《Anax》 Prologue - What a day Sitting in his cell, the young man was resting his head against the wall as he stared at the ceiling intently. His long unkempt hair was covering his face he let out a heavy sigh. Feeling a change in the area around him looked in front of him and saw a girl in grey robes that went down to her knees. With her hood covering her face she squatted in front of him as she began to stroke his hair. "So... tomorrow''s the day?" As the girl spoke there was a noticeable quiver in her voice, as she choked on her words. "Yes, they''ll be executing me tomorrow, hahaha." The young man said straight out the fact that he''ll be put to death as he let out a self-deprecating laugh The robed girl was staring at him intently as he was laughing, she clenched her fist as she observed him. He was in a cell, yet he had no chains, some who saw this might''ve thought he must be no threat since he isn''t chained up, but the situation is quite the opposite. He''s seen as the biggest threat in the prison, as they had no way to keep him here. He was isolated from all the other prisoners and guarded by the "Titan hearted", yet he has reportedly escaped a few times, meaning he could leave whenever he wishes. "Are you sure you don''t want me to help you escape? I can do it you know, I have a pretty high position back home and I''m pretty infamous in this human kingdom!" The girl stood up as she was practically begging him to let her help him. "I-I just-"Interrupting her own words she sat on her knees in front of him as she grabbed his hands and held them in hers. Taking off her hood she revealed her long pink hair and her skin that had a pink blush to it. "I love you." After sitting there in silence for an unknown amount of time, the girl declared her emotions as she squeezed the young man''s hands, she stared him in the eyes with a pained expression. "So please-" Hearing her struggling to let out her words and seeing the expression on her face, the young man had a somber smile on his face as he looked her in the eye. "I''ve been here most of my life, ever since I was a child actually. I helped a group of your people, at the risk of my freedom as well. Now that I remember correctly, you were in that group as well weren''t you?" "After my imprisonment, I was left alone, no family to visit me, no friends visited, yet you were always there with me. You visited almost every day, talked with me, played with me, laughed with me..." Hearing what he said, the girl swept his hair from covering his face to the side of his ears. Seeing his face she had a saddened expression. One could clearly see the noticeably large bags under his eyes, he looked completely and utterly exhausted. Feeling him squeeze her hands as well, she heard him speak in a soft voice that broke her heart. "Nak..." "I''m tired Rachel..." Letting go of his hands she quickly embraced him in a hug, as she tightened her arms around him, he hugged her back as they sat there embracing one another in silence. Sitting in his cell Nak had his back facing towards the bars as he stared at the wall, hearing some clunking and screeching noises he let out a small smile on his face. Clink Clink Hearing something clang against his cell bars he opened his eyes, "How unexpected, I never expected his royal highness being the one to escort me." He turned around and spoke towards the person standing behind a few people dressed in military clothing in a ridiculing tone. The black-haired, middle-aged man in the luxurious clothing stared at him with a nervous expression, "O-of course, I need to make sure everything goes forward without a hitch." Signaling towards one of the soldiers, they unlocked the cell and entered. Looking at what was in the soldier''s hands he had a confused look on his face, "Why do you have such a worthless thing in your hands?" Looking at the cuffs in the soldier''s hands he stood up and looked at the tall soldier. "It''s to make the civilians believe they are safe as they view "your" execution." Nak scrutinized the man who answered him, as he allowed them to put the cuffs on him, "As expected of the Emperor." They left the cell and headed towards the open giant metal door, he was walking in between the four guards with the Emperor leading them out. Standing outside the door were two large giants draped in silver armor holding giant iron axes. As they passed the two giants glanced down at Nak who was waving at them. After they passed the two giants pulled the door close with loud screeching and a loud clunk. Clack Clack Clack As they were moving through the halls the sound of the soldiers'' and Emperor''s footsteps was the only sound that could be heard. "Soooo... How''s the son?" Hearing his question the soldiers as well as the Emperor''s shoulder slightly flinched, ignoring his question they continued their walk as Nak sighed. They continued in silence for a while longer before finally at the top of some stairs that lead to a door. One soldier stepped up and knocked on the door in a certain pattern, after a few seconds, the door and the wall moved apart revealing a lavish room, there was some furnishing in the room and a balcony on the right, sitting on a couch in the room eating grapes was a man with raven black hair and sea blue eyes, he gave off this princely aura.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Seeing them, the man instantly straight he looked at the Emperor who had a complicated expression on his face, "Son, I expected you to be with your siblings, what brings you here?" Glancing towards Nak, who was noticeably shorter than everyone in the room, the prince slightly bowed towards the Emperor, "I wished to watch the execution with you father." "Very well!" Giving his consent, the Emperor headed towards the balcony followed by the prince who looked back in time to see Nak wink at him as he was escorted out of the room by the soldiers, as shivers ran down his spine. As he was being escorted through the building Nak was thinking to himself as he remembered his last meeting with Rachel, was this the right choice? Is it alright to leave her? The answers weren''t all that big, he was tired that was it. He could sleep whenever he wants yet that peace would never last. Spending time with Rachel was peaceful and soothing yet she had her own problems that her people needed to resolve. If he were to allow her to get caught up in his problems it would cause problems for her. He chose the option he preferred as well as the best option. Eternal rest. Of course, he wouldn''t allow himself to be killed before helping her out one more time... The people in the crowd have been anticipating this day for a long time, the execution of the individual who freed the current most infamous people in the empire. Though they were excited there was this tension in the air, the people were nervous they''ve heard how dangerous this man was, yet now that dangerous