Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of
mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero’s life was
sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess
disappeared unto the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict: “You
must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed.” The angels
bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the
heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world.

---

In a continent far to the south west, there was a small village, the village of oracles, Iselia. The village of the chosen of mana; who was considered a bright one at that with her intellectual outlook. She was in a class room with the "Demon child" of the village. Their teacher was giving a lecture on the Great Kharlan Wars, and how Mithos the hero made treaties at the Tower of Salvation, thus ending the war and sealing away the Desians. Just a standard lecture.

"Mrs. Karintine. But why do the Desians consume as much mana as you say they do?" A student asked who has as much charisma as a piece of chalk.
The Teacher, Mrs.Karintine was a older women who lived to see many things, but there were some questions she was unsure how to answer.
"Magitechnology is something that the Desians use. That technology consumes large amounts of mana at the human ranches, thank the goddess we have a treaty with them. Or for all we know, we could be enslaved laborers." She laughed with a bit of high spirit.

Just then a brilliant light appeared in the sky; it was seen in the day time,piercing the clouds, resonating through the window. "I believe that is the oracle..." Karintine simply stood up, brushing her blond hair back as her ice blue eyes shifted to the Chosen. "Ms.Weaver. I believe that you are needed at the temple. Your trials are to begin..." She said as she opened the door in the school house, simply waiting for the Chosen to exit. [i]"Maybe the demon child can leave with her..."[/i} she thought to herself.

"You there..." She pointed to the Naphill barring teenager.
"Why not see her to the temple? Maybe through her trials the Goddess may help you through helping the chosen?" She smirked gleefully as if she was trying to seem encouraging, but in truth, she wanted him gone. Who didn't fear him anyhow?

Baron blinked in surprise, his initial shock over the sudden appearance of the oracle disappeared when the teacher all but told him to escort her "sounds good to me!" He said, completely sincere. In all honesty, he would have most likely volunteered to escort her if the teacher hadn't just told him to. She was the only person in this room who cared about him after all, and his only friend. He walked over to a nearby closet and grabbed his sword. He used to wonder why they let him (more like told him to) bring his sword with him where ever he went, since almost everyone in the village was afraid of him. However he eventually came to the conclusion that they made him keep it with him because they were afraid of him. If he had a weapon on hand, he didn't have an excuse to use his Naphill powers if some random monster suddenly attacked. "Come on Zo, let's get going" he said to the Chosen

On a path within the Iselia Forest, a sudden light caught Avan’s attention to the northeast as it shot to the sky, his eyes widening as he could only stare at it in awe for a few moments. Was this the Oracle that his colleagues had mentioned to him? Iselia was not too far away from him, so he knew the Martel Temple could be in that general direction of the light. “Looks like today’s my lucky day. Didn’t expect the Chosen to start her journey this soon.” He smirked and took hold of his grimoire and pulled out a pen, jotting down notes and the date that the Oracle have occurred in one of the pages near the end of the book. “Hopefully I’ll be able to sneak inside the temple.” Murmuring the last part, he snapped the book closed and made his way towards the light. He had been warned that the temple was usually guarded, only the priests, Chosen, and possibly only a handful of trusted Iselian villagers were allowed entry. Though, he hoped that his status as a researcher would help him gain some access to the temple. He wanted to spread the the knowledge of these old ruins to the world.

“I can’t wait to actually see that temple in the flesh! I wonder if they are any different than the ruins in the Triet Desert.” Avan exclaimed with an excited grin over his face. The outside of the Triet ruins were fascinating, but that was all he had access to and studying the sand-worn structures could only tell him so much of it.

Walking up an incline, he managed to sneak a better view of the blinding light soaring up to the sky through a break in the trees, seeing that he was still quite a distance from the temple. The path before him seem to branch off toward the west and did not seem to head in the direction of his destination. Sighing, Avan decided to backtrack until he cut through the trees, hoping that he was heading in the right direction. It was his first time in this particular area, having to gone as far as Iselia before, but never going beyond the village. That’s right...Isn’t there a Desian Ranch here? Avan thought darkly, his blue eyes trailing back to the path he had been. Any further and he might have ended up there instead.

