Shortly before the Archer fight

The Teutoburg forest is quiet and tranquil as two lone figures on horseback make their way through it. The sun barely reaches the ground due to the large trees blocking out most of the sun’s light. Sounds are only faintly heard as a few birds chirp every now and again. The scenery that the two figures see could be described as pleasant, as if nature stood still like a painting.

“Wow this place is pretty.” the figure trailing behind the other remarks, staring up at the large trees overhead as butterflies fly about.

“Uh huh” the other figure replies, staring ahead as he holds the reins of both his horse and the horse following behind him for the second figure did not know how to ride theirs.

“These trees are huge! Almost as big as Remi’s forehead” the second figure adds.

“Yep” the first figure says, not paying particular attention to the conversation.

Their mind was somewhere else, thinking of the dozens of ways that their adventure could go. A plan of action was needed for each scenario, otherwise they will fail miserably and if they fail, it wouldn’t just be their lives that’ll end.

“So Warren, what's your horse’s name?” the second figure asks, trying to keep the conversation going.

“I didn’t name it. We’re just borrowing them, Nazuko.”

“That doesn’t stop you from naming him. You can name your horse something cool like me. My horse’s name is Yuki and I love her.”

“Your horse is male Nazuko”

“I love her”

“...Ok”

“You know Warren, you’re making it really hard to hold a conversation.”

“Uh huh”

“I know you’re sad and homeless but don’t worry, you have the best thief ever with so your friends are as good as saved. I have super powers and I’m pretty sure I can’t die.”

“Didn’t you almost die a few weeks ago against one of the reapers?”

“I almost died, but didn’t. I’m pretty sure that means that nothing can kill me. Also I glow now.”

“You glow?”

“Yeah it’s like my power. I can become super bright and move very fast. It's great.”

“Sounds counterintuitive for a thief.”

“Nah...I mean yeah but it all depends on when I use it. Trust me Warren while I only unlocked my specialization a few weeks ago I’m already very powerful, trust me.”

“I’m not going to argue”

With that the two end their conversation. For the next ten minutes they continue their journey deeper into the forest, with their surroundings becoming darker and darker as the foliage increases signaling that they are heading closer to their destination.

“So anyway Warren, what are your friends like?” Nazuko questions.

“They’re good people. A bit weird.”

“Warren, everyone we know is weird. Come on, tell me the specifics.”

“Well first there’s Emilia. She’s a girl of average height, about 5’5 if I had to guess. She has short black hair, grey eyes, and she’s very soft spoken. When she talks it's hard to hear her so you have to get in close to understand. Most people find it annoying but once you get used to it you realize she’s a sweet girl. She had a rocky start though because she was basically forced to join our party. ”

Warren goes quiet as the memories of the past begin to fill his head.

*******

Dragon’s Descent, home of the adventurer’s guild in the state of Dreden, was a flurry of activity. Drunken adventurers fight each other as the equally drunk crowd cheers them on. Blood, sweat, and beer fly about the place. To most it would appear to be a scene of disorderly chaos and the adventurers themselves wouldn’t disagree, however they would argue to add that it’s home and they wouldn’t like it any other way. In the midst of this chaos there are two individuals sitting at a table to themselves drinking, ignoring the fighting occurring behind them. One is male, the other is female. The former has short brown hair that is a bit messy but his face is clean shaven with brown eyes that match his leather adventurer armor set. The female looks quite similar, wearing the female’s version of said armor and even has the same color hair and eyes, though hers are slightly lighter in comparison, more of a hazel color while the male’s is a dark brown.

“Ok hear me out Warren, I think we’re ready.” the female states

“No we’re not”

“Come on, why not?” the woman replies, sounding exasperated.

“It’s still too dangerous, we don’t have enough experience”

“This is like the fifth time you’ve said we’re not ready. I think you’re just scared”

“Yep. Fear prevents us from dying.”

“Well don’t be, we’ve been adventuring for years, I think we can handle the Murphee Brood. We’re never going to move up the ranks if we keep doing what we’re doing.”

“Joanna, do you really think our party can handle such a high level mission?”

“Definitely”

“All our members?”

“...Yes” she answers, sounding a bit unsure of herself.

“Every single one?”

“Yeno” she answers trying to say yes but then tried to switch to no leading her to combining both words.

“Yeno?”

“...Shut up Warren, you know what I was trying to say. Besides, I’m the leader right? I lead the party, is this not true?”

“It is”

“That means, all the decisions come down to me.”

“That sounds right”

“So I say that we’re doing this mission.”

“No”

“Ugh why are you like this? Ok fine what would it take for you to say yes? For some reason the others have to know you’re on board, otherwise they’re not going despite me being a very charismatic leader.”

“Well first off we need more people.”

After Warren said this the front door of the tavern opened. Everyone in the tavern including Warren, did not notice the figure entering but Joanna did. It's a young woman she’s never seen before. The woman has short silver hair, at least short in comparison to Joanna. The woman’s hair only goes to her shoulders whereas Joanna’s hair goes down to her waist. Her eyes are a light grey. The woman is wearing a white cloth jacket that’s buttoned all the way up, with simple black pants. The woman catches Joanna’s eye as the woman isn’t a regular at Dragon’s Descent, she knows that it’s her first time there because she sticks out like a sore thumb. If she had to guess, she’s there to register to become an adventurer, it was a weekday two hours after noon so it’s not as if the girl is an intruder. Joanna continues to stare over Warren to see if she would go to the front desk like any new adventurer aspirint would but she just awkwardly stands there. The woman leans to the left, sees the desk, walks forward a few feet, stops, then awkwardly steps back.