individual is being presented in front of them, they were rightfully nervous. As they were standing looking up towards they heard the loud sounds of steel hitting against the floor as many knights started entering, surrounding the plaza as well as the walls surrounding it. Looking at the knights that entered the plaza with awe, their gazes returned to the execution platform. standing there was a short individual with long messy white hair that covered his entire face. The citizens who were staring up at the cuffed person on the platform were, underwhelmed, to say the least. This is who is responsible for the many problems they faced? He didn''t even look like he could handle an armored soldier!? "Before we relieve you of your life... do you have any last words!?" The knight standing next to his side shouted loud enough to be heard by the entire plaza. Everyone observed Nak as he swept his hair from in front of his face. Showing his golden eyes, he cracked a smile as he began moving his mouth. "Well, where should I even begin~" "All of you, Emperor included~ Are Fucking Stupid." "You people are the sorriest sacks of **** I''ve ever seen in my life! To hate some people who are barely any different from you, you hate them so much that you threw me, a child at the time in a cell, and for what? Because they have that cool magic mumbo jumbo?" Having spat out some slurs and sharing his thoughts with these people, the citizens stood there in silence, some with their mouths agape. As they were not expecting him to say something like this they were quite surprised. "Haaaa~ such a disappointment." He let out a sigh, looking at the knight who was preparing to decapitate him before turning his gaze towards the balcony where the Emperor, and prince were seated while being accompanied by the royal guard. Scanning the plaza, his legs started moving, he jumped from the platform running up the wall as the soldiers began pointing their rifles, and the knights began pointing their crossbows. As he was running along the wall he flipped up it, dodging the bullets and bolts, landing on the head of a knight stationed on the wall. Hopping from head to head, Nak made his way to the Emperors'' balcony, Swiiish, hearing something cut through the wind he bent his head back, dodging a bolt fired at him by one of the knights. Making it under the balcony he hopped along the walls a few times, planting his feet n the balcony rails he was met with the royal knights'' swords pointed towards him. Staring at those in the room he had a calm face that turned into a bright smile as he saw the Emperor and prince who still occupied the room. "As I expected, you''re as arrogant as you are a coward." The Emperor standing behind five knights with the prince had a victorious smile on his face, "I thought we agreed that you wouldn''t cause any problems!?" "Agreed? That only lasted for as long as I was in the cell, anyway, let''s get this over with shall we." Finishing talking Nak kicked away the closest sword as he kicked the knight in her shin causing her armor to indent. Sliding across the floor he slammed his foot against the chest area of the next knight, who was sent flying back. Seeing two of his best knights be quickly defeated the Emperor rushed towards the door with the prince. Shaking his head Nak kicked up a sword before kicking it at the Emperor, whose leg was pierced causing him to fall face-first into the ground. Nak nodded toward this as he quickly dispatched the last three royal guards, as he made his way towards the downed Emperor he sighed as he heard the sound of shaking, as well as the sounds of the door being consistently hit. Crouching down in front of the Emperor Nak chuckled as he saw his face full of pain and dread. "Never expected me to do this huh? Yeah me neither, but I thought to myself, what would help her the most? Destroying the Empire? Crippling its army? No, I thought, I should take down their leadership," The Emperor''s body shook as he stared at his son who was shaking off to his side, as he was shaking they heard the loud noises coming "First comes your death, don''t worry though I won''t kill your son, I''ll just hurt him a bit~" Getting up Nak walked over to the prince as kicked his ankles causing him to fall, with the prince on the ground Nak stepped on his leg and pressed down with all his strength. Ugh! Aaargh! Aaaaaaah! The Emperor closed his eyes and looked away as he couldn''t watch his son being crippled. Finishing breaking the prince''s legs Nak walked back in front of the Emperor, as he did though, the knights finally broke through the strengthened door. Quickly crushing his neck, Nak turned towards them. Yo-you, you dare murder his highness!!!" The knights eyed him with fury in their eyes, they charged him in a rush of rage at Nak who was just standing there. As the knights were about to make contact with him a large hand came from the balcony pulling him out of the room, before launching him towards the ground. He was slammed against the ground of the now deserted plaza with a loud thud, sitting up he started coughing, he noticed there was also blood dripping down from his head. Looking up he saw the one that threw him, It was a similar giant to the ones that were guarding the prison, it was accompanied by another one. As the giants were glaring at him the knights and soldiers started flooding into the plaza surrounding him, looking around he saw the executioner step up at his side and raise his ax. Looking towards a figure standing atop a nearby tower, he let out a small smile closing his eyes as the ax was brought down on his head... Opening his eyes he was greeted with nothing but darkness, looking down at his hands, he found that they were a translucent blue, he let out a sigh. "Haaaaa~ What a day." ________________ A/N - Hey, if you could, please share your thoughts on this with me, anyway, I have a headache so imma head to sleep. 2.3k words Whats The Point? Looking around, or at least he thought he was, there was only darkness in every direction he looked. Observing his body, Nak assumed he was indeed dead. His body is like a translucent astral projection of sorts. "Is this the afterlife?" He questioned himself as he once again observed this void surrounding him. "So, I''m once again thrown into solitude..." He had a tired expression as he closed his eyes letting out an exhausted sigh, "I believe they used this to torture me in the Empire, It seems I''ll have to experience this again, might as well sleep." As he shut his eyes his body began moving through the darkness, as he moved the darkness it moved around him as if it was a liquid. The area all around him began changing as things began appearing around in the black liquid. Waking from his sleep he rubbed his face as he peeked his eyes open seeing a dim yellow light. Surprised by what he saw he tried sitting up, as he did he felt himself sink back into the darkness. He began trying to move his arms around a bit, but they moved very slowly as if in water, yet this black stuff felt much thicker and heavier. Giving up he began looking around, there were many things in the darkness, doing their own thing, some looked human, others not so much. "How strange..." Observing the creatures around him, he focused on the darkness he was in, he felt something moving around in it. The creatures around him also perked up as they noticed it as well. "~Well, I must welcome you~" As they were all trying to look under them they heard a loud voice coming from above them, It sounded deep and distorted. "~Oh my, it seems we have enough to begin!