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A Hero Tale {Complete}

Jenso's hand met another layer of energy that shielded Yzeira's body like some kind of near-skin coat, but his hand was just large enough to grasp it despite it burning through his skin. Yzeira took a step back and aimed the beam right as Jenso's fist, but as the force of his attack come forth, it split the beam in two and struck him right in the chest. Crackles of Ki and Arcane energy shot outwards from the point of impact, and Yzeira was launched across the tower's roof. He rolled several times, stopping near the other side. But Jenso had taken the full force of his beam as well, and was launched to the opposite side of the makeshift arena.

Caravan: Resurrection

Northern Marrenfall, Gybol's Cafe
_{4th of Summer - 10:50 AM}

Nina rolled her eyes back into her head. Gybol was such a stubborn bastard, a quality that most of his customers didn't have a single qualm with. If she had another job lined up anywhere else, she'd quit on the spot. But nobody was willing to hire in the eastern suburbs, and her frail body wouldn't do well in a factory. Life for those without magic might have been more peaceful, but people like Nina saw it as a curse. Gybol's strange appearance and stubborn traditions only served as a constant reminder that she would likely be stuck as a mundane waitress in the middle of hell for the rest of her known life.

Nearly an three hours had passed since opening, and with the afternoon closing in, the breakfast rush has long since died down. Some of the customers from the west had left before getting served, while others waited patiently for their meals. Regardless, the cafe was thinning out fast. It didn't take long for the place to return to its usual laid back atmosphere. Nina took solace in being stuck behind the counter. Having to walk around the tiny building front was exhausting for the girl. It seemed strange, but it wasn't uncommon for even the most youthful to end up fatigued with such a small amount of work. Nina was only nineteen, but she had been born with breathing problems, along with most of the kids around that area. The fact that she worked such long hours without rest was a miracle. Maybe she had a right to complain! He illness never defined her, though. Whether that illness was a result of the ashen air, her absentminded family, or something else entirely, was of no concern to the eastern suburb's mayor, Reginald Foreman. Their section of Marrenfall's middle-class residences had been breathing the brunt of Varbos' pollution for decades. If its factories truly were to blame for the rampant disease, local health wasn't going to improve any time soon.

Nina didn't concern herself with any of those politics though. She was a simple girl with simple desires. Get rich, get a guy, and then get gone. It wouldn't have been too hard for her to snatch an eligible young bachelor if she prettied herself up and went on a trip to the richer cities in Marrenfall. Nina was not a bad looking girl. She had a pretty thin frame, and modest proportions, but all the boys at her school used to flock around her like idiots. It might've been her hair, or her eyes, or something, because it sure as hell wasn't her charm. Nina was brash, bold, and swore like a sailor whenever she didn't have to watch her language. Despite having silky blonde hair, pretty blue eyes, and features like a doll, there wasn't a bachelor in all of Marrenfall that would put up with her attitude just because she was a pretty girl. That pissed her off. This whole Nation pissed her off.

With most of Gybol's customers either eating, or gone, the shop got really quiet. This time of the day was always slow. It wouldn't pick up again until an hour or two past noon. But that didn't mean they wouldn't get the odd fellow passing by now and again. For people to be present during working hours usually meant one of three things though. They were jobless, worked a night shift, or were just passing through. While Nina was busy slacking off, fiddling with her new watch, one such man walked through the wooden door that marked Gybol's establishment. The bell rang Nina back into attention, and she sprung up from the counter-top with a feigned smile. But when the girl caught a glimpse of the newest customer's face, it was hard for her to not cringe. thankfully, he didn't seem to care, and sat down on one of the bar stools with a gentle smile.

