[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[tex]

"Who are you to disrespect the way I live? What about you? You, who walked into a fucking blizzard without a coat?? I'm happy with my life, and as far as I'm concerned, Pharie deserves to suffer for abandoning our village in the first place!"

[Jensoman]

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect...I owe you for saving me from that blizzard..you definitely have my thanks." Jenso replied to Paulie. "Alright, I'll be honest with you. I came from Orobo village...the earth elemental there said that this place needed my help. That's why I'm here. I don't think the water elemental abandoned your village..but I think something bad must have happened to Pharie."

[tex]

"I don't care!" Paulie shouted, approaching Jenso again. "I don't care about the elemental spirits, I don't care about your personal quest or whatever the hell you're here for, and I don't care about Pharie anymore! Just leave!"

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned and looked down at the ground. "You're...you're not the only one who had his entire town destroyed without being able to do anything about it...It happened to me, too." He muttered in a sad tone. "That's why I'm doing this..to make sure nobody else has to suffer from monsters or criminals or whatever the hell's out there. And I'm not going to stop! I failed to save my town, but I refuse to give up on this place!" Jenso shouted at Paulie. "I understand the pain of losing your town and everyone you care about, Paulie..it feels terrible. But that doesn't mean that who or whatever did that in the first place should be able to get away. I need to stop it, not for the sake of vengeance, but for the sake of justice.."

[tex]

"You'd be stopping nothing..." Paulie muttered. "Everyone's gone. Pharia will not be reborn, even if you could liberate it." Paulie looked at his glove in disarray. "My brother died with that exact same stubbornness. You're walking down a road that leads to an early grave, Jenso. You're fighting for nothing but blind hope, and you don't even have the strength to back it up."

[Jensoman]

"Your brother..." Jenso muttered. "I'm sorry for your loss man...Your brother was brave to take on those ice golems.." He said, looking over at the direction of Pharie. "Those ice golems made you and everyone from your village suffer..." Jenso said, and paused for a moment. "Every day, I ask myself...what I could have done differently to save my town and prevent everyone from dying. And I think that you do, too." Jenso spoke, clenching his fists. "And those thoughts are unbearable. I'm going to find and defeat the man that killed my entire town, and I'm going to defeat the ice golems too. Not just to save this place, but for you and your brother's sakes. To end your suffering."

[tex]

"It's not bravery, it's stupidity. People like you and my brother... You're all talk," Paulie insisted, "I could kill you right here. I could freeze you solid, and you'd have no way to retaliate. Even if I did think about what I could of done differently.. It's too late now. My brother wouldn't have wanted me to make the same stupid mistake he did, and he sure as hell wouldn't want anyone else to die for his sacrifice." Paulie clutched his left side, where his scar was, and clenched his teath. "I'd just be a waste of space if I let anyone else go to Pharie."

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned and glared at his fist that was frozen solid. "If those ice golems are so tough and I have a hand that's frozen in thick ice, I should have an easier time to punch them like that right?" Jenso said with a smirk. He bolted off into the direction of Pharie. "See ya!"

[tex]

Paulie dashed after Jenso in a hurry as he turned around. "Wait! Don't go!" He shouted, unable to keep up with Jenso's speed. "You'll die..." He panted, slowing to a stop. The winds began to pick up as the day went on. Paulie looked up at the sky and narrowed his eyes.

'You'll die, bro...'

---

~ End Of Chapter 19 ~

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Chapter 20

_{Pharie Lake, And The Beast Within}

Jenso made his way past Paulie's camp, though he probably didn't really notice it hidden beneath the snow, and towards Pharie village. The horizon began to blur as the winds whipped into a weak storm, getting stronger with each hour. Eventually though, something cast a shadow against the thick snow filter. Jenso could finally see the ice fortress. But as he got closer, the snow began to drop, becoming shallow, and the floor became slippery. It almost upset his balance. Unbeknownst to Jenso, Pharie was a village located at the center of a small lake, on an island. He had to cross it in order to make his way there.