~" Looking up all those in the dark liquid could see a man in a white suit, yet that was all they could see, they couldn''t see past the darkness of what they assumed to be the sky. A few of the creatures tried to speak, yet they found they couldn''t speak, looking up confused they noticed others in the liquid holding their throats. "~Ah, you must have many questions.~ But worry not you''ll know what you need to know when you begin the test.~" Test? Hearing what the assumed man said, most looked slightly confused. As he was watching the man in the sky with a curious expression on his face Nak felt something move around again from the dark liquid, as he did he was suddenly pulled into the liquid along with others. Seeing those in the liquid get pulled under the man disappeared with a light chuckle. Shaking his head Nak slowly stood up. Standing up he spotted several others with him on what seemed to be the shore of an island, looking behind him he saw that instead of water it was replaced with the black liquid they were just in. Turning back around there was a forest of giant trees, as he analyzed the forest a big creature with blue skin in purple armor approached with what looked like antlers on his head with purple markings going down from his eyes to the bottom of his chin. "Greetings! You look like the most collected one here, though I''d say that''s quite common since not everyone can get accustomed to their death so quickly, especially if one were a child. Anyway, It seems I''m getting carried away, where I come from I''m called Preston, Preston the Dark Elf." Stretching out his large hand Preston asked for a handshake. Nak who was looking up at him observed him for a few seconds before accepting his hand. "Hello? Um, Preston? I go by Nak, I''m human. I didn''t know elves got so big. Also, I''m not a child, just really short." Nak was a bit forgetful, I mean who expects to talk to someone in the afterlife, especially to some overly tall lanky Dark Elf. "Ah! My bad, I''ve never seen such a short human either, surprises come to us even after death huh?" "Yes, it must be truly surprising for you who have died to be here, taking some random test." A new voice joined cut short the conversation, turning their attention towards the voice they were met with a feminine figure wearing a white suit similar to the one the man with the distorted voice wore. Once again there was some sort of darkness obscuring her face from their sight, all they could see was the darkness moving at her head in a smoke-like fashion. The woman had a staff in her hand that she was leaning on. "Now that I''ve begun to gather your attention I shall now explain the process of this test, as well as what you''re testing for." Pointing towards the three individuals that were a bit away from them she continued. "You three will be in a group, and you three," pointing at Nak, Preston, and another person covered from head to toe in dark armor sitting a bit away, "Will be in a group." Though still confused, everyone present nodded their heads as if they understood. Everyone looked and observed their teammates before turning their attention back on the woman. "Now this is quite the simple test, you''ll just have to meet certain requirements, by beating the opponent." "Ah yes, you have no weapons right? I guess you''ll also need to find that as well. Now you''re all probably asking yourselves, what is the goal of this test?" The smoke-like darkness covering he head moved around as if indicating she was moving her head, looking towards each "tester".Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "Well the answer is simple, this is something you all would want, right? Haha, the goal is reincarnation!!" The woman shouted while stretching her arms wide open with a tinge of excitement leaking from her voice, she was about to continue before she heard someone sigh. Looking towards the direction where the sigh came from she saw Nak playing with his long hair that was still covering his head like a mop. "Haaaa~, I was wondering what this was all about, I''d rather not be reincarnated, can you just send me back to that void or whatever it was? I''d much rather enjoy the loneliness of solitude than to be brought back to life." Nak spoke as he looked towards the sky before looking at the woman straight where he assumed her eyes were. She paused for a second as if she were contemplating something Hearing what he had to say those around looked at him strangely at what, from their point of view you''d be pretty stupid to not accept the chance to reincarnate, as they have all died whether they knew they died or not, they wouldn''t hesitate at a chance to live again. To reincarnate can be a chance to improve themselves, they can do the things they''ve never had a chance to do in their first life, they can even use their knowledge to live their lives as they please. Or they can choose to make the same choices they did in their original world, oh you were a Demon King in your first life? How about you become one again!? The choice though is usually up to the reincarnate, as well as their situation when they are reincarnated, not everyone is sure to be in a good place. As such is the way of the world. Now they''ve met someone who doesn''t even want that chance, truly an anomaly to them. "Oh... But I''m not sure I was asking? Yes, that''s right! You have no choice in the matter, you will take the test whether you like it or not." The woman was acting excited about a test she wasn''t even participating in, she also said that there was no choice? This somewhat distraught Nak, who just stood there and continued to listen. "So, where I left off, let''s begin this test already!" As she said this the island shook as things constructs started to rise in the forest, "Since you all were considered as giants back in your world you''d have no qualms fighting Titans right?" "Also, your body here shouldn''t limit the use of your abilities that you might''ve had when you were alive." Saying this the woman clapped her hands before fading away, as she disappeared there was the splashing as something seemed to be rising from the black liquid in the distance. In the distance a bit away from the shore