“Joanna you ok?” Warren asks, noticing that Joann’s been distracted.

“Shhhh Warren, look behind you.” she whispers pointing at the woman so Warren would turn around.

Warren does so and notices the woman.

“She must be here to register.”

“I think so too but keep watching.”

Together they notice that the woman makes another attempt to go to the front desk but stops again. She backs up all the way to the front door, then starts to breathe heavily.

“I don’t think she’s doing ok. But there’s no reason to get in-” Warren was about to remark but noticed that Joanna was already on her way towards the woman. Warren sighs because he knew this would happen.

“Hey are you ok?” Joana asks the woman walking up.

Scared by the sudden greeting, the woman turns around so quickly she doesn’t see where she’s going and bumps into a wall.

“Ok that’s not good is your head ok?” Joana asks, trying to comfort her.

The woman turns around and, noticing that she can’t run away now mumbles her reply.

“Huh what was that?” Joana asks, not hearing what she said.

The girl mumbles again.

“...Ok hold on” Joanna says, turning her head to the side so that her ear is facing the woman.

“Ok now go”

The woman says something but once again, Joanna couldn’t hear. Frustrated Joanna grabs the woman’s arm and drags her to the table Warren’s at.

“Warren, I need your help, you got good ears. Translate for me.” Joana instructs, setting the girl down, pretty much against her will.

“Joanna let that poor woman go” Warren responds.

“Hey don’t say that you’re making it sound like I’m holding her against her will.”

The woman mumbles something.

“She says that’s exactly what this is,” Warren translates.

“Ahah I knew you could translate for me. Also no I’m not.” Joana says in defense.

The woman’s eyes widened in surprise, she didn’t expect the man before her to actually hear her. She murmurs something else that Joanna, nor most normal people can hear.

“Huh? Oh it’s my ability, I use aura to enhance my body parts, so I can increase my hearing.”

The woman and Warren begin to have a conversation, much to Joanna’s confusement as she can only hear one side of the conversation, and even then Warren is mostly answering in affirmatives or negatives.

“She can get like that sometimes, but she means well.” Warren says, nodding his head.

“..Were you talking about me?” Joanna asks.

The girl and Warren exchange glances.

“So you were!.”

“I didn’t say anything”

“You didn’t have to say anything, I know you, you can’t lie to me. Now tell me everything you two talked about.”

“She told me her name’s Emilia. She’s supposed to register today but she’s too nervous. She’s not good with people.”

“Oh no. Don’t worry Emilia, I will help you go through everything. Then you can join our party no problem.” Joana says to comfort her but only freaks her out because she is apparently joining a party against her will.

“Joanna, don't do this.” Warren pleads

“It’s too late Warren, she needs my help so that means she’s joining our party. Besides, you told me we needed more people”

“I was thinking of someone with experience when I said that.”

“She has experience, being herself, that’s all she needs. She will see me as a mentor, and friend.”

“Emilia, listen to me, once Joanna sets her sights on you there’s no turning back. You need to leave, come back and get registered later when we’re not here. I’ll try to hold her back.” Warren warns, ignoring Joanna.

Joanna and Emilia look at each other. Joanna’s body tenses up, getting ready to spring from her seat, Emilia’s body does the same. The former is like a lion getting ready to pounce while the latter is like a zebra getting ready to sprint to safety. But the first one to move is Warren who gets up first, grabbing Joanna’s arm from across the table. Seeing this Emilia immediately makes a run for the door. Joanna yanks her arm so that Warren lets go and goes after Emilia. Alone at the table Warren sighs and says “Guess I have to let the others know we have a new party member.”

*******

“Wow I kinda feel bad for her.” Nazuko comments.

“Don’t. She fitted right in with everyone so she’s alright. ”

“Ok who’s next? I’m interested now. Nerva didn’t tell me a lot about them so I know next to nothing. I need to know what they all look like in order to save them.”

“Guess next is Collin. He’s the weirdest one. He has this very absurdist humor that throws most people off. He’s pretty short being about 5’7. Has this pointy nose and short blonde hair that’s basically a buzz cut. His eyes are blue and he talks like his nose is constantly congested. It’s very nasally. He’s the only one that can make Adam mad.”

“Adam gets angry? I didn’t think if was physically possible for him, that’s like a dog meowing, it just doesn’t happen”

“It does”

“Oh my.”

******

“Hey Adam, remember that one time you and I were hanging out last week?” Collin inquires in his nasally voice to the group seated at a table at Dragon’s Descent. The group consisted of Adam, Warren, Emilia, and Collin himself as they waited for Joanna to collect the payment from the mission they just completed. It was the perfect opportunity for Collin to do what he does best, annoy Adam.

“I-I don’t remember us-”Adam tries to answer but Collin keeps talking.

“So we were walking together when we passed by a preschool. When Adam saw the little girls he literally started smacking his lips. I said ‘Adam is something the matter my companion? Are thou lips chapped?’ and Adam said “No my brother. I have seen fruit that must be picked” then he pointed at this one little girl, couldn’t have been no more than 4 years old and said ‘That one.’ I said ‘But Adam, she is a child.’ He replied ‘She is mature enough. Look at her curvature brother. She is ready to bear my child’. Then Adam just walked away.”

“T-that didn’t happen! I’m not a pedophile! I don’t even talk like that.” Adam tries to argue.

Adam looks around the table, Emilia has this face of absolute disgust, Warren is indifferent, he’s used to Collin’s humor.

“Collin, that's enough.” Warren cuts in.

“Ok I’ll stop. I already told everyone at Dragon’s Descent that story anyway.” Collin points out.