He wore a torn top-hat, something that fell out of fashion at least a century ago, and had a pair of worn down glasses that were covered in scratches. The trench coat he wore was just as hideous, too. He looked like something out of an old-timey storybook, or something. His face was just as marred as his apparel, or perhaps even moreso, which is what initially prompted Nina's reaction. Scars of varying severity ran up and down behind his glasses, crossing over both cheeks, his chin, and even part of his forehead. It looked like he'd just been mauled by a beast! Hell, even one of his eyes was sealed shut from the scarring, and the other one was
completely bloodshot.

"H-Hi, welcome to Gybros', er- Gybols cafe!" Nina's tongue felt like cotton in her mouth. "What'chya hungry for?" The man rose a hand, and didn't speak. It was a little hard to tell past all the scarring, but he wasn't exactly youthful. As he lowered his hand, he let out a series of deep coughs, and rummaged the back of his throat before swallowing hard.

'ick' Nina thought.

"Gimme a minute, dear," He wheezed quietly, "I'll call you when I'm ready to order." Nina nodded quietly and backed away into the kitchen, which was separated from the rest of the restaurant by a series of transparent plastic drapes. Gybol was in there, probably tending to the oven or something. It was kind of freakin' boiling in the kitchen, but she didn't mind it. She preferred it to having to sit face to face with that weird old man. When she caught sight of her boss, Nina swept her long braid behind her back and groaned- Sighed... Groan-sighed loudly.

"Gybol," She said quietly, "Freak at 12 o'clock."

She didn't really know what that phrase meant, but she liked the sound of it.

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

So much progress.

Caravan: Resurrection

Baeshri Pass, Caravan Centaurus
_{3rd of Summer - 10:25 PM}

Zay leaned back as Flin rummaged through the pockets of the corpses. He widened his eyes and nodded. "I didn't know you were into the fur, Lieutenant," he teased. Neal rolled his eyes and knelt opposite to Flin, slowly searching the other Myti's pockets. He and Flin both found something, one after the other. Each Myti, along with several explosive devices much like the flash-bang that misfired earlier, carried a familiar device that the highest ranking officials in Arcadia used to communicate. They both had miniature Psy-stones with purple etchings across their entire surface.

"Well I'll be damned," Neal grunted, "They were better equipped than I thought." Zay narrowed his eyes and stood up. Bandits were getting their hands on Psy-Stones now? Just how far did the black markets of Thoris run? Those things were expensive, and very difficult to manufacture. Even if they came all the way from Leias, for common thieves to get their hands on those trinkets was unheard of. But it went further than that. These were no ordinary Psy-Stones.

"Is that all they had?" Noru asked.

"Aside from a bit of money and a few gemstones, it looks like it." Neal confirmed. The medic vigorously rubbed his eyebrows at the thought of ruffians with Psy-Stones running A muck through the trade routes.

"Then we were targeted," Zay hissed, "Targeted like animals."

"That may be that case." Noru stepped towards Neal and grabbed the stone he'd found. "These aren't ordinary Psy-Stones." Neal rose an eyebrow. Zay shook his head at the situation. "They're not made of the same gemstones as the ones used in Arcadia. These things could be capable of communication across longer distances than your typical stone."

"They could be short-range stones as well," Zay added. Noru sighed.

"That's true. For all we know, they were just using these to coordinate their assault."

"Well, they aren't made in Arcadia. At least, I've never seen anything like this. Even the King's stone isn't this unique. Most officials use ruby crafted stones, and those things aren't even strong enough to communicate across half the city."

"So they didn't come from Arcadia," Neal grunted, "So what?"

"We can't assume that, either," Noru added, "Especially not with the rampant criminal activity trudging about the lower districts."

"So this tells us nothing." Neal moaned impatiently.

"It tells us that they're organized and well supplied," Zay corrected Neal yet again. At this point, Captain Geroldus was growing increasingly frustrated. With these two men correcting every one of his sentiments, he felt like an idiot. "Caravans don't typically take the Baeshri pass. It's not known for beast attacks, but it's a hazardous trail, and it's painfully secluded. So why the hell would there be bandits out here waiting for somebody to pass through?

