Astro

Lucky: “Well, we got you a sword Dante. Sorry, it was so cool looking that I couldn’t resist.”

Dante: “Don’t sweat it. Although, I have no idea how this stuff works.”

Lucky: “Hover your hand out over the sword and a blue panel will pop up. The top right usually shows how many of that sword there are in the world, but yours isn’t showing anything but question marks. I’ve never seen a sword do that.”

Dante: “Great, so I don’t even know the sword’s weaponry status. Damn piece of junk.”

Lucky: “Dunno, but the good news is we got you a sword though! Now we can both defeat big monsters and one day, I will defeat Kastor! Maybe even you’ll be strong enough to do it with me.”

Dante: “So what do we do now? How are we supposed to get this Yellow Egress Chaplet?”

Lucky: “I don’t know. I’m at a loss. I’ve never been to Carmen's Dungeon, let alone the City of Thieves. In schools here, they always tell us never to go there. Most people end up killed or all their belongings stripped from them, but it is where you go to get rare items or find guides to Carmen's Dungeon.”

Dante: “Is it possible to find this chaplet in the City of Thieves?”

Lucky: “Yeah, but my brother said to go to Carmen's Dungeon to find one, so there is definitely one there, but we won’t make it out of there alive by ourselves.”

Dante was confident in his skills as an assassin, but it was proven that he was outclassed. He’d rather risk his pride, his safety–anything–to find someone to help them through, than take the chance of dying in this world and never holding his kids in his arms again. Lucky continued talking.

Lucky: “We are going to have to head to the guild in Elric City to ask someone for help. I’m sure someone there will help us out. They can probably get us close to the City of Thieves, and then we will get a guide.”

The boys trekked to Elric City in hopes of hiring a mercenary to get them to a guide in the City of Thieves. It was a city known for multiple adventurer guilds. Almost within 200 feet of every building was a different guild. Strong people from all over the world came to this place in search of quests to earn money. In the distance, a gravel road led to the massive bustling city.

Lucky: “This is Elric City, Dante. Take it all in. Isn’t it awesome!”

Dante wasn’t impressed. ‘It looks like a normal city in Japan, but more fantastical. Yeah, it’s big, but it isn’t all that,’ he thought. They walked through the corridors of the streets where business boomed all the way to the end where on the right was a tavern looking building.

Lucky pushed open the doors to many adventurers. Dante looked around to see men and women with all kinds of different swords, grinning at them, but Lucky continued forward with a smile on his face to the front desk.

Lucky: “Hi! We’d like to hire someone to take us to the City of Thieves.”

The woman immediately changed her expression to a worrisome look. She hesitated when speaking as her smile wiped away.

???: “Y-You want to go to the City of Thieves? I can’t make that request with kids as young as you. I’m sorry. You will have to try a different guild elsewhere.”

“We’ll pay any amount,” Lucky replied.

???: “I’m sorry boys. I don’t want to be responsible for the deaths of you two. I won’t do that to you or myself.”

Lucky became frustrated and turned around at all the people in the tavern.

Lucky: “Ahem! Ahem! Excuse me! Excuse me!”

They all stopped talking real quick and glared at them while he continued to yell across the tables of people.

Lucky: “My name is Lucky and this is my friend Dante. We want someone to take us to the City of Thieves to find a guide to Carmen's Dungeon. Can someone help us?”

Mixed emotions stirred within the tavern. Some people ignored them, some laughed, others were frightened from hearing those words. Lucky heard one man say to his group, “City of Thieves? We aren’t going for sure. We won’t make it out of that city, let alone get to the dungeons.”

One man stood up, as big as a viking with a long beard. He wasn’t really fat, but wasn’t muscular either. His jeans hugged tight to his legs and his shirt looked more like a dark brown gown that was extremely long. His name was Mulen.

Mulen: “Listen kid, you boys are a little young to be going to the City of Thieves. Do us all a favor and get out of here. We don’t need death tolls racking up.”

Lucky became frustrated and decided to put the man in his place.

Lucky: “Oh really? Have you ever been there?”

Mulen: “Of course not. I don’t wish to go on a suicide run. You're not going to find anyone here to take you. You're in Drury Guild. Nobody is gonna help you here son. Scurry along.”

Lucky sighed and began to walk away, but turned around and spit in the man’s face.

Lucky: “That’s for being rude!”

The man approached to swing his massive fist at both of them.

Mulen: “Why you little…!”

The lady at the front desk called out, “Please, someone stop him!”

In that instant, a man with black hair, a black cloak, a scar over his eye, and a large scythe with a red and black checkered design along the handle appeared before the man. He stopped his fist with 1 finger.

???: “Sit down, Mulen. Leave these boys alone. You and I both know you wouldn’t survive either in the City of Thieves, so why are you even arguing?”

