Into The Mist

Countless days of traveling and they had only made very few stops, making them greatly tired. With nightfall now arriving, Louis and Sylvio stopped at a small-town tavern for some rest.

Their rooms were only across the hall from each other in case they needed something.

Louis slid his sword under the bed and started changing into his nightwear.

'Traveling is exhausting, even if all I did was sit there.'

Turning off the lights, he fell flat onto the bed. His mind was restless. The thought about tomorrow couldn't escape his mind. Diablo's mist was only a couple hours away. Thinking of all the dangers was making Loui's blood rush, even if he was lying still.

'Ahhhh, I can't sleep!'

He turned his head, staring at the stars out the window. It was soothing to see gentle lights in the night sky. It was soothing enough to relieve his anxiety to a certain degree.

'I hope everything goes like planned.'

Hoping for the best was too much to ask for, but it didn't discourage him from wishing.

Shutting his eyes, he moved to lay on his side.

'I'll just leave the worries for tomorrow.'

___________

(Next Day)

The carriage came to a rough stop as they reached the outskirts of a greyish mist. It covered the entirety of the land ahead, where there were countless boulders. Some of them even slightly resemble people or creatures. This would be the worst place for anyone to get lost in, it would be hard to spot any monsters.

"I always heard the mist was red. Why is it grey?" Louis asked.

"Oh, that's just because we're not exactly at Diablo's mist yet. We still have a ways to walk." Sylvio replied. He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a stopwatch. His eyes stared at it like he was waiting for something.

"Should we start walking?" Louis asked.

Sylvio continued to stare at his stopwatch.

"Not just yet. I'm waiting for a couple friends."

"What? You didn't tell me you were bringing other people."

Louis wasn't at all mad. He was just surprised that others agreed to join. Mainly because entering the mist was taboo.

Sylvio finally put the stopwatch away and lit a cigar, taking a smokey puff.

"Of course I did. We need all the strength we can get."

But even having a couple of extra helpers wouldn't make the mist any safer. Still, it was an upgrade from being just the two of them.

In silence, Sylvio continued smoking his cigar, until he sensed the arrival of his allies.

He turned to greet them with a wave.

"I'm glad you two agreed to lend your help with this. Even if it is taboo."

The two people were both dressed in grey & blue uniforms, showing that they were both Royal Knights.

Louis almost gasped when seeing their familiar faces.

The first one was a beautiful woman with peach smooth skin, long cyan hair and crimson eyes. It was Etelle Amberson.

Accompanying her was a guy with a punchable-looking face, he had long white hair and bright purple eyes. It was Louis's ex-friend, Alex.

Louis was quick to snarl at him, "What are you doing here?!"

"Oh! Hey, Louis. I almost didn't notice you there. To answer your question, I am here because Sir Sylvio has done so much for me in the past. I am only repaying the favor to him."

"Well, go home." Louis snarled again.

Alex swiftly moved his hair to the side and chuckled.

"I told you, I'm here to repay a favor to Sir Sylvio. If you don't like my presence, you are always welcome to leave."

"Damn, I hate you so much."

Estelled stepped up.

"This isn't how Royal Knights should act. I request that you two stop arguing at once."

Sylvio took a final puff from his cigar, before tossing it away.

"Alright, Louis, are we all ready? Once we start walking, there will be no place for arguments."

Louis gave Alex one last glare and answered, "Yeah, I think we're ready."

Sylvio summoned a skinny blade from the air, placing it on his back.

"Good. Let us begin our lengthy walk."

40 minutes into the walk, Louis had something on his mind. It was taboo to enter Diablo's mist, so why were two Royal Knights helping? If the kingdom found out, they would lose their title and be placed in a cell for life.

Louis stepped over to Estelle and asked,

"You know the risks of coming with us. Why do so much?"

Estelle answered with a smile.

