowly closing the door. One hour, he heard. That would be more than enough time, since most of the stuff there wasn't even his anyways. He and Gwen packed all of their belongings and made for the carriage that the man waited for them by. "Well brother, looks like I was right." Gwen playfully chimed in as they entered the carriage. Rowan just shrugged it off with a simple "Guess so," and followed in after her.This was going to be a long day, he thought to himself. But at least it'll be an interesting one. The road to the Chalstiel Royal City, known by the locals as Hazara Navesa, was a long one. Many cities were along the road there, and one would have to pass through the Balasa mountains. Now the Balasa was covered in steep roads, and only a few of the natural passes could be crossed by carriage. Recently, however, some of the members of a local mining guild made one of the exhausted mine shafts a pass through the mountains and rehired some of the miners as guides. I say rehire because about ten year prior to our story there the mine started to run dry, and although Mythril is hard to come by the few mines for them run dry very quick due to over mining. And while they know that there is more deeper into the mountains, it would've costed too much to chase after it. That's when the Chastiel made a deal with them: make a pass through the mountains and they will pay to hire guides and give people passage. The guild quickly and thoughtlessly accepted the offer, and the Chastiel followed through with their end. Business boomed after about a year, and people were walking through that cavern like it was the road to Heaven. Problem being, fiends found their way in as well. Soon the guides had to be trained to combat the fiends that would find their way into the mines. The miner's already knew how to fight them, as it was a part of the training anyways, but now they had to learn to protect. Now the Chastiel, being a benevolent group, payed for the training and donated some of their spare weaponry to the guild. The guild, now with proper weapons and training, could protect the people going through the passage. A bigger problem soon arose, however. Once a year a special fiend, known as the Redir Mantis, made it's home within the passage. Each year a Koltas, a mix of a human mercenary and a crusader, would come in with his squad and kill the mantis. This year, however, no such Koltas has came yet. And because of that the miner's were hesitant to let Rowan and this Chalstiel Retriever, as some people called them, through the passage. "This man is a powerful rune master, I'm sure he can handle it." The retriever said in his deep voice. About this time Rowan was thinking that it might actually be his natural voice, and the thought of his voice being able to go deeper scared him a bit. "Now let us through, or find a Koltas to slay this thing." He ordered. "This year we can't afford to have a Koltas come, I'm sorry." The poor miner told him, ready to be executed. "You'll just have to report to the Chalstiel and have them get one." The retriever was about to talk when Rowan jumped out of the carriage. "What if I slay it?" Rowan asked, honestly curious as to if they would let him. Everyone just looked at him, shocked that he would know about the mantis and still want to combat it. "Despite my looks I've actually been in a few fights before, I bet it'll be easy!" Rowan added with a disturbing amount of confidence. At this point everyone was just staring at him like he's an idiot. "But brother... what if it eats you?" Gwen whines. "That wouldn't be fair to the Grand Chalstiel if you get eaten before we even get to meet him!" "Don't worry, I still got my spark!" His spark is what Rowan calls his Mana Drive. To explain he is a sorcery type rune master, meaning he uses the earth as a base and himself as a catalyst instead of glyphs and ore. The Mana Drive is a special stone given to these types of rune masters to allow them to expel energy and retrieve it in order to attain their full potential, making them use the energy of the earth directly instead of using their own energy and replenishing it with earth energy. In his case the Mana Drive is a pendant that glows when he uses runic magic, appearing to make a spark upon casting the, for lack of a better term, spell. The miner finally regained his voice. "That's all fine and dandy, but if you're going to slay it then I can't let you in there alone." The miner told him, with a surprisingly firm tone. "I'll-" He was quickly cut off by the retriever. "Fine, I'll go with him." "Alright!" Rowan called out, ready to take the mantis on. This'll make the perfect training! he thought to himself. "Now Sis, would you mind staying here with the miner. I don't want you to get hurt." He asked politely, showing how much he cared about her. "Okay... just be careful..." She told him, then turned to the retriever. "Please watch over my brother... he's all I got..." She politely requested, hoping she didn't sound as desperate as she thought she did. "Don't worry ma'am, I'll keep him safe." The retriever reassured, the intimidation in his tone going away for just this one line. The two made their way into the mountains, and didn't find too many friends along the way. Just a few stray Childas, which kinda looks like the child of an armadillo and a toad. Now the physical build was mostly that of a toad, but it had the plated exoskeleton of an armadillo along the back and forearms. It could also roll itself up for protection, and tended to use that feature for recreational activities as well. Now they were relatively friendly, and rarely attacked unless provoked. When they made their way to the mantis's little home, the owner quickly came out and stood before them. It raised one of it's arms up to head level and the other arm back with the blade pointing towards them. This was essentially the mantis's way of telling them to go away, but the retriever charged. Rowan, however, had another idea. "Rostara... zevaro!" Rowan chanted, creating a glyph in the air and punching through it. The mantis went to slash at the retriever, but when it's arm connected with the retriever's sword it was cut clean in half. Then Rowan's spell went