Princess Aria smiled excitedly and said, “Oh, this is wonderful! Follow me we must report this to father immediately! Someone get Dean a sword and scabbard, sheathed please.”

A paladin in steel armor covered in those strange English words handed him his sword and scabbard right off his waist. The hilt was steel with a leather-covered handle with some kind of cyan gem on the end for a pommel. Afterward, the paladin fell back in the procession with only a dagger and his shield. We speedily walked down the maze of stone hallways and corridors lit only by either torches or the sun? Wait, was that a river of fire in the sky? Why are there so many moons and is that a mini sun with three rings behind them? What the h**l is happening??? Okay, definitely not on Earth anymore, not that was really a question…..

Before I could finish processing what I just saw we came to the throne room, the king sitting on his throne peering down at us, a stained glass window behind his raised dais. The dais itself had to at least be one story of stone steps leading up to the high back stone throne. The throne’s upper back is covered in black stained glass with two blue swirling eyes of stained glass staring from above the king's head.

Princess Aria curtsied and greeted, “Father I have most wondrous news! As it turns out refining mana results in a phenomenon somewhat similar to The Great Storm’s Arcanum Lightning. Though the resulting phenomenon is lesser than that of the Great Storm’s Gold Lightning, it’s spells so far seem far more potent than those of mana! All this seems to be a gift from the Great Storm as it is the Mark of the Hero which makes such a phenomenon possible! In honor of the Great Storm, I propose we name this new energy Arc.”

While saying the last sentence she fell to her knees reach her arms toward the sky then settled down and bowed her head awaiting an answer, her eyes closed, hands in her lap.

Seeing her like this I decided it might be best I take a knee before the king, so I did.

The Sacred Monarch made a noise between a hum and a growl, “Hmmmmmmm….. Favion is this true?”

Princess Aria shouted in protest and disbelief, “Father!”

The Sacred Monarch raised his right hand silencing her.

The same man in a black hood with blue decorations on it from before, stepped forward, “Yes your Holiness, it is true I saw with my own eyes a yellow bolt of lightning shoot forth from the Hero’s hand.”

The Sacred Monarch spent a few moments in his thoughts, his hand to his chin.

The Sacred Monarch, “Very well. Hero! In three days time I will send you and a few of my elites through tainted lands to retrieve the Sacred Sword from the dwarves, that was crafted in millennia-long past by The Great Storm, Ethereal himself. From there you will travel to the vile Empire of Daemons and slay the Daemon Emperor. Now g…”

Suddenly a man in full plate armor burst through the doors behind us and shouted, “You Holiness the daemons have breached the walls!!!!”

Getting up from his throne the Sacred Monarch walked towards the doors followed by everyone in the room. Passing by the man who rushed in he rests his hand on the man's right shoulder and says, “Prepare yourself.”

Then moving on through the doors down the hallways and out the castle doors we stare downhill over the city and see a mass of black figures sweeping through the city setting it ablaze and slaughtering civilians.

The Sacred Monarch calls out in an even calm tone, “Gastolf gather the combatants in the castle and bring them here to make our stand. Tell the civilians inside to hide. Hero! I’m sorry, it seems your training is at an end, take my daughter and the captain of her guard Catherine Talon along with Nun Talia Lockridge. You are to take them and flee, do you understand? Completion of your mission comes only secondary to my daughter's survival.”

Dean nodded and said, “Yes your Holiness.”

The Sacred Monarch nodded back and said, “Good man! Now go!”

He said while pointing at an alleyway. I grabbed them princess, her guard, and the nun before moving through and alleyways towards the wall. Looking back I saw the Sacred Monarch glow cyan and start to float into the air as he spoke each cyan breath became an English word that began weaving a spell. He wrote in the air with his finger cyan words taking form and joining the spell weave alongside each word spoken.

