King's tower - Room 3

Legion and Gil took the lead while Richard and Alex were behind me. Entering the third room, it had a pink and purple mix color scheme. The next statue was right in front of us. It was playing with a whip in hand.

"Welcome, to the test of skill,” the statue greeted with a seductive voice. “. . .So, you've beaten the other two?"

The statue this time sounded a bit overzealous from just those few lines.

"We have," Legion answered.

"I see, then they failed as protectors of this place."

"Hey, when you mess with the best, you can only do so much," I explain.

"The best you say? Care to prove it?"

"How so?"

"In my test, of course." "Oh ho, you're on."

I stepped over to the statue, however, Legion stopped me.

"Don't let it provoke you. We don't know what its game is."

"I know, and we'll never know without doing it though. Besides, she's really asking for it."

I went down the steps to meet the enemy.

"So, what's the game? I'm not a fan of hitting women, so make it reasonable."

"Easy, just touch me once and I lose."

"Easy."

"However, if I hit you once, then you'll die a slow, painful death by the poison on my whip."

"Fine then, bring it on!"

With no time to waste, she directed her whip at me. I dodged it easily, but she swiped it my way. I jumped over it and ran straight for the statue. Ï sensed something from behind. I rolled left.

"Pretty good, now dodge this!"

It began to flail around the whip furiously. It was coming at me seemingly in multiple directions at once. Luckily, I was able to dodge all of them without a problem. It took a bit of more complex athletics but I was able to avoid them. I consecutively backflipped away to a safe distance.

"That was very good, boy, but are you brave enough to face me head-on now?"

She covers herself in whip movements. It was moving all around her in a 10-meter diameter. To the others, it was probably hard to see, but to me it was clear. Heh, I got this!

"Alright then, I'll show what's up, you hunk of rock!"

I run straight into the whips as I swipe down my goggles. I dodge the whip as it came my way. Its movement was fast, one slip up and I’m dead. As I’m about to touch the statue, I sense something coming from my back. I narrowly avoided it but it rebounded right after me. It took all my athletic skills to avoid it as best as possible. The whip's trajectory was changing without the statue's hands moving. What the hell is this thing!

"Yes, behold my power. The whip that protects the kings' treasures! This is the whip that will chase you to the ends of the world!"

It was chasing me even though I was doing my best to outrun it. In the end, when it was about to hit me it retracted back to the normal length it was before. It must have a certain point where it can't extend any further. At this point, I was exhausted, my legs were thumbing like crazy, my heart was going berserk, and I barely had enough air in my body to manage because of all my dodging around.

"This is the end!"

The statue sent the whip my way. It extended in length like last time. I could hear the others telling me to move but I couldn't move without a plan. I needed a way to reach it without getting hit, but how? Think, there has to be a way, I need to figure it out. The rope was edging closer but I still didn't have a way to get close enough. . . No, there was no sense thinking about it, I just needed to go! As the whip almost hit my face, I jerked left and made a break for it towards the statue. I had moved past the point of the whip that was following me. It began to flail the whip around again but I was too focused on the whip and where it was going to be to allow it to hit me. Along the way, the point was behind me. So I did something that had a fifty-fifty percent chance of working. I maneuvered around the straightened rope, along with the piece that was after me. After a while of careful movement, it got to the point where the rope couldn't come after me anymore since it was tied up into a knot.

"You devil, you tied up my whip!"

"Devil is too much, I'd go with a kid who knows better."

My next and final move involved me taking off my jacket. I threw it up to the statue’s head, obscuring the enemy's view. I sense something coming from the whip. Multiple other points came jutting out from it.

"I got you! Nobody could escape such a technique, no-"

I landed on the statue's shoulders, hand standing on them. "W-what the? How did you?"

"Sensed that attack coming before it came, and since your view was obscured, I was able to jump into the air, and I think you can guess what happened from there.”

The statue began to crumble as I jumped off it.

"How could I lose to a child? How could I lose in the name of the king!?"

"Don't think too hard about it, you'll only hurt yourself," I retorted.