into effect, causing it to ooze out faster. It cried out in pain and started to thrash around, slashing at the Retriever. The man rolled out of it's wild slash and he came at it with a slash of his own. The mantis charged away from the slash and came right for Rowan. Rowan drew a glyph on his hand and snapped his fingers, causing a small flame to grow as he opened his palm. The mantis slashed low and Rowan barely jumped over it, hoping to hit it in the face with the fireball. He threw it but the mantis came in for a second strike, slapping him with the blade and causing the flame to dash off to the side and slam into a wall. Rowan went flying and landed hard on his back. Right as the mantis went in for the killing blow the retriever caught up to it and slashed its hind leg off. At this point it finally fainted from blood loss and the retriever beheaded it. "Told you I still got it!" Rowan called out, although the retriever was unimpressed. "I still did all the work, so don't get a big head." The retriever scolded, causing Rowan to quickly calm down. They got back to the carriage and reported the kill to the miner, showing the arm for proof. "Congratulations, Brother!" Gwen called out, causing Rowan's excitement to come flooding back. The two of them celebrated as the carriage continued to Hazara Nevasa, with the retriever happy to not have to hear it. The sun was low on the horizon and they had finally arrived in Saperia, which is a common gateway town leading to Haraza Nevasa. Many travelers would stop here to rest and replenish their supplies. It was also famous for it's local alchemist, who was the only person to know how to create what he called "strength exilers." They would basically make a person seemingly stronger than they were before, but of course some of you humans would realize that this is really just people "unlocking" they're true strength. After all, our bodies don't allow our full strength to be used at one time. When they got there, they were greeted with pleasure. Saperia was happy that the Chalstiel passed through their town so much, and because of them the town had gotten out of its depression it had a few years ago. However, they wouldn't come to like Rowan much because of his clumsy arrogance. On the other hand, this is something they didn't expect from a rune master of his supposed quality. "So this is Saperia..." Gwen thought aloud, as she sometimes did. "I heard it was beautiful, but I didn't think it would be this lovely..." She said this because of how the city was designed. It's walls were high and white, protecting the city from harm. The buildings were colorful shades of red, yellow, green, and blue. The town hall, I guess you could call it, was made of marble stone and had pillars in front of it keeping the balcony risen. And the inn was more like a four star hotel, shiny and brand new. "I can't wait to spend the night here!" Gwen nearly screamed, her voice squeaking. She quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment because of it. "We're not spending the night there." The retriever told her as he helped her out. "My apologies madam, but we're staying at my personal estate. It's not much, but it's better than nothing." At this point Rowan tried to get out, but he fell on his face trying to reach for the retriever for help. He mutters something into the ground, the retriever ignoring it, and then Gwen came over to help him up. "Oh, sorry. I must of forgot about him." Gwen scowled at him, but Rowan shrugged it off as he always would. "It's alright Gwen, he was far too busy being a gentleman for you to treat me as well. Right?" Rowan asked, winking at him. The retriever nodded and all three of them started laughing. Rowan was arrogant, but he had a special way of going about things that made him hard to hate. Even a stoic like the retriever knew this. "By the way, we never caught your name." "Gerald. Gerald Nevasa." All Chastiel members had their last name changed to Hazara, Nevasa, or Chastiel, so it wasn't odd that his last name would be Nevasa. But Rowan and Gwen remembered his name, as they may later need his assistance again. "Anyways, the sun's setting so we'd best get to my place. I'll give you two with a nice dinner. My treat." The man offered. He had grown to like the two oddities as the people of Survira have. They made their way to the man's humble home. It wasn't very much, as he said. It was really more of a shack than anything else. The two immediately fell in love with the place though, if for nothing else then just for a feeling of nostalgia. They went inside and the man immediately began working on a meal. "You can put your things in the guest room, I don't care where." They did as he said, playing rock paper scissors for who get's to choose the beds, then just tossing their stuff onto them. About a half an hour later dinner was finally ready, and the three were hungry. What laid before them was something similar to what you humans would call a meatloaf and potatoes. It was a good meal, and one of the best ones Rowan and Gwen have had in a long time. "Thank you for letting us stay at your home." Gwen thanked, being as polite as possible. "It's nothing." Gerald told her, "I've grown a liking to you guys and I thought that it would only be reasonable." He added on, putting a smile on Gwen's face. "This coming from the same man who told me 'not to get a big head'? Haha, where did Mr. Serious go?" Rowan asked teasingly. "Would you like him to come back and smack you?" Gerald asked threateningly, making Rowan quiet down and continue eating. "Never mind, maybe I just like the beautiful one of the two." He told Gwen, causing her to blush. "Oh no. I'm not beautiful. I'm too poor to be beautiful..." She told him, like she told everyone else who tried to call her that. Rowan quickly grabbed her hand. "Oh sis... what did I tell you about thinking like that...?" He asked worryingly. He hated it when she was like this, and desperately wanted her to accept herself as who she is. "But brother, I-" She started, but Gerald quickly cut her off. "You should listen to him. Beauty is simply acceptance that one has the body they do. You're beautiful because you don't try to change your