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Okay, after much debating, editing, and testing the waters on another hangout of mine, I've decided that now I'm going to start posting Chaos Rising here. It'll eventually make it's way to my DA account, where I post most of my stuff (including more mature stuff), but only after I get some more feedback on it, as I want to improve it as much as possible. Season 1 is complete, but I'll be posting each chapter gradually so not to spam or unintentionally "promote" my stuff (plus real life tends to sucker punch me at any given moment). Also, because this series has darker themes and situations (ie: nudity, language, blood, violence, etc), I'm rating it "Mature" for good measures. Also, eagle-eyed individuals will notice various references in its structure, which I'll just flat-out say it's inspired by a combination of "Rising of the Shield Hero", "Dragon Quest" (most notably XI), and, albeit by accident but I ran with it, "Seven Deadly Sins", so that's out of the way. Without further ado, let the Chaos commence!
“My name is Celtic Pulsar. I am the 19-year-old adopted son of Dr. Rayler Pulsar and Valerie Pulsar. My adoption process, however, has been far from smooth, and the circumstances surrounding it are rather murky, as is my very nature. But, over the years, I’ve gotten used to it. I’m also an inspiring inventor, having made multiple revolutionary items since I was 14… including my own prosthetic arm. Yeah, my entire right arm had to be replaced with a powerful robotic one of my own design after I performed an act of heroism. It’s like the old saying goes, ‘No good deed goes unpunished’, which seems to apply to me the most. This is my tale of how my life got turned upside-down… all because of a magical shroud, which led to an adventure of a lifetime, whether I wanted it or not.”
Inside a moderate-sized house in a suburban area near the mountains was a family of individuals. One was brilliant-looking man with glasses, short mud brown hair, soft blue eyes, and an average build. His wife was a rather youthful-looking woman with long blonde hair, green eyes, an hourglass-like build, and a sweet face. The man was talking to a teenage boy with a mop of red hair, gold eyes, sharp facial features, a strong build, and a metallic right arm.
“Celtic, why won’t you go to college?” the man asked his son. “College will give you all the tools needed to get a great job.”
Celtic gave him an annoyed look, “Wrong. You make is sound like getting a college degree is an instant guarantee for any job, but it isn’t. Mom never went to college and she became a very formidable businesswoman. She only had to retire early thanks to medical issues, some of which were caused by her own sisters, Hag 1 and Hag 2. College doesn’t instantly grant you the best job in the world, all it does is give you a better chance, not an instant guarantee. Besides, dad, college is expensive, and we don’t have that kind of money. Even though both you and I get good pay from your work as a scientist and engineer and my inventing and freelance work, a lot of it goes to helping mom’s medical issues, so we can’t spare the cash. And getting student loans is just a recipe for disaster. So, please, just drop it already. I already have an advanced regents diploma from high school and that should be enough. I’m not going to college and that’s that.”
Before his father could say anything, the mother stepped in, “Rayler, Celtic is right. I never went to college and look how successful I was. And he’s also right about our money issues. My medical bills, even with insurance, eat up a lot of our funds, and college costs hundreds to thousands of dollars, making it a very costly investment. Celtic may have some lazy tendencies, but he is right that college doesn’t instantly guarantee you the best jobs around. Plus, like he said, he does have an advanced regents diploma, which is already on-par with certain college degree, so it’s not something you should dismiss. I think it’s fine for him to search for his own path, with or without a college degree, as he has the right to choose what he wants to do with his life. So, please, Ray, don’t pressure him, as you know how defensive he gets when pressured.”
Rayler gave an annoyed sigh, “Valerie, this is for his own good. A college degree is a ticket into the high-class world. I know you didn’t go, but I feel that Celtic should, as it would open new possibilities for him. Why should he stop with just an advanced regents diploma when he can have things like a bachelor’s degree or doctorate? Just think of what it could do for him.”
Celtic turned his back to him, “Wrong. I’ll choose my own path, thank you, and college isn’t on that path. Dad, I know you’re trying to help me, but I do NOT appreciate this unnecessary pressure to go do something that is both too expensive and too time-consuming all so I can get a decorated piece of paper. I’m not going and that’s final. I’ll carve out my own path on my own terms. So, just drop it.”
Rayler looked annoyed, “Celtic, you’re only going to hurt yourself if you don’t go. You’ve got an IQ of 500, why let that go to waste? You could eat those college tests for breakfast and get the highest degree possible, so why are you so stubborn about not going?”
“I’ve stated my reasons, dad, and I’m not repeating them. College isn’t for everyone, including me, so why should I waste hundreds of dollars on something that’ll only somewhat increase my chances of getting great jobs? I do just fine with my inventing and freelance work, so it’s not like I’m without income. Dad, just give it up, I’m not interested in college and would rather spend my time doing my own thing over sitting in more classrooms just to get a decorated piece of paper. I’ve made up my mind and you won’t change it. This conversation is finished. Besides, don’t you have work to go to? And I need to go run some errands for mom. So, just drop it already. College is overrated and overpriced and is not something I want to do. That’s final.”
Rayler gained an annoyed scowl, “You’ll regret that, Celtic. You’ve got the talent and the brains, so why are you wasting it? But so be it. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ll see you both tonight at dinner.”
With that, Rayler stormed out of the house, taking a set of car keys as he left. Shortly afterward, the car in the driveway pulled out and drove off. Celtic merely huffed as it did.
Valerie gave a small smile, “Celtic, I know you have your reasons, and I do agree with how you feel. But, you do know your father is only trying to help bolster your chance of becoming successful. I won’t pressure you like him, as you have the right to choose your own destiny, but don’t hate your father for wanting what he thinks is the best for you. Okay?”
Celtic merely replied, “I don’t hate him, but I hate the fact that this whole college thing comes up at least once a day. I have my reasons and he should accept that. I’ll do things on my own terms. Now, enough talk, I have errands to run. I’ll see you later, mom.”
After gathering what he needed, including a metal backpack, Celtic put his shoes on and left the house.
A short time later he was walking down the street toward a large town, in his hand a list of what he needed to get. He was still fuming about the previous conversation but pushed it aside for the time.
“Okay, let’s see… seems to be pretty basic fanfare that I need to pick up. Let’s see… I’ll get the non-perishable stuff first, like mom’s meds and the parts I need for my work. Then I’ll get the stuff like milk and eggs. Fortunately, my Tek-Pak can preserve any food put into it for much longer periods of time than anything out there. Shame I couldn’t market it, but it had too many risks, especially in this day and age. Now… huh?”
As he walked over a certain part of the sidewalk, he noticed it shift and shake under his feet.
“Hmm? That’s strange. I thought I felt the sidewalk move. Probably nothing… huh?”
He then noticed light starting to leak out from the cracks.
“What the…?”
Suddenly, the sidewalk burst open, he plummeted into a golden portal of some sort, much to his shock and horror, causing him to vanish. Moments later, he crashed in a heap on the floor. Shaking his head, he heard other grunts of pain nearby. He looked to his sides and saw four other males around his age grunting and groaning in pain. A few moments later, one of them spoke.
“Ow… what was that all about?” said a teenage boy with short black hair and a lithe build.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?” asked another teenage boy with dark brown hair in a ponytail and an average build.
“Man, what just happened?” another young man stated with dirty blonde hair and a broader body structure.
“Better question… where are we?” said a short teenage boy with messy ash colored hair and a rather feminine build.
The five of them looked around. They were in what appeared to be some sort of sacred circle with robed men surrounding it. Standing before them was a regal-looking elven man in robes decorated with gems and a crown.
“Welcome, Chosen Ones,” he said to them. “I am King Lumesto Lightwave, King of the Light Elves. Forgive the sudden situation you have been thrust into, but we are in dire need of heroes to save our world. We have summoned you here to become the Legendary Heroes and save this world from destruction.”
The five males looked puzzled, “Us? Legendary Heroes? Why us?”
“The selection process is difficult to explain, but you have been chosen to become the next generation of Legendary Heroes because you are well-versed in the art of fantasy worlds. This world, Zakota, is a magical world filled with monsters and various other beings. However, we have reached a crisis. The great demon known as Infinator has begun his uprising. He has started to release his waves of minions upon our world in order to conquer it. As such, we have summoned you here to fight off his waves, destroy the great demon himself, and bring this world to a new era.”
