Chapter 3: The Memory

Thursday, the 31th -- it's just a couple of hours that the day has started although the sun's scorching heat blazed across the wastelands of Morroc. Little whirl wind building up a small tornado in the desert plains as if the place was forsaken but there were already a number of people around to train.

"No!" a woman's voice echoed. "Don't just swing your arms with that chain and hope to hit something. You'll only be hurting yourself!" It was Kushana, the lady knight, telling the young acolyte how to fight on hand to hand combat.

"But this golem that you provoke is too hard," thepoet whined while still trying to hit that human-like clay of a monster. "And the sun's always at my eye. This is going to take hours and hours before I could kill this one."

"(Peh) you complain too much, girl! Then we shall stay here until you do. You need some muscles in those arms of yours" Kushana lit a stick of cigar and puffed some smoke over thepoet's direction. "Tell me," she once again provoked the golem making its defenses a little lower, "what's, Leo, your brother like? I heard that he was such a noble knight and then all of a sudden he went berserk."

"It's none of your business," The eyes of the young acolyte narrowed and finally started to hit the creature continuously.

Kushana hinted a smile as it became more convenient to heighten the young lady's dexterity on walloping the creature. Not long enough she managed to kill a dozen of the same creature before the sun sets to high noon. Kushana ordered thepoet to take a breather as she set some fire and put out some meat that she had brought.

"He was indeed a noble knight," thepoet uttered while looking at the flames. Kushana looked at thepoet, whose face was plain, not a smile not even a sneer. "From his last letters that he sent to me, I knew that something was wrong. How he used to tell me things that made him happy and then he told me that he wished to see before..." thepoet sat upright then embraced her legs as she lowered her head hiding half way and seeing only her eyes.

"Before the invasion," Kushana handed over the half cooked juicy meat to thepoet as she finished thepoet's sentence. "Am I right?" thepoet only nods and took the piece of meat. Kushana sighed and sat next to her, "there has been a couple of invasions lately. Orcs running amok all-over Midgard in day time as if they were under some great spell. I was still training back then when that happened. The first battalion was ordered by the Prontera Knight's Guild to take on the assault, Ilog and Leo was in there. They marched up from Geffen towards Glast Heim." Kushana looked at thepoet slowly eating her food, dazed as she was. "And that was the last time I saw Leo."

Moments of silence occurred as the hot breeze became unbearable. "Come; let us go back to Prontera. You still have a promise to show up to Ilog and see how far you have achieved." Kushana threw a bottle at the fire smashing it over the flames and water smeared over the wood putting the flames out instantly.

"You go on ahead, Kushana." Thepoet stood up and brushed off some dirt from her knees. "I have some things to do in Payon."

"Alright," Kushana climbed up on her peco-peco. "But do be careful and make sure you see Ilog by the end of the day." The young acolyte nodded and after that Kushana galloped north towards Prontera City.

When Kushana was no longer in sight thepoet lowered her head and closed her eyes as she raised her hands, clasping them tightly together in front of her, just below the chin and whispered the chant for the spell. Quickly, she vanished into thin air transporting her randomly in those plains. Repeatedly she jumped from place to place until she reached a bridge crossing the desert of Morroc to the Payon forest.

"Poring Land!" Thepoet's eyes widen as she smiled seeing so many of them with bright colors bouncing around. "Oh how cute!" she said when a number of people ran around.

"Have you seen it?" a man with a robe holding a staff suddenly asked thepoet.

"Seen what?" she replied so innocently.

"The boss ghost."

"Uh, sorry I haven't..." she said when someone quickly shouted.

"Its HERE!"

The man ran towards the source leaving thepoet behind. Thepoet had a bad feeling that she once again held her hand together and as she looked up across a film of white light appeared around her and she vanished. Unfortunately her powers were still raw and teleporting was still quite uncontrollable. When she reappeared somewhere in the deep forest she quickly ran south trying to look for the exit to Payon. There, she said to herself running to the exit portal when suddenly she stopped with such fright.

"The ghosting," she uttered, apparently the one who shouted was just joking to confuse the other fighters to get their hands on it. Thepoet took a few steps back but the boss monster was following her. She tried to teleport herself out of the way but her powers were all exhausted. "This can't be happening."

Thepoet closed her eyes when the monster was about to hit her then suddenly two silver arrows flew above her hitting the ghost changing its target from the young acolyte towards the attacker. Thepoet looked behind and saw a hunter.

"Run, lady! This is no place for you," the man with an iron mask shouted as he quickly set up two traps and quickly hit the monster again with his Double Strafe again and again. Although, the traps were not strong enough to hold the creature as it escaped from it and hit the hunter once, twice. Thepoet couldn't just run away with a little strength left she sent some healing powers to the hunter and quickly threw a blue gem on the ground as she chanted a spell making a warp portal and jumped into the circle emitting layers of blue light.

"Be careful!" Her voice echoed as she disappeared along with the blue light.

"This is not good." Ethan said as he called onto Ilog, "Ilog are you there!?"

"Yes, I saw the whole thing, he-he-he" Ilog laughed as he walked towards him behind a tree.

"Why didn't you tell me she was here," the hunter had the chance to hit the creature once again with all his might making the creature disappear dropping only a piece of fabric.

"Well, if I did tell you about her you won't even bother taking the chance to talk to her or even make an impression, eh?" he replied as he placed a blue gem on the ground.