The ice was treacherous though. One wrong step, and he might've found a thin spot to fall through. Not only that, but a particular creature had chosen to inhabit the lake since Pharie had become a frozen wasteland..

[Jensoman]

Jenso looked closely at the ice beneath his feet as he moved, trying not to slip. He moved one step at a time and didn't move too fast to avoid any thin spots that would be in his way. That way, if he did step on a thin spot, he'd have more of a chance to pull his foot back in time and prevent himself from falling in. He continued heading towards the island.

[tex]

His caution was fully warranted. Halfway across the lake, and Jenso had already cracked the ice three times, safely pulling himself back from the deadly drop each time. He was making good headway to the lake's center.

But about half a kilometer from the coat of Pharia island, Jenso felt something smash against the bottom of the ice several times. Eventually a huge crack formed below him, several meters wide. Then several more cracks webbed out like lightning. What the hell was that? A dark black shadow passed underneath him, and slammed the ice again..

[Jensoman]

"Holy shit!!" Jenso screamed as something slammed into the ice. He had no clue what he was dealing with, but Jenso knew that he needed to move. If he didn't, the ice right below him would crack further. He would fall into the water and fall victim to the creature. He dashed forward towards Pharie island, trying to avoid stepping on any of the cracks that formed. He began to weave left and right occasionally in hopes of throwing the creature off and make it harder for it to break the ice underneath him.

[tex]

Jenso's feet weren't quite ready to take the slippery stretch of ice without losing traction. In less than 20 feet of travel, he slipped up and slowed down. The ice shook several times, and eventually a large purple claw with three talons struck through the ice and slammed near Jenso's feet. The cracks began to join even more, making it certain that the ice would soon shatter.

[Jensoman]

Jenso stared in shock for a moment as the large claw emerged from the ice and stopped right near him. He frowned as the cracks continued to spread. 'No point trying to run...looks like I have to take this thing on.' He thought, aiming a punch at the beast's claw from the left side while avoiding the sharp talons.

[tex]

Jenso's icey fist crashed against the middle claw and cracked it in half. The purple arm flew back underwater, and the claw began to ooze blood from where it broke. Suddenly, another claw popped up from the ice, behind Jenso, and slashed vertically at his back.

[Jensoman]

Jenso looked over his shoulder as another claw emerged. He attempted to jump further to the left to avoid the slash. He turned around and dashed at the claw's side while trying to avoid the cracks in the ice, aiming another punch at it with his frozen hand.

[tex]

Jenso attempted to dodge, but his footing wouldn't allow it. The claw came down and raked at his back with two of its nails, tearing open his shirt and leaving a couple shallow cuts that bled lightly on his back. When he turned to punch it again, it was already gone, under-water once more. The two holes that it emerged from then began to bubble. Several yards away, the ice busted open to reveal the monster's full upper body. Two of its claws grabbed the ice on either side of its torso, linked below a large armored chest area that connected to its head, and two more arms the lingered above it like clawed antennae. It opened its long, alligator-like maw and roared at Jenso, revealing several rows of purple teeth, and two deep yellow eyes without pupils. In a moment, the ice between the monster, and the two holes it made earlier, gave way completely. And unfortunately, that's where Jenso was standing.

[Jensoman]

Jenso cringed in pain for a moment, but he had no time. The ice near him began to collapse and he needed to move. He dove towards ice that hadn't given away yet further to his right, aiming to slide over the ice on his stomach and get further way from the ice that was collapsing near him.

[tex]

It wasn't enough. The ice parted beneath his feet and gave him no traction or solid footing to do much at all, and Jenso ended up falling into the cold waters below. The drop in temperature was absolutely shocking, but Jenso was still conscious and he could still see.

He saw the monster swim past him, and below, noticing that it had no legs, and only a large, shimmering dorsal fin propelling it forward. Jenso also heard something pounding on the ice above him, but it might've just been his imagination. He had to get out of the water, but the cold temperature quickly overpowered his ability to move..