Moving through dark alleyways and side roads the princess and her entourage were surprisingly calm much like I always am in emergencies. We didn’t run into many daemons on our way through the city, only coming across lone stragglers and small groups that were quickly blasted away by the nun with the use of cyan flames. It was only when we neared the edge of the city’s wall that we saw a mass of strange abyss black creatures covered in glowing purple cracks with purple glowing eyes, long black claws, shirtless lean builds and black curved ram horns, long pointed ears, wearing simple red pants with red loincloths with no shoes.

Nun Catherine, “Ughth, lesser daemons.”

As if hearing her whisper they all turned towards us staring. A taller one with more muscles stepped forward upon the tip of a fallen chunk of wall, unsheathed his serrated black scimitar with a few strange red glowing runes on it, raise it up towards us, and yelled in some twisted language I’ve never heard before.

Dean, “Shit.”

With that they charged toward us as we readied ourselves, the nun’s hands glowed cyan the Paladin guarding the princess ready her shield covered in English glowing cyan and her sword covered in English glowing cyan words, the princess did that strange prayer hand thing and started weaving a spells with her words. Me? I was in front somehow and it seems the princess’s entourage had no intention of tanking for me, shit. I looked back at the daemons charging at us and steeled my nerves attempting to enter the same zone I did during soccer but with different priorities. This will be my first life and death battle, shit.

Ok their still pretty far away maybe just go ahead and start firing weird Arc spell-bolts. Yeah, that a good idea lets do that. So I did. Arc bolt after Arc bolt flew into the mob of angry and laughing? Daemons, ok these guys must be insane, f*ck.

My Arc bolt flew into the daemons exploding on contact the daemons exploding into bits of gore or being burnt into charcoal, laughing, screaming, and yelling in rage all the while. I felt a strange energy touch me and transform before pouring into my body.

A foreign feeling rose into my body with the feeling of knowledge pouring into my brain like a firehose, it was kinda like this, “You have gained Night Vision.” However with a lot more to it. The whole thing lasted for less than a thought, then suddenly it happened again.

“You have gained Greater Strength.”

Then again, “You have gained Greater Hearing.”

Followed by a few more times, “You have gained Greater Fertility.”

Dean, “Huh?!”

As the horde of daemons got closer I decided to try an AOE Attack, I charged my Arc up in a ball the shot it over the horde, and squeezed. Yellow lightning bolt’s shot out zapping daemons into crisps. Finally, the nun started firing spells and the princess finished her chant. Starting from the princess a pulse of cyan mana blew out from her paralyzing the daemons and slowly cooking them alive. It got a lot of them but not all of them. Some of the stronger ones even broke the spell's effects with a pulse of purple energy.

As they surged towards us I kept firing off arc bolts like crazy and so did the others except for the paladin who kept a silent vigil in front of the princess.

A few got within a yard or two when I stabbed one straight through the chest then pulled out my sword as he bled out on the stone road. For a moment I stared at him dying, before I brought up my sword to block a strike from a daemon at my right then blasted him in the stomach with an arc bolt. Blasting hole through his stomach. Spinning around I decapitate another daemon. When I see the large daemon running toward the nun his eyes shining in unrestrained glee.

He swings down at the nun who wore a simple light blue chest plate and baggy black pants, her hair in a warrior's braid, then she caught it. The battlefield pauses and Everyone but the princess and paladin seem surprised. Then she squeezes and I hear an audible crunch before she starts slamming him into the ground over and over like an old ragdoll. When he is knocked out she stops and places a foot on his chest and presses, crushing his head like a watermelon.

Silently she raised her hand cyan spheres coalesced seemingly from the air around us, then she closed her hand into a fist and the spheres shoot through the chests of the few remaining daemons thus they died instantly.

Quickly they start toward the small hole in the wall, while I stare there in awe for a moment before following behind. After exiting the hole in the city wall we make our way to the distant fields. It’s not until we're near the edge of the forest and have made sure that there are now no enemies nearby, that the princess breaks down and starts crying. While the paladin and nun comfort her I stare at the distant city, though I can no longer hear the sounds of battle from this far away, I can still see the cyan flashes of spells.

Just what have I gotten myself into…..