"And you're just standing there? You didn't even give me support." The hunter kneeled and trying to get a breath of air as he was a bit exhausted from the fight.

"Come lets go to Prontera, she needs to be acquainted with the clerical parcel's order." The hunter stepped into the light and vanished as Ilog followed him from behind.

-------------

Back to Prontera - thepoet was sitting by the benches around the famous fountain where a bronze statue of a Knight on a Peco-peco stood firm pointing his sword up to the sky.

"Lady, can I sit with you?" a shadow of a man stood in front of thepoet as the sun blinding her eyes to recognize his face but the voice was very familiar.

The man just stood there starring at her as if he was the ghost. Then thepoet noticed that he was wearing a necklace with a pendant of the gold tilted crescent she knew he was one of the fragoris animi guild but then it wasn't just the pendant that caught her eyes. There was another pendant tied next to it, half broken. "Ethan." She spoke.

"Heh..." the hunter sat next to the young acolyte and quickly embraced her, "I thought you'd never remember me." Quickly the acolyte pushed Ethan and gave him a huge wallop on the head. "Ouch! Hey!" Ethan stepped back reaching for his head as he tried to see if there were any bumps. Thepoet stood up and after a few second she stepped closer and kicked the hunter's shin ever so gently.

"Aya!" Ethan quickly fell onto the ground holding his left leg, "What the heck was that all about? I mean after all those years you're still mad at me? C'mon!" The young girl stood still, her hand crossed together as she looked far away. Ethan stopped from kidding around and straightened his face.

"Geeze! You still have that temper." The hunter moved away a few inches, "and to think here I am, the one who saved your life from the Ghosting."

Thepoet's eyes widen. "That was you?" she turned to him and saw a fresh scar marked across Ethan's cheeks. "Oh my god, I'm sorry!" The girl looked at him as she held both of her arms up and uttered the words "Heal!"

"You haven't changed a bit, poet," Ethan smiled, "still the little brat I once knew."

There was silence between them, then Ethan leaned forward, "I'm sorry if I didn't come back to see you years ago."

"Hey, it wasn't meant to be, right?" thepoet sat down the benches again and sighed. "Besides, I'm on the path of enlightenment. I vowed myself into this cursed chastity of celibacy."

"That's a laugh," Ethan chuckled as he stretched, closed his eyes, and placed both of his arms over his head. "I know you can't resist someone as manly as me."

Within a few seconds someone flicked Ethan's nose.
"Oi!" Ethan reacted, "What the - heck?!" Ethan opened his eye while rubbing his nose. "Oh it's you, Ilog."



"Do not be such fatuous person, Ethan" Ilog sat on the armchair of the bench next to him. "You should know better than to tease someone like her status." Ilog quickly looked at thepoet as he continued talking, "poet, I've heard from Kushana and about your training early this morning. You've reached your potential but know this you should not let your temper do the work for you. And here are some lists of where you can learn more about the ways of having this path you've chosen."

"Oh yeah, before I forget, here, I'll give this to you, poet." Ethan handed over a poring doll and a flower headband and smiled. "I've been thinking to whom I shall give it to and you seem to be fit to have those items. Keep it safe."

"Uh, thanks, I guess" thepoet looked at the items, placed the doll in her pocket and put on the headband

"Excuse me?" a boy interrupted their conversation. "Since, I can't help but notice the two of you. An acolyte and a priest, could you tell me where to find Father Yosuke?"

"Isn't he the one in Morroc?" thepoet scratched her head
Ilog moved his head a bit from left to right, "No! No, he's the one by the streams by the foot of Mt. Mjolnir. You need to read more, young lady."



Thepoet bowed, "thank you for your teachings."

"I'll go with you boy... it's hard to find him if you're not familiar with the map." Ilog stood up "I'll be back in a few minutes, guys. Now you two play nice."

The boy waved goodbye at the two and quickly followed Ilog.

"Within a few days I will not be here as well as the others," Ethan uttered. "You will be on your own so be careful of strangers and do not get into fights. That is not our ways. Good thing, I do not dare raise my hand to a lady."

Thepoet rolled her eyes, "ugh, such modesty you have."

"Well, I should be off I have hunts to attend to and Pirate Skeletons to kill." Ethan stood up and reached out for his backpack.

"Well-well, wouldn't you know..." Ilog appeared out of nowhere as he held his hand under feeling his chin. "Such life we do lead."

"Uh Ilog, until when will you be here?" thepoet asked.

"Until a week, I guess." Ilog looked at the once busy street now empty, the sun was setting and people were going home. "The guild still need to pack their things and others has to collect some items before venturing to the sea."

"And where is this place?" thepoet asked so curiously.
"We don't know yet, it's a new land they say." The priest took out his book and pulled two cards from it. "It'll be a good start to expand the guild. Here take this and place it into the chain that I gave you. It'll be helpful on your training and I hope that it'll keep you alive on your journey."

"You say it like this is the end, Ilog" thepoet took the cards and quickly compounded it onto the chain weapon. "Please don't leave me behind."

"This time you need to realize," Ilog kneeled in front of her. "Even if we are alone God is within us and we are not alone. Well, spiritually, anyway and besides you'll meet new people. Just don't be too gullible."

"So..." Ilog stood straight and waves his hand and walked north.

"I'll be seeing you around, ok? You take care of yourself and good luck on finding your own path." Ethan blew a butterfly wing as it fluttered around him with some dust twinkling like the stars and then he disappeared.

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