Their Movements Are More Active

…

In the far north straight from Alidia, in a foggy wetland, filled with extremely deadly monsters. A gigantic tower stands. A legion of Imperials garrisons the epic structure, guarding it from both inside and outside.

Recently, the weather changed around the tower. Rainstorms fell upon the region, making the dry grassland wet. Additionally, the weather created a thick fog that shrouds the entire region, concealing the tower from plain sight. Because of it as well, the tower can no longer be seen from 10 kilometers away.

Although it's twelve o'clock high noon, the sunrays are unable to penetrate through the fog entirely, making the region rather dark. If night comes, it will be pitch black and creepy with the fog accompanying.

This situation created a mass of problem for the garrison. Poor sight within the fog makes it difficult for them to detect monsters with simple eyesight. They must use mana sensing abilities to find them. During night time, they must rely on fire magic as lighting. Torches are no longer reliable for the job.

Around fifteen of the Imperial forces had been killed by the powerful monsters. This created a stigma within the region. Nobody dared entering or exiting the region, fearing the monsters that lurk within the fog. Nonetheless, they still must regularly patrol around the tower to ensure no trespassers in the region.

Only four people dare passing in and out of the fog. With them around, the forces morale are kept brave. Should they die the morale that was already fragile will shatter horrendously.

Those four people are…

Field General Rezzo,

Swordsman Yaiba,

Shieldsman Tate,

And lastly, their leader, the Imperial commander from Dragonia race, Mastermind.

The troublesome weather has caused enough trouble, says Mastermind. He must move his entire legion to a better place where he can station them safely.

"If we have a wind elementalist, that'd be great." He conveyed while staring into the fog from inside the tower. "Too bad, most of us are fire and water elementalists. We actually have very few wind users, however, but I don't want to shoo away these messy fog within an insanely long period of time."

"We're very sorry, Mastermind…" said one of the wind elementalists.

"It matters not." Mastermind said casually while waving his hand. "Because we only have mostly novices and very little of magicians, such option is not viable. We must move into a better plan and try a different approach to this mess."

"Talking about movement, I guess it'll be better if you remove that seat, sire." Rezzo said while walking out of the storage room. Mastermind, once again, refuses to move the honorary seat, which is his throne.

"N. O., it looks awesome down here," Mastermind replied.

The throne of his still remains on the first floor, surprisingly. His subordinates had many times reminding him to return the throne back to the top floor where it should've resided, but Mastermind refused, and he didn't tell why aside from it being 'awesome'.

"Aside from that… Hmf…" he sighed deeply. Right now, he is waiting for one more of his fellow men to return. But it's been too long since he didn't give any updates. The man in question is no other than the hatted masked man, Queaz.

"Where's that broody edgy cyan-haired guy went to? It's been too long since he left," He muttered to himself. "It's not that I concern, though. Well, of course, Rezzo went dark momentarily until I thought he's 'dead'." Mastermind commented offhandedly.

"Sir, I can hear you. I did return safely, though there are some conundrums to be handled firstly," said Rezzo. His expression cannot be told or seen with his head entirely covered by his armored helmet.

"I know and that's why, I'm glad, you returned safely. Now, for Queaz… he went dark. He's been out longer than Rezzo. He rarely gave any call to any of us. To be honest, I don't want to think he's a goner, though. That'd be stupid for an S-class assassin like him. Unlike that human knight, Reila… she's incredibly disciplined."

"It's useless waiting for that man to return here, sire." Yaiba stated. "It's better we move away from this place." Tate added.

"Agreed." Rezzo nodded. His purplish armor reflects the light from the chandeliers. What lies within that helmet of his is still unknown. The eyeholes of his helmet emit green light, though.

"He might've too enjoyed this 'merged' world, sir. We ought to move with our plan." He added.

"…Yeah. I suppose so, too. But he's too precious to be left off." Mastermind stated. "In any ways, we must go. We must find a way to remove these fogs… or find a new safe haven for our troops to settle."

"We await your orders, sir." Yaiba stated clearly as he bows down, followed by Tate while saying the same words.

"Very well, then." Mastermind decided. "We'll move right away. Our first target is to obtain the 'Ruby Key', which is located somewhere in the village of Yugos."

Mastermind walks to front of his throne. He stretches his hand with his palm facing the floor. Vague swirling trails of purple light appear from his hand. Shortly, a pillar rises from the ground as tall as Mastermind's chest level. That pillar has an orb on it. From it, a holographic map of their target place is shown.

"Based on Queaz's information, that village has a secret compartment underground to store the key." Mastermind said. He swipes his finger. As a result the holographic visual rotates, showing the secret room beneath the village chief house.

"We will take the Ruby Key. With that key, we shall use it as a catalyst to overcharge wind magic and clear off these annoying shrouds. But! Knowing the village is originated from the world of Gaia, it will be very unlikely that they would be so kind, especially towards me. So a peaceful approach is not an option. We must resort to a hard and conventional way."

"Steal?" Rezzo guessed.

"In a nutshell, yes," said Mastermind.

"Our opposing force won't just be the village's mages. The demons from the world of Tellus are getting more active by the day. There's a possibility that they've attacked the village first, should they know the value of that item we seek. The Dragonians are also coming. They're not our enemies, obviously. But I don't like their presence. I'd rather go in and out in a jiffy and not deal with them."

"Aren't you yourself is a Dragonian, Mastermind?" Rezzo questioned.

"Indeed." Mastermind replied in a bit of arrogance. "But I'm different. Their way of executing orders and all is a bit… unsettling."