The black-haired boy then said, “So… this world is one big fantasy world? Like in RPGs and light novels? And you want us to fight against a great demon? But how are we going to do that?”
“You each will be given one of five pieces of Legendary Gear,” King Lumesto stated. “They are the Sword, Spear, Axe, Bow, and Shroud. However, you do not decide which of the Gear you get, it chooses you instead. Now, come, you need to obtain your respective Legendary Gear to begin the fight.”
As the King led the five young males away, Celtic said silently, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”
After following the King back to his castle, which was an impressive building made from stone and marble, they were guided into a room with a large table. There, sitting on the table were five items: a sword, spear, axe, bow, and cape-like shroud. The King walked behind the table and gestured to the five items.
“These are the Legendary Gear,” he stated. “Each of you will receive one of them. Let us begin the selection process. Why don’t you, the young man with red hair, start things off?”
Celtic quirked an eyebrow, “My name is Celtic Pulsar. And fine, although I’m not going to beat about the bush. I know exactly which of these five items I’ll end up with, so I might as well get it over with.”
He immediately walked over to the shroud, much to the surprise of the other four males. The shroud was a long and wide black cape with silver lining and a sapphire blue gem in front. Celtic touched the shroud, causing it to glow, levitate, and suddenly equip itself to him, the sapphire blue gem glowing as it latched the front of the shroud together. As it did, much to the redhead’s surprise, he could now see what looked like stats appear, including the phrase “Level 1”, only visible to his eyes, with the name “Celtic Pulsar” appearing above them. However, as he touched the newly equipped shroud, he could only scowl.
“I knew it. This is gonna suck. Looks like this shroud will turn me into a defensive tank, judging by the insane Defense and Magical Defense stat, high Hit Points and low Speed I’m seeing. Great.”
As he walked back over to the group, he noticed that the Light Elf King was glaring at him but ignored it.
“Well, it appears that you, Celtic Pulsar, are the Hero of the Shroud,” he stated.
“Yay,” Celtic said, totally deadpan.
“Now, then, let’s move on. How about you, the young man with black hair. What is your name?”
The black-haired boy replied, “My name is Ryan Albert. Let’s see what’s in the cards for me.”
He first walked over to the spear, touched it, but was repelled by a magical shock. He then touched the sword. The sword was a white and gold double-edged blade with a green gem in the hilt. As he touched it, it glowed, levitated up, and attached itself to his back.
“Well, it appears that you, Ryan Albert, are the Hero of the Sword,” the King stated.
“Sounds good to me,” Ryan stated. “And judging by theses stats I’m seeing, it appears my Attack and Speed is through the roof, but my Defense looks poor. But that shouldn’t be an issue for me.”
“Now, let’s move on. You, lad, the one with the blonde hair. What is your name?”
The blonde replied, “I’m Lucas Harrison. Let’s see what I get.”
He first walked over to the axe, but it repelled him with a magical shock like what happened to Ryan. So, instead, he tried the spear. The spear was almost as long as he was tall, primarily dusty gold in color with blue accents and a red gem in the spear head. When Lucas touched it, it glowed, levitated up, and latched itself onto his back. He did a fist pump as it did.
“Nice! I was hoping for the axe, but I think I like the spear better anyway. It appears that all my stats are about equal, though Attack looks pretty high. Sweet! Looks like it’ll be great for showing off to the ladies.”
Celtic’s eye twitched as he heard this, thinking, “Great, sounds like we’ve got a Casanova harem seeker here. And he doesn’t seem too bright, either. That’s not a good combination.”
The King smiled, “Well, it appears that you, Lucas Harrison, are the Hero of the Spear.”
“Yeah! This’ll be awesome!” Lucas smiled.
“Now, moving on. You, lad, the one with brown hair. What is your name?”
The brown-haired male replied, “I’m Eric Jackson. And I think I know which one I’ll end up with.”
He walked over to the axe. The axe was broad and double sided, navy blue in color with red accents and an orange gem in the center of it. When he touched it, the axe glowed, levitated up, and latched onto his back.
“I knew it, and I’m not complaining. And judging by these stats I’m seeing, my Attack is pretty high, but my Speed seems a bit low. Oh, well, no biggie.”
The King nodded, “Indeed. So, you, Eric Jackson, are now the Hero of the Axe. That leaves one left. What is your name?”
The short, rather feminine-looking boy replied, “I’m Jerry Thomason. So, it looks like I’ll be getting the bow.”
He walked over to the remaining Legendary Gear. The bow was dark green in color with white accents and a gold gem above the hole where the arrows would be fired from. As he touched it, it glowed, levitated up, and latched itself onto his back.
“As I thought. And it appears my stats show that my Attack and Speed are relatively high with slightly lower-than-average Defense. Not bad.”
“Very good,” the King stated. “Now, with all five Legendary Gear having been selected, it is time to begin your mission. But I have to inform you of a few things first. To start, while you each possess a Legendary Gear, you can not possess any other weapon. So, for example, Ryan cannot wield something like a spear while he has the Sword, and Celtic cannot hold any weapon due to the Shroud. Secondly, the Legendary Gear generally repel each other when it comes to obtaining EXP except during Infinator’s attacks, so you will need to form parties of your own in order to survive. Having parties is crucial, as the more allies you have, the easier it becomes to handle Infinator’s attacks. Finally, this kingdom, Lumestia, will be your base-of-operation. Every time you successfully repel Infinator’s attacks, you will be rewarded for your efforts. To start you off, we present you each 3,000 silver coins and 2,000 copper coins. Spend them wisely, as you’ll need them to buy armor and other such items.”
Several knights walked up and handed each of them two pouches of coins, though Celtic noticed that the knights seemed a little more hostile to him than the other four.
“Now, with that out of the way, it is time to begin. You know what you must do, right?”
Ryan nodded, “We’re to stop Infinator’s waves and destroy him. Sounds like a very cut-and-paste RPG adventure. This shouldn’t be too hard.”
Lucas nodded, “Yeah, we’re gonna be heroes. Well, except for Celtic, given the fact he got the useless Defense-based Shroud. But I guess not everyone can be as great as the rest of us.”
Celtic gave them a look, “You do realize this isn’t a game, right? Even if this place has RPG mechanics like stats and Hit Points, it is very much real. Don’t treat this world like it’s some big video game, otherwise this world will be doomed because of you and not Infinator.”
“Quit your whining, Shroud boy,” Eric stated. “We can breeze through this. It’ll only be hard for someone as useless as you since you’re stuck with a worthless shroud.”
Jerry nodded, “Yeah, we can handle this. You just sit in on the bench and keep it warm for us.”
A nerve in Celtic’s temple twitched as he replied acidly, “You do realize that if you don’t take this seriously, you’ll be killed. And, for the record, I’m no benchwarmer. Fine, dismiss the seriousness of this situation. Just don’t come crying to me when it turns out I’m right and you’re wrong. I guess I’ll be the smart one and take this task seriously while you go and cause catastrophe in your wake with that detrimental RPG mindset.”
The King ignored the argument before stating, “Now, I suggest you go out into the city and start recruiting party members. And maybe while you’re at it, try your hand against some of the monsters outside the city walls. They’re not too tough around these parts, mostly Ballooners, Slimes, and Goblins. They should give you a taste of what to expect. Dismissed.”
As the King walked past them, he gave Celtic a glare, something that the redhead took note of.
“Something tells me that his Majesty doesn’t like the Shroud for some reason,” he said silently. “The knights seemed to reflect that, too. I think it’s safe to say that I’ll get the short end of the stick, as always. Well, not like I have much of a choice right now, so I might as well go outside and see what I can do. According to my stats, my Attack isn’t dismal like I thought it would be because of the Shroud’s Defense focus. Seems about average to me. But since I can’t hold a weapon, I’ll have to rely on my fists. Joy. Well, I guess I should get cracking and see what this Shroud can do.”
As the five young males went outside, all but Celtic were swarmed by the people, most of them being Light Elves, shaking their hands and treating them like celebrities. Celtic merely huffed as he headed toward the front gates to see what the monsters would be like. As he passed the guards, they glared at him, only solidifying his feeling, making him angry, but he continued on into the open area.