they stood on the liquid started rising, revealing a ginormous figure. Rising was a blue-skinned figure, It had pieces of scaled gray armor decorating its body. Hanging from its back was another arm and its face was covered by a plain white mask with three slits on the right side that revealed the red glow of its eye. It plunged its right arm back in the black liquid, reaching for something. It slowly started pulling its arm out as waves were being sent in every direction as it pulled a giant grey scaled sword. Seeing the Titan pulling out the sword Preston was shocked, he''s never met such a strong creature in his life, he noticed it getting into a position, seeing this he turned to his side. "Nak, do you kno-" Cutting his sentence short, Preston found that Nak had disappeared from where he was standing. Quickly looking around he spotted him in the distance running from the Titan towards the forest. "Oh..." Doing the same thing he also ran towards the forest, he also looked toward their other teammate and noticed that he was also gone, nodding he looked back towards the Titan that was still charging up its attack, then the other group that was eyeing the Titan before starting to run as well. As everyone started running the Titan''s sword lit with a red light, it put its other hand on the hilt and tightened its grip and a speed hard to decipher it quickly swung its sword up like an arc. Fwoooooosh! Crash! Crack! The sound of the air being cut, the sound of something crashing, and the sound of something cracking sounded out all at once. All those who were looked behind them and up at the, before looking back towards the Titan with faces full of shock and a tinge of fear. The sheer power and might this Titan just displayed in a single strike struck fear in their hearts. There was a clean slash going through the black liquid. The shore where they were standing and some of the forest was destroyed and some trees lost their tops. And the sky, the sky was cracked! They all thought the same thing seeing this, were they even a second late they would''ve been dead, if not dead then greatly injured. The Titan who was still holding the sword up towards the sky had the arm on its back, stretched and grabbed the sword, and held it up from behind it. It paused momentarily turning its head towards the group of three and Preston, who were standing at the edge of the destruction, gawking at it. It started moving slowly in their direction. Preston watched as the Titan began moving, turning around and forgetting about the other group, he followed Nak to a tower a bit away from where the shore was destroyed. Arriving at the open top of the tower, he saw Nak squatting with his hands on his head, mumbling to himself with a face betraying no emotion. Nak was confused, what was the point of this? Forcing someone to reincarnate, that''s so stupid! He had the urge to curse everyone out for this annoyance. Standing up he patted down his pants dusting them off, pants? He just now noticed he dressed up from head to legs in black clothing, a black long sleeve shirt with black cargo pants, there were no shoes though. "At least they gave me clothes, telling us to fight these monstrosities, haaa, what a joke. What even is the point?" Nak sighed to himself as he finally noticed Preston''s presence, sitting at the edge of the tower, he looked turned his head towards the stairs, before looking at the slowly approaching Titan in the distance. "let''s wait to make a game plan when that armored guy gets here." Preston nodded at this and sat in the center as well. After waiting for a minute their other group member came up the stairs with loud footsteps. The man in the armor seeing them sitting also sat down at the edge a bit away from Nak. "So mop head, we''ll need to look for a way to kill these Titans, It seems there will be more, though I guess we can happily say they''re not the humanoid ones." Hearing the muffled voice of the armored individual sounding a bit more feminine, Nak and Preston were a bit surprised. Waving off his surprise Nak nodded his head. "You''re correct in your assumption, maybe their reptilian Titans? Maybe insect Titans?" Hearing his question himself both Nak and the armored individually got into their thoughts as they started to think. Preston who was these two was confused, what are they talking about, he decided to ask them a question. "Have you two seen a creature like that before?'' "Yeah..." "Of course." He received a lazy response from Nak, and one in an absolute tone was heard from the armored one. "Have you not?" Hearing the armored person''s question Preston shook his head. Both Nak and the armored one turned their heads together before Nak let out another sigh. "Haaa, That is a problem." "It indeed is." Preston who was once again in the lost looked at the two''s interaction with even more confusion this time, he just sat there in silence waiting for one of them to explain. ____________ A/N - Nak sure does sigh a lot huh. I wanted this out like an hour earlier, but know stuff happens. I started watching World Trigger yesterday, It''s really good, to be honest, don''t know why nobody recommends it. I definitely recommend it. 2.3k words Sky Crasher & Weapon Yard & A Snake They were sitting in a triangle-like formation, Nak and The armored one were both sitting on the edge of the tower with a bit of space away in between them, while Preston was sitting in front of them, sitting near the stairs. "Anyway, how about we introduce ourselves, I''ll need to be able to call out to you guys fighting that Titan, I''ll go first." "I go by Nak, the oh-so infamous prisoner of the great and mighty Empire Sternum, I died quite the fun death really." Nak decided to speak up, introducing himself first in a somewhat sarcastic tone, looking at his group. Giving them a light wave he turned his head towards the Titan waiting for the others to introduce themselves. "I''ll go next, I''m Preston, Guardian of the Cavern of Death. I died defending my people''s retreat from the church of the Sun god." Preston gave a slight bow towards them with the aura expected of a respectable Guardian Knight. Preston turned his head towards the armored person, who was silent. "....I-I was given the name Rosalynn, that is all I''m willing to share." Hearing her introduction Nak looked towards her from the corner of his eyes as he squinted his eyes. Taking his eyes off the Titan he started moving towards a small dresser nearby. "Now that we''re all acquainted, I suggest we find a way to deal with that Titan." "It seems you two know more of that creature called a Titan than I do. That move it just did, do you know what it is, and how we can counter it?" Preston questioned the both of them, seeing Nak find nothing in the dresser before he kicked it. Turning towards Rosalynn noticed her watching Nak searching for something. Ah Ha! - pulling his hand from a pile