"As if you're not unsettling, Mastermind…" Rezzo replied in a joking tone.

"Heh, don't make me change my mind about you're being alive now, Rezzo." Mastermind replied jokingly as well.

"In any rate, try not to kill the villagers. Violence is inevitable, but try not to kill." Mastermind stated. "But the demons, however…"

Everyone look at Mastermind in a serious look.

"If you find one, then send them back to where they should've been." The black-armored commander ordered while shutting down the hologram.

"Where to?" Rezzo asked again.

"Hell."

…

..

.

Marco finally meets his friends. They're looking at the green plateau adorned with some shriveled trees in the meadow.

"Guys!" Marco called as he approaches them.

"Hi, Marco!" Aily greeted. "Afternoon, sleepyhead," Nina greeted harshly, yet her smile lies on her face still.

"Oh, you've finally woken up." Scias commented. "Took you forever to wake up, eh?" he added.

"No, no, I don't even know how I got unconscious, dude." Marco retorted. "Ohohoho, I know why," Scias smirked. "You're a fast sleeper. A lack time of sleep will surely make you fall unconscious easily. Heh."

"How does that correlate?" Marco said while scrunching up. "Furthermore, what are you guys doing?"

"Oh, I'm just observing." Scias said shortly. "Yeah, me too," Aily added additionally.

"Doing nothing, huh?" Marco said while lowering his eyelids. "Nina?" Marco notices the girl seems to be concerning over something. She didn't respond at all after she greeted Marco. She is only focusing onto the plateau. "Hmm… Aily, what's the matter with her?" Marco asked.

"I'm not so sure… but I know she's worrying something. She is deep in her thoughts right now. If I were you, I won't bother her."

"Hm, okay. Too bad I won't be you." Marco said while approaching Aily's sister with a funny face.

Aily realizes his bad intention and tries to halt him, "Marco, d-don't—"

But alas, she was late. Marco proceeds to nudge her slightly and "BOO!"

Nina gets surprised and nearly jumps off her shoes. "M-Marco! What are you—" she backlashed madly. "Hehe, sorry, Nina, I've been calling you, you didn't respond to me, hehe." The explorer grinned.

Seeing the explorer like that, Nina rubs her forehead a bit, "Sigh… you still don't change from that habit, do ya?"

"Well what can I say? Old habits die hard."

"…Well at least it's a good thing you don't do that to Aily… anymore."

"Eh? What? Why are you guys talking about me out of the blue?" Aily retorted.

…

..

.

Nina explained to Marco that she concerns deeply about what happened in the village. "I don't know… I just… feel extremely concerned. We just got into this village… yet I feel worry for this place, kind of stupid to hear, right?"

"It's not a stupid thing to concern about someone, sis." Aily defended. "Like you worrying me and I worrying you, tee-hee," She grinned adorably. Nina proceeds to rub her in the head. "Aww~ that's very kind of you, Aily."

"Concerning about this village is… quite understandable, though. After seeing the people in here… I can understand your feelings, Nina," Marco explained.

"…Talking about this village, though…" Marco said in a curious tone. "Ever since I woke up, I didn't know how we ended up in this village." He said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, about that, I had figured it out." Scias stated surely. "It appears that the hatted guy… Queaz, was it? Yeah, whoever that man was…

…He used some sort of teleportation magic. He didn't warp us into nowhere, as I suspected." Scias explained his thoughts. "Teleportation magic can only be done to a place that we've visited before and we remember it. Even if we didn't remember, then the magic will simply teleport you into the last place you used teleport before."

"Huh?" Aily said confusedly. "I… I don't get it."

"Really? Fine, here's the thing. If you have visited Areda Island and then the Kingdom of Napre, that means you can teleport either to Areda Island or to that kingdom as long as you remember one of the most notable traits of each places that you've visited. However, if you're in a faraway land and then you wish to teleport, yet you don't remember the notable traits of a place you're going to, the teleport magic will warp you into the last place you used teleport magic."

"I still have it hard to understand…" Aily stated. "Ah! But I do understand, a bit. Right, Marco, you understand, too, right?"

"Euuugh…"

"He didn't understand?!" Aily retorted in her mind in surprise.

"So you mean…" Nina tries to conclude, "…Mr. Queaz had been here in this village, and then he had been in Alidia. If his teleport magic made us land here, that means… the last time he used teleportation was here in this village?"

"Hmf…" Scias exhaled shortly with a slight smile, "Precisely."

"What was he doing here, anyway?" Nina asked curiously. "Queaz is a mysterious man, though he is not a bad guy."

Aily feels irritated to hear it, "I don't want to think he's a good guy, Marco…" she said with a surly look.

"I didn't say he's a good guy, tho." Marco said while rubbing the back of his head. "But hey," he shrugged. "If he's been here, that means there's something that interested him, right?"

"Who knows…?"

…

"Hang on a sec… guys, do you know what's the name of this village?" Marco asked curiously. He fails to ask since he kept on forgetting it. Now's the chance, he thought.

"Oh." Scias responded. "I've been here before, too, by the way. But it's a long time ago… I don't even remember the layout of this village anymore—

"—Really?!" Nina and Aily simultaneously replied in a shock. Meanwhile, Marco didn't really seem that shocked. "You've been here before?"

"Y-Yeah… this village is remote in our world of Gaia, only known by several visitors and knights. This village is known as Yugos."

"Yu…gos…?"

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Character RPG-ed Stats

Name : Rezzo Intermezzo

Class : Imperial Field General

Magic : Unknown

Element : Unknown

Element Level : Level 2

Proficiency : Frontline Command

Thanks for reading :)