The surrounding area was mostly grassland with some pockets of forests here and there. Celtic took a look around, observing the situation. Suddenly, he felt something chewing on him. Looking down at his leg was a yellow ball-shaped creature with red eyes gnawing on him. The special vision he now had revealed what it was.
“So, this is a Ballooner,” Celtic observed. “A Level 1 monster. It’s trying to bite me, but not only do I barely feel it, but I’m not taking any damage at all. It appears my Defense is high enough that, even at my current Level, something like this can’t hurt me.”
Suddenly another one appeared and started gnawing on his left arm. Annoyed, Celtic grabbed it with his metal hand and crushed it, causing it to pop. As he did, he saw something appear before him. The number “+5” appeared on a screen-like structure before another number, this time a 0, increase to 5.
“So, this is how the EXP thing works. Just like in an RPG. But I know that this world is real. And yet… it seems somehow familiar. I’ll worry about that later, first let me get this pest off of me.”
He grabbed the Ballooner on his leg with his metal arm and crushed it again, causing it to pop, followed by another “+5” to appear, causing his EXP to increase to 10. As he did, however, another two Ballooners appeared and started gnawing on him, annoying him.
“Is there no end to these pests? Fine, let me deal with them.”
He crushed them with his metal hand, causing them to pop, followed by two more “+5” to appear, increasing his EXP to 20.
“Well, at least this is easy enough, but these waves that Infinator produces will be a problem unless I can get stronger, as I doubt those four halfwits will take this seriously. If only I had a weapon, as just using my fist isn’t going to be enough. But, according to what his Majesty said, I can’t hold a weapon because of the Shroud, so that…” However, as he said that, a thought popped into his head, “Wait a minute. He said I can’t hold a weapon. But… what if I turn part of myself into one?” He looked down at his metallic arm, gaining a grin, “Looks like I may have found a loophole. And, as it so happens, out of boredom back home, I designed a few programs for this arm and stored them in my Tek-Pak. Now might be a good time to use them. I didn’t plan on using them, I was just bored that day, but they’re about to come in handy.”
He took off his Tek-Pak and placed it on the ground. He then tapped on the front of it, causing a digital screen to appear. After pressing a few buttons, a cable with a USB port popped out. Celtic then started to fumble with his right arm. After a moment, it seemed to shut down, allowing the lower arm to open up, revealing a very sophisticated interior. He plugged the USB cable into a port, started to tap away at the holo-screens with his left hand, and then waited. What appeared to be a download screen appeared, seemingly installing several programs into his arm. After a minute, the download was complete, the screen vanishing, allowing Celtic to disconnect the USB cable from his arm. He then pushed a button inside of his arm, causing it to close up again, sealing it, followed by a light hum, and his arm seemed to reactivate. He flexed it first to regain feeling in it before returning the Tek-Pak to normal and latching it onto his back. He gained a grin.
“Okay then,” he said. “Let’s give this a whirl. Let’s start with something basic. Cannon!”
His arm lit up, then started to transform and change shape, seemingly reorganizing its components into a new form. After a moment, his lower arm and hand were replaced by a somewhat box-like cannon with cylinder structures and a rounded nozzle. He looked it over, smiling.
“As I thought. The Shroud prevents me from holding a weapon, but it doesn’t prevent me from becoming one. Let’s test it out, see if it works.”
He then noticed a new monster appearing. It looked like a short and stout green gremlin with a wide mouth, long ears, and tiny limbs.
“So, that’s a Goblin, also a Level 1 monster. Perfect. Time to see if my little plan worked.”
The Goblin started to charge in, but Celtic held out his newly formed cannon arm and fired it. The blast struck the Goblin instantly, blowing it up, causing a “+7” to appear before him, increasing his EXP to 27. This made him grin.
“Yes! I love abusing loopholes. This’ll make things easier. Now, along with all the tools already installed into my arm, I can turn this bad boy into a Swiss Army Knife appendage. Looks like my getting this mechanical arm paid off after all.”
He then heard footsteps. Turning around, he saw Ryan approach him.
“I heard something like a gunshot,” he said. “Did a monster shoot you or something?” He then noticed Celtic’s arm, eyes widening, “W-What?! Y-Your arm is different! B-But how?”
Celtic grinned, “For starters, my right arm is a prosthetic. I lost it back when I was 15 doing an act of heroism. I saved a life, but at the cost of my entire right arm. However, as I had designed and built this arm, along with a matching leg, for a science fair project just the year before, my parents decided to have it grafted onto me to replace what I lost. A bit ironic, I admit, but because this arm is of my own design, I’ve made some personal modifications to it to help with work… including, as of this day, weapon programs.”
“Wait… that arm is robotic? And it’s of your own design? And you installed WEAPONS into it just now?!! But the Shroud prevents you from using a weapon.”
“Wrong. It prevents me from holding a weapon. It said nothing about turning part of me into a weapon. Simply put, I’m exploiting a loophole. Sure, I can’t hold any weapons, but what does that matter when I can turn this robotic arm into a virtual Swiss Army Knife. It already has a bunch of tools installed into it for my work, so giving it weapon programs was easy enough. Guess losing my original arm and getting a mechanical one grafted onto me as a replacement actually had a plus side to it. So, what you heard was me using my first weapon attachment: Cannon. And I’ve got plenty more where that came from.”
Ryan gave him an odd look, “Isn’t that cheating?”
Celtic returned the look, “This isn’t a video game. It’s life-and-death. We’re in a war for survival, so one needs to be pragmatic in order to overcome the odds. So, it isn’t cheating, as there are no cheat codes on this world. I’m just using whatever resources I have access to in order to survive this world. You can whine all you want about it being called ‘cheating’, but I’d rather cheat death than take my chances. And you should consider that, too, lest you end up in a coffin.”
“If it’s not a video game, then why does it have RPG mechanics?”
“We’re in a fantasy world, which means anything is possible. For all we know, Infinator could’ve warped this world with his presence or something, as I doubt this is his first go around with the people of this world. We don’t know the full story of this planet nor Infinator’s origins, so anything could be possible, including the origin of these RPG-like mechanics. But, I’m going to take this seriously, as I know this isn’t one big game. Like I said at the castle, don’t come crying to me when you realize that this world is very much real and your actions here have real consequences. Hmm?”
He then looked down to see another Ballooner gnawing on his ankle.
“Damn ankle biters. Fighter Sword.”
His arm transformed again, this time into a long, sharp, double-edged cyber sword, much to Ryan’s surprise. He then simply poked the Ballooner with the tip, causing it to pop, causing another “+5” screen to appear, increasing his EXP to 32.
“Hmm… I wonder how much EXP I need before I Level Up or whatever. I guess I’ll find out soon enough. But the point stands. Take this seriously or you’ll end up in an early grave. Now, I’m going back to the city and see if I can pick up some decent armor. But I strongly suggest you take this seriously, Ryan, otherwise you’ll be sorry. Revert arm.”
As he said that, the Fighter Sword transformed back into his normal arm. With a final huff, Celtic walked back to the city.
Inside the city he looked around for an armory. As he did, the various Light Elves he passed glared at him, only annoying him further. Suddenly, a cheerful voice called.
“Yoo-hoo, Shroud Hero!”
Celtic turned to see a beautiful elven female approach him. She had long silver hair with green eyes, a well-cut figure, and a pretty face. He quirked an eyebrow as she became level with him.
“A Light Elf? I thought you weren’t interested in the Shroud Hero,” he said.
“Oh, don’t mind those grumps,” the girl stated. “They’re just old-fashioned about certain things. Not me. Oh, my name is Veronica. I know who you are, Celtic, aka: the Hero of the Shroud. Looking for a party member? I’m your gal. I’ve always heard that the Shroud Hero was mysterious, so now that a new generation of Shroud Hero has appeared, I’m curious to know if that’s true or not. But, in any case, I was wondering if you’d do me a favor. Since we’re gonna be working together, I need some armor. I know of a good armory in town, so would you be so kind as to buy me some. I’d buy it myself, but I don’t have a lot of money. The stuff the armory has shouldn’t cost more than 20 silvers or so, but I’m just a few silvers short. So, how about it?”