He turned around to talk to the boys. As he did, Mulen threw his other fist at the man. He blocked it with ease without even looking, jumped, and kicked the man through the wall of the tavern.

???: “Sorry Cheryl. Put that on my tab…Now, you boys said you need someone to get you to the City of Thieves?”

Lucky shouted, “Yes! Will you take us? We will pay you a lot. My brother is the leader of the Red Faction. He can pay for you too.”

The man responded, “Kouki is your brother? Then Yasu is also your brother I assume.”

Lucky’s eyes lit up.

Lucky: “Yasu? You know Yasuhiro, too? You know my brother?!”

???: “There are more stories than I could tell about your brothers, but let’s get down to business for now. That city isn’t a joke kids. There are some rules before we go there. Number 1, It’s gonna cost you 5000 Petals. Number 2, you stay next to me the entire time. Number 3, if I say to run, you run and don’t look back. Number 4, don’t trust a single thing that comes out of anyone’s mouth. Number 5, I will take you to the dungeons myself. Those guides there are just part of the city. They will kill you on the spot. Got it?”

Dante figured this man knew what he was doing. ‘He thinks like an assassin. Those rules, they correlate with an assassin’s thinking. I have no other choice but to trust him for now, even though that’s part of his rules. He can get us to Carmen's Dungeon.’ Lucky screamed out of nowhere.

Lucky: “Yes! We will follow you! I’ll tell my brothers about you too!”

???: “Oh, that’s one more thing. Let’s keep this mission between us. I don’t think your brothers would want to know you were putting your life in danger.”

‘He’s lying. There is something he doesn’t want to say. Could he possibly be an enemy of Lucky’s brothers? It’s possible. He’s gloomy and sketchy. Either way, it doesn’t affect me right now. As long as he can get me where I need to go without killing us, then I’ll follow him.’

The three proceeded on the quickest route to the City of Thieves.

???: “My name’s Astro by the way.”

Lucky began to throw out questions now that this man knew about his family.

Lucky: “How do you know my brother? Did you guys fight together? Are you guys still friends?”

Dante learned very quickly that this boy was eager to learn and get stronger. He was curious about anything and everything. Astro responded easier than Dante expected and cleared his suspicions early on.

Astro: “Your brother and I were good friends growing up. We trained together, ate food together, went on dungeon raids together. We decided to join the Royal Forces of Alkeron not more than 20 years ago. It was a group of 100 soldiers tasked with destroying corrupt cities, much like where we are heading now. However, the king had different plans. He split us into groups and ambushed us in different cities with his men. Yasu and I fought back to back to kill every one of them, whilst killing innocent civilians in the process. It wasn’t our intention, but we had no choice. Covered in blood from head to toe, Yasu smiled, laughed, and yelled out, “Come at me king! With everything you have! Bring your greatest swordsman! I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all!”

As it poured down rain, I chose to walk away as he lost himself in revenge much like I had in the past as well. I understood his pain, but seeing him flip completely over one situation was haunting. I haven’t seen or spoken to him since then.”

Lucky only looked down at the ground as he walked. Tears ran down his face. Dante knew this man was skilled enough to know a lot about this world, so he decided to ask how mana works as Lucky recouped himself.

Astro: “Mana? Mana is a circulating energy in this world that brings forth a strength from within you. The stronger your will, the stronger your mana, but you have to train it. However, you can’t bring it forth really without a sword. Your sword will resonate with your mana and connect your mind’s will. When you produce mana, your body will showcase colored lines of the affinity of magic you and your sword most connects with. There are all types of affinities though, so you can use multiple types of swords that might carry different powers…Chaplets, which is what you boys are looking for, is what brings out an even greater power between you and your sword. It will grant you special powers that you didn’t have before and powers that swords don’t have.”

Dante: “How do I boost the amount of mana I have and what magic I can use?”

Astro: “Well, even though you may be able to use fire magic from your original mana, you can’t really use it without a sword. Your magic affinity will connect with a sword that you choose and bring out that fire, but you may also have different techniques to use that the sword already possesses. It switches when you switch swords. If you train hard enough your mana will continue to rise over the years.”

‘I don’t have years’ he thought as Astro continued.

Astro: “But if you develop a special bond with your sword, think of it like a marriage, then the sword will devote itself to you. However, that requires you sacrificing yourself as well to your sword. You won’t be able to touch another sword let alone use it. Although this boosts your power, it restricts you from using other powers that may be useful in a fight. There is no point in carrying around extra swords in a magic pouch much like your friend here. In extreme situations, people form Covenants with their swords and they become one with each other completely. It’s almost as if your sword consumes your every thought and takes control of you. It’s basically committing to death in exchange for power instead of a special bond.”

Thinking of his wife, he thought ‘I will never abandon her.’ Looking at his sword now, ‘These swords can question my resolve all they want. I won’t ever use a Covenant. I’ll become strong enough to conquer these swords and get home. Come at me and see what happens!’