He also wondered who was the Chosen this time and how were they like. Stories he heard of the past Journey of Regeneration, none of the Chosens have made it back alive...that their lives were taken by the Desians. Shaking his head, he almost felt ashamed that he was the same kin as them. Half-Elf. Even though he had a good dislike in Humans, he did not like the way the Desians dealt with them, locking them up in Human Ranches. But despite the fact that he was the same race as them, Avan spent most of his life hiding his true heritage, posing as either Human or Elf, depending if he were to reveal his magical abilities or not. “The Chosen...wonder if I’ll run into him or her on their way to the temple,” he pondered before shaking his head once more, weaving through the forest undergrowth. I have a job to focus on anyways.

Lectures about the Great Kharlan war were always hard to place subjects for Zoey. Was she in a history or religion class? The overlap between Mrs. Karintine's lessons and the countless scriptures she'd been made to recite by the church had Zoey wonder why she even came to class when she could be tinkering on something new. She had managed to make a wind-up wheel work and her head was just bursting with ideas and applications. That was Zoey's day-to-day pattern; wait out class, wait out church, tinker-time. She had become so accustomed to this rhythm that she'd stopped considering the day she'd set out on her pilgrimage would ever come. Yet that day, as Zoey's head drifted between the Great Kharlan War and putting wind-up wheels on shoes, a bright light would pierce itself through the windows of the classroom and an inconvenient truth through Zoey's head; the day that would change her life had come.

“Ms.Weaver. I believe that you are needed at the temple. Your trials are to begin...”

Zoey looked up from her desk at her teacher, counting the wrinkles forming underneath her eyes to avoid looking straight into Mrs. Karintine's pale blue stare of death. “That could've been something totally different, nobody has ever seen an oracle before, right?” The young chosen protested, but judging from the look of Mrs. Karintine's and her classmates' faces, there was nobody who believed the flash of light to be anything else than the oracle. Even Baron had already stood up by their teacher's request to guide her to the temple.

“Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to check it out, just in case.” Zoey said, with a tone and expression nothing short of conceited. Never had she had so little will to leave the classroom. As if stalling for time, she leisurely pushed her seat back and uncrossed her legs. Even her stride to the door was slow and full of attitude. Only Baron was likely to recognise these as signs of reluctance, rather than the patronisation Zoey was trying to express. Though even from her friend, Zoey would rather hide it...

Zoey kept quiet as Baron escorted her to the temple. Although she'd steeled every muscle in her face, behind her façade and despite best attempts to walk gracefully on the dirt roads Zoey was sinking deep in thought. All the preparations had been easy. So easy, Zoey had come to care less about the scriptures and rituals every passing day. Perhaps that was why this walk was so hard? Zoey had always been more curious than scornful of the Desians and their magitechnology; after all they hadn't touched the village of Iselia in all the years she had lived there. Though Zoey had never dared to say it, she just couldn't bring herself to care for the slaves in their ranches. It was just all too distant for the girl. She had trouble understanding why the rest of the village made such a big deal out of it; it wasn't like they knew any of the slaves on the ranch either, right? The closer to the temple they came, the more Zoey looked up to her trials that were about to begin. Why did Iselia really need a chosen, their lives had been just fine up till now, right?

Although the way was safe with Baron by her side,it wasn't until halfway towards the chapel that Zoey realised no priests had come to join them. That was odd, because leaving an important task such as escorting the chosen up to the 'demon child' was very out of character for the pastor. “Why do you think the priests didn't come to get me?” Zoey asked Baron, nervously giggling in the palm of her hand. “That means the oracle was a fake, right?”

Kory Kalicos was just stopping by in Iselia. She wanted to get some rest after beating up a bunch of monsters after she had left Triet to finish a monster hunt job. Hunting monsters was fine for her wallet, but it always left her bored and unsatisfied. Her heart cried out for her to spill some Desian blood, but with the non-aggression treaty in Iselia coupled with the heavy fortifications in the other Human ranches, she couldn't do much about it. Sometimes a good rest in a sleepy village such as this would do wonders for her boredom; she would get tired of the peaceful place and happily go back to smacking monsters upside the face.

This visit would have been no different were it not for the brilliant light that awoke her from her slumber. She grumbled in annoyance, "The hell was that? Can't a girl get her sleep without being bothered?"