"Everyone who is a Royal Knight automatically becomes family with the others. We would do things for each other, including breaking taboo. When Sylvio told us about your plan, we couldn't let you go alone. Alex and I agreed to assist without a second thought."

"But Alex said he didn't even know I was going to be here." Louis stated.

Estelle spoke about the pride of Alex.

"He can never admit to things. He'll always hide how he feels. But I know him better than anyone, he's actually a soft person at his core. It's actually quite hilarious once you see it. He didn't hesitate to come."

Louis couldn't accept it. He didn't see Alex as anything more than a selfish bastard.

'He's not the kind of person to care about others.' Louis pondered his thoughts.

Estelle could see the doubt all over his face. She only had one thing to say.

"It's okay, you don't have to believe me. I just ask you don't let your anger get in the way of the objectives."

"Don't worry about it. Diablo's mist is at the top of my mind."

"That's good to hear."

Estelle felt the anxiety relieved from her chest. It pained her knowing that two of her friends disliked each other, but she was at least happy they would save their differences for another time.

The further everyone traveled, the more the mist's color started looking red.

Sylvio held his arm to the side, stopping the walk. His eyes focussed ahead, even if nothing was visible.

Louis was about to question the halt, but then he noticed a confident grin on Sylvio's face. When faced with a threat, this was something he always did.

"Alright everyone, we better get ready for a slight battle." he said,not taking his eyes off the area ahead.

The ground began shaking in heavy thumps.

Thump!..Thump!...Thump!

Something very large was coming towards them. It wasn't long until it revealed itself. A gigantic figure, almost hidden by the mist. It's eyes were constantly glowing green, seeming to have no self awareness.

Thump!..Thump!...Thump!

It's body came close enough for it's features to be seen. Made up of sharp boulders, all held together by a strange green energy. If that wasn't enough, it was the same size of a normal dragon.

"Just as we arrived, we already found an opponent. Let's deal with it." said Alex, quickly drawing his blade.

Sylvio took a swift moment, enhancing the strength of every limb in his body.

"That right there is a soul golem. With each life it takes, its power levels rise. Be careful everyone."

Despite the warning and the looks of the monsters, Louis didn't really feel all that fazed.

"Actually. If it's okay, I want to try something.", He said.

"Huh? Try what? It has regen abilities. Even with spells, it'll be hard for you to solo." Alex replied.

"Just trust me. I can make a spell for this."

Louis stepped up, taunting the monster by sticking out his tongue.

"Bleh, Let's see what you can do."

Like expected, the golem had enough intelligence to notice when it was being looked down upon. With killing intent, it raised it's bulky rock arms. At half the speed of sound, they swung downwards.

Smash! Crackle!

As the ground was impacted, Louis dashed over to Golem's leg and poked it.

"New Spell:I didn't really think of a name for this so I'll just say whatever. Blah Blah, Seal target's regen capabilities."

The golem's foot lifted, stomping down at him. If Louis wanted to, he could dodge, but he didn't see it as necessary.

All it would take was the swing of the sword.

"Another New Spell: Wind Splitting Slash."

Slasshhh!

A compressed slash of air completely removed the Golem's legs.

Mid-air, Louis jumped to the golem's face.

From the golem's perspective, it was like watching death approach.

Tmp.

The monster knew that it's end was coming when Louis raised his finger.

"A new spell isn't needed this time. I think I'll just use a low-level, first-gen, classic spell. Fireball."

His finger-tip sparked, shooting an orb of fire.

Booom! Crackle! Sizzle!

The Golem's entire figure blew into dust.

Landing like a feather, Louis patted the mess on his shirt.

"I hate creating new spells, it drains my mana dry." He muttered.

A shout of appraisal came from the mouth of Sylvio.

"Hahaha. That's my student. You really have skill for this kind of stuff." It wasn't his first time seeing Louis's magic, but it still brought him joy.

"I mean, I did have the best Instructor while growing up. "

Louis and Sylvio shared a brief fist-bump. A bump between Student and Instructor.