T H E F I E L D S -{}- Nicholas Vanceon -{}- H a m m e r O f T h e A r m y
It was a distinct memory, one he could feel much more than simply watching a mental rerun of events long transpired. As the ground shook and pulled itself apart and a grotesque, irate, Mordrem rose up from the earth, Niko could not help but feel the reminiscence stabbing at the back of his head. The Dark Zone was a part of the world he had never ventured into, but the scene unfolding before him was very similar to mishaps of the past during his stay at the Cathedral. The long buried feelings eagerly took hold of the young man again and enveloped him in their tightened embrace. The intangible sensation was physically suffocating, his chest constraining from sheer visions of jumbled moments and pieces of a memory that refused to fully reveal itself. Despite this internal struggle however, the outward visage of the suddenly serious Guardian was deathly solid. His eyes narrowed and locked onto the unholy creature in front of the small group and his brow furrowed in the sort of anger that desperately tried to manifest itself into some sort of physical form.
This was the enemy - the enemy.
Nicholas had never seen the world in black or white. It was another teaching of the Cathedral, albeit one that rested on the opposite end of a common lesson. Instead of being taught that one should ignore good and evil because all life is precious, the young boy was indoctrinated with the remembrance that good and evil never mattered, rather one should always hold contempt for the enemy. The enemy was any being that impeded the goals of a Guardian - or in their words, one who possesses an abundance of spiritual presence. Intentions and their tethers to the human condition were meaningless in the face of one who had been - again, in the words of the twisted Cathedral - shown the light of the true reality. With this in mind, a young Nicholas had been systematically desensitized to the feelings of empathy for another's plight. If he were to stand in front of an "enemy", that being would need to be cut down no matter who it may have been before. And as the beast roared with all its might, one thought screamed and shouted in the mind of the Cathedral raised Guardian:
This is the enemy - the enemy.
Instinctively, Niko pulled the blunderbuss from its back holster with his left hand and simultaneously unsheathed his shortsword with his right. Purposefully, however, the shortsword clicked into the barrel of the blunderbuss and the apparatus was extended while the thickened blade unfolded into two additional sections that curved into a vicious, shining crescent moon. There was no point in holding back anything against a monstrosity so big and admittedly strong looking. If this was going to define his first foray into the Dark Zone, the newly graduated Guardian was going to enter battle with everything he had. As a numbing feeling washed over the young man, a vile smirk pulled at the corners of Niko's lips. His two-handed grip tightened on his giant scythe as the beast began its offense. It started with charging towards the group and clawing wildly at them, Monika deftly dodging the swipes and Niko putting his own agility to use with pirouettes and evasive rolls. Muddy earth stained his clothing as he danced and rolled away from swipes, but insignificant things like that did not matter in the heat of the moment.
Niko exhaled sharply as he came up from a roll only to narrowly dive away from the thud of a thrown boulder. The damned thing was resorting to literally throwing a tantrum. Large chunks of earth rained down one by one as the young Guardian dove and rolled to safety each time; agility was one of Niko's biggest assets, but he quickly became tired of playing the defensive game. It seemed like Monika agreed with the unspoken notion as well. As soon as she found herself open, she let loose a flurry of holy endowed offense that ended with her massive claymore gleefully eating into the hide of the weakened beast. In the split-second moment of processed thought, Niko found himself genuinely impressed with Monika and her ability to take control of such a small window of opportunity. Finally finding himself open as well, Niko heeded Monika's battle decree and shot towards the now softened membrane of the Mordrem's hide. A fury of emotion welled up as the boy used his running speed to launch into a slide that took him around Monika and allowed his scythe to violently rise up in a clockwise crescendo that ended with a curved blade piercing the Mordrem's right side and digging deep into the soft tissue and weakened muscle. Not content with just the initial piercing, Niko pushed upwards, carving a deep gash as he went before pulling down hard and ferociously tearing the scythe from the innards of the beast completing a full circle.
Instincts and involuntary body movement distanced the boy and the injured beast immediately with a few hops. The feeling was overwhelming; Niko had not felt this good in the entirety of his life. This was truly what it was to live, indeed.