“W-wait are you the reason people are avoiding me!? Is that why Nerva attacked me yesterday!?” Adam recalls, sounding exasperated and irritated.

“I just wanted everyone to know my best friend’s taste in women, sorry, small girls.” he confidently answers.

“Best friends?! We hardly know each other.”

“That’s not what you said last night.” Collin says.

Not being able to handle it anymore, Emilia gets up to leave. She accidentally bumps into a few chairs but leaves Dragon’s Descent, forever thinking Adam is a monster.

“Wait Emilia!” Adam calls out but to no avail as she exits through the front door.

“Let her go honey,” Collin teases.

Warren just shrugs, he’ll explain to Emilia later that Collin just has a very strange sense of humor and doesn’t mean what he said. He was too tired to deal with it now.

“Hey where’s Emilia going? I need to give her a cut.” Joana questions as she plops a sack full of gold onto the table.

“Collin’s being Collin” Warren answers.

“Collin, did you ask her a very inappropriate question?” Joana interrogates.

“Huh? Did I ask her if she also mumbles when she orgasms? No I didn’t, I was about to get to that but it appears that she couldn’t handle Adam’s manliness.” Collin explains.

“Joanna...my life is ruined.” Adam says despondently.

“What’d he do?” Joanna asks Warren.

“He pulled a Collin on Adam” Warren confides matter of factly.

“Ahhhh. It’s ok Adam, no one believes what Collin says. They know he is just joking. He did it to all of us. The only people who would really believe him are new people who don’t know any better…..OHHHH THAT’S WHY NERVA ATTACKED YOU EARLIER!” Joanna yells acting like she had an epiphany.

“...Collin, why did you do this?” Adam says, looking like he’s about to cry.

“Because it’s funny.” he answers with a grin.

“I gotta admit Adam, it is pretty funny.” Joanna concurs.

“I want to die.” Adam confesses.

Not saying anything else, Adam gets up and leaves slouching like his life is over. Joanna tries to give him his cut but ignores her, heading out the front door.

Now at the table is just Warren, Collin, and Joanna.

“So what did you tell everyone, Collin?” Joanna grills.

“I just told them of the time my best friend Adam and I went to a preschool.”

“He told everyone he was a pedophile,” Warren specifies.

“Pffft that is funny. Not as funny as the time you told everyone I was a stripper at night but still pretty funny.” Joanna admits.

“Yeah I can’t top that one, poor Warren went to the strip club every night trying to find you.”

Joanna looks at Warren with a smirk and an eyebrow raised.

“You know I didn’t do that,” Warren says nonchalantly.

“Oh we’re lying, yeah Warren didn’t do that” Collin adds.

“Now that you said that that’s what she’s going to think happened.”

“Don’t worry Warren, I can save this. Hey Joanna, Warren would not try to find you at a strip club because he doesn’t find your body attractive.”

“That’s true I am ugly” Joanna agrees.

“No you’re not, Collin shut up.” Warren orders.

Collin and Joanna give each other sly glances at each other. Warren then realizes what he said and not saying anything else gets up and leaves. He couldn’t handle the embarrassment. Now it’s just the two of them.

“Whelp this was a fun day.” Collin reflects and is about to get ready to leave but Joanna grabs his arm.

“Good thing you said that Collin, because the day isn’t over yet. You’re going to apologize for lying about Adam to every person here.” Joanna commands.

“Ugh even after we made Warren embarrassed? That should get me off scot free.”

“Pfft like I need you to do that. Now come on, let's go.”

With that they spend the rest of the day salvaging Adam’s reputation, with Joanna feeling more happy than usual.

******

“The idea of someone constantly annoying Adam is funny to me. Who’s next?” Nazuko says as their horses continue to trot their way through the forest.

“Suppose I can do Addison and Noah at the same time. They’re twins. Noah’s around my height while Addison is a bit shorter. Noah’s an alchemist who wears these thick black glasses and always wears a lab coat. His younger sister Addison is an alchemist as well. She stands out more than her brother because her hair is always sticking up due to alchemical accidents. Both have strikingly bright red eyes, the color of rubies with hair that matches.

“Alchemist twins? Why are they adventurers?”

“They’re researchers but because they couldn’t get into any magic college they decided to conduct their research independently hoping to make a breakthrough in alchemy. To fund their research they adventure with us. Thinking about them it’s not hard to see why they never got accepted.”

******

“Joanna you’re about to lose.” Warren tells the woman sitting across the table from him. On the table is a chess board, and from the looks of it Warren is about to win, he doesn’t have her in checkmate yet but will in a few moves. They’re not at their usual hangout which is Dragon's Descent, but instead in one of Colonus’s numerous coffee shops, a much quieter venue. There aren’t people fighting in the back meaning there isn’t the constant smell of blood in the air. Joanna is looking hard at the board in front of her, using 100% brain capacity.

“Mmmmmm don’t count me out yet, I’m just getting started.” she retorts, keeping her eyes on the board.

“What’s mmmmm?”

“It’s my thinking sound. Let me think. Hey Warren, look behind you!” she yells.

Warren turns around and with his head turned Joanna pushes everything off the table. Warren turns back around to see the mess before him.

“I count this as a win.” Warren states.

“No you can’t. You didn’t win. You didn’t catch my king.”

“But you just rage quitted, that means I win by default.”

“Pretty sure the rules of the game don’t say that.”

“So what would you call it?”

“A draw”

“This is not a draw.”

“Yeah it is. I took the path of mutually assured destruction. Everyone is dead.”

“How is that a draw? That just means we both lost.”

“As long as you don’t win I’m content.”

“Joanna, you're being petty.”