"Maybe they were especially patient," Neal groaned angrily, waiting to be corrected once again with his eyes fixated on the Myti's body before him. Then he froze. "I thought it earlier," He mumbled, "But it's not impossible that this is related to the attack on my Caravan!" Zay grabbed his chin and thought it over for a minute. It wasn't impossible that the two attacks were corrected.

As the men spoke, Flin was able to find something else on the Myti's body through his diligent search. Near the base of her spine, just above her tail, there was an obscure black tattoo. Beneath it, jutting slightly from the back of her shorts, was a small piece of paper. Zay glared at Flin with a subtle smile.

"I know they tried to kill us Flin, but it's awfully rude to feel up an unsuspecting maiden while she's unconscious." Noru's head snapped towards Zay.

"Can you control your inane humor for just a minute!?" He shouted. Zay frowned and rolled his eyes.

"Easy, Lieutenant. You wouldn't want to attract something dangerous."

Baeshri Pass, Caravan Centaurus
_{3rd of Summer - 10:25 PM}

Noru's shout was loud enough to pierce the shell of Centaurus' caravan, so much so that it echoed across the Baeshri hills as an indiscernible murmur. There weren't any particularly dangerous creatures nearby in the moment, but Noru's frustration did not fall upon deaf ears. Rem and Ellorei were making their way across the Pass around that same time, and they were less than half a kilometer away from the stranded knight of Arcadia.

Kel Underworld, ???
_{3rd of Summer - 11:52 PM}

Fifty Eldi were lined up row by row in a massive, well-lit cavern. They all wore similar clothing, but none of them looked the same. Men and women were dressed in bright red hues; They wore bandannas, ties, coats, shorts, helmets, tattoos, piercings, pants and shirts. They were different, so very different from one another. And yet, standing before their commander, those citizens all looked the same.

"What a time to be alive!" A woman shouted from atop a large wooden box, overlooking the people lined up before her, "A time of peace! A time of stagnation! A time where the government has nothing to be concerned about! Where its people can breath Kel's air without any urge for change!" She paused and looked out to the masses. "Pathetic."

A series of hoots and cheers sounded from the groupings in front of her, going silent shortly after.

"We live in the shadow of their wretched tower, surrounded by the artifacts of old! Eldan men and women without any desire to progress as a Nation! Scientists and researchers that work only to learn more of the very magic that has separated our people. The very magic that has been weaponized, and used to subjugate the world into a false state of peace! Something that our leader refuses to change! We are forced to stand by as Eldi become entrapped in a self-defeating cycle of silence and servitude, selfishly sustaining themselves on knowledge while some of us are forced to writhe in agony! Starved! Beaten! I say this has gone on long enough!"

Another roar from the crowd echoed throughout the secluded little cavern.

"We are thrown in with the rest of these wretched evil-doers and labeled as thus, with no regard for our intent! Criminals! We are called criminals! They call us criminals while Senator Ero is allowed to profit off the backs of real monsters! Those that live in the shade suffer because it! We suffer!"

The crowd echoed her announcement: 'suffer!'

"No longer can this go on! Kel's people require a wake-up call, and we will give it to them!"

The crowd's uncoordinated roars of approval flooded the cavern. Each and every one of the Eldi present cheered and cheered, clapping or hollering random phrases across the room. Their leader, Parthia Mylygnos, stood proudly over them and rose a single first into the air. They group slowly began to inch towards a united chant. Their words finally united into something discernible.

_{'Crimson Shades'}

'Crimson Shades'

'Crimson Shades!'

'Crimson Shades!!!'