Celtic pondered for a moment before replying, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. I was going to pick up armor myself, so this makes things easier. Fine, lead the way.”
Veronica smiled, “Great! Follow me, handsome.”
As she led the way, Celtic was having mixed feelings about this.
“I’m having a few conflicting feelings about this,” he said silently. “From what I’ve seen so far, the Light Elves seem to hate the Shroud Hero, but this girl doesn’t. And she’s offering to become a party member without fuss. Seems a bit too convenient. But… I could just be overthinking things. I rarely catch a break, so maybe it’s really nothing and I’m just finally getting some help. We’ll see.”
Veronica led him to an armory. Inside was a human man, who smiled as the duo approached.
“Hello there. Looking for some armor or weapons? I may not be the best, but I’ve still got some good stuff. Take a look around and see if anything catches your interest.”
Veronica nodded, “We’ll do just that.”
After a few minutes of searching, both Celtic and Veronica chose two sets of armor. It came to 45 silver, which Celtic paid, making Veronica happy. She then asked for dinner, which he complied. As they ate, however, a feeling of dread started to well up inside Celtic. Finally, night fell, and both fell asleep at the inn. However, it wouldn’t be long before something would happen. In the dead of night, while Celtic slept, suddenly the door burst open, startling him. Light Elf knights surrounded him, pointing their swords and spears at him, angry expressions on their faces.
“You! Shroud Hero! You’re coming with us!” the captain stated angrily.
It wasn’t long before he was in the throne room of the castle. Standing before him was the King, Veronica, and Lucas, who seemed to be shielding her.
“We brought the fiend,” the captain stated.
“What’s the big idea?” Celtic spat angrily.
The King hissed, “How DARE you try to violate my daughter, you despicable fiend!”
The redhead quirked an eyebrow, “What? Violate? I haven’t violated anyone. And I don’t think I’ve met your daughter before.”
Lucas spat, “Don’t play dumb! Veronica came running to me, telling me you tried to take advantage of her! You swine!”
Celtic gained an annoyed expression, “I didn’t do anything of the sort! All I did was… wait… Veronica is the Princess?! And you didn’t tell me that before?! I KNEW you were up to no good!”
Veronica hid behind Lucas, “You vile fiend! How dare you treat me that way!”
“I treated you to armor and dinner and did nothing else!” Celtic roared. “YOU’RE the one who deceived me! For that matter, I noticed that the armor I bought is gone! You stole it from me, didn’t you? YOU’RE the vile fiend!”
“ENOUGH!” the King bellowed. “If you weren’t the Shroud Hero, I’d have you executed for such despicable behavior. But, as fate would have it, if I were to execute you, it would only allow Infinator’s attacks to become drastically stronger, so you’re unfortunately, too important to be executed. But make no mistake, you will pay for what you did! I intend to make you suffer and pay in a multitude of ways for this heinous crime, you sewer rat!”
Veronica walked over to Celtic, gaining a nasty smirk, “Oh, you’ll pay, all right, you Devil of the Shroud.” She then whispered, “It was all too easy. Let’s see how much of a ‘hero’ you’ll be now.”
As Celtic heard these words, his rage reached a breaking point.
“You vile fiend!” he roared.
With a swing of his metal arm, he sent one of the guards flying, startling everyone present. When another guard tried to restrain him, Celtic bit him, revealing a mouth full of fangs. His bite was so hard that a sickening CRACK could be heard from the guard’s wrist, causing him to yell in pain and release Celtic, holding his now broken wrist with vicious teeth marks in pain and blood pouring out from the bite marks. This alarmed everyone present as Celtic glared daggers at the King, Veronica, and Lucas.
To their horror, he had changed. His teeth, which were serrated fangs, were bared, with what seemed to be light purple mist coming out of his mouth. He had newly formed facial markings in the shape of blue lightning bolts starting from under his eyes down to his chin. But his eyes where what was the most frightening. His gold eyes were now glowing like headlights, with his pupils having become slits, giving him an almost demonic look.
“W-What are you?!” the King sputtered.
Celtic didn’t respond. Instead, his mechanical arm transformed, this time into a Gatling gun. He then started to fire it indiscriminately in the throne room in pure rage. Everyone took cover from the rapid spray of energy bullets. Lucas tried to charge in, Spear in hand, but to his horror Celtic transformed his arm again, this time into a massive, heavily armored fist. With a powerful punch, Lucas was sent flying, slamming into a wall with a loud CRASH. Celtic then transformed his arm again, this time into some strange cannon. It had a round wheel-shaped body with small nobs on it, grill-like structures in the front and back, ending in a cylinder nozzle. He held it up above his head, causing a sphere of energy to form, before firing it. When it reached a certain point, it burst, releasing multiple streams of energy that rained down upon everything. He transformed it once again, this time into what looked like an electric fan. He then aimed it between his feet and fired it, causing a massive tornado to form inside the throne room. The winds it produced slashed and ripped everything they touched, sending debris and anything not nailed down flying. Celtic’s almost demonic voice could then be heard from within it.
“YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS DECEPTION! MARK MY WORDS, YOU LIGHT ELF SCUM!!! THIS ISN’T THE LAST TIME YOU’VE SEEN CELTIC PULSAR! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! NO ONE CROSSES A PULSAR! NO ONE!!! HEED MY WARNING, FOR I’LL MAKE SURE YOUR KINGDOM FALLS INTO RUINS FOR YOUR CRIMES!!! THAT I PROMISE!!! YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED, AS MY WRATH KNOWS NO LIMITS!!!”
The tornado then vanished, but Celtic was nowhere to be found. Everyone gingerly climbed out of their hiding places, terrified at what had just happened, the throne room now in ruins.
Several miles outside of the city of Lumestia, a black portal opened up. As it vanished, Celtic appeared, breathing heavily, his anger and rage overtaking his mind. He glared behind him, seeing the city from a distance. His eyes showed more hatred and wrath, his razor sharp fangs bared, as if ready to tear the flesh off of anything. He roared into the night sky before storming off. Various monsters tried to attack him as he did, only to meet swift ends from his rage-induced state. He just keep walking, not caring about rest or food or anything. All he had was the clothes on his back, his Tek-Pak, and the Shroud. Finally, he managed to speak.
“I want this world to burn. I want it to burn to ashes. I don’t care about anyone here; I want this world destroyed. The universe won’t miss this godforsaken rock, and neither will I.”
As he continued to walk, he passed what looked like a circus tent. Standing outside of it was a man dressed like a ringmaster. He noticed Celtic; his eyes gleaming as the enraged teen walked.
“Hello, young lad! You look like you had a rough night. Something tells me that the Light Elves are up to their dirty old tricks again. Maybe you want to take revenge on them, hmm? Most people do. And I may have just the thing!”
Celtic turned to him, “Oh, yeah? I doubt a circus ringmaster would have something that’ll satisfy my bloodlust right now. But, yes, those vile Light Elves framed me for a crime I never committed, and now I want them to burn! But, unfortunately, as I’m stuck as the ‘Shroud Hero’, I have to fight off these damn waves or whatever. So, I doubt you’ll have anything that’ll help me.”
The ringmaster gave a wide smile, “Hohoho! The Light Elves are, indeed, up to their old tricks again. Well, as it turns out, I happen to have some very useful… ‘cargo’ that might help. If you need something to help you fight off Infinator and get payback on the Light Elves, then I may have just the ticket. How does a slave sound?”
Celtic gained a repulsed look, “A slave? No thanks.”
As he started to walk away, the ringmaster said, “Are you sure? Slaves cannot disobey, and they cannot lie, either, lest they be punished severely by the slave crest they have. And slaves are often good for manual labor… including fighting monsters. You could have your own army to not only crush Infinator, but the Light Elves as well. And I’ve got some good buys in that department.”
Celtic stopped dead in his tracks, his rage-fueled mind churning dark ideas as he heard this.
“A slave can’t lie or disobey?” he asked. “And they’re good for fighting?” He pondered for a moment before turning around, “Fine, you’ve piqued my interest. What do you have in stock?”