of things at the entrance to the stairs, Nak pulled out a roll of bandages - "I guess this will work." Pulling his hair up into a ponytail, Nak tied it tightly with a bandage showcasing his uniquely golden eyes, which were not any less beautiful with the bags under his eyes. Rosalynn - "Yes, well that move is called the Sky Crasher to humans, but it''s also known as the Sky Piercer as well as many other names. And the sword, a big accomplice in cracking the sky, Sky Bane, all Titans have a Sky Bane. Meaning all Titans are usually at their strongest." Nak - "Yes, it''s also important to know that that giant thing," - Nak pointed a finger towards the approaching Titan as he sat back down at the edge, - "Is merely just a giant puppet, a doll that''s used to convert their power into even larger attacks, the actual Titans aren''t even that big, just slightly taller than most humans from my world." Preston -"So we just need to pull it out of the puppet!?" Hearing what Nak said, Preston felt a bit relieved at the fact that they didn''t necessarily need to fight the giant doll and excited about the coming battle. Rosalynn - "No, that wouldn''t be possible. We''d need to take the puppet down and drive the Titan out into a battle with us, the puppets are very powerful even by themselves, so we should take it out first before even trying to take down the actual body." "That attack can only be used every forty-five minutes, we''ve been talking for about fifteen minutes. I recommend we hurry and find armaments." "Great, I can see a sign, with weapon written on it in the distance, let''s check it out." - Saying this Nak jumped off the Tower followed by Rosalynn and then Preston. As they were running through the forest they continuously heard crashing sounds and shaking in the distance. Ignoring it, they continued moving forward. "There it is, up ahead-" Suddenly coming to a halt, Nak cut himself off as the two behind him followed after him, stopping as well. A big figure slithered in front of them as it came out of a large hole hidden in the ground. "Oook, seems a Titan has sniffed us out. You two should go ahead, let me have some fun playing with this big guy." - Nak sighed before a toothy grin made its way on his face, he mouthed something to Rosalynn before nodding. They nodded as they ran past Nak who kicked the large beast in the face as it tried to snap at them. Getting a good look at the creature in his gaze, he found that it was a large reptilian creature, a large black snake with a mitre on its head. It had sharp protrusions going along its back and spine, and its tail was in the form that of a sharp dagger. As Nak and the giant creature were analyzing each other the sky began to darken. Nak glanced down at the foot he kicked the creature with and saw the red smoking skin of his foot. The creature had a killer glare and it was staring him down, yet he kept avoiding meeting its gaze as it continued hissing. As darkness soon enveloped them as the large creature started slithering around the area - hssss -as the creature was slithering around shrouded in darkness, the sound of something burning and smell of burnt wood and grass protruded Nak''s nose, as trees melted and fell. The grin never left his face, as Nak''s eyes lit up in the darkness, turning towards where the creature was Nak cracked his neck. Hehe - " Never thought I would meet a Basilisk here, let''s have some fun shall we." As Rosalynn and Preston made it to where Nak told them to go, they looked towards the sign hanging above that read, "Weapon Yard: Grave of Warriors." As they read the sign, they heard trees crashing and loud hissing from the area they just came from.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Preston had a worried look on his face - " Do you think he will be able to hold off against that beast without a weapon?" "He should be." Her straight and simple response left Preston perplexed yet he just followed her in without saying more. As they entered the graveyard they saw many graves, some with weapons stabbed into the dirt, others with no weapons on them. Looking around some more they cold spot that some of the graves have been dug up. "It seems the other group got here before us, how about we check around for suitable weapons." Preston kneeled in front of one of the dug-up graves as he read the gravestone. Getting up he moved to another grave as he began searching. Rosalynn was standing in the same spot, as still as stone for a few minutes before moving straight forward. Arriving at a grave with a black gravestone with withered dirt in front of it, her armor compressed into a much smaller armor that would be easily movable in, her figure got much smaller as well. She began digging up the grave, hearing more crashing and getting the whiff of something burnt she began quickening her digging speed. Moving off the rest of the dirt she opened the coffin, revealing a skeleton that was gripping a pitch-black scythe in its hands, seeing the tool in its hand Rosalynn carefully removed the scythe out of its clutches. "I appreciate your patronage." Bowing towards the grave Rosalynn began moving towards another one. - "This place had a high aura signature, and its shape is what he asked for." She placed the scythe down on the ground, she began digging up the dirt, revealing what looked like a big humanoid doll, its hands were some type of gauntlets that went up to its entire forearm. "Of course he wanted this." Thud! - Nak jumped back as the Basilisk knocked another tree over, as it hit the snake it immediately started to melt. Nak lifted his right arm, at least what was left of it. His sleeve was almost completely gone, most of the skin covering his forearm was melted off revealing his muscles. As blood continued to spill from his arm, the smile never left his face. "I just got these clothes. So hey, how about we just talk? I don''t see any reason to keep fighting." The Basilisk opened its mouth revealing its large fangs as it snapped its head quickly at Nak, he quickly slid to the side as he barely dodged it. Deciding to make a small counter attack, he lightly punched the side of its head with his left hand. The light attack not bothering it one bit, the Basilisk moved its head toward Nak once again. "Yeah, I expected that to do nothing." - He observed the unfazed Basilisk and his slightly red hand as he prepared himself for another exchange. Analyzing the surrounding arena Nak spotted a tree that had been broken and fallen, forming a plan he began moving around the trees as the Basilisk quickly slithered after him. Punching a nearby tree, Nak caused it to fall down the Basilisk, though it melted almost right away it did slightly slow the snake down. Getting to the tree he saw earlier, he quickly examined the broken part of it, - "This should be sharp enough." - Lifting the giant tree, he watched as the Basilisk got closer, then he threw