“Don’t get mad at me, you’re the reason there was war between our two kingdoms.”

“You’re adding a backstory?”

“My kingdom was peaceful, the people were happy, children laughed and played in the streets. Life expectancy was long and GDP was high. Then one day the Warren kingdom came along and started massacring everyone.”

“Uh huh”

“You killed thousands of innocents. Bet you don’t want to win now huh?”

“Yeah I admit I do feel bad. But your kingdom shouldn’t have stationed a military base at our border. You should’ve known that would provoke hostilities.”

“Oh yeah well the only reason I did that was because you started drastically increasing military spending. I did that to deter you.”

“True but the only reason I started building up my military was because-”

“OK YOU TWO STOP IT!. IT’S TOO MUCH” a voice yells making them both jump in their seats. Both them and everyone in the coffee shop stare to see a man in a lab coat wearing thick black glasses staring at Warren and Joanna. His red hair is slightly spiky and his lab coat has a few burn marks on it.

“I swear watching you two flirt makes me wince every time.” he continues.

“We weren’t-”

“Quiet Warren, I don't want to hear it. I’m here on important business. I need you two to come with me.” the man orders.

“Sure what’s wrong Noah?’ Joanna asks.

“No time to explain, let’s just go.” the man replies, already making his way out the door.

“Wait, do you at least want a bagel or something?” Joana offers.

“No thanks, I already calculated its flavor in my head, it’s dry.” he answers.

Warren and Joanna follow and as they do so Warren whispers “I still won”.

Joanna pouts in frustration starting to speed walk so that she isn’t next to Warren. Following Noah through a few portals, they eventually arrive in one of Colonus’s residential areas. There are houses lined up next to each other having the same marble structure, all painted white, each with a driveway that leads to a garage meant to hold either a carriage or for the very rich, a car. At least all the normal houses look like this. The one house that Noah is leading Joanna and Warren to has burn marks all over it and smoke is coming out of the windows. To most it would appear that the house is about to explode or there is a fire raging inside, for Noah this is what the house usually looks like, and Joanna and Warren are used to it as well.

“Ok why are we here?” Joanna asks, looking at Noah who’s about to open the garage door.

“This better not be another experiment” Warren mumbles to himself.

“You two are here for something very very important, you’re going to help me win an argument!” he yells, launching the garage door upwards. Inside there are shelves along the walls holding a random assortment of alchemical ingredients such as plants, herbs, and spices. Also inside the garage are two tables located parallel to each other, each one having multiple potions on them. Finally in the back there are cages full of animals, mostly small amphibians such as frogs. At one of the tables is a woman who’s mixing potions together. She too is wearing a lab coat with burn marks and her hair is shooting up more so than her brother’s, mostly because her hair is much longer. She looks up at her brother.

“About time you showed up! ” she yells.

“I wasn’t gone that long!” Noah yells walking to his potion table.

“Are you sure? You said five minutes. I was counting in my head, it was 5 minutes 34 seconds. Once again, you prove your incompetence.”

“Oh it’s another sibling fight.” Warren says to himself.

“Hey Addison.” Joanna greets.

The red haired girl takes her eyes off her brother to notice Joanna and Warren, her expression does a 180 changing from anger to happiness.

“Hey Joanna, hey Warren. Thanks for coming by, we need your help. I need you to help me prove THAT MY BROTHER IS WRONG ONCE AGAIN!” she yells reverting back to anger instantly.

“I’M NOT WRONG, YOU’RE JUST FREAKING RETARDED!” Noah exclaims.

“You guys are going to need to explain what’s going on” Warren expresses.

15 minutes ago

The two siblings were working in their garage mixing chemicals to conduct research and to pass the time one decided to bring up a hypothetical.

“Hey Noah, if you had a tiny clone of a murderer would you torture it?” Addison asks as she puts some herbs in a vial.

“Where did that come from?” He asks, temporarily lifting his head up from the giant tome he’s reading at his table.

“Collin asked me and I was wondering what you’d say.”

“I wouldn’t torture it, why would I do that?”

“What do you mean you wouldn’t? It’s a clone of a murderer, he’s a bad guy, I know you’d have a fun time doing experiments on it, it’d be like a form of justice and would advance alchemy.”

“The clone didn’t do anything, it's just a clone of a murderer, the clone itself isn’t a murderer.”

“But he did-”

“No he didn’t, it’s just a small clone.”

“Yeah but he thought he did it. So he’s just as guilty.”

“That’s not how it works”

“Yes it is, if he in his mind thinks he committed the crime, he’d be just as guilty” she argues sounding slightly more angry.

“That’s not how crime works, the actual person did it, not the tiny clone Addison.”

“But he’s still a criminal, you would be ok having someone who thinks they committed murder run around in the world?! The world would be less safe! I’m asking you if you would torture a small criminal!”

“WHY NOT JUST SAY I HAD A CRIMINAL!? WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE A CLONE!?”

“BECAUSE IF IT WASN’T A CLONE THERE’D BE NO DILEMMA SINCE WE BOTH KNOW WE’D TORTURE HIM.”

“YOU’RE NOT MAKING SENSE!”

“I AM MAKING SENSE YOU’RE JUST NOT LISTENING!”

“I DID LISTEN, YOUR HYPOTHETICAL IS JUST STUPID AND YOU’RE ANGRY I DIDN’T AGREE WITH YOU.”

“I’M ONLY ANGRY BECAUSE I KNOW THAT IF YOU UNDERSTOOD ME PROPERLY YOU’D AGREE WITH ME”

The rest of the argument became a philosophical discussion on whether a clone is liable for the crimes of the original or if it was a new entity. However, for everyone else in the neighborhood it became another instance of the science twins cursing and hurling magic potions at each other. That was why the twins had burn marks on their lab coats, for they started throwing fire potions, aka, cocktails.