“Excellent, my boy! Come right in! I’ve got some of the best wares out there. Before long, you could have an entire army to crush those dastardly Light Elves and put them in their place once and for all. In fact, I may actually have a Light Elf as a slave in stock, if memory serves.”
Celtic’s face twisted into an evil grin at that, “Now I’m really interested. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Next Chapter: Skye
And with that, Chapter 1 is off and running. Please leave feedback, as I want to improve this series as much as possible. Thanks and happy reading (I hope...).
The Shroud of Shadows
“My name is Celtic Pulsar. I am the 19-year-old adopted son of Dr. Rayler Pulsar and Valerie Pulsar. My adoption process, however, has been far from smooth, and the circumstances surrounding it are rather murky, as is my very nature. But, over the years, I’ve gotten used to it. I’m also an inspiring inventor, having made multiple revolutionary items since I was 14… including my own prosthetic arm. Yeah, my entire right arm had to be replaced with a powerful robotic one of my own design after I performed an act of heroism. It’s like the old saying goes, ‘No good deed goes unpunished’, which seems to apply to me the most. This is my tale of how my life got turned upside-down… all because of a magical shroud, which led to an adventure of a lifetime, whether I wanted it or not.”
Inside a moderate-sized house in a suburban area near the mountains was a family of individuals. One was brilliant-looking man with glasses, short mud brown hair, soft blue eyes, and an average build. His wife was a rather youthful-looking woman with long blonde hair, green eyes, an hourglass-like build, and a sweet face. The man was talking to a teenage boy with a mop of red hair, gold eyes, sharp facial features, a strong build, and a metallic right arm.
“Celtic, why won’t you go to college?” the man asked his son. “College will give you all the tools needed to get a great job.”
Celtic gave him an annoyed look, “Wrong. You make is sound like getting a college degree is an instant guarantee for any job, but it isn’t. Mom never went to college and she became a very formidable businesswoman. She only had to retire early thanks to medical issues, some of which were caused by her own sisters, Hag 1 and Hag 2. College doesn’t instantly grant you the best job in the world, all it does is give you a better chance, not an instant guarantee. Besides, dad, college is expensive, and we don’t have that kind of money. Even though both you and I get good pay from your work as a scientist and engineer and my inventing and freelance work, a lot of it goes to helping mom’s medical issues, so we can’t spare the cash. And getting student loans is just a recipe for disaster. So, please, just drop it already. I already have an advanced regents diploma from high school and that should be enough. I’m not going to college and that’s that.”
Before his father could say anything, the mother stepped in, “Rayler, Celtic is right. I never went to college and look how successful I was. And he’s also right about our money issues. My medical bills, even with insurance, eat up a lot of our funds, and college costs hundreds to thousands of dollars, making it a very costly investment. Celtic may have some lazy tendencies, but he is right that college doesn’t instantly guarantee you the best jobs around. Plus, like he said, he does have an advanced regents diploma, which is already on-par with certain college degree, so it’s not something you should dismiss. I think it’s fine for him to search for his own path, with or without a college degree, as he has the right to choose what he wants to do with his life. So, please, Ray, don’t pressure him, as you know how defensive he gets when pressured.”
Rayler gave an annoyed sigh, “Valerie, this is for his own good. A college degree is a ticket into the high-class world. I know you didn’t go, but I feel that Celtic should, as it would open new possibilities for him. Why should he stop with just an advanced regents diploma when he can have things like a bachelor’s degree or doctorate? Just think of what it could do for him.”
Celtic turned his back to him, “Wrong. I’ll choose my own path, thank you, and college isn’t on that path. Dad, I know you’re trying to help me, but I do NOT appreciate this unnecessary pressure to go do something that is both too expensive and too time-consuming all so I can get a decorated piece of paper. I’m not going and that’s final. I’ll carve out my own path on my own terms. So, just drop it.”
Rayler looked annoyed, “Celtic, you’re only going to hurt yourself if you don’t go. You’ve got an IQ of 500, why let that go to waste? You could eat those college tests for breakfast and get the highest degree possible, so why are you so stubborn about not going?”
“I’ve stated my reasons, dad, and I’m not repeating them. College isn’t for everyone, including me, so why should I waste hundreds of dollars on something that’ll only somewhat increase my chances of getting great jobs? I do just fine with my inventing and freelance work, so it’s not like I’m without income. Dad, just give it up, I’m not interested in college and would rather spend my time doing my own thing over sitting in more classrooms just to get a decorated piece of paper. I’ve made up my mind and you won’t change it. This conversation is finished. Besides, don’t you have work to go to? And I need to go run some errands for mom. So, just drop it already. College is overrated and overpriced and is not something I want to do. That’s final.”
Rayler gained an annoyed scowl, “You’ll regret that, Celtic. You’ve got the talent and the brains, so why are you wasting it? But so be it. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ll see you both tonight at dinner.”
With that, Rayler stormed out of the house, taking a set of car keys as he left. Shortly afterward, the car in the driveway pulled out and drove off. Celtic merely huffed as it did.
Valerie gave a small smile, “Celtic, I know you have your reasons, and I do agree with how you feel. But, you do know your father is only trying to help bolster your chance of becoming successful. I won’t pressure you like him, as you have the right to choose your own destiny, but don’t hate your father for wanting what he thinks is the best for you. Okay?”
Celtic merely replied, “I don’t hate him, but I hate the fact that this whole college thing comes up at least once a day. I have my reasons and he should accept that. I’ll do things on my own terms. Now, enough talk, I have errands to run. I’ll see you later, mom.”
After gathering what he needed, including a metal backpack, Celtic put his shoes on and left the house.
A short time later he was walking down the street toward a large town, in his hand a list of what he needed to get. He was still fuming about the previous conversation but pushed it aside for the time.
“Okay, let’s see… seems to be pretty basic fanfare that I need to pick up. Let’s see… I’ll get the non-perishable stuff first, like mom’s meds and the parts I need for my work. Then I’ll get the stuff like milk and eggs. Fortunately, my Tek-Pak can preserve any food put into it for much longer periods of time than anything out there. Shame I couldn’t market it, but it had too many risks, especially in this day and age. Now… huh?”
As he walked over a certain part of the sidewalk, he noticed it shift and shake under his feet.
“Hmm? That’s strange. I thought I felt the sidewalk move. Probably nothing… huh?”
He then noticed light starting to leak out from the cracks.
“What the…?”
Suddenly, the sidewalk burst open, he plummeted into a golden portal of some sort, much to his shock and horror, causing him to vanish. Moments later, he crashed in a heap on the floor. Shaking his head, he heard other grunts of pain nearby. He looked to his sides and saw four other males around his age grunting and groaning in pain. A few moments later, one of them spoke.
“Ow… what was that all about?” said a teenage boy with short black hair and a lithe build.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?” asked another teenage boy with dark brown hair in a ponytail and an average build.
“Man, what just happened?” another young man stated with dirty blonde hair and a broader body structure.
“Better question… where are we?” said a short teenage boy with messy ash colored hair and a rather feminine build.
The five of them looked around. They were in what appeared to be some sort of sacred circle with robed men surrounding it. Standing before them was a regal-looking elven man in robes decorated with gems and a crown.
“Welcome, Chosen Ones,” he said to them. “I am King Lumesto Lightwave, King of the Light Elves. Forgive the sudden situation you have been thrust into, but we are in dire need of heroes to save our world. We have summoned you here to become the Legendary Heroes and save this world from destruction.”
The five males looked puzzled, “Us? Legendary Heroes? Why us?”
“The selection process is difficult to explain, but you have been chosen to become the next generation of Legendary Heroes because you are well-versed in the art of fantasy worlds. This world, Zakota, is a magical world filled with monsters and various other beings. However, we have reached a crisis. The great demon known as Infinator has begun his uprising. He has started to release his waves of minions upon our world in order to conquer it. As such, we have summoned you here to fight off his waves, destroy the great demon himself, and bring this world to a new era.”
The black-haired boy then said, “So… this world is one big fantasy world? Like in RPGs and light novels? And you want us to fight against a great demon? But how are we going to do that?”
“You each will be given one of five pieces of Legendary Gear,” King Lumesto stated. “They are the Sword, Spear, Axe, Bow, and Shroud. However, you do not decide which of the Gear you get, it chooses you instead. Now, come, you need to obtain your respective Legendary Gear to begin the fight.”