It then collapsed in on itself. I picked up my jacket from the floor. I was glad to see there were no holes in it, I only have one of these and I definitely don't want to ruin it.

"Proxy!" Richard and the others came running towards me.

"Proxy, that was amazing! How were you able to dodge all those whip attacks," Legion asked, astonishment barely covered the look on his face.

"What, you jealous of my skills, Legion?"

"No, I was mesmerized by how athletic you are? I didn't think you were capable of such a feat."

"Hey, that's rude. I'll have you know that I was recruited to the athletics team a couple of times..."

Alex went over to the iron door and opened it. "

This is it, let's go!" "Yeah!" We all went into the last room. Wait, why is no one else singing my praises!?

King's tower - Room 4

The moment we entered I noticed the big vault door. Now that was a vault door...

"So, you've defeated the other knights, I take it?"

We saw the final statue sitting on the ground, waiting for us to go and fight it.

"We did. Are you the last of them," Legion asked.

“Yes, I am the last of the vault guardians. A knight who defends the treasure vault of the king! I have forgotten my name, but I still remember my loyalty to my king! Now come, which one of you shall face my blade!"

Legion walked in front, taking out his sword.

"I'll be your opponent."

"I see, in that case. . ." It drew its blade as well. "Let us skip introductions, let us dance!"

The two clashed, Legion quickly closed the gap to get the first hit in. The statue was blocked for a good while. It wasn't attacking at all even when he could, and that hit me as odd. Legion made an opening within the enemy's guard. He was about to deliver his first blow, but the statue struck his blade.

"He pushed back," I expressed shock at the fact. Not only did he strike back but he was striking at Legion's attack the moment he made them. It was like he knew what he would do before he did it.

"Behold, this is the power of my obligation to my king. The one true king that ruled this land. All that remains of his treasures are inside that vault. That is why my comrades and I put everything on the line. Now, witness that dedication!"

He began to outdo Legion, going faster than him and doing even more powerful blows. But it was odd, the moves it was doing, and the way it was attacking was almost like Legions. Wait, can it be? If it is, then. . .

"Legion, I know what this guy is doing. He's--"

"I know, he's copying me. That's why he blocked my attacks, in the beginning, to familiarize himself with my swordplay and then quickly adapted himself to using it."

Oh, well he's observant.

"Personally, I never fought someone using my moves the same way I used them, I'm kind of excited for it actually."

I saw the smile on his face. It was small, so it was more like a smirk. He was having fun with this. Even when he acts like a boy scout he was having fun with this fight...

"But I can't afford to mess around."

The statue closed in on Legion, who was standing still. When the opponent came close to him, he just slashed upwards, slicing nothing but the air. For a brief second, I was confused about what he did, but another moment later, an entire block of ice came out of nowhere and hit the statue, trapping it inside the ice.

"This is the end, I cast judgment upon you with this." I could see lightning wrapping itself around his blade, crackling around it. "I have recognized your determination to win for your king, and I shall honor it with this. Behold, the lightning that cuts all!"

Does he really need to drag it out? Just do the move already.

"Rending lightning!" He launched the lightning diagonally. It was wide in length and cut right through the ice like butter. It felt powerful just watching it cut through it like it was nothing at all.

"Incredible, so he can use two different elements," Richard gasped.

"Proxy, what do you think? Proxy..."

...

I sheath my sword after the attack. That was surely it for that statue. Besides that, the path to the vault was clear. Alexander had reached me.

"The way to the vault is clear now. Let us go and-"

"Wait, this battle is not over!"

The statue was standing up even though it was missing one leg. It used its sword to stand. No matter its determination he was still going to crumble away...

"I shall not allow you into the vault, even if you have won. I'll fight to my last seconds just to stop you all!"

I walked over to him, with no intention to continue the fight, but just to talk.

"I feel your determination, your respect, but most importantly, your dedication to your king. You truly are a qualified knight, be proud of that. I'm certain your king would be as well. . ."

The statue didn't respond in any way to my words, it just simply crumbled away.