Back in the present

“Ok I get it” Joanna states, nodding her head.

“I don’t. Why does the clone have to be small?” Warren questions.

“...Good question Allison, why is the clone small?” Noah asks, looking at his sister.

“Collin told me it’s funnier if he’s small.” Addison says knowing that answer makes little sense.

“Heh it is funny. Anyway, you want us to side with one of you right?” Joanna inquires.

The two nod their heads, still eyeing each other.

“I’m glad you two came to me, as the leader I’m very adept at conflict mediation, though usually that involves attacking something. However, I can handle this.” Joanna boasts with confidence.

“Ok then who’s right? Me or the retarded person across from me who’s making up the definition of a clone?” Noah asks, trying to sound passive aggressive but it just came off as aggressive.

“Well I heard when high level mages do cloning spells, the clone is just a silent husk that does whatever the caster tells it to right? So wouldn’t that mean Noah’s right?” Joanna argues.

“Yeah but Addison is saying it has the memories of the original in this hypothetical” Warren mentions.

“But then that wouldn’t be a clone. That’s not how clones work”

“But it is in this hypothetical. It can be whatever, because it’s a hypothetical.”

“Pretty sure you can’t change the definitions of things because it’s a hypothetical”

“Well maybe clone isn’t the right term but regardless I think Addison’s right. Don’t really care about the whole torture thing.”

“But Noah’s right.”

“Oh boy here we go” Warren sighs.

The argument was at a stalemate again. What followed was a very convoluted series of events that included dragging everyone from Dragon’s Descent into a huge verbal argument as more and more people were asked about what a clone truly is. It ended with a large fight and by the end everyone forgot what they were fighting about in the first place. Nerva, who knocked out the most people, didn’t even know what the argument was about, choosing to fight everyone at random. Adventurers are a clever bunch but figuring out philosophical problems is not something they are capable of.

*****

“I heard about all of Dragon’s Descent getting into a fight, didn’t think it started with you” Nazuko remarks.

“Didn’t start with me. I was just there when it escalated.”

“Yeah ok. So do they fight like that often?

“Yep. Every Time they attempted to get into a magic college, they’d end up fighting during the exams, disqualifying them.”

“That’s siblings for ya. Though I don’t think they usually throw potions at each other. Or maybe they do, I dunno. I’m an only child, at least I think I am. Anyway, who's left?”

“There’s just Andrew and Joana. I’ve known them the longest out of everyone else. Joana I’ve known since middle school, Andrew for the past five years. When Joana and I arrived in Colonus together he was the first one Joana recruited. Joana is about 6’0, has long light brown hair and hazel colored eyes. She’s a social butterfly, everyone gets along with her. She can take just one look at you and immediately know how she should act in order to get you to like her. It’s like her super power. Andrew is sociable but in a different way, more reminiscent of a con artist. He’s so charismatic that he could sell you a wagon with a broken wheel and convince you that the broken wheel is a special feature worth paying more for. He’s about 6’2, has snow white hair that’s always full of pomade and deep blue eyes.” Warren describes.

“Oh Nerva told me a bit about Andrew. She hates him because he took a lot of money from her.”

“Yeah I remember. He challenged Nerva to an arm wrestling match and cheated his way to victory. We tried to tell her not to play but she was too excited. The worst part for her was that she kept asking for rematches, losing more and more money. Don’t worry Joana and I gave her some of our money to make up for the losses.”

“And that’s everyone?”

“That’s everyone”

“What a fun bunch”

“Yep. Now stop talking, we’re here.”

The two horses stop in the woods in view of a clearing where there’s a highly fortified castle. The castle is patrolled by guards as there are archers positioned along the towers and a few guards patrolling along the outside. The castle shows its age, for some of its walls are dilapidated and nature is slowly crawling its way up the walls from the outside as there are roots and leaves halfway up them. It is as if the castle is under siege from nature itself. The guards can only loosely be defined as soldiers as they are nothing more than peasants in rags with pitchforks, cheap swords, and cheap arrows, most likely brought from their houses, utilizing old family heirlooms. The men look ragged and tired as they perform their duties, nothing like the reports of them being a force capable of defeating the military in open combat.

“Ok Yuki I have to leave now. I’ll always love you and remember, if you see an elf, you kick her in the head ok?” Nazuko tells the horse as she gets off the saddle. The horse neighs in response.

Warren gets off his horse as well, removing his gear.

“Warren, are you ready to follow my lead?” Nazuko asks him

“You’re the expert” Warren acknowledges.

Nazuko motions for Warren to follow her as she slowly moves her way to the side of the castle, concealing her presence by hiding behind the trees and moving only when there’s no chance for any of the guards to see her. She moves swiftly. Warren follows suit but doesn’t try to move in the same manner. He instead moves more methodically.

“Warren come on you’re moving too slow” Nazuko whispers backtracking her way to him.

“I can’t move like you so if I’m sneaking this is the best you’re gonna get” he whispers back

“Ugh fine. I forgot I’m dealing with a novice”

Moving at a slower pace they eventually reach the left side of the castle. From their viewpoint all they can see is the castle’s wall and see a central tower that stands above all of the other parts of the structure. The two remain hidden as they hear footsteps approaching their location, Nazuko jumps up a nearby tree, Warren hides in a tall bush. They see that it’s two rebels on patrol conversing with one another.

“I just don’t get it. We’re rebels right?” the first one asks. He’s the younger of the two, in his early thirties.