As the King led the five young males away, Celtic said silently, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”
After following the King back to his castle, which was an impressive building made from stone and marble, they were guided into a room with a large table. There, sitting on the table were five items: a sword, spear, axe, bow, and cape-like shroud. The King walked behind the table and gestured to the five items.
“These are the Legendary Gear,” he stated. “Each of you will receive one of them. Let us begin the selection process. Why don’t you, the young man with red hair, start things off?”
Celtic quirked an eyebrow, “My name is Celtic Pulsar. And fine, although I’m not going to beat about the bush. I know exactly which of these five items I’ll end up with, so I might as well get it over with.”
He immediately walked over to the shroud, much to the surprise of the other four males. The shroud was a long and wide black cape with silver lining and a sapphire blue gem in front. Celtic touched the shroud, causing it to glow, levitate, and suddenly equip itself to him, the sapphire blue gem glowing as it latched the front of the shroud together. As it did, much to the redhead’s surprise, he could now see what looked like stats appear, including the phrase “Level 1”, only visible to his eyes, with the name “Celtic Pulsar” appearing above them. However, as he touched the newly equipped shroud, he could only scowl.
“I knew it. This is gonna suck. Looks like this shroud will turn me into a defensive tank, judging by the insane Defense and Magical Defense stat, high Hit Points and low Speed I’m seeing. Great.”
As he walked back over to the group, he noticed that the Light Elf King was glaring at him but ignored it.
“Well, it appears that you, Celtic Pulsar, are the Hero of the Shroud,” he stated.
“Yay,” Celtic said, totally deadpan.
“Now, then, let’s move on. How about you, the young man with black hair. What is your name?”
The black-haired boy replied, “My name is Ryan Albert. Let’s see what’s in the cards for me.”
He first walked over to the spear, touched it, but was repelled by a magical shock. He then touched the sword. The sword was a white and gold double-edged blade with a green gem in the hilt. As he touched it, it glowed, levitated up, and attached itself to his back.
“Well, it appears that you, Ryan Albert, are the Hero of the Sword,” the King stated.
“Sounds good to me,” Ryan stated. “And judging by theses stats I’m seeing, it appears my Attack and Speed is through the roof, but my Defense looks poor. But that shouldn’t be an issue for me.”
“Now, let’s move on. You, lad, the one with the blonde hair. What is your name?”
The blonde replied, “I’m Lucas Harrison. Let’s see what I get.”
He first walked over to the axe, but it repelled him with a magical shock like what happened to Ryan. So, instead, he tried the spear. The spear was almost as long as he was tall, primarily dusty gold in color with blue accents and a red gem in the spear head. When Lucas touched it, it glowed, levitated up, and latched itself onto his back. He did a fist pump as it did.
“Nice! I was hoping for the axe, but I think I like the spear better anyway. It appears that all my stats are about equal, though Attack looks pretty high. Sweet! Looks like it’ll be great for showing off to the ladies.”
Celtic’s eye twitched as he heard this, thinking, “Great, sounds like we’ve got a Casanova harem seeker here. And he doesn’t seem too bright, either. That’s not a good combination.”
The King smiled, “Well, it appears that you, Lucas Harrison, are the Hero of the Spear.”
“Yeah! This’ll be awesome!” Lucas smiled.
“Now, moving on. You, lad, the one with brown hair. What is your name?”
The brown-haired male replied, “I’m Eric Jackson. And I think I know which one I’ll end up with.”
He walked over to the axe. The axe was broad and double sided, navy blue in color with red accents and an orange gem in the center of it. When he touched it, the axe glowed, levitated up, and latched onto his back.
“I knew it, and I’m not complaining. And judging by these stats I’m seeing, my Attack is pretty high, but my Speed seems a bit low. Oh, well, no biggie.”
The King nodded, “Indeed. So, you, Eric Jackson, are now the Hero of the Axe. That leaves one left. What is your name?”
The short, rather feminine-looking boy replied, “I’m Jerry Thomason. So, it looks like I’ll be getting the bow.”
He walked over to the remaining Legendary Gear. The bow was dark green in color with white accents and a gold gem above the hole where the arrows would be fired from. As he touched it, it glowed, levitated up, and latched itself onto his back.
“As I thought. And it appears my stats show that my Attack and Speed are relatively high with slightly lower-than-average Defense. Not bad.”
“Very good,” the King stated. “Now, with all five Legendary Gear having been selected, it is time to begin your mission. But I have to inform you of a few things first. To start, while you each possess a Legendary Gear, you can not possess any other weapon. So, for example, Ryan cannot wield something like a spear while he has the Sword, and Celtic cannot hold any weapon due to the Shroud. Secondly, the Legendary Gear generally repel each other when it comes to obtaining EXP except during Infinator’s attacks, so you will need to form parties of your own in order to survive. Having parties is crucial, as the more allies you have, the easier it becomes to handle Infinator’s attacks. Finally, this kingdom, Lumestia, will be your base-of-operation. Every time you successfully repel Infinator’s attacks, you will be rewarded for your efforts. To start you off, we present you each 3,000 silver coins and 2,000 copper coins. Spend them wisely, as you’ll need them to buy armor and other such items.”
Several knights walked up and handed each of them two pouches of coins, though Celtic noticed that the knights seemed a little more hostile to him than the other four.
“Now, with that out of the way, it is time to begin. You know what you must do, right?”
Ryan nodded, “We’re to stop Infinator’s waves and destroy him. Sounds like a very cut-and-paste RPG adventure. This shouldn’t be too hard.”
Lucas nodded, “Yeah, we’re gonna be heroes. Well, except for Celtic, given the fact he got the useless Defense-based Shroud. But I guess not everyone can be as great as the rest of us.”
Celtic gave them a look, “You do realize this isn’t a game, right? Even if this place has RPG mechanics like stats and Hit Points, it is very much real. Don’t treat this world like it’s some big video game, otherwise this world will be doomed because of you and not Infinator.”
“Quit your whining, Shroud boy,” Eric stated. “We can breeze through this. It’ll only be hard for someone as useless as you since you’re stuck with a worthless shroud.”
Jerry nodded, “Yeah, we can handle this. You just sit in on the bench and keep it warm for us.”
A nerve in Celtic’s temple twitched as he replied acidly, “You do realize that if you don’t take this seriously, you’ll be killed. And, for the record, I’m no benchwarmer. Fine, dismiss the seriousness of this situation. Just don’t come crying to me when it turns out I’m right and you’re wrong. I guess I’ll be the smart one and take this task seriously while you go and cause catastrophe in your wake with that detrimental RPG mindset.”
The King ignored the argument before stating, “Now, I suggest you go out into the city and start recruiting party members. And maybe while you’re at it, try your hand against some of the monsters outside the city walls. They’re not too tough around these parts, mostly Ballooners, Slimes, and Goblins. They should give you a taste of what to expect. Dismissed.”
As the King walked past them, he gave Celtic a glare, something that the redhead took note of.
“Something tells me that his Majesty doesn’t like the Shroud for some reason,” he said silently. “The knights seemed to reflect that, too. I think it’s safe to say that I’ll get the short end of the stick, as always. Well, not like I have much of a choice right now, so I might as well go outside and see what I can do. According to my stats, my Attack isn’t dismal like I thought it would be because of the Shroud’s Defense focus. Seems about average to me. But since I can’t hold a weapon, I’ll have to rely on my fists. Joy. Well, I guess I should get cracking and see what this Shroud can do.”
As the five young males went outside, all but Celtic were swarmed by the people, most of them being Light Elves, shaking their hands and treating them like celebrities. Celtic merely huffed as he headed toward the front gates to see what the monsters would be like. As he passed the guards, they glared at him, only solidifying his feeling, making him angry, but he continued on into the open area.
The surrounding area was mostly grassland with some pockets of forests here and there. Celtic took a look around, observing the situation. Suddenly, he felt something chewing on him. Looking down at his leg was a yellow ball-shaped creature with red eyes gnawing on him. The special vision he now had revealed what it was.