the tree in the air. After throwing it, Nak ran up a nearby tree as the Basilisk lunged at the spot where he was just standing. Jumping high in the air, as the tree was falling back to the ground, Nak kicked the tree with all his strength towards the Basilisk, due to the force applied from his kick the tree broke into contact as hundreds of differently sized splinters made their way towards the snake. Seeing the many splinters coming towards it, the Basilisk continued towards Nak as it didn''t bother with the wood coming its way. As it continued slithering towards Nak who just land on the ground, the splinters began hitting its head, followed by the wood melting, but then. Tchuk! - One of the splinters pierced one of the Basilisk''s eyes. The Basilisk began freaking out, it was bashing its body around smashing itself into everything around it destroying the surroundings even more as it writhed in pain. Watching the Basilisk lose one of its eyes, Nak punched the air as he accomplished what he was trying to do, backing up from the snake to avoid its random bashing, he noticed Rosalynn and Preston coming back from the direction of the graveyard. As they entered the messy and destroyed area they could see the large snake bashing around, then they spotted Nak standing somewhat away from the serpent, Preston and Rosalynn ran towards him, as they spotted his leg that was covered in burns and the skin was bright red. They took their eyes from his leg and moved it up towards his arm, which was by far in a much, much worse situation. The skin was almost all nonexistent, the muscles of his arm were present for all to see. Seeing his arm Preston quickly ran up to him with a worried expression on his face as he was checking out Nak''s arm. While Rosalynn just stood there as if in a daze, looking at his battered appearance. "How is thi- no, are you good, Argh! I knew we shouldn''t have left you here to fight alone." - Preston was frantically checking out his body as he examined his wounds. "It should be fine. It practically destroyed my clothes, and I just got these too! How annoying." "That''s what you''re worried about!?" Preston was seriously dumbfounded, he''s on the brink of death, yet the thing he''s worried about is his clothes? "I was able to take care of one of its eyes, though that lessens the risk you should still be careful of its other eye, less you die." - Nak turned back towards the Basilisk, " You''ve at least fought a Basilisk before right Preston?" "Indeed, one has tried attacking my village before." - Brandishing a longsword he found at the graveyard, Preston prepared to face the reptile that was beginning to calm down. As he was preparing to charge he felt a hand on his shoulder. "No need. I''ll finish dealing with this. Here," - Rosalynn tossed two heavy black gauntlets to Nake. "I got you what you asked for." "Thanks." Nodding towards him Rosalynn began spinning her Scythe as she pinned her gaze on the Basilisk. Seeing the two new appearances added with the fact that it just lost an eye, the Basilisk grew wary as it watched only one of them approach it. As Rosalynn approached the Basilisk Nak turned towards Preston - "Hey Preston, did she shrink? Or is it just me?" "No, I noticed it as well. I asked her about it, and she just answered with, ''More efficient.''." "Oh, makes sense." Noticing the one that took its eye out was standing back and it was instead approached by this feminine figure wielding a tool used for farming the snake growled at the lack of respect. "How dare you!! You insufferable insects dare to face me with farming tools!!? You!" - The booming voice of the Basilisk echoed all around them as it turned its glare towards Nak. "Come face me once again, for we shall end this! I will reap your life, then the others!" "Haaaa, sorry about that, it''s out of my hands now, you''ll have to deal with her if you wish to continue." - Nak just shrugged at the Basilisk''s comment and wishes, pointing his finger towards Rosalynn who stopped to listen to it''s rambling. Grrrrr - "Very well, I shall devour you then deal with the boy, I hope you can match his ability." Hehehehe - "I''ll apologize ahead of time in case I don''t meet your expectations, but right now," - Rosalynn swiped her scythe horizontally, cutting off one of the Basilisk''s spikes protruding from its back, "You''ll have to pay for what you''ve done." If only it could see the grin that had come across her face. ___________________ The basilisk is called "king" because it is reputed to have on its head a mitre, or crown-shaped crest. Mitre/Miter - The mitre (British English) (/?ma?t?r/; Greek: ¦Ì?¦Ó¦Ñ¦Á, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in traditional Christianity. A/N - Sorry about the late chapter, but allow me to say this. When it comes to chapter release rates I don''t make promises, I make suggestions. 2.3k words Titan Fall I : Subduing Serpent "You''ll have to pay for what you''ve done." Saying that she swiftly swung her scythe down, this time the Basilisk moved its head off to the side to avoid her threatening attacks. Rosalynn was radiating the sickening aura of death as she tightened her grip on the pitch-black scythe. Feeling threatened from her aura the Basilisk began releasing its acidic poison, making contact with the ground it began to turn the ground black and gray as if the area was corrupting. Seeing the Basilisk release its acid Rosalynn raised her hand as the Earth started shaking, looking at this happening, Preston was shocked at the revelation. He looked on as the earth around her was rising, following her hand''s command. "So she can do magic huh? I must say I am surprised." He was speaking to Nak, who was sitting on the ground messing with his messed up arm. He repeatedly put the gauntlet on and took it off, when he put it on it would make his arm look completely healed, but when he took it off it would go back to looking like it was going to fall off. "What made you think she couldn''t use magic? You should never underestimate those you work with." "From the way you speak, It sounds like you knew she could do magic?" "I see many things that aren''t visible, I can see what I desire, yet these eyes of mine show me even the things I don''t desire..." Preston was puzzled, Nak looked almost sad when he said that, or was it the fact that he has those heavy bags under his eyes? "What do you mean by that Nak?" ... Preston was left without an answer, deciding to follow after Nak he returned his attention to the battle of Rosalynn against the Basilisk, It seems she was continuously sending out the earth as a shield to protect her from the Basilisk''s acid. Rosalynn''s scythe was radiating black energy as she swung it in front of her, doing that her scythe sent out sharp energy mimicking the shape of the scythe''s blade, which was cutting everything in its path as it flew towards the Basilisk. The Basilisk