“Yep” the second older one states, being in his late forties.

“And that means we’re fighting against the government”

“Uh Huh”

“So tell me, why do I have to pay my taxes?”

The elder man sighs at his partner’s ignorance and says “We’re at war with Creon and the state, not the Emperor. When we overthrow Creon, it’d make things easier to set up a new government and get accepted by the rest of the empire, like how Astus was formed way back if you remember history. So it makes things easier only to refuse paying state taxes only. Besides, if you don’t pay your imperial taxes, the Revenue Collection Service comes after you. You don’t fuck with them. I once had an uncle say he was going to stop paying imperial taxes, he disappeared the next day and I never saw him again. Don’t mess with imperial tax collectors.”

“I..I still don’t get it but alright. Anyway did you hear that the military is sending the heroes from the prophecy to defeat us?”

“Yeah I heard. I wouldn’t worry about that, Man of Stone is in there and he’ll be able to fight off anybody.”

“I’m not too sure. Have you read the papers? Apparently the Man of Stone’s Reapers got defeated. They’re insanely powerful. If they’ve been defeated we don’t stand a chance. All I have is my grandfather’s rusting sword.

“I told you not to worry, son. The Man of Stone can obliterate anyone with the flick of his finger. I doubt we’ll even see the army.”

“I think you put too much faith in the Man of Stone”

“ And you have too little faith. He’s fighting for the people, he knows about the struggles us normal folks are going through. It’s because of that he rallied us in the first place, he won’t let some knights take it all away.”

“I guess but most of us haven’t seen him. Not once. I don’t even know where his office is. All I know is that it’s somewhere near where the slaves are”

Hearing this Warren takes out one of his knives. The two rebels are near his position now but he remains hidden. As soon as they walk by his bush he springs out and promptly slashes the throat of the older rebel. As the rebel fell to the ground, Warren knees the younger one in the stomach followed by slamming his head into a nearby tree.

“Warren, that is not how you sneak! You’re not supposed to attack people. You know, in and out? This is going to draw attention!” Nazuko criticizes in a harsh whisper jumping down from the tree.

“Hey I heard you guys were just going to take a piss what’s taking y’all so long?” a third guard calls out entering the woods. He appears to see Warren and Nazuko but before he could say anything Warren quickly takes out another knife and throws it into his skull. His body wobbles a bit, then falls to the ground.

“See! You’re causing too much noise!” Nazuko scolds.

“Fair point.” Warren concurs, looking down at the rebel who is still recovering from the blow to the head. After shaking his head the rebel looks up to see the threatening man looking down at him.

“I have two questions. First, where do you keep the slaves? Second, where is the artifact that keeps the shield around the castle up?” Warren asks, picking up the guard by the collar so that their faces are close to each other.

“I ain’t telling you nothing, government dog!” the guard hisses.

Warren, not satisfied with that answer, lets go of the rebel’s collar, grabs his head and slams it into the tree again.

“Ah dammit that hurts!” the guard yells in pain.

“Oh no I’ve seen where this leads. Listen, look at me.” Nazuko says bending down, locking eyes with the guard.

“Hi. This guy here can get mean. I mean like really mean, so you’re better off talking to me, who’s nice. Can you just tell me a few things? If you tell me you’ll never have to see this mean homeless man ever again. Where are the slaves and the artifact that projects the shield over the castle? If you answer you’ll get a reward!” Nazuko proposes playing good cop to Warren’s bad cop.

“Fuck you bitch” the guard says.

Warren attempts to take out the machete that’s been sheathed on his back but Nazuko puts her arm up letting him know she’s got things under control.

“Well that wasn’t very nice. What would your daughter say knowing her dad was so rude to women?” Nazuko questions.

“H-how do you know I have a daughter?” the guard asks, shocked.

“I just looked at the picture in your wallet”

“How did you get that!?”

In her hands Nazuko has a wallet going through its contents.

“Oooh you’re carrying a lot of gold in this thing. I’m keeping that. And what’s this? Hey Warren, is the town of Cadia far from here?” Nazuko asks, looking at the rebel’s ID card.

“Nope” Warren answers, devoid of emotion.

“That’s interesting. How long do you think it’d take for you to get to the Williamson residence?”

“No stop! Ok god damnit I’ll tell you everything you sick government dogs. The slaves are held underground. The entrance is in the barracks, the big square building by the central tower. The shield generator is an enchanted Vienna statue located underground as well. I don’t know where, that’s all I know.” the rebel yells.

“Are you satisfied?” Nazuko asks, turning around only to notice that Warren’s already on his way to the castle.

“Hey Warren, wait up!” Nazuko calls out almost following him but stops realizing she still has to deal with the rebel. She turns back around and crouches looking at him.

“Go home. Never fight the government again, if you do, I’ll hunt you down and steal your stuff. Remember, I know your social security number.” Nazuko threatens.

“W-who are you?” the guard inquires, his voice trembling in fear.

“Ugh tax collector?” Nazuko replies, coming up with the excuse on the spot.

The guard, with his eyes wide open springs to his feet running off into the woods. With that, Nazuko quickly catches back up to Warren who’s about to scale the castle’s wall.

“See Warren, you don’t always have to hurt people physically, sometimes you just have to hurt them mentally. I should bring you with me the next time I go stealing in Colonus, you’d be perfect in helping me interrogate rich nobles. Once they take a look at you they’ll definitely tell me where their treasures are.” Nazuko offers as Warren plunges two of his knives into the castle’s wall.

“I’ll think about it,” Warren says, scaling the wall using the knives as makeshift pick axes.

