Crim (Part 2 of 2)
In a place where the skies are fractured, endlessly across the sky, and landscapes from twisted imagination, ever changing hellscape, an giant metal kingdom stood tall.
The ringing of metal being hit echoes constantly across the city of metal, with flowing lava remnant like a vein spreading across the lands.
A place, where short but hulkingly broad people litter the place, covered in soot and working on their anvils, and ontop of the nearby mountain laid a palace looking similar to an giant anvil, it was the heart of the kingdom and their people.
The Dwarven kings home.
A grating laughter echoed the hall of the palace, as if two metals are being twisted. A hulking dwarven sat by a metal table, looking at his companion as his swigs his alcholic drink.
''Demon King is mad, I tell you!'' dwarven king laughs once more before looking down his drink, realising his drink is empty before glancing back to his companion, the hooded figure whos face kept looking down his own drink.
''I think that old fart is finally gonna break down, it's not long before he looses himself to the weave'' the dwarf exclaimed before refilling his drink with a thick magma-like drink. ''Do you not think so, Cal?'' he mused.
A sigh escapes the hooded man as the glaces up towards his dwarven companion. ''If that old man truly has lost his mind, a colossal war for his resources is approaching quick..'' hooded man said before taking a swig of the viscous alcohol, and slams the cup down on the table, creating a crisp echo throughout the room.
''And his borders are near yours, friend. You'll be affected by the war too, you know'' the hooded man grumply exclaimed as he looked at the dwarven king, who mere smiled.
Silent overcame the room as both of them kept drinking.. this continued before the dwarven king couldn't help but to ask the question that was on his mind.
''Do you.. think its true? Did that old basterd find the way out?..'' dwarven king said quietly as his gaze landed on some pictures on the walls nearby.
Sensing the dwarven kings mood turned sour, the hooded man let out a light sigh before turning his head to the family photograph that the dwarven king had his gaze on.
''If it truly was true.. do you really think that old fart would tell everyone?.. especially knowing it would create a war either way it goes'' hooded man exclaimed before looking back onto his drink ''He merely wanted some chaos before the weave takes him.. that dumbass..'' he quietly said.
An somber silence returned to the room once more, this time wouldn't let up for a long time.
- - - - -
Under the veil of night, within the room of a orphanage of a city of sand, laid an white haired child with a blond young lady on the bed.
Lady was in deep sleep, but the child was wide awake, looking at the ceiling deep in thought.
'Dammit..' Lapis mused in his head, 'Did the dwarven king escape that place too.. I hope so'
a gentle sigh escaped Lapis as he twisted his head lightly, observing Raye who had a frown on her face as she slept, 'Nightmare?' Lapis thought before returning his gaze to the rooms ceiling, deep in thought.
''N-No.. don't..'' a quiet sad voice echoed the room, Lapis, looked up at Raye once more noticed she now had streaks of tear on her face, 'It'll be fine.. Raye, it's just a nightmare' Lapis thought as used his childish hands to gentle pat Rayes hands, before closing his eyes and trying to access the window.
*Ding*
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[Name: Lapis]
[Title:]
[Age: 1]
[Race: Human, ??? (Sealed)]
[Body Parameters:]
-[Strength: 1E]
-[Endurance: 6E]
-[Agility: 1E]
[Soul Parameters:]
-[Soul Tier: ???, Unknown Grade (Injured Core: 99% Broken)]
-[Aura Mastery: 0 (unawakened)]
-[Semblance Mastery: 0 (unawakened)]
[Skills:]
- [Innate: Will of the ???: S (Semi-Sealed)] [Innate: ???: (Sealed)] [Innate: ???: (Sealed)]
[Artes Style:]
-
[Aura Techniques:]
-
[Semblance Abilities:]
- [Semblance: ??? (unawakened)]
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Opening his eyes once more, Lapis observed the window, glancing towards the [??? (sealed)] part of his race in confusion, before looking at some of his system window.
Name, Title, Age, Race.. Check.
Body Parameters seem basic.. although the [E] next to the number confuses me.
