Jules had ran for a good bit and stopped to hide in an opening in the wall. The tugging sensation had ended and he found himself waiting for some reason. The wait only lasted a few more minutes.
"Ahhh!" A young teen boy with dark green hair, a little girl with blonde hair, and a child with light green hair could be seen running. Each had tribal clothing on like Lyndis. They were running as if their life depended on it.
Jules watched them run right past him. Staring the opposite way, he saw why. A bandit by the name of Croz was chasing them. He was actually named off the bat. No need for introductions.
"You brats get back here!" Croz yelled. The mountain of a man was furious about his payday escaping.
'I am on bandit clean up, so this should be something else.' Jules thought to himself. He waited till the bandit was closer and stuck his sword out. 'This works with tripping people. It should work wonders with a sharp edge.'
"Schlik!" The sword was sharp enough to do exactly what he wanted. The bandit lost his leg and fell forward into the dirt.
"Ahhhhh! My leg!" Croz rolled over onto his side. Clutching at his thigh to keep his blood from flowing. He was not a smart man it seemed. Looking up, he saw Jules in the crevice step out. "You bastard! What is wrong with you!?"
"Hmm, a lot of things. Why are you chasing after those.. kids, I want to say? But are they really kids though?" Jules wonder considering there were dragons that could look like kids in this land. "Speak and I might just help you."
"Grrrr they are my property. They just dont know it yet." Croz groaned. "Got them from a Sacaen village not to far from here. They keep running away is all."
"What happened to the village?"
"They are all dead. Some nobleman paid big money to get rid of Sacaen villages. Word is, he is looking for something or someone." Croz had leaned over and used the dirt to mat his stump of a leg. "Now help me already!"
"Hmm that is just bad on your part. Cant believe you just messed up a village for some money. Then again... you are a bandit what the hell am I thinking?" Jules walked over to the man and sat him up some. "Do not worry anymore."
"Thank you." Croz said. His head was down as his other hand was reaching for his dagger. He didnt find it however. "Where did it go?"
"Looking for this?" Jules moved the dagger right across the man's throat in a quick cut. "You dropped it when you fell. With your rolling from earlier, I was surprised you didn't notice it. Then again, you had other things going on. Other things on your mind."
"You.. said you.. would help me." Croz grabbed at his throat.
"No.. no.. no." Jules said as he shook his head. "Let me quote what I said." Stepping back he took a breath before speaking. "Speak and I might just help you."
"Koff!" Blood came up out of his mouth. Croz looked down to see Jules had stabbed him in the gut when he stood up.
"Attention to the words used. Or is it attention to the letter of the word?" Jules leveled his sword around Croz's neck. "The cut and the stab were both shallow. I was trying something out, so sorry for the discomfort. You can ask me to kill you or you can slide your neck across my sword. Your choice how you die."
"Grrr you.. will.. not get.. away with this.." Croz tried to move away. "My brothers .. will avenge.. me."
"Hmm no, I do not think so. Thanks for choosing option A really." With a flick of his sword, Jules separated the man's head from his neck. Standard black orbs floated into him. "I will have to test this another way it seems." Jules was trying to figure out if the man had killed himself against the sword, would the exp change at all.
"Snap!" A branch broke to the side. Looking over the little child had broken a twig.
"It would have been smarter to keep running. Oh, where is the older boy in your group?" Jules questioned not seeing him. His eyes followed the child's to behind him. Not turning, he then looked down at the corpse and noticed the shadow that was getting closer from behind him. Reaching down Jules made to take the dagger sheath from the corpse. "Gonna need this." He said to ease the tension a little.
"Tap!" Jumping to the side, Jules got out of the way of the kid attacking his back with a sharp rock. "Fwoosh!" He missed.
"Dammit!" The kid yelled.
"Get out of the way!" The child in the group yelled. Jules had swung his sword at the other kids backside. It was the flat side, however.
"Smack!" The sword smacked against his back and sent the boy sailing through the air. His Health dropping to zero instantly.
"Brother!" The girl yelled running over. Jules stood where he was and collected the experience. Since he didn't behead the boy, it would be ok. Just bruised and injured. Grabbing a pouch on the bandit, he threw it toward the kid and turned to leave.
"Here you go and good luck out there. If you go down the mountain, you will find some abandon houses. The Sacaen tribe that was there, is pretty much all dead or gone." Jules moves on towards an area the bandit Croz had stashed something. Stepping in the grass, he found a Dracoshield. 'Super score. Should I use it or wait till I get a healer? Screw that, I am by myself might as well use it on me.'
"Woom, woom!" Using the item he felt a large amount of magic enter him. Jules body took on a black luster before it turned to normal.
(Defense + 2)
'That's the good stuff right there.' Walking back on the trail he started to head up the mountain. 'What else will I find?'