Nazuko jumps onto Warren’s back as he climbs up the wall which is about 60 feet high. Warren, even with Nazuko as extra weight, makes quick work of the wall climbing to the top in a minute and a half. On top of the wall they are able to see inside the castle. They see a massive courtyard with dozens of peasants walking about. Some are drilling in military formations while others travel from one building to another. Right beneath Nazuko and Warren is a massive wooden structure with the smell of food emanating from it telling them that it's the dining hall. Across this building is another similar looking building with two guards wearing full suits of armor standing in front of it. Going off the look of these guards Warren assumes that’s the armory. To Warren’s left is a giant tower that serves as the castle’s keep and right next to it is a short rectangular stone building. Realizing that's the building he’s looking for, Warren walks along the castle’s wall towards it, making sure to move nonchalantly in order to not draw any suspicion from the rebels beneath him. To them he looks like another guard on patrol. Nazuko walks to Warren’s side to conceal herself from the rebels below. Standing over the building getting ready onto the roof of the barracks below, Warren stops and looks at Nazuko.

“I need you to do something. As I clear out the barracks I need you to go to the armory and steal some weapons for me. Once I free everyone I need them to be able to fight. Can you get me a Claymore, a spear, any potions they have in there, and any and all spellbooks?” Warren questions.

“Oooh stealing from an armory, this is gonna be fun” Nazuko says, getting excited at the challenge ahead of her.

“Once you get everything meet me in the barracks”

“I got this. They won’t ever know I was there” she brags sneaking her way towards the barracks.

Now alone, Warren leaps onto the building beneath him. He slowly makes his way to the front of the building. Each step he makes causes a creaking sound indicating that the structure of the building is weak. Warren’s original plan was to sneak his way to the front of the building via walking along the roof but gravity brought about a change of plans. As Warren took another step the roof gave in making Warren fall into the building proper.

His body along with pieces of the roof hit the floor of the building with a loud thud. Before Warren could get his bearings he heard voices all around him.

“Hey is that the repair guy?” Warren hears one man ask.

“Yeah I think so, he's here to fix the roof..” another man responds.

“Hey buddy you ok?” a third asks, helping Warren to his feet.

Warren looks around. He sees that he’s in the middle of the barracks. To his left are aligned bunk beds equally spread apart from each other, same thing to his right. There are about a dozen beds aligned to each wall. On the walls themselves are windows but because of the sun’s glare it’s hard to see out of them. Looking ahead he sees a large wooden door that leads outside and turning around sees an equally large wooden door that must lead underground. The door makes it clear that it is not a place where the standard rebel goes, for it has huge metal chains crossing over it evoking a foreboding aura.

“Guys I think the fall broke the repairman” a voice says next to him, the same one that asked him if he was ok.

This makes Warren focus on the men inside the building for the first time. He looks around and sees about a dozen and a half men staring at him, looking at him warily. Some were sitting on their beds, most were in the middle of walking until Warren’s fall stopped them in their tracks. He realizes he can’t keep staring at them. Without saying anything, Warren walks to the front door of the building.

“Hey buddy you don’t have to go right back to working, you want to rest for a bit?” one of the rebels asks.

Warren ignores him. He’s at the door now and locks it. He pulls on it a few times to make sure that the door truly is locked.

“Ugh what are you doing?” a rebel questions, putting his hand on Warren’s shoulder.

As soon as he is touched Warren turns around and grabs the man’s arm, using his aura to magnify his strength, he begins to squeeze. The man wails in pain falling to his knees.

“Hey the hell are you doing?” one of the men angrily calls out.

Still squeezing the arm of the man kneeling before him, Warren gives him a hard kick to the face with enough force to make him slide across the floor all the way to the chained door. This makes every rebel in the building jump to their feet and pull out their weapons, at least those who did have weapons, most of them were unarmed.

“Every one of you who’s willing to die for the Man of Stone step forward!.” Warren shouts.

Instead of anyone stepping forward, everyone stands still. One of the men, upon seeing his fellow rebels scared, steps forward in an attempt to gain control of the situation.

“Alright, it seems we got ourselves a tough guy” the man says, cracking his knuckles.

He stands around 6’2, bald, and is protruding with muscles.

“Yeah you tell him Tommy!” one of the men behind him barks.

“You seem to want trouble. I’ll have you know I’m the toughest guy in the rebellion. See these guns?” he asks as he takes off his shirt and starts to flex his well defined muscles.

“Woooooh!” men behind him cheer.

“I earned these. I spent five years training in the mountains motherfukah. So if you think you got what it takes you-”

Before the man could finish Warren took out another knife and threw it into the man’s forehead. He falls back as the other men look on in horror.

“Oh fuck he got Tommy.” one of them mumbles.

“Come on guys let’s get this government dog what’s what! For the Man of Stone! For Tommy!” another yells, charging at Warren with his sword raised. The others, feeling rallied now, charge at him as well.

As the first man approaches Warren, Warren moves his body to the left, already predicting where the first man is going to attack. Right on cue the first man slices vertically with his sword but completely misses. Now having an opening, Warren disarms the man and stabs him with his own sword. Warren rips the sword out as two more men charge at him. The first Warren handles by ducking, forcing the man to roll over him. Warren follows up by plunging his newly acquired sword in the man’s chest, so deeply that it becomes stuck in the ground making the sword stick up like a pole. Not having time to take the sword out, Warren looks up and is punched in the face by the second man. However, the one who felt pain was the attacker, for Warren used his aura to protect himself, so much so it felt like the man punched a brick wall.

“Ah fuck!” the man cries, holding onto his hand as the other rebels pass him.