Northern Marrenfall, Gybol's Cafe
_{4th of Summer - 9:47 AM}

The morning was a fresh relief across the wide-spanning suburbs of Marrenfall. As fresh as it could have been, anyways. Gybol's cafe sat only a few kilometers off the edge of Varbos, one of the largest industrial districts in all of Marrenfall. The air quality of the Eastern Suburbs varied on a day-to-day basis, dependent solely on how Thoris' winds decided to blow. A westward wind would bring subtle aromas of burning coal to the edge of the suburbs, sometimes thick enough to taste. Stale weather meant for a more enjoyable atmosphere, where the air was still coarse, but not enough to directly impact on the lives of civilians. Today, the wind blew to the east. Although this brought the locals a deal of peace, it also meant that many people would be visiting from the west to make a myriad of purchases. Residential locales that were positioned closely to Marrenfall's factories often had some of the most advanced and affordable products, after all.

This also meant that Gybol would see quite the influx of business. His cafe was already quite the success, despite its relatively small size. He was, after all, one of the few producers that managed to forage for produce outside the city walls, albeit on rare occasions. Ingredients that some might consider exotic would wind on his menu from time to time, while on some very special occasions, visitors might have been treated to something out of this world. One of the many perks of his occupation! But his only other co-worker, Nina Belfont, was not fond of his business' scale. If she were in charge, Gybol's storefront would already be flooding the entirety of the suburbs. If she had her way, they would have a chain of Cafes by now. But things don't always work out the way you want them to.

The morning rush was especially rushed today. Over twenty customers were flooding the tables and standing in line for their turn to sample Gybol's recipes. The workload was at least four times heavier than usual, far more than the already minimal staff could handle, but the people of the suburbs were not especially impatient. If this were anything like the cities to the southeast of Marrenfall, the twenty-something customers would have made quite the ruckus as they dined and/or waited for their orders. But Gybol's modest Cafe, despite the large showing, was as quiet as it could get.

The only one making noise was Nina.

"You ready with order #21 yet?!" She screeched from across the cafe while standing over a woman and her husband. They exchanged a warm smile, not bothered in the slightest by Nina's overbearing voice.

"Boss???"

Most anticipated Games of 2018-2019

God dammit.

Most anticipated Games of 2018-2019

You're welcome to disagree, but lootboxes and microtransactions are paths to disingenuous business practices. Full stop.

I agree to some extent. In fact, I'd go as far to say that the practice itself is disingenuous.

I'd thought that everyone had the common sense to come to the conclusion that paid loot boxes are bad by now. They are, and have always been, a play on the same psychology that things like trading cards and casinos abuse. It's funny to think about how both of those practices saw similar controversies at some point. Is it possible that business practices which aim to quite literally manipulate people into spending more money, are dishonest and could be very unhealthy? Especially when exposed to children and teenagers that have yet to develop the skills needed to properly manage their money? In a social dogma where people prefer to spend, rather than think?

Could loot-box practices maybe, just possibly, be a major and valid point of contention? A significant issue that warrants the backlash it attracts? Could this trend suck ass? Could it be just as important, if not more important, than the nebulous and completely erroneous social effects that video game themes have otherwise? I dunno, man.

These issues persist. Regardless of whether or not companies exist to earn money, which is perfectly valid, they do so through contempt-worthy means constantly. To dismiss things like loot boxes and pay-to-skip tactics as non-issues is pretty silly.

Okay, then what you are mad about is, the MMO team that continues to work on updates, fix errors, work on new content and expansions and a bunch of other things try to incorporate a way for them to get paid for their continued work.

...Subscription fees? I mean, theme-park MMO's have become grind-trash after WoW went soft, and sandbox MMO's have the potential to fail miserably for the same reason that RPs fail on this miserable website. The MMO genre is a huge money sink for producers, and doesn't have as much potential to pay out as people seem to think. The only reason things like WoW and FFXIV are so huge, is because they have a solid fan base to leech off of. F2P MMOs are a dime a dozen, with only a few actually seeing any success. Even then, a lot of F2P MMOs have crashed and burned after living out their life-span.