Unable to go back to sleep, Kory rolled out of bed and got dressed in her light clothes and armor, then draped her white hooded coat over her and buckled a few belts. Together with the scars on her face and her steely grey eyes, she had a ragged and rough appearance that told people, "You better not mess with me." Kory gathered her belongings and went to the old lady at the counter, saying, "Yo. Your services are appreciated, as always. Not that I really needed them since I just crashed most of the time."

"You're up earlier than usual. Did the oracle wake you up and now you're in a foul mood?" the woman chuckled slightly.

"I'm glad someone finds my sleeplessness humorous. What the hell was that light anyway?"

"You don't know about the oracle? The Chosen is on her way to the Temple of Martel to begin the journey of regeneration."

"Oh, that..." Kory grumbled. "The whole pilgrimage thing that has done nothing to solve our problems for hundreds of years."

"Please don't say that. The Chosen is our only hope of ridding the world of the Desians. I'm sure Zoey, however irresponsible she might have been with her studies, will take her divine duty seriously."

"This Zoey person... How old is she?"

"She's 16 years old."

"Well, ain't that lovely? Out of diapers and already everyone is shoving their hopes onto her tiny shoulders. If all Chosens are this young, it's no wonder they all died at the Desians' hands."

"Kory..." the woman sighed. She was well aware of the mercenary's bitter attitude, although she wasn't really sure why.

"Take that with a grain of salt, ma'am. It's just the opinion of someone who's seen too much cruelty to see any good in this screwed up world anymore. I'll tip you handsomely to make up for that comment."

"No, that's not necessary. I know that you're right, but some things are better left unsaid. You might be strong, but many of us are not. We have no choice but to cling to the Chosen's pilgrimage, even if she's much too young to be bearing such a huge responsibility."

"Fine, let's leave it at that. Be seeing you later," Kory sighed and gave the woman a wave before leaving the small inn. She stretched a few times and sat down on a nearby bench, pondering what to do next. Her first thought was to go to the Temple of Martel and meet the Chosen, hopefully snagging the job of protecting her. On the other hand, Kory figured that enough people were already assigned to such an important task and didn't really need her. She could just ignore the whole thing and go back to hunting monsters and finding rare materials to sell... as well as murdering any foolish Desians who dared to cross her path.

Desians... That's right, they always try to kill the Chosen. With the current one being so young and Iselia near a Human ranch, she might be hunted the moment she steps out of the village. The non-aggression pact says the Desians won't attack Iselia, but it may not apply to when people leave its borders. Does the Temple of Martel count as part of the pact?

There were too many unanswered questions for her liking. As someone who preferred facts over hearsay, Kory wanted to be absolutely sure the Desians wouldn't attack while the oracle was underway. With a huff, she got up from the bench and headed towards Iselia's northern exit that led to the temple.

"I'm not sure someone would fake the oracle. Hell, I'm not sure it is possible to fake it" Baron mused. Taking in her nervous giggling, Baron sighed "Zoey...is there something wrong? Not only were taking your time leaving the school, but you've been quiet this whole time. Not even an a single mumble about whatever little gadget you're tinkering with now. You were also strangely hopeful that this was a false alarm." He put his hand on her shoulder before continuing "Is there something you're not telling me?

Upon the Chosen exiting the village, she noticed it was far more than just an open field, and with the light that resonated, the path that she was so used to was crowded by lurking hazards to her quest. Even with the help of Baron, the trials would prove more than difficult. But not far from her she saw a dead priest. Though upon examination to the trained eye, there were sword wounds practically plaguing the priest. This would prove to be a bad sign. Was it possible the Desians did this?

Not far from the priest was a rather odd looking foreigner who had a bird that followed around him. Could be one of the rare race; probably anyways.
"And so we are off..." Was all that was muttered in he who wore a dark suit that was oddly designed. His ears were not that of any common race as if they twitched like that of a feral being. His look was certainly off putting.

He turned to face the Chosen and saw her with a companion. "Err... You sure you should be coming this way...? There is a lot of things going down over there. Monsters have been... running wild. Hell... I've even seen rotting corpses rise up and try to fight." He narrowed his dark hazel green eyes, brushing his brown silky smooth hair out of his face as he looked at the duo. "Please turn back. " He huffed.

"Unless you have a band wagon or group, or a guide... Then maybe you could get around to where ever... But this zone is a hot zone." He continued to warn them; but seeing as he regurgitated as much concern and information, he seems capable of guiding. But would he guide them?