“So, this is a Ballooner,” Celtic observed. “A Level 1 monster. It’s trying to bite me, but not only do I barely feel it, but I’m not taking any damage at all. It appears my Defense is high enough that, even at my current Level, something like this can’t hurt me.”
Suddenly another one appeared and started gnawing on his left arm. Annoyed, Celtic grabbed it with his metal hand and crushed it, causing it to pop. As he did, he saw something appear before him. The number “+5” appeared on a screen-like structure before another number, this time a 0, increase to 5.
“So, this is how the EXP thing works. Just like in an RPG. But I know that this world is real. And yet… it seems somehow familiar. I’ll worry about that later, first let me get this pest off of me.”
He grabbed the Ballooner on his leg with his metal arm and crushed it again, causing it to pop, followed by another “+5” to appear, causing his EXP to increase to 10. As he did, however, another two Ballooners appeared and started gnawing on him, annoying him.
“Is there no end to these pests? Fine, let me deal with them.”
He crushed them with his metal hand, causing them to pop, followed by two more “+5” to appear, increasing his EXP to 20.
“Well, at least this is easy enough, but these waves that Infinator produces will be a problem unless I can get stronger, as I doubt those four halfwits will take this seriously. If only I had a weapon, as just using my fist isn’t going to be enough. But, according to what his Majesty said, I can’t hold a weapon because of the Shroud, so that…” However, as he said that, a thought popped into his head, “Wait a minute. He said I can’t hold a weapon. But… what if I turn part of myself into one?” He looked down at his metallic arm, gaining a grin, “Looks like I may have found a loophole. And, as it so happens, out of boredom back home, I designed a few programs for this arm and stored them in my Tek-Pak. Now might be a good time to use them. I didn’t plan on using them, I was just bored that day, but they’re about to come in handy.”
He took off his Tek-Pak and placed it on the ground. He then tapped on the front of it, causing a digital screen to appear. After pressing a few buttons, a cable with a USB port popped out. Celtic then started to fumble with his right arm. After a moment, it seemed to shut down, allowing the lower arm to open up, revealing a very sophisticated interior. He plugged the USB cable into a port, started to tap away at the holo-screens with his left hand, and then waited. What appeared to be a download screen appeared, seemingly installing several programs into his arm. After a minute, the download was complete, the screen vanishing, allowing Celtic to disconnect the USB cable from his arm. He then pushed a button inside of his arm, causing it to close up again, sealing it, followed by a light hum, and his arm seemed to reactivate. He flexed it first to regain feeling in it before returning the Tek-Pak to normal and latching it onto his back. He gained a grin.
“Okay then,” he said. “Let’s give this a whirl. Let’s start with something basic. Cannon!”
His arm lit up, then started to transform and change shape, seemingly reorganizing its components into a new form. After a moment, his lower arm and hand were replaced by a somewhat box-like cannon with cylinder structures and a rounded nozzle. He looked it over, smiling.
“As I thought. The Shroud prevents me from holding a weapon, but it doesn’t prevent me from becoming one. Let’s test it out, see if it works.”
He then noticed a new monster appearing. It looked like a short and stout green gremlin with a wide mouth, long ears, and tiny limbs.
“So, that’s a Goblin, also a Level 1 monster. Perfect. Time to see if my little plan worked.”
The Goblin started to charge in, but Celtic held out his newly formed cannon arm and fired it. The blast struck the Goblin instantly, blowing it up, causing a “+7” to appear before him, increasing his EXP to 27. This made him grin.
“Yes! I love abusing loopholes. This’ll make things easier. Now, along with all the tools already installed into my arm, I can turn this bad boy into a Swiss Army Knife appendage. Looks like my getting this mechanical arm paid off after all.”
He then heard footsteps. Turning around, he saw Ryan approach him.
“I heard something like a gunshot,” he said. “Did a monster shoot you or something?” He then noticed Celtic’s arm, eyes widening, “W-What?! Y-Your arm is different! B-But how?”
Celtic grinned, “For starters, my right arm is a prosthetic. I lost it back when I was 15 doing an act of heroism. I saved a life, but at the cost of my entire right arm. However, as I had designed and built this arm, along with a matching leg, for a science fair project just the year before, my parents decided to have it grafted onto me to replace what I lost. A bit ironic, I admit, but because this arm is of my own design, I’ve made some personal modifications to it to help with work… including, as of this day, weapon programs.”
“Wait… that arm is robotic? And it’s of your own design? And you installed WEAPONS into it just now?!! But the Shroud prevents you from using a weapon.”
“Wrong. It prevents me from holding a weapon. It said nothing about turning part of me into a weapon. Simply put, I’m exploiting a loophole. Sure, I can’t hold any weapons, but what does that matter when I can turn this robotic arm into a virtual Swiss Army Knife. It already has a bunch of tools installed into it for my work, so giving it weapon programs was easy enough. Guess losing my original arm and getting a mechanical one grafted onto me as a replacement actually had a plus side to it. So, what you heard was me using my first weapon attachment: Cannon. And I’ve got plenty more where that came from.”
Ryan gave him an odd look, “Isn’t that cheating?”
Celtic returned the look, “This isn’t a video game. It’s life-and-death. We’re in a war for survival, so one needs to be pragmatic in order to overcome the odds. So, it isn’t cheating, as there are no cheat codes on this world. I’m just using whatever resources I have access to in order to survive this world. You can whine all you want about it being called ‘cheating’, but I’d rather cheat death than take my chances. And you should consider that, too, lest you end up in a coffin.”
“If it’s not a video game, then why does it have RPG mechanics?”
“We’re in a fantasy world, which means anything is possible. For all we know, Infinator could’ve warped this world with his presence or something, as I doubt this is his first go around with the people of this world. We don’t know the full story of this planet nor Infinator’s origins, so anything could be possible, including the origin of these RPG-like mechanics. But, I’m going to take this seriously, as I know this isn’t one big game. Like I said at the castle, don’t come crying to me when you realize that this world is very much real and your actions here have real consequences. Hmm?”
He then looked down to see another Ballooner gnawing on his ankle.
“Damn ankle biters. Fighter Sword.”
His arm transformed again, this time into a long, sharp, double-edged cyber sword, much to Ryan’s surprise. He then simply poked the Ballooner with the tip, causing it to pop, causing another “+5” screen to appear, increasing his EXP to 32.
“Hmm… I wonder how much EXP I need before I Level Up or whatever. I guess I’ll find out soon enough. But the point stands. Take this seriously or you’ll end up in an early grave. Now, I’m going back to the city and see if I can pick up some decent armor. But I strongly suggest you take this seriously, Ryan, otherwise you’ll be sorry. Revert arm.”
As he said that, the Fighter Sword transformed back into his normal arm. With a final huff, Celtic walked back to the city.
Inside the city he looked around for an armory. As he did, the various Light Elves he passed glared at him, only annoying him further. Suddenly, a cheerful voice called.
“Yoo-hoo, Shroud Hero!”
Celtic turned to see a beautiful elven female approach him. She had long silver hair with green eyes, a well-cut figure, and a pretty face. He quirked an eyebrow as she became level with him.
“A Light Elf? I thought you weren’t interested in the Shroud Hero,” he said.
“Oh, don’t mind those grumps,” the girl stated. “They’re just old-fashioned about certain things. Not me. Oh, my name is Veronica. I know who you are, Celtic, aka: the Hero of the Shroud. Looking for a party member? I’m your gal. I’ve always heard that the Shroud Hero was mysterious, so now that a new generation of Shroud Hero has appeared, I’m curious to know if that’s true or not. But, in any case, I was wondering if you’d do me a favor. Since we’re gonna be working together, I need some armor. I know of a good armory in town, so would you be so kind as to buy me some. I’d buy it myself, but I don’t have a lot of money. The stuff the armory has shouldn’t cost more than 20 silvers or so, but I’m just a few silvers short. So, how about it?”
Celtic pondered for a moment before replying, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. I was going to pick up armor myself, so this makes things easier. Fine, lead the way.”
Veronica smiled, “Great! Follow me, handsome.”
As she led the way, Celtic was having mixed feelings about this.