Have you played FFXIV levels 1-60? It's absolutely fucking garbage. Had to be the worst experience in any MMO I've ever had to endure. WoW's 1-70 during MoP wasn't much better, either.

To be fair, all MMO's are bad, so why even play them in the first place? kappa.

---

The only MMO I'm kind of excited for is Pantheon which may see a 2019 open beta release. It looks promising, kind of.

Resident evil 2 Remake looks amazing. Also...

MEGAMAN X LEGACY COLLECTIONS AHHHHHH

Caravan: Resurrection

Nillium Encampment, The Burroughs
_{3rd of Summer - 9:19 PM}

Philip froze when Paric started to stumble. He'd recognized him after that. The man was familiar. An Eldi with a drinking problem, and curly brown hair. His expression went blank when Paric stumbled over. Damn it all. This had to be bullshit. Philip was almost convinced that this drunkard had either hallucinated seeing Ayer, or that he was too drunk to even know where he was. But it wasn't the Nillium's responsibility to manage and coordinate the drunks. Mop was a prime example of how little they cared. He rolled his eyes and walked past the man that called him over, stepping into the Alleyway with disappointment dragging him down.

'He probably just confused a rat for the runaway'

While most of the guards were unconcerned with Philip's little venture, Mop's curiosity had been peaked. He watched as Philip wandered off, catching only the edge of Paric's silhouette from where he sat as the two disappeared into the Burroughs. Locke pushed himself up onto his feet and took another swig from his wine bottle.

"Awright, awright, show's over. Back to work ye lollygags," He groaned with purple liquid running down his chin. The disheveled man slowly stumbled across the boardwalk, while his subordinates quickly returned to their posts.

Baeshri Pass, Caravan Centaurus
_{3rd of Summer - 10:24 PM}

Neal walked over to Lyullia and grabbed the cuffs that she'd created with a nod and a smile. "Stopping their movements is enough for now," He assured her. Zay reached up and snatched the cuffs out of Neal's hands in order to restrain the two Myti himself. Nor rolled the women over and began to feel along their exposed, furry torsos, looking for injuries with his mana as Zay moved to position himself opposite to the medic. "It was the head," Neal said, pointing at his forehead, "I stomped her-"

"Do you not see the gaping hole in her torso?" Noru hissed, quickly prepping another batch of liquid from the bottles he'd retrieved earlier, "If they bleed out, it won't matter if they have brain damage or not." Working quickly, the man was able to patch up Daelin's handiwork in a manner of moments. While he did that, Zay latched the cuffs around each woman's wrists, and ankles.

"Hup-" Zay breathed, placing one hand over each of the chain-links one by one. With the last of his mana, he created a few metal spikes that fused with the floor of the caravan and kept the women in place. "I'm not sure if that is a good idea."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Red and blue energy crackled and clashed against each other across the entire battlefield until it was completely obscured from view. The light beamed out into the void that surrounded Yzeira's tower, so brightly that it could be seen from the surface of the planet. The beam of energy swept around to follow Jenso's approach as he launched his first punch, which struck with so much force that the barrier nearly split in half. Cracks shot out from the impact point as Yzeira spun around. When Jenso's drill hit his barrier, the cracks shattered, leaving him open despite deflecting Jenso's initial attack. That's when the beam consumed him...

A Hero Tale {Complete}

~ Chapter 212 ~

_{...As if I'd run!!!}

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"Faced with an insurmountable power, and yet..." Yzeira's final orbs began to rotated around his body before flying upwards, and then re-positioning themselves in front of him. They spun in a circle, creating a circular charge of energy, much wider than Jenso, large enough to cover his approach. Suddenly, the man's hair flashed, and went completely red. His aura, usually concealed, released itself in an explosion of energy that engulfed the entire tower from top to bottom. A massive beam swept across the field, heading towards Jenso without any sign of weakness. It was raw unbridled power.

"Why won't you run!?"

---

~ End Of Chapter 211 ~