Three new attackers surround Warren. One lunges at Warren with his blade but Warren counters by ducking under the sword and puts the man in a chokehold. Another tries to stab Warren as well but, using his new body shield, he ends up piercing his ally instead. The third man tries to kick Warren as the second tries to take his sword out of the first. Warren catches the man’s leg and punches the man’s knee inwards, breaking it. He falls to the ground, screaming in pain. Warren then focuses his attention back on the one who stabbed his ally, who finally got his sword out. He lunges at Warren once more but his life is ended when Warren pushes the sword aside with his left arm and with his right grabs the man’s throat. He lifts him off the ground just to slam him right back down, making a hole with the man’s head.

Expecting to get attacked, Warren leaps back so that he has room to maneuver. He sees that no more men are charging at him. He realizes it’s because they’re all standing behind a magician who’s been charging up a fireball during the fight. Next thing Warren knew a giant fireball was hurtling towards him. Instead of trying to dodge the attack, Warren charges at it using his aura to shield himself. When he makes contact, the fireball poofs into nothingness. Warren keeps charging across the barracks unsheathing his machete. With the distance between them now closed, Warren cuts the fire caster’s hands right off.

“AHHHHH” he reels in pain.

His pain didn’t last long, as Warren followed up with a cut across the neck knocking his head right off. The men who were behind the fire caster attempt to scatter, trying to spread out across the room. One attempts to jump out a nearby window but Warren, now fully using his aura to enhance his body, appears right behind him sticking his machete through the coward’s back, puncturing his heart. Some of the rebels continue their futile attempts to attack Warren as he did this because Warren feels something puncture the back of his left shoulder. He quickly turns around and grabs the assailant’s head with his free hand, slamming it into the beam of a nearby bunk bed causing the beam to bend. Another charges at him but Warren effortlessly hacks him, cutting the man in two. Warren continues his offensive, running by each man and taking a limb with him, cutting off arms, legs, and heads as he runs his way back across the barracks. Screams are now the only thing one can hear. He approaches the last rebel, the one who broke his hand when he punched Warren. He attacks but the rebel in a surprising stroke of luck is able to roll under the machete. He scrambles to get back up.

“FUCK FUCK FUCK!” the man curses as he attempts to figure out how he’s going to get away. He tried opening the front door but due to fear clouding his judgment, he never attempted to unlock it. Warren knew this would happen, fear makes people stupid. The man, knowing that if he tried to go out the window like his colleague, would get murdered, decided his only option left is to negotiate.

“Ok ok what do you want for Vienna’s sake?” the man asks, holding onto his broken hand. Warren stops and ponders for a minute, he decides that the man could be useful.

“You know where the slaves are through that door?” Warren questions, pointing at the chained door.

“...Yeah yeah I know where they are” the man says, sounding very unsure of himself.

“Alright, lead me to them.” Warren orders.

With the violence now over, Nazuko reveals herself jumping down from the roof’s hole.

“Hey Warren I got your stuff, it was easy peasy. Wow it smells awful in here, a lot of...iron. Must be the dead bodies. Did you really have to kill them all?” Nazuko inquires, putting down the sack of goods Warren asked for.

“I gave them the option to back down, they chose not to.” Warren responds.

“NO YOU DIDN’T ALL YOU DID WAS MASSACRE MY FRIENDS!” the rebel yells forgetting that he can be killed on a whim.

“Warren” Nazuko says, sounding like a disappointed mother, surprisingly not concerned about the rebel still alive.

“I said everyone willing to die step forward.” Warren answers in defense.

“Warren, that doesn’t sound like you wanted some of them to live, that’s something an edgy guy would say to people he’s about to kill regardless” Nazuko points out.

“A what?”

“Yeah I’m with this small girl who came out of nowhere.” the rebel concurs.

“Doesn’t matter, what’s done is done. Let’s get going.” Warren declares picking up the bag and pushing the rebel forward.

The rebel moves across the barracks, stepping over the bodies of his comrades. An eerie silence now fills the room, those who were screaming before have since bled out.

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask why I left one alive” Warren mentions to Nazuko as they follow behind the rebel.

“I got the gist. He’s going to lead us somewhere. Though I was hoping you’d just knock out everyone, not paint the walls. Wow, that guy’s bone is sticking out” Nazuko notices.

“Yep.”

“Ugh little help?” the rebel requests unable to open the chained door.

Warren shoves him aside and cuts the chains with his machete. Instead of opening the door Warren kicks the door down.

“Go” Warren directs the rebel.

“U-ugh yeah ok.” the rebel says, leaving Nazuko and Warren briefly alone as he enters,

“That dude totally doesn’t know where he’s going,” Nazuko observes.

“I know. He’s going to be a distraction. Then a body shield.” Warren recognizes.

As Warren and Nazuko were about to enter they heard the front door of the barracks kicked open.

“Hey why was this door locked!” A furious guard yells.

He stops as he sees Nazuko, Warren, and a bunch of dead bodies.

“Hi” Nazuko greets.

The guard goes for his whistle while Warren goes for his knife. He takes it out and throws it as quickly as he could but it was too late. The guard was blowing the whistle as loud as possible when the knife went into his stomach. Afterwards all Nazuko and Warren hear are yelling, followed by an alarm blaring throughout the castle’s courtyard.

“We need to go now!” Warren orders turning around.

The rebel appears in the doorway, wondering what happened.

“Hey is that the alarm?” he asks, sounding hopeful.

Instead of getting an answer Warren kicks him through the doorway as Warren and Nazuko sprint into the unknown, knowing that their job is going to be a lot harder now that the entire castle knows they’re there.