"Thank you," The knight whispered. With those being his final words he then turned to dust.

"You're welcome. May you find peace. . ." I gave him a small prayer to give him safe passage onto the next life.

"So, it's over," Proxy said.

His demeanor is a bit colder than before. "He was pretty weak," he commented.

"Don't disrespect him like that. He fought proudly and gave it his all. Don't you dare spit on him," I scolded him.

"Sorry, I guess I should've chosen my words carefully." He tried to play it off as a mistake, but something tells me that wasn't the case.

"Anyway, let's get that vault open."

The others went to help Proxy with the door. It took them time to figure out how to open the door, but when they did I could hear the gears turning. The door slowly opened up.

"Oh buddy, here comes some treasure, boys!"

Proxy exclaimed as he jumped on Gilhart's back.

"Get off me Proxy, you're still sweaty from all that moving around!"

When the doors finally opened, we were able to see the contents of the room.

"Wha. . . What?" The vault was empty. There was no gold, no rare items, nothing of interest. Just a sword and a crown on it from the hilt.

"What is this!? This is it? Are you shitting me!?"

Proxy was incredibly disappointed by the lack of treasure. He was kicking at the sky, trying to vent his frustration on the wall by kicking it.

"Well, at least we won't have to move anything now, that would've been a total pain," Gilhart said, trying to livin' up the situation.

"You idiot, we would've been rich. R.I.C.H, RICH!"

His disappointment was immeasurable at this point. I feel sorry for him...

"Alex, what are you doing," Richard asked.

Alexander was inspecting the sword he had pulled out of the slot that it was stuck in and the crown that was on the sword.

"Guys. we can sell the jewels on this crown for a high price at the back markets."

Taking a closer look at it, it did have some expensive-looking jewels on it. Each one could probably fetch a high price.

"So that means we're. . .?”

“Yeah, we're rich again!"

Proxy jumped back on Gilhart’s back.

"Not again!"

Gilhart was fighting him off his back while Richard just watched. Alexander approached me, with the crown and sword in hand.

"Legion, in the end, it's up to you to tell us if it is okay to take these."

I knew why he wanted to take the crown but why the sword?

"You wish to use the crown and the jewels to fund your army, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then why take the sword?"

"The love he showed for his king was immeasurable. I wish to bring the sword with me, so I can honor his king and his dedication to him by taking it into battle with me. But if you don't wish for me to do so I'll understand."

His sincerity was genuine. It didn't feel as if he had an ulterior motive past honoring them. At this point, I don't doubt his character. He showed nothing but the best within a person, and in someone, I can trust.

"If you need the money to fund your army, then take the crown and sell it for money and use the sword with good intentions. After your affairs are settled, please return the sword here."

Alexander gave me a thumbs up with a smile.

"I swear on my name, I shall return the sword and crown to this very spot."

I knew that if a man like this said something like that, he meant it and would follow through with it. With all this settled, it was time for us to head out. I lead us out of the multi-roomed dungeon.

Outside of the king's tower - dusk

The group of five had reached the outside of the tower with Legion and Alexander leading the way as Proxy walked behind Gilhart and Richard. It was around dusk.

"Thank you all for helping me with part of my investigation of the tower," Legion said with gratitude.

"We should be thanking you. We would've had trouble with the last guardian if you weren't there," Alexander told him.

"Then let's say it was a pleasure to help each other," Legion stated.

Both of them shook hands in agreement toward the statement.

"Legion," Richard called.

"Oh, Richard, you need something?"

"Not much. I just wanted to say that your Source was impressive."

"Thank you, I’ve been told that my control is not perfect but I’m more than practiced with it.”

“That’s amazing. . . Hang on, you’re hurt!”

There was a cut on his arm. Richard went to work on healing his arm. The process was slow but he eventually healed the wound.

“So you are of the Guardian attribute?”

“I am. . .”

Richard was exhausted a tad bit. He was quietly trying to catch his breath.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. . .just a bit exhausted.”

“Exhausted? Healing a cut like that should be easy. Wait, have you recently been using Source?”

