Into The Dark

 In the forests of Siladhi, the boy was covered in cuts and nicks as he sat high at the top of a tree. His clothes were in tatters, and his body shivered as night overtook the forest. In his right hand, he gripped a stick tightly; its edge was covered in blood. After running almost the entire night, the boy's eyelids drooped as he drifted to sleep. The tree shakes. He nearly falls from the thick tree branch and looks down at the ground. The hounds that were chasing him claw at the tree, cutting through the thick bark with each slice.

He jumps from branch to the next and lands on the next tree, and continues through the forest. A bird flies toward him like an arrow, piercing his shoulder. The impact ruins his landing, and he falls several stories and crashes into the ground. Despite the pain, he rolls over and stands up. The hounds surround him, and the bird continues to dig deeper into his shoulder. He rips it out with a yell and holds his stick up like a sword.

“I must applaud your tenacity. It will be of great use to us.” The Misshapen man spoke as he crept out from behind a tree like black mist.

With a ring of his bell, more hounds appeared around him.

“Rough him up a bit, but don’t kill him.” He ordered.

The hounds attack all at once. Biting into his legs, jumping on his back, and even biting into his shoulder. He rips the hound off his back, and while it’s in mid-air, he slashes horizontally, cutting it in two with the stick. As he swung his arm around to cut the hounds biting into his legs, his arm froze up. His body became unable to move.

“Their fangs contain a paralytic. It’s how I took down your village so easily. As these creatures aren’t native to any part of Arcadia. They’re something I designed myself, I’m quite proud of them.” He admits. “Come with me, there are things to be done.”

He’s hoisted onto the backs of the hounds and carried off into the night.

Back at the School of Blades, Arte and Leo’s hearts nearly stopped when the flash hit them. Like waking up from a nightmare, they suddenly began breathing again. They were covered in sweat while catching their breaths, and leaned over while catching their breaths.

“I knew the hero had trouble with this during the original game, but I never knew it’d be this bad. I’ve always seen it in other games and shows, but never knew killing intent was this potent.” She states.

“The Dean is a monster.” Leo grinned. “I’d love to get that strong someday!”

“Tell me about it. More than fear, all I feel is the desire to be capable of subduing such a beast.” She says. “What build would let me handle him? His stats are likely really high too… At his age, he’d have to be a God Blade user…”

God Blade is a class that exists beyond advanced classes, in game it’s widely considered to be a myth by many characters. But for players, they know it’s possible.

Leo looks around, noticing that a little less than half the students fell to the floor in fear, some completely passed out, and a few others who remain standing, like Lance and several others.

“Sorry. I was just trying to grab your attention.” He chuckles. ”I wasn’t sure how I’d get the attention of so many youthful students. I’m your Dean, Spytz Fornen. In any case, welcome to the School of Blades. Here, you’ll work towards honing your skill with the sword.”

The dean walks off the stage, and the black haired instructor from earlier walks on.

“I’m the head instructor, Armstrong. You will all be required to follow these core tenets during your time here. Never draw a blade against another student outside of combat activities.” He explains.

“I’m pretty sure that happens a few times.” Leo yawns.

“Strength is a tool to protect the weak.” He adds.

“That gets ignored too…” Arte retorts.

“Never swing your sword in anger. It only dulls your blade.” Armstrong continues.

“In the case of the hero, it only made him stronger…” Leo smirked.

“Consider your path and how you plan to live alongside the blade,” Armstrong spoke. “The choices you make here will determine how you live your life. And always remember your blade is a reflection of who you are.”

Armstrong abruptly leaves the stage afterward. A woman then walked up to the podium. She had wildly long hair shaped into a ponytail and had a pair of earrings, one was a flame and the other an ice crystal. She bowed before beginning.

“My name is Valeria Carlin. Today, you’ll be allowed to sit in on some of the classes to determine which blade style suits you. Once you’ve made your decision, you can hand one of these sheets to any of the instructors, myself included.” She holds up a sheet of paper. “Once you’ve made your choice, you’ll officially become a student of that style and that will be your classroom.”

“Works more or less the same, I guess,” Leo says.

“Alright, if that’s all clear, then you’re all dismissed!” She exclaims.

Arte and Leo leave amongst the other students while some are still unconscious on the floor. Valeria walks backstage to the others.

“Spytz… Some of the kids out there are still knocked out.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. He sticks out his tongue playfully.

“I didn’t think I was going too hard on them back there.” He says.

“Your definition of holding back could use some work, old man,” Armstrong says. “That being said, we have some good students this year.”

“True. Typically, none are left standing.” Spitz added. “I’m looking forward to seeing what they’re capable of.”

“During the all-class war? There a bigger issues at hand, like the—” She begins explaining.

“Well, it’ll be fine.” Spytz interrupts with a smile. He raises his finger in front of his mouth. “We have a good staff.”

“I sure hope so.” She says, catching his drift.

“Let's make this a year to remember,” Armstrong added, looking at both of them with a stern expression.

Along the hallways of the school, Leo and Arte were walking past multiple classrooms. Each one with a whiteboard outside with the style the class was teaching.

“Footfang style… That’s the boot knife one, right?” Leo asks.

“Yeah. I never used it.” She says.

“I did, it sucks. The knife got broken off the boot, so I couldn’t use half my skills.” He groaned. “Then getting the boots custom-made costs an arm and a leg. You can’t even just replace the knife if it breaks, you have to get a whole NEW pair of boots!”

She laughed.

“That’s terrible.” She replied.

“My first playthrough, I used the falling sword style.” She says.

“Is that the one where it’s only jumping attacks?” He asks.

“Yup, I was obsessed with aerial combat after playing Dukedom Hearts. But the problem was that all of them were aerial skills, and when I was in a situation where I couldn’t get into the air, it just became a battle of spamming the X button.” She explained.

“Yikes.” He says.

They stop in front of a class that reads “Elemental Edge”.

“This is where we part ways for now.” She says.

“Have fun.” He says.

Arte walks into her class, and Leo continues down the hall till he finds his class, “Silver Star”. Leo walks into the classroom and is greeted by a bunch of sour faces. A man with tattoos all over his body turned his head and glared at him. A guy with a triple mohawk gave Leo the middle finger, and a girl dressed in dark clothes completely ignored his existence.

“It could be worse.” Leo thought.

A large man entered the classroom after him and had to duck to enter the classroom.

“Is this the silver star class?” He asks in a squeaky voice similar to a mouse’s.

“Y-yeah.” He replied.

“Nice.” He says.

The teacher walks into the classroom, wearing a pair of round-rimmed glasses. He’s dressed in a white collared shirt, a pair of black pants, and shoes. The sleeves of the shirt are torn off, revealing his muscular arms and hundreds of scars, worn with pride. He had red hair styled neatly in a comb over and darker skin.

“Are you all ready to grasp the essence of the moon?” He asks.