“I’m having a few conflicting feelings about this,” he said silently. “From what I’ve seen so far, the Light Elves seem to hate the Shroud Hero, but this girl doesn’t. And she’s offering to become a party member without fuss. Seems a bit too convenient. But… I could just be overthinking things. I rarely catch a break, so maybe it’s really nothing and I’m just finally getting some help. We’ll see.”
Veronica led him to an armory. Inside was a human man, who smiled as the duo approached.
“Hello there. Looking for some armor or weapons? I may not be the best, but I’ve still got some good stuff. Take a look around and see if anything catches your interest.”
Veronica nodded, “We’ll do just that.”
After a few minutes of searching, both Celtic and Veronica chose two sets of armor. It came to 45 silver, which Celtic paid, making Veronica happy. She then asked for dinner, which he complied. As they ate, however, a feeling of dread started to well up inside Celtic. Finally, night fell, and both fell asleep at the inn. However, it wouldn’t be long before something would happen. In the dead of night, while Celtic slept, suddenly the door burst open, startling him. Light Elf knights surrounded him, pointing their swords and spears at him, angry expressions on their faces.
“You! Shroud Hero! You’re coming with us!” the captain stated angrily.
It wasn’t long before he was in the throne room of the castle. Standing before him was the King, Veronica, and Lucas, who seemed to be shielding her.
“We brought the fiend,” the captain stated.
“What’s the big idea?” Celtic spat angrily.
The King hissed, “How DARE you try to violate my daughter, you despicable fiend!”
The redhead quirked an eyebrow, “What? Violate? I haven’t violated anyone. And I don’t think I’ve met your daughter before.”
Lucas spat, “Don’t play dumb! Veronica came running to me, telling me you tried to take advantage of her! You swine!”
Celtic gained an annoyed expression, “I didn’t do anything of the sort! All I did was… wait… Veronica is the Princess?! And you didn’t tell me that before?! I KNEW you were up to no good!”
Veronica hid behind Lucas, “You vile fiend! How dare you treat me that way!”
“I treated you to armor and dinner and did nothing else!” Celtic roared. “YOU’RE the one who deceived me! For that matter, I noticed that the armor I bought is gone! You stole it from me, didn’t you? YOU’RE the vile fiend!”
“ENOUGH!” the King bellowed. “If you weren’t the Shroud Hero, I’d have you executed for such despicable behavior. But, as fate would have it, if I were to execute you, it would only allow Infinator’s attacks to become drastically stronger, so you’re unfortunately, too important to be executed. But make no mistake, you will pay for what you did! I intend to make you suffer and pay in a multitude of ways for this heinous crime, you sewer rat!”
Veronica walked over to Celtic, gaining a nasty smirk, “Oh, you’ll pay, all right, you Devil of the Shroud.” She then whispered, “It was all too easy. Let’s see how much of a ‘hero’ you’ll be now.”
As Celtic heard these words, his rage reached a breaking point.
“You vile fiend!” he roared.
With a swing of his metal arm, he sent one of the guards flying, startling everyone present. When another guard tried to restrain him, Celtic bit him, revealing a mouth full of fangs. His bite was so hard that a sickening CRACK could be heard from the guard’s wrist, causing him to yell in pain and release Celtic, holding his now broken wrist with vicious teeth marks in pain and blood pouring out from the bite marks. This alarmed everyone present as Celtic glared daggers at the King, Veronica, and Lucas.
To their horror, he had changed. His teeth, which were serrated fangs, were bared, with what seemed to be light purple mist coming out of his mouth. He had newly formed facial markings in the shape of blue lightning bolts starting from under his eyes down to his chin. But his eyes where what was the most frightening. His gold eyes were now glowing like headlights, with his pupils having become slits, giving him an almost demonic look.
“W-What are you?!” the King sputtered.
Celtic didn’t respond. Instead, his mechanical arm transformed, this time into a Gatling gun. He then started to fire it indiscriminately in the throne room in pure rage. Everyone took cover from the rapid spray of energy bullets. Lucas tried to charge in, Spear in hand, but to his horror Celtic transformed his arm again, this time into a massive, heavily armored fist. With a powerful punch, Lucas was sent flying, slamming into a wall with a loud CRASH. Celtic then transformed his arm again, this time into some strange cannon. It had a round wheel-shaped body with small nobs on it, grill-like structures in the front and back, ending in a cylinder nozzle. He held it up above his head, causing a sphere of energy to form, before firing it. When it reached a certain point, it burst, releasing multiple streams of energy that rained down upon everything. He transformed it once again, this time into what looked like an electric fan. He then aimed it between his feet and fired it, causing a massive tornado to form inside the throne room. The winds it produced slashed and ripped everything they touched, sending debris and anything not nailed down flying. Celtic’s almost demonic voice could then be heard from within it.
“YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS DECEPTION! MARK MY WORDS, YOU LIGHT ELF SCUM!!! THIS ISN’T THE LAST TIME YOU’VE SEEN CELTIC PULSAR! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! NO ONE CROSSES A PULSAR! NO ONE!!! HEED MY WARNING, FOR I’LL MAKE SURE YOUR KINGDOM FALLS INTO RUINS FOR YOUR CRIMES!!! THAT I PROMISE!!! YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED, AS MY WRATH KNOWS NO LIMITS!!!”
The tornado then vanished, but Celtic was nowhere to be found. Everyone gingerly climbed out of their hiding places, terrified at what had just happened, the throne room now in ruins.
Several miles outside of the city of Lumestia, a black portal opened up. As it vanished, Celtic appeared, breathing heavily, his anger and rage overtaking his mind. He glared behind him, seeing the city from a distance. His eyes showed more hatred and wrath, his razor sharp fangs bared, as if ready to tear the flesh off of anything. He roared into the night sky before storming off. Various monsters tried to attack him as he did, only to meet swift ends from his rage-induced state. He just keep walking, not caring about rest or food or anything. All he had was the clothes on his back, his Tek-Pak, and the Shroud. Finally, he managed to speak.
“I want this world to burn. I want it to burn to ashes. I don’t care about anyone here; I want this world destroyed. The universe won’t miss this godforsaken rock, and neither will I.”
As he continued to walk, he passed what looked like a circus tent. Standing outside of it was a man dressed like a ringmaster. He noticed Celtic; his eyes gleaming as the enraged teen walked.
“Hello, young lad! You look like you had a rough night. Something tells me that the Light Elves are up to their dirty old tricks again. Maybe you want to take revenge on them, hmm? Most people do. And I may have just the thing!”
Celtic turned to him, “Oh, yeah? I doubt a circus ringmaster would have something that’ll satisfy my bloodlust right now. But, yes, those vile Light Elves framed me for a crime I never committed, and now I want them to burn! But, unfortunately, as I’m stuck as the ‘Shroud Hero’, I have to fight off these damn waves or whatever. So, I doubt you’ll have anything that’ll help me.”
The ringmaster gave a wide smile, “Hohoho! The Light Elves are, indeed, up to their old tricks again. Well, as it turns out, I happen to have some very useful… ‘cargo’ that might help. If you need something to help you fight off Infinator and get payback on the Light Elves, then I may have just the ticket. How does a slave sound?”
Celtic gained a repulsed look, “A slave? No thanks.”
As he started to walk away, the ringmaster said, “Are you sure? Slaves cannot disobey, and they cannot lie, either, lest they be punished severely by the slave crest they have. And slaves are often good for manual labor… including fighting monsters. You could have your own army to not only crush Infinator, but the Light Elves as well. And I’ve got some good buys in that department.”
Celtic stopped dead in his tracks, his rage-fueled mind churning dark ideas as he heard this.
“A slave can’t lie or disobey?” he asked. “And they’re good for fighting?” He pondered for a moment before turning around, “Fine, you’ve piqued my interest. What do you have in stock?”
“Excellent, my boy! Come right in! I’ve got some of the best wares out there. Before long, you could have an entire army to crush those dastardly Light Elves and put them in their place once and for all. In fact, I may actually have a Light Elf as a slave in stock, if memory serves.”
Celtic’s face twisted into an evil grin at that, “Now I’m really interested. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Next Chapter: Skye
And with that, Chapter 1 is off and running. Please leave feedback, as I want to improve this series as much as possible. Thanks and happy reading (I hope...).
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