“Yeah.”

“I see now. . . You haven't reached ‘it’ yet.”

“It?”

“Nothing, I advise you to be careful of using your Source. Your control of it is limited, so you won’t get the best outcome from it.”

“Thanks for the tip but how do I use it as you used yours?”

“It will come to you, just keep practicing.”

“But what if it doesn’t come to me, what if I always exhaust myself like this," Richard despaired.

"Richard, may I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"I had trouble when I first started doing magic as well. I used to get extremely exhausted when I started out, so don’t get discouraged.”

His smile radiated motivation for Richard. It was night and day between Proxy’s carefree smile vs Legion’s, who had a gentle radiance to it,

"All right, yeah, I'll keep going at it! I'll do my best!"

With more motivation, he wanted to get back to the camp to practice as soon as he could. Alex and Gil were on their way to go and get on Marie's bike to head back to camp. Richard went to Proxy's bike, however, Proxy was still at the doors of the tower. He stared at Legion, his goggles obscuring his eyes. He then walked over to Legion, stopping right beside him. Legion could feel the air turning stale, tension covering them as if an anaconda had wrapped around them.

Proxy then said, "I can't wait to fight you."

There was nothing friendly about it, his tone was evidence to that, and Legion knew that. However, Proxy didn't mean it in a way to come off as threatening. In reality: It was Proxy expressing pure excitement for when he gets the chance to fight a worthy adversary. This began the spark of a rivalry.

"Proxy. . .What a fearsome person."

Ruin's camp, afternoon

Alex was swinging the sword he had taken from the vault away from the camp by himself. He was trying to get used to the weight of the sword. To him, it was light to wield, but heavy to wield in a different manner. Unknowingly, Proxy was watching him practice.

"You got a good form there, man," Proxy commented.

Alexander was surprised to see him. He had thought he had found a place to seek privacy.

"Oh, Proxy. How are you? How did you find me?"

"I'm good, and I saw you walk out of camp, so I followed you."

"I see. In that case, I guess I couldn't find a perfect spot to gain privacy."

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

Alexander chuckled to himself.

"I do have to ask, why become curious about what I'm up to?"

"Richard was practicing his magic, so I came to hang out with you."

"In that case, I'll be delighted to indulge you."

The two of them sat down on the grass, looking up at the night sky.

"You know, when I was in prison, I dreamt of seeing and doing many things again," Alexander opened up.

"Like what?"

"Eating good food, feeling nature with my own hands and feet, and seeing the night sky like this, and being with my sister again. I guess it takes being kept away from the things you take for granted to make you realize that you should take in every minute of it when you get it back. This went for my dream as well. I thought I would never be able to fulfill it ever since going in there. However, I guess I got lucky when you guys came to save me."

"Don't thank only me, it was your sister's idea. She was going to go by herself to rescue you if I hadn't gone with her." "Then the thank you is still in effect then."

The wind was brushing against the grass and the two as they continued to gaze at the stars.

"Proxy, now that all that we're going through with attacking a Fire Wraith camp soon, I'm becoming quite nervous. I keep wondering what if we fail, what if I mess up, can I even do this?"

Proxy was going to say something about his worries, however, Alexander beat him to it.

". . .But I can't back out now, I need to keep going, no matter how scared I am. Isn't that right?"

Proxy was impressed that he was able to share that he had fear of starting a war on the bandits, but yet still wants to go through with it despite that. He was fascinated by Alexander's bravery.

"Well, that's enough of that. I'm going back to training, you wish to join me," Alexander offered.

"Sure, sounds like fun, I’ll take you up on your offer."

"All right then, I shall not hold back.”

“Me neither!”

...

A giant monster roamed the forest it presided in. Webbing covered the forest in nearly every nock and cranny. Sitting in its nest of webbing was a man who was wearing a coat that is made of animal skin on his waist, pants made out of animal skin.

"Pretty soon, we're going to have us some prey! I can't wait."

His gaze was at the sky as he tried to rest up for tomorrow.