Fierce Demon Fang!!
Miles yelled at the top of his lungs as waves of burning shockwave energy completely pulverised 2 wolves that he encountered on the way through the northern path. He was heading to the temple, he wasn't entirely sure why, but the Ossa Trail had a very disturbed energy in the last 3 days, and his awareness and instincts led him all the way to this area, where he could sense very strong magical properties. He also could smell that he was not alone, the stench of blood and steel was ripe in the air and this was the odor of a powerful warrior, one who does not sweat too much after killing monsters.

Miles instincts ordered his body to duck low in the tall grass, he could see in the distance the town of Iselia, he had never actually been there, but his old bandit crew would speak of its soft countryside atmosphere and the description fit what he was looking at perfectly. Although he was initially walking away from the town and towards the temple, the earlier smell of a warrior fresh from combat was too strong to ignore, he ducked down to follow the smell more silently.

And then he saw her, a reddish-brown haired female who was wielding no visible weapon, but had heavily armoured greaves and gloves that were soaked with monsters blood, she walked with cold determination and hadn't noticed Miles yet, so he made it his duty to make him self know to the female mercenary.

He leapt out of the grass and stood 12 feet in front of her, brandishing his wickedly large sword and cleching his fist in his free hand.

You don't look Desian to me, but I bet you are heading towards the temple aren't you? Maybe I should kill you for a warm up before I fight any real Desians!

Miles Rohan assumed his battle stance, wild and feral with his sword held at very loose angle with one hand.

Avan was still making his way out of the woods towards the direction of the Oracle’s light. He wondered how much farther it was going to take to the temple and hoped that he was not going to get lost. If he missed the chance to gain entry into the temple, who knows how long it would be before he would get the opportunity again. Though, if he heard from his sources right, following the Chosen would lead him to other ancient ruins where he would have further access to. With a small rush of excitement at that thought, he continued forward with renewed motivation.

However, rustling in the bushes ahead of him caused him to halt in his tracks, and Avan reached down to the hilt of his weapon, a one-handed staff with ornate jewels embedded at the head of the weapon. “Who’s there?” he said, narrowing his eyes as he took on a readied stance. A howl answered back as well as the sound of pawpads making their way towards him. “Shoot, monsters?” Avan cursed, fully drawing his staff in front of him as soon as a white and green beast suddenly jumped out of the thick patch of bramble. It made a pathetic-sounding noise, a frightened whine, and rushed over to Avan’s side.

“H-Hey, what are you…?” Avan muttered, looking dumbfounded at the beast’s scared whimpers. Not a threat. It was canine in appearance, but it was way larger than an ordinary dog. At least as large as a pony. Plus, it’s ears were enormous, reminding Avan of a rabbit. “Ah, s-stop that!” Avan finally snapped as he felt the beast press its flank against him, pushing him forward. Though moments later, a couple of monsters sprang from the bramble the white and green beast emerged from as well. His eyes widened at the undead corpses, one resembling a skeleton and the other a zombie.

“Jeez, what a pain. Hey, move back unless you want to get caught in this.” Avan said to the beast, pushing it back in return. Surprisingly, it understood him and darted back a few meters, hiding behind a tree. Avan ducked as the skeleton holding a sword swiped at him, its movements slightly faster than the the zombie trailing behind it. The terrain was somewhat narrow, surrounded by trees and bushes, so there was not enough room for Avan to run around. However, he used the trees around him for cover, ducking behind them when the skeleton continued to swipe its sword at him and dodging the zombie’s acidic vomit.

Damn, this thing isn’t leaving me much room to cast… Avan thought as he clicked his tongue in frustration at the skeleton. The clattering sound of its mouth and joints sent shivers throughout his body, but he forced himself to move once the blade missed his head. The blade lodged itself on the trunk of the tree and that gave Avan enough time to finally cast.

The red orb near the base of the head of the staff then began to glow and a faint red circle appeared under his feet. He uttered an incantation for four seconds and then flung his arm forward at the skeleton, shouting, “Fire Ball!” at the end of his spell. The skeleton managed to pull free, but it was then rammed with three medium-sized fire balls, causing it to collapse in a heap but not quite defeated. Though, before Avan could cast another spell to finish it off, he quickly jumped back to avoid the zombie’s arm swipe when it was close to him.