"Wait! Please help us!" The girl ran over to him.
"Huh, I already helped you. I took out your slaver and told you of a safe place to go. That should be good enough." Jules kept walking.
"But.. we cant make it by ourselves." The girl pleaded.
"Oh horeshit you cant. Use a weapon if the enemy comes. There are three of you. One bandit shouldn't be a problem for you." Jules was not playing babysitter. Something in him told him it was a good way to get killed in this place. As well as it being very foolish. Since the boy just tried to attack him, he had at least some skill.
"We .. can..we can help you." The girl said desperately. "If you agree to help us that is."
(Side Quest: Help the orphans make it to Lyndis village. Rewards: ???, ???, ???)
"Hmmm." Jules thought about for a bit. He could go back and loot the houses as well. It wouldn't be to much of a bad idea. That and there should be something to eat. Lyndis did leave the place. "Ok fine. I help you get there and you help me."
"Great!" The child took off to the others. The boy was still out cold.
"Drag him by the top half. You grab him by the feet." Jules said to them. " Do not give me that look. You need to start building strength in your arms and legs. No time like the present. If you dont, you won't get any stronger."
Walking forward, Jules kept his eyes on the map. The oddest thing happened. The three turned from yellow to green on the display.
-2 hours later-
"Haa cant go anymore." The older girl said as she dropped the boy.
The youngest kept pulling the boys' feet. Cheeks red from the effort. She did not stop till Jules lifted all three up with magic. "Ahh!" They screamed in surprise.
"Settle down. I am the one doing this." Jules then took off in a sprint towards the village. He ran non stop till they made it. "Phew, that was a nice little run." Pointing to Lyndis old home, he told them to head there. He pointed to the adjacent one for himself. "I will be there."
"Thank you. Here." The girl handed him a broken sword. "It brings good luck."
Jules smiled seeing the thing. It had a magical glow and was unable to be viewed at his current level. It would either be junk or turned out to be something more. Either way, his interest was piqued.
"You are welcome. I suggest you get inside and take care of yourselves." Jules waved them off and went to the other house. Checking around, he found a key under an old pot. "Ah, home sweet temporary home."
"Crk," opening the door he saw the amount of dust and realized the residents really died a long time ago. That or they were lazy. Covering his face and closing his eyes, magic was built up. With a push of magic, the dust was forced outside.
Stepping in, he received a notification.
(Would you like to take this residence?)
'Dont see why not.'
(Residence obtained. Recovery speed increase.)
'Neat, now just need to wait on a bandit attack. If not, I will get to them and start picking them off in the morning.'
(Side Quest Completed: Help the orphans make it to Lyndis village. Rewards: ???, ???, ???)
(Level Up x1)
The three items entered his inventory and he pulled them out. He was surprised to see what they were. Three Beginner Seals. Things that did not exist in this Fire Emblem. But then again, the changes of a game were to be expected.
Beginner Seal: Turns a civilian into a promising combatant. Assign base classes as needed.
Jules assigned the Cavalier, Soldier, Knight, and Mercenary to one. The second one he assigned Mage, Priest to the other. The last he did the Pegasus Knight, Wyvern Rider, and the Pirate.
"Wroom. wroom, wroom." The three vibrated and sort of changed up on him. They were not what he assigned.
"Blasted thing is messing with me eh?" Jules just stared at them for a bit.
Beginner Seal < Footmen Seal, Beginner Seal < Page Seal, Beginner Seal < Flyer Seal
"Three things that are different from what I know. Will have to check on that later." Jules sat down and distributed his stats and checked on the broken sword the girl gave him. Holding it up to the light, he was surprised at the weird shine it had.
"Vroom!" It hummed with magic that poured into him. The piece then disappeared into his wrist and knocked him out cold. Jules found himself at the dashboard screen looking at a message.
"Emergency Protocol: A power surge in the downtown area has triggered power safety protocols. Resident has medical set up and has been logged off according to medical advice." Jules read it out loud and was not alarmed by it. "Hah, glad that was the case. Ah, I need to check on game updates anyway. Let me see what is going on."
Jules spent the next few hours looking up game information as well as making sure everything was alright in the area. The news reports a small electrical disturbance that would clear in another hour or so. He would definitely wait till that was over.
"Beep, beep!" A message notification went off.
"Oh, a game deposit from the Guild Requiem. Even had a note attached to it."
(Happy to see you gaming again. Cant wait to see you back in the 'Arena Games' here is a little something for the Basic Sword routine you showed on your site. Keep it up.)
Touching the cash symbol, 2000 edollars entered his game account. Something to spend later when he had a better plan for the future game time.
"Ahh guess I will take a nap." Jules yawned and got off the dashboard after sending a message off.