had a strange glint in its eye as it began sucking in air, its belly began swelling up as well. Focusing on the energy coming towards it the Basilisk let out its held breath as it shot out a ton of acid that was accelerated by all the air it sucked up. Both attacks quickly approached each other, making contact the attacks caused a massive explosion. The explosion sent Nak who was watching flying into a tree as Preston had his feet pushing into the ground as he slid back. Rosalynn who was right at the forefront of the explosion had rocks covered by air protecting her from the explosion and the shockwave caused by it, the Basilisk was not so well off. As the smoke settled down it revealed the aftermath of the explosion, there was a deep crater spanning the area the Basilisk and Rosalynn occupied. Where Rosalynn stood was a pillar that held her up, while the area where the Basilisk laid was not protected. The Basilisk laid there, bloodied and battered. Yet the creature was still alive as it began to shake off its dizziness. Tsk - Clicking her tongue Rosalynn prepared for another confrontation with the Basilisk. She checked her scythe, noticing how it was still perfectly fine after that move, she let out a sigh of relief. After returning its basic functions to normal, the Basilisk immediately launched itself towards Rosalynn, opening its mouth it revealed its sharp teeth that were dripping with acidic poison, as it prepared to snap down on her. Rosalynn rolled to the side to avoid its teeth, as she did that she raised her weapon in front of blocking most of the impact as the Basilisk smacker her with its tail. Being knocked back, she dug her feet into the ground as she slid until she felt her back slam against the crater wall. Leaving a light indent in the wall Rosalynn quickly began to bring forth her mana. Trying to interrupt her annoying magic tricks, the Basilisk launched itself once again at her, seeing this she quickly clenched and pulled one fist up and the other down. When she did this earth spikes shot up towards the Basilisk, as that was happening Rosalynn was also pulled under the earth. Three of the earth spikes broke as they made contact with the Basilisk''s rough undersides while two lucky spikes managed to pierce it in places that were injured from the earlier explosion. The Basilisk let out a deafening wail in response to the pain, it immediately began swinging its head around as it was trying to locate the annoying past that constantly injured it. Yet as the Giant reptile was searching for the girl, it saw no trace of her. Sniff Sniff - The Basilisk began sniffing around as it caught a whiff of her, her scent, it was everywhere under it. Slam Slam Slam - The Basilisk began smashing its tail all around itself as it released more acid corrupting the soil under it. *Rumble* *Rumble* The entire crater began rumbling and shaking, as the Basilisk began slamming its tail even more frantically than before. The ground was being corrupted by its acid as well as breaking apart from its continuous slamming. Boom! - As it was slamming its tail a white like stone exploded from the ground and encased parts of its tail raising the Basilisk as it was flinging its body around, struggling to break its tail free.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. As it was struggling more white stone shot up from the ground encasing the part of its body before the head, raising the front of its body as well. Doing this left the snake with no freedom to move its body as it was raised in the air. As the Basilisk was raised, Rosalynn was shot out of the ground in front of it. Her scythe was covered with some of the white stone as she punched her fist up in the air, proud of her accomplishment. She turned her head towards the other two who were standing at the edge of the crater, Nak had twigs and leaves stuck in his hair as he gave her a thumbs up. While Preston was staring at her, his amazement clear on his face as he clapped for her. She turned her head back towards the Basislik, who was giving her a death glare as its eye was following her as she was slowly walking around it, looking up towards it as she was looking at its injuries. Knowing that the pillars might melt if she left them be, Rosalynn decided to finish this quickly. She started bringing forth pink and black mana as she got in a stance, pointing the blade towards the sky behind her. Tightening her grip once more she prepared to bring the scythe down. The Basilisk concluding that it wouldn''t be able to escape from its entanglement, shut its eye, accepting the fate that would come upon it. As Preston watched Rosalynn start to bring down her scythe hear swore he saw the hazy image of a Reaper formed from her mana floating behind her. It seemed to copy her motions as it replicated what she did. Preston turned towards where Nak was standing, noticing he was standing next to Rosalynn he let out a conceding sigh, - "How does he do that?" Nak getting next to her placed his still good hand on Rosalynn''s shoulder, opening his mouth and saying something Nak gazed at the Basilisk. Turning her head towards him, Rosalynn stood still as if contemplating what Nak said. Releasing her mana, Rosalynn stabbed her scythe in the ground as she leaned against its long handle she watched as Preston jogged over to them. The Basilisk opened its eye finding the fact that it still lived was strange. It found the even shorter creature gazing up at it, the scary girl by his side, and the other companion behind them. It thought its eyes were strange, they were not normal, yet it could not explain why. "I live, why? Explain the purp-" "How about we help each other." As the Basilisk was beginning to question their goal as Nak immediately interrupted it and got straight to the point. It decided to ignore his rudeness as its interest was peaked as its voice began to ring out tinged with its curiosity. "And what is it that you pitiful creatures can offer me?" Though curious, the Basilisk''s words were still soaked in its arrogance and its sense of superiority. Feeling the arrogance rolling off this giant danger noodle Nak chuckled as he pointed his finger towards the Basilisk. "Well, for one you''ll get to live." - Moving his finger up and towards the Titan, a knowing smile graced his lips, "And two, you''ll be able to pass this silly test of ours." Quite a bit away from Nak and the Basilisk was the other group. They seemed to be in bad shape, their clothes were dirty and ragged, luckily they had weapons, but the weapons were mediocre at best. Meaning it was practically useless against the creatures that occupied this forest. Three individuals were laying, sitting, and standing around in a clearing in the middle of a clearing in the forest. One of them was a beautiful man with grayish blue hair, he was shirtless with a blue arm sleeve that covered up to his shoulder along with some baggy