Soul Parameters however.. Injured core? 'I don't remember any soul devourers injuring me.. and it's not something you'd forget either' Lapis thought with a frown. 'How?'
Lapis pondered himself, 'Guess priority number 1 is heal my souls core.. it's not good..' he thought 'A injury to the soul tend to be the hardest to repair..'
Lapis grumbles for a while as his memories kept being just out of reach for him, before glancing back at his system window.
'[Will of the ???].. what's that.. and innate, ugh' Lapis grumbles, 'Artes styles, Aura techniques..'
'No need to rush' quietly thinks to himself, 'Take it slow, you're 1 year old, literly got years to think about this crap'
Lapis mumbled in his mind 'but, what is the requirement for skills to appear' Lapis pondered, remembering the various of skills he had seen on Raye, Crim and alot on Jade.
The white haired child kept pondering before he got an idea, closing his eyes once and slowly.. breathing less and less.
This continued for a few minutes, if anyone would walk on this while Lapis tested his idea, they would think that the child had stopped breathing.
Only after a solid hour into the night before something happened.
*Ding*
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The skill [Meditation (Basic): E] has been created.
[Skill Name: Meditation]
[Mastery Rank: Basic, E]
[Passive Effect: Slightly increases mental clarity]
[Active Effect: Slightly increase mental and stamina regeneration while in use]
[Description: When in doubt, Meditate your problems away]
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'Intent.. It seem to be intent based' Lapis thought as he looked on the [Meditation (Basic): E] skill in his window.
'I just have to figure out what's the difference between Innate and a non-Innate now' Lapis mused, remembering Raye having [Innate: Danger Intuition A] and Jade having [Danger Intuition (Pro): A]
'And why Innates don't have (Basic) or (Pro) in their names' Lapis annoyingly exclaimed before thinking back to Crims window.
'If it's really intent based, you can't accidently learn the skill unless you activily trying to get better at it..' Lapis thought before looking at his window once more, trying to make his eye itch once more while looking at his [Meditation] skill.
*Ding*
'So it does pop up' Lapis amusingly thought as he observed the skill effects once more, before trying to see info about his Innate.
*Ding*
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Unable to recreate information of Innate skills.
Forcefully trying to recreate it will inflict backlash.
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'.. Oh' Lapis thought 'Innates info is beyond the systems capabilities?' Lapis mused as he glanced towards the clock on the wall.
'02:12 .. since I can't sleep, lets grind meditation for a while' Lapis thought as he closed his eyes again.
- - - - -
On the other side of the orphanage, a red haired child laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling deep in thought before he turned in his bed, observing the picture on the desk other side of the room.
'Brother..' Crim thought as he closed his eyes 'Team mission usually take an month.. It'll be fine..'
An sigh escaped Crim as he opened is eyes once more, now looking at his broken wooden sword on the desk.
'That damn old hag..' Crim angrily thought 'I'll show her once I rolled into the academy, arrogant bitch' before trying to sleep once more.
Time passed before Crim angrily threw off his bed sheets before getting off the bed, walking towards the broken wooden sword while pondering, before glancing at the clock '03:35..'
'Might aswell train early..' Crim thought before putting on some clothes before heading out of his room, sneaking slowly down the hallway and then the staircase.
'Should be.. somewhere here' Crim thought as he looked around the living room, before finding Jades wooden sword. 'There it is!' Crim grinned before picking up.
'W-What the hell?' Crim thought as he helt the wooden sword 'S-So heavy..' Crim exclaimed before taking the heavy wooden sword out the orphanage with him.
'That damn cheating old hag, no wonder her blows always were too heavy..' Crim grimly thought in his mind as he walked down the road of Coquina.
Although the street was empty most of the time, sometimes guards or even drunkards from the nearby inn entered the streets. Crim, quietly dodged these people using the alleyways before he got to an small empty hill that had the academy within its view.
Using the nearby rock as a stool, Crim observed the academy in all its glory before letting a sigh, and got into a combat stance with both hands on the sword pointing forward.