Avan positioned himself quickly, giving enough space between him and the zombie to be able to cast again. The skeleton was recovering, managing to get on its knees at least and reaching for its sword. Avan readied himself again, summoning up his mana and focusing on the offense. This time, the magic circle at his feet glowed brighter than the first, red in color and slightly larger. Casting was going to take just slightly longer than his initial Fire Ball, but it was stronger and hopefully enough to down these two monsters. His incantation took him six seconds, the monsters closing in the gap, but Avan managed to unleash the spell in time as he thrust his staff in hand above his head.

“Eruption!”

The ground underneath the corpses suddenly erupted with fire, burning them and sending them high into the air. The flames then faded away and the monsters crashed onto the earth, motionless. Having this small victory, Avan let out a deep sigh and slumped against the nearest tree, closing his blue eyes for a few seconds. He did not often use mid-level spell that often, but he figured it would do the job as multiple novice-level spells would faster and be just as taxing. “A little break, then I’ll continue on...eh?!” Avan’s eyes shot open when he felt something wet swipe across his face. The white and green canine was in front of him again, barking in appreciation as it nuzzled Avan’s arm. Its ears twitched and it howled in a playful manner, its face looked like it was smiling at him.

“Ah...you’re welcome, I guess?” Avan said, putting his staff back at his waist and reached to pet the creature. Even though it looked nothing like a dog, but it sure did behave like one. It hummed when Avan scratched it behind an ear, but then whined when the Half-Elf pulled away from it. “Well, I’ll be heading off now to the temple. Don’t get into trouble with monsters again.” He said and began to head toward the Oracle’s light again.

Bark! Bark!

“Huh?” Avan then turned to look to his left, seeing the canine again and barking frantically at him. It gestured for him to follow. He gave a skeptical look, but then gave in when the canine came and grabbed hold of his shirt sleeve in its mouth, tugging Avan in its intended direction. “Do...you happen to know the way to the Martel Temple?” the canine whined, still holding onto him. “And I’m talking to a dog...fine, lead the way.” It finally released him when it knew Avan was following and led him out of the forest to open plains. A dirt path was in front of him and some distance away at the end of the path was the light, shining up into the sky from the Martel Temple. The canine barked happily, still remaining by Avan’s side as he moved to walk down the path toward the temple.

Sayuri yawns as the oracle light flares behind her as she sits on the steps to the temple waiting for the chosen, "I can finally start my job soon. I wonder what kind of person the chosen is... hopefully nicer then my last couple charges. One i would've killed had I not been paid otherwise..." she shakes her head, "Enough of the past time to live in the present. Let me double check my contract for the 13th time..." pulling out a book she turns to the most recent written page, "'The mercenary Sayuri is to accompany and protect the charge of the Chosen of Martel until she completes her journey to the Tower of Salvation. She will receive 1,000,000 Gald up front and upon Completion of the contract she will receive an additional 1,000,000 Gald to be paid by the Church.' Ah the church may be full of jerks but the certainly pay well."

Smiling she puts the book back and stands up. Stretching she notices someone coming up the path with some sort of animal at his side. Wearily she puts her hand on her sword and turns to the side looking at the stranger. As he gets closer she asks, "Who might you be sir? I was told the Chosen was a girl and would be accompanied by two others. You wouldn't happen to be a Desian here to stop the Chosen would you?"

Zoey shivered when she felt Baron's hand. Not because a demon resided in it, but because his touch put more cracks in her façade. She brushed off the hand, “Don't tell me you think it's real.” Zoey purposely avoided the question as well as Baron's eyes, “That light was probably just some-”

Zoey's sentence was cut off by a sudden gasp. In front of them; a corpse lied by the roadside. “Is that a priest?” Zoey muttered underneath her breath, pointing Baron in it's direction while staring daggers into the body. “What has happened here?” She asked. Zoey never had seen many wounds, so was unable to discern them, but perhaps Baron would...

Before they could get a closer look at the body, though, a stranger spoke to them. He warned them to turn back, but what Zoey wondered was why he was lingering around the corpse so casually. “You didn't kill him, did you?” She blurted out more bluntly than she intended. Although he did seem concerned, the stranger was at an awfully bad place at an awfully bad time. Those cat-ears didn't help either and what was he wearing. Whatever he was, Zoey hadn't seen anything like his kind outside of tablets and scriptures... And those had little good to tell about them. It wasn't long until yet another person mingled in. Events had took a turn for the crazy and Zoey wasn't sure if that was a curse or blessing in disguise.