appearance with cosmetics, whether or not you're able to. So please, be happy in the skin you wear." He told her. She was at a loss for words, and looked at Rowan for advice. He just simply nodded and she sighed and continued eating. The meal was relatively quiet from there. Afterwards the sun had set and Gwen was tired. Rowan, personally, wanted to see the nightlife; but she called him to the bedroom. "Brother... I'm tired... will you come cuddle me like you do every night?" Gwen asked innocently. Rowan merely laughed and nodded. "You know... today's been a long one, but an interesting one at that. And although I'll admit that I got my ass handed to me by that mantis, it was still pretty fun. And I'm glad you could spend it with me Sis." He whispered into her ear as they both drifted into sleep, happy to have each other in this strange journey. "Goodnight Sis." He said before parting her bangs and kissing her forehead. At that point sleep had finally caught up with her and put her into the dream scape. And now's my chance to escape! Rowan thought before carefully and silently dashing out of the shack and into the town. Now I get to see a real town at night! Rowan had escaped into the night of the town without waking either Gerald or Gwen up. It was a lively town, even at night. The lights and activity reminded Rowan of the festivals back in Suriva, except with much more people. "Man... I didn't know that nights could be this exciting!" Rowan exclaimed, looking around and wandering aimlessly into one of the city guards. "Watch it!" The guard ordered, giving Rowan this look of anger. Rowan backed away apologizing, and bumped into another man. "A little clumsy, are we?" The man asked politely, trying to calm Rowan a little. Rowan simply turned around and nodded. "I'm guessing it's your first town in a big city too, right?" Rowan nodded again. "Well, then let me show you around then. Just stay with me, and you'll do fine." The man offered, quickly walking off. Rowan soon followed, as he felt he should. They walked into a bustling market place and they stopped at a strange booth. The label on the top said Spotlight of Horrors. "What are we doing here?" Rowan asked, but the man ignored him and started talking to the man running the booth. They spoke in a weird, unfamiliar language, almost as if they were speaking in gusts of breath. What are they saying? Rowan asked himself, unsure of what to think. The man turned back to Rowan. "Well, looks like they have a couple slots open for us." The man told Rowan, giving him this oddly alluring gaze. Rowan watched carefully as the man behind the booth came around from the back and tapped them both on the forehead. Everything instantly went black. When he awake the two of them were in an arena of sorts, standing face to face and locked in positions across the stage. "You are a naive one, falling into a basic trap like that!" The man called out in a darker tone. "Well, had I known the nightlife to be so dangerous I would of stayed in bet!" Rowan called back, trying to make the best of the situation. "So you're naive to the point of arrogance? Pathetic!" The man belittled him, starting to draw a small circle in the air. "Now wait a minute!" Rowan ordered, drawing a circle in the reverse direction he is to disrupt it. "If you're going to drag me into this weird ass arena thingy at least tell me why!" Rowan demanded. The man sighed. "Fine. You're here so I can feed off of your life force." Rowan looked half confused and half horrified at this. "That's right, I'm a Maverik." Maveriks are rune masters that have absorbed too much dark energy. This dark energy has manifested itself and turned the possessor into what you humans might call a demon. They require the life force of others to live, and can drain a rune master's Mana Drive to gain a pseudo-immortality. "Alright, Maverik. Let's make a deal! If I can't kill you in one spell, then you get to feed off me without any struggle!" Rowan challenged, with a mighty trick up his sleeve. "Your naivety amazes me, I accept." He accepted, unaware of what Rowan was going to do. Rowan raised one hand high above him and placed the other at his chest. The raised hand makes a large circle in the air, then drawing downwards in a vertical line. Around ninety, strait across and back up. The other hand placed itself low and drew up to the middle, dashing to each side horizontally and then back to the middle. The top hand brought itself down and the two spread apart diagonally, opening a rift of sorts to Rowan. He stuck his hand in and clenched his fist, shooting a massive stream of lightning in front of him. After a few seconds he twisted his hand and opened it, both at once and very fast. He carefully closed his hand as he withdrew it from the rift, the glyph closing itself when he retracted from it. "You're a fool." The maverik called from behind him. "No I'm not." Rowan said happily as his spun around and did a palm strike to the man's chest, causing the electricity from the rift to shoot out of his hand and into the man. Rowan quickly undid the chains on his feet as the maverik was stunned. He ran out and quickly casted the same fireball spell he had earlier against the mantis, letting the fire stay in his hand until the maverik came after him. Once he was within throwing range Rowan tossed the flame at the maverik, although it was merely tossed to the side. "Oh fuck me!" "Are you scared?" The maverik asked intimidatingly. Rowan didn't answer, saving his mental energy for thinking of what to do. "Cause you shouldn't be!" The maverik called out, Rowan instantly getting a confused look on his face. Suddenly they were back at the booth. "Sorry if I scared you too bad, I just like to spook the newcomers." The man happily told Rowan, who was just staring at him brain dead. "Now I suggest you probably go back to the inn or wherever you're staying before someone else takes advantage of you like that." "Oh... okay..." Rowan said, stumbling around the market brain dead until he got back to Gerald's shack. When he got there he sat down on his bed and just let his body go as dead as his brain. "Good night, world. I'm just gonna to lay here and rethink what you really are..."