Using the training pass Jade taught all orphans who wanted to pursue a huntsman career, Crim slowly got into the training groove, althought the heavier wooden sword made him almost occasionally drop the sword during a swing as he grew more tired.
However, as he grew more tired, the more frustrated he became, as his swings started to be uneven, there was a sense of urgency as the sword swished the air.
'It's not good enough..' Crim angrily though 'What Jade taught us is not good enough!' Crim thought as he grew more angry, 'Balance, Control, Focus. What is the point of that, you just need more power!' Crim thought as he swung the sword harder,
however, as his hands grew tired after the long training session, he was unable to hold onto the sword midswing, causing it to fly off his hand, hitting the sand infront of him.
Crim, now panting hard was blankly looking ahead, before gulping down some saliva down his dry throat.
'What does a civilian know' Crim thought as he slowly went to the wooden sword and picked it up.
'What did.. my brother call that sword style..' Crim pondered, before getting combat stance once more, this time leaning alot more down as if he is about to spring into action at any moment and his sword was now above his head, rather than front.
'Like a leaping wolf, strike your enemys hard.' he thought as he slowly but surely did the training for the sword technique his brother taught him in secret.
Although the heavy wooden sword made it harder to constantly swing with, it left Crim a feeling of growth of power, much to his delight.
'That damn human doesn't deserve this training sword' Crim mused with a grin as he did a frontal swing.
'Since that hag broke my sword, I'll take yours!' Crim angrily said as he kept swing, occasionally jumped backwards as he swung before leaping forward for an additional strike.
Although his arms started to sting from the weight of the sword, or his legs started to shake and feeling unbalanced everytime he landed on the sand, he kept the training up.
'Just finish a set, Crim' he thought as kept training, not caring about the protest of his arms or legs.
As Crim trained, the dawn sun slowly peaked across the horizon, as the sun broke the night, Crim leaped before slamming the now faintly red glowing wooden sword down on an nearby rock, creating two cracks over the rock.
'This is it, Huntsman knows better than that old hag' Crim grinned to himself as he observed the rocks cracks, before falling down on his back, feeling his arms and legs sore after the training pass.
'Wolf style from White Fang, huh..' Crim thought as he had a stupid grin on his face, 'I hope brother teaches me more'
- - - - -
Admist the the dark night, an burning settlement set the night alit. Roars of beasts and bloodcurling screams of terror echoes the night.
Within the burning settlement, a bleeding lady holds a blue haired boy. The screams of sadness and terror emits from this lady as she holds the boy harder.
She is unable to register the approach beasts of the night, nor is she unable to register as blue flames appeared, protecting and saving her from the beasts,
all she is able to see is the boy who no longer is breathing in her arms, terror of the heavy reality crushing on her mind.
*Gasp*
A sharp inhale breaks the quiet room as Raye wakes up, slowly gazing around the room as her mind slowly calms down.
'That.. nightmare again..' Raye thought before looking down at the white haired boy, who is still asleep.
''Morning.. Lapis..'' Raye quietly mumbled before slowly getting off head, trying to calm further.
'Get a grip, Raye..' she mumbled before getting off the bed heading to the bathroom 'Cold water helps'
Raye who is in deep thoughts failed to notice Lapis observing her before returning to meditate again.
Splashing some water on her face, Raye felt more energized than before, but she accidently glanced at the mirror, and seeing her scar again in the progress, made her mood drop back down.
Walking out of the bathroom she noticed Lapis is now awake, staring at her like he always seem to do lately.
''Morning, Lapis'' Raye said with a smile as she walked upto him and picking him up.
Glancing towards the clock, seeing it 6:55, she looked back at Lapis and gently said ''Let's go down to Jade, okay?''
Enjoying the ride down to the kitchen, Lapis basks in a feeling he haven't felt in a long time.
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Skill has grown
[Meditation (Basic): E] -> [Meditation (Basic): C]
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'The sweet, sweet feeling of growth is the best ever!' Lapis amusingly thought, as an new day in his new life started.