“I don't think the desians have celestials hidden in their ranks.” Zoey remarked, stepping forward more bravely than she actually felt. The entire situation was fishy; the red-haired woman that had appeared in front of them was carrying two swords and she hadn't even noticed any kind of weapon on the guy with the wetsuit and cat ears. Zoey did her best not to look or sound scared, but every passing second she wondered more what business she even had standing there. “I have no idea what is going on.” Zoey admitted, “But I'd really like to know what changed since, like, yesterday.”

Kory stared at Miles with complete and utter disinterest. It was just her luck to run into some crazy dude with a sword that was bigger than she was (considering her petite 4'7" height). She put her hand in her pocket and just kept staring at him, trying to size him up. From all appearances, he looked like the average bandit. Why he would be stupid enough to strike near the Temple of Martel was something Kory really didn't want to ask him.

Kory didn't say anything as she boredly rubbed some wax out of her ear, plucked it aside, then flexed her fingers and waited for Miles to make the first strike. She didn't want to fight him directly so she could conserve her energy, but she wouldn't mind messing around with him for a little. She'd just dance and duck around this dimwit, then he would soon realize she was a waste of his time and go pick on someone else. At least, Kory hoped Miles would be smart enough to figure out when enough was enough.

Baron drew his sword "alright, what the hell is going on here!?" he demanded. "We come across you so close to the body of a dead priest and you just tell us to turn back? That's pretty suspicious." If there was one thing the demon's influence was good for, it was suppressing fear. Right now, Baron was maintaining a gravity well off in the distance. While the well itself wasn't doing anything, it forced him to draw on the demon's power, which let it slightly influence him, making him feel more aggressive. He was worried about Zoey, he wouldn't be surprised if she was starting to get scared, he was too before he drew on the demon's influence.

"Now I'll be the first to admit that most of the priests are assholes, but that doesn't mean they deserve to get killed. So you better start explaining what you're doing here buster, and fast" Baron said. "Because right now, the most obvious explanation to me is that you're with the desians and just killed this guy. Which would mean that I get to all clear to bust your ass"

Sin'Voli had reached the village along time ago. This day she had decided to practice her magic. Her diplomatic duties allowed her to have a free day this morning. Inside, she hated the priests and the temple. But she only tolerated them for alot of reasons. They had money, showed her holy magic (Though they didn't know she could truly learn them!), and they had a large influence, which allowed her to make up lots of reasons to move around. Either by joining a missionary on his journeys or simply being a pack mule by delivering things while she made up an excuse to leave. It was all so simple to manipulate them. Though, Sin'Voli knew that a few of their order were infact powerful priests. True wielders of powerful holy magic that could resist her dark spells. Sin'Voli was excited by the thought of being challenged. Not many other beings had truly been powerful enough to force her to full retreat.

Knowing full well if she used her full arsenal, she would most likely start a war and large conflict. Which was troublesome as many people with valuable spells and secrets could die. And that was not worth the time nor the trouble. Sin'Voli finished her breakfast and left the small guest house given to her by the church. She said her good byes for the day to the officials and left with slow walk. She moved towards the forest where she could practice her magic mostly hidden. Sure monsters wandered around out there, but nothing she couldn't scare off if not kill.

As she moved down the road she saw her first target. A priest coming down the road as she was leaving the boarders of the town. He was older and looked friendly. Sin'Voli smiled. She could use this as a time to practice her swords. Which came in handy most of the time. As he neared, Sin'Voli kept her hood about her face. Concealing it from view. He looked up at her as he got close, a smile on his withered face. Sin'voli did a fast check to see if any one was around, visually and magically. The probe provided nothing and Sin'Voli smiled as she drew her blades. The old man didn't have a chance. His smiled barely had time to sour as the first edge cut into him.

Sin'Voli was ruthless. She wanted to see his blood spray. Feel his skins flesh and tendons peel apart as she effortlessly went through him. She weaved each strike intelligently. knowing full well how to cut as to not spray on her. His clothes drank in the crimson life fluid. He soon reached the peak of his horrible death. Sin'Voli stabbed his chest and lungs, not allowing him to scream in pain as he fell over. Sin'Voli kept him alive for just a moment before using her powers to drain his mind. Absorbing his memories and life. His eyes turned pale and lifeless as he was finally given rest. Sin'Voli stood up and smiled at herself. She had grown so excited and felt euphoria for killing someone after such a long time. She wiped her blades on his robes and sheathed them. Leaving quickly into the forest.

She was assaulted with the old mans memories, his entire life sprayed across her mind. She ate all the information quickly and stored it away within herself mentally. Now Sin'Voli was hungering to kill, she had a blood lust. Though she knew first she needed to make sure of a spell she found. It would summon a golem of flesh from the dead. A zombie construct. It was well hidden in the books the chapel. A dusty old book with a regular boring old teaching in it. But underneath the pages were runes, she deciphered them and learned this horrible spell. Yet she was near giddy to try it. She dare not disturb the grave yard for corpses. She would be to large of a suspect if that were to happen. Instead now she simply magically probed the area. She found a random grave sight. One of a father and his daughter.

The tombstones scribbled something about a hard winter and love. Boring to Sin'Voli. She recited a fast incantation to animate the dead. Forcing their spirits back into the bodies. Ripping them from what ever spiritual plane they had previously existed in. As they broke earth, one a skeleton and the other a zombie. Not bad, they stood bowlegged and lethargically. Moaning and groaning like the usual. Sin'Voli instructed them to kill people and collect fresh bodies. They soon lumbered off together in a random direction, straight into the forest.

Sin'Voli was about to prepare a rune circle for the construction of a golem, but then the oracle light abruptly beamed through. Sin'Voli had completely forgotten about this event. She wanted to find who ever this Chosen one was and steal their knowledge. Or atleast accompany them until she discovered why they were considered the salvation. A truly powerful spell that would be needed to do that. A rush of interest mounted Sin'Voli. She disregarded the golem and quickly made her way back to the village.

⚜⚜⚜⚜

Sin'Voli reached the edge of the forest and watched the road. Being near the end of the village border she waited. She was surprised to see a man with a blade stop the Chosen one and her guard. A quick stand off began and Sin'Voli watched with glee as to what would happen.

"Yeah..." He said looking at Baron.
"Do you even know how to use that?" Commented sarcastically, feeling rage swell in him.
"To answer your question, I was looking for a very specific plant in this area. Then I saw this beam of light in the sky. That is the only reason why I'm moving this way, because I feel like things are going to go down. My kind would rather not get involved in this debacle..." he said as he grimly observed the priest.

"I will say this openly..." He looked over at the Chosen. "You do know what I am correct? Then you know of what power I may possess?" He said raising a question.
"I'm going to warn you... There are people around that area going rampart, readying for some battle. It's why I'm going away from there" He folded his arms.

"If you are really hell bent on going... Then I guess I could be your guide." He said reluctantly.
"But first I believe I show know your names." He said gazing on the others.
"I have a rather long name... Christopher Aurea Shuzen, though I'm called CAS where I'm from. Just easier to say rather than blurt everything out..." He felt he was rambling to people who really would never care unless they were going to benefit from pointless knoledge, but if he could prevent a bloody situation, he would.

As each second pass, Avan continued to grow closer to the temple, taking the path that the canine had showed him. He wondered what kind of creature was this thing and what to call it. He never seen a beast like this, but he was glad that it was not hostile towards him or some sort of monster. Taking out his grimoire, he took note of the creature’s appearance and a quick sketch, but then he heard a feminine voice in front of him once he neared the Martel Temple and placed his book back at his side. A red haired woman dressed in black and white clothing stood in his path, blocking his way to the temple. His eyes trailed to her hand resting on the sword hilt and he stumble back a little, raising his hands up in defense.

“A-Ah, wait a second please! I’m not a Desian.” Avan replied, his heart racing at the possibility of being attacked again and the canine beside him whined. “I’m a researcher from Triet and I was on my way to this temple to study it. I didn’t know today was the day the Chosen was supposed to receive the Oracle, so I guess that’s something extra.” He said with a smile and then glanced around the area and behind him. Since the woman had mentioned the Chosen, he guessed that she have not arrived yet.

“If you need proof, I have the paperwork of my profession and purpose for heading to the temple in here.” Avan patted the bag hanging behind his back. “Are you one of the temple guards or…” He paused, observing the woman with a calm expression as he had forced himself not mention her being a Half-Elf, like him. With the partial Elven blood that coursed through him, he was able to detect faint hints of magical qualities in the woman, just like the Half-Elven residents that hid in Triet when he was younger. It was one of the ways other Half-Elves and Elves were able to tell what race each other were. “Never mind. My name is Avan. May I enter the Martel Temple, miss?” he asked politely and smiled, trying not show any hostility.

The Lady looked completely calm, which was something Miles wasn't used to. Miles idea of conflict was a burning struggle for survival, any hint of danger should be met with fight or flight, with his or her very life on the line with every encounter. But she just stood there, eyes a little glazed staring in his direction but not directly at him, in his general direction her eyes constantly rolling around, looking for something interesting to focus on. Miles got a little annoyed and took a step forward in his battle stance, waiting for her to flinch but she didnt.

I want to know what is at the temple, and why it is disrupting the Ossa trail, tell me now, unless you really ARE a desian, in which that case I will kill you.

Miles then didn't wait another second, even for a response, he dashed towards her, with his sword dragging behind him, he didnt swing it at her but he did throw quite a heavy roundhouse kick into her direction, it was all instinct, he felt disrespected so he wanted to prove himself in a fight.

Kory anticipated the kick and ducked her head backwards, coolly avoiding it by millimeters. The man was so bulky and slow that she could read his moves in her sleep. She didn't show any interest as she continued dodging him with clever twirls, dances, cartwheels and flips. Eventually, Miles slammed his huge sword at her into the ground, but she leaped gracefully and landed right on the blunt edge of the massive weapon, balancing herself on her toes.

"Hmm..." Kory pondered, ignoring Miles' reaction. It wasn't that she wanted to show off. Rather, she thought she saw some unusual movement in the forest nearby and needed some height to see it better. Without warning, she vaulted off Miles' weapon and did a flip to gather momentum, then pointed her feet directly at her target from above and yelled, "Eagle Dive!"

Her straight-down piercing kick hit someone's head, although she couldn't tell who it was at this speed. After landing, Kory took a glance at her opponent to find a dazed female zombie recovering from her dive kick. Her face crinkled with disgust, but a zombie was no big deal to her. The real problem was that zombies weren't native to this region - the worst she would have to face were wild animals. As she stood there pondering this, the reanimated skeleton appeared behind her and prepared to strike,

Sin'voli laughed to herself as she watched the fight ensue. The warrior was horribly slow. Sure his attacks would hurt of they could actually land. You could move around them simply by walking backwards. The chosen one with her small group of protectors. They were simply walking to the temple. A place not far away. Sin'voli had visited the temple before. She was allowed inside as long as she didnt disturb anything. Sin'voli had the required papers and all she needed. It payed off to have honest paperwork. Humans were so political and cared so much for it.

Then sin'voli felt a disturbance. Something or someone had attacked her zombie. She was surprised that anything had even attacked the zombie. She gained its vision for a moment to see the attacker. It was the woman the warrior just tried to attack. Sin'voli decided it was high time to stop the summoning. She ordered them mentally to return to their graves. She hastened them with unholy fervor. Boosting their speed as they ran back towards their graves. Sin'voli decided to hide and observe until it was time for her to act.

Miles wasnt throwing all his effort into his non-lethal physical attacks but he was getting fustrated with young woman's agility, he cursed under his breath as he missed with his combo. He then grabbed his sword and got ready to swing it in rage until he noticed the smell of death hit him like a stiff punch in the face, there were zombies surrounding him and the lady. She took the initiave and used the eagle dive technique on a zombie that was directly in front of him, smashing its skull but not destroying the corpse completley.

I'm also familiar with the eagle dive attack, but you need to be more thorough with these unholy shambles, they dont have brains to destroy so you have to wipe out everything!....TWIN TIGER BLADE!

Miles swung his sword up in a raging launch that swept the zombie into the air with him, before bringing him back to earth again with a downward cut, the move repeated itself with greater intesity and a white shockwave destroyed the zombie in a powerful flash.

Miles then spun around behind him to launch another faster roundhouse kick at a zombie that was close to the mercenary lady.

I'm Miles, whats your name, warrior?