dark blue pants. His upper body was covered in scars. He was leaning against a tree with his arm crossed as he was having a staring contest with the person glaring up at him. Sitting on a fallen tree was muscular with messy black hair and tanned skin, he was sitting as he was sweating he had a sword with a somewhat crescent-shaped blade stuck into the ground. he had on an orange sleeveless jacket lined with fur over a black shirt, along with some orange pants. He was glaring up at the blue-haired man as he was resting against a tree as he had a frustrated almost angry expression on his face. "What?" The man with the blue hair asked the frustrated man with a clueless expression as they continued their staring contest, hearing his question, frustrated the man even more. "What do you mean what!? This is all your fault! I told you we should have avoided it, but instead you chose to fight it, causing us to be overrun by a herd of even more Titans!" "Runaway? Like a coward? Ha, I would never do something so silly. How could you even think of something so cowardly?" "Cowardly!? There is nothing cowardly about avoiding death! You understand right, Shail?" Laying on the ground with his arms and legs stretched out was a lean man with long, somewhat spiky, golden-brown hair like a lions'' mane. He was dressed in black clothing lined with that made him look like royalty. He had a toothy grin on his face as he let out a chuckle. "What''s the point in doing something so cowardly, but I guess you can''t expect too much from a human." Hahaha - Both Shail and the blue-haired man burst out in laughter as the black-haired man was gritting his teeth in frustration, he was about to berate both of them again before Shail sat up and started stretching. "Anyways, Turner, you were the one who brought these subpar weapons from that place, did you actually work against a Titan?" Bringing this up Shail waved around a broken spear. The blue-haired man raised his foot showing his ragged boots. "I didn''t get a weapon, but these shoes you got me were pretty worthless, they already look like they''re about to start talking." "Wellll excuse me! We were kinda in a hurry know, I don''t know if you know this but there was this big serpent chasing us, and if I could recall you were barely able to harm it!" "Hey hey hey, calm down Turner. You''re gonna pop a blood vessel from all your complaining, hahaha!" "Say one more thing Sitria, and I swear to God that I''ll turn you into whale soup." "One. More. Thing." - Deciding to continue annoying the hot-headed Turner, Sitria did exactly what he knew Turner didn''t want to hear. "Alright, that''s it!" Turner shot up from the chair and pounced at Sitria. Sitria who was waiting for this prepared to fight with Turner, he charged at him as well. Shail who was on the sidelines watching them had a smile on his face. He turned to his left and spotted something flying in the sky, deciding enough was enough he smacked both of them in the back of the head. "What was that for." "Hey!" Sitria and Turner called out to Shail who interrupted Sitria''s fun and Turner dishing out his divine wrath. Not bothering to entertain their silliness any longer, Shail strengthened his grip on the broken spear. Bringing forth most of his strength in his right arm he threw it straight in the air, sending it up like a javelin towards the flying creature. After throwing it Shail continued to stare up towards the sky, waiting. - Screech! - A few seconds after the spear was thrown a deafening screech was heard as the dot in the sky quickly descended towards them. Turner - "Now you''re bringing trouble to us Shail!" Sitria - "Oh stop crying, Turner. Man up and stop being a coward. "Yes prepare yourselves, this one will be quite the troublesome foe. So how about you shut your mouth, eh Turner. Hearing both of them Turner mumbled under his breath as he pulled his curved blade out the ground, releasing his sword aura. He had an annoyed expression on his face as he focused on the falling figure. Slam! Seeing the creature that heavily landed in front of them with a bloodthirsty grin, while Shail merely had a normal grin as claws began to show themselves from his hands as fur began covering him from his hands to his elbow. "Let''s start the hunt shall we?" _______________________________________ A/N - You thought I forgot about them, but I did not! Now witness some more characters, I like them, and I hope you like them too. Noticed any mistakes? Go ahead and point them out for me. 2.3k words Titan Fall II : Stuffing Owl "Test?" Hearing Nak''s claim about passing our test, insinuating the Basilisk was included in ''our''. This confused Preston as he had no idea of what he was talking about. Why did he say the Basilisk was under a test as well? He turned his head towards Rosalynn hoping for some sort of confirmation. Noticing his look she just shook her head as she waited to hear what Nak was going to say to the Basilisk who was looking at him in confusion and interest. "How exactly do you know of our circumstances?" Observing the human child, the Basilisk watched as he had a mysterious smile occupying his face. They both stared at each other in silence as they were evaluating one another''s usefulness. As they were staring at each other they heard a loud screech in the distance. "It seems that pest has been poked" The Basilisk spoke of the source of the screech with its disdain for it practically dripping from its words. "It seems that the other group is causing trouble for the other Titans as well-" The Basilisk decided to interrupt Nak, ignoring the screech, as it let its annoyance be known. "You haven''t answered my question. How did you know?" "Who knows, I surely don''t." - Nak shrugged his shoulders as the Basilisk continued to get more agitated. Calming itself down the Basilisk "Hooo~, very well. I''ll "work" with you." Hahaha - Nak let out a cheerful laugh as he clapped his hands together. He had a relieved expression on his face, letting out a relieved sigh, he asked Rosalynn to release the Basilisk from its restrictions. "Hey, Preston." "Did you need something Nak?" "Well yes, Do you have the ability to heal?" "I do, but I can only heal creatures of Dark Affinity. So unfortunately I won''t be able to heal you." "That''s great! I never wanted to be healed in the first place, I would like it if you can heal the Basilisk. It''d be far more useful in the coming battle if he was fully healed, can you do it?" "Of course, I can do that, no problem at all!" Preston did a salute and immediately headed towards the Basilisk, turning around he turned towards Nak, "Are you sure you don''t need to be healed?" "Yes, I''m fine, go on now" Looking down at Nak''s grotesque-looking wound, Preston merely nodded his head, he turned back around and went back to head towards the Basilisk. Watching him head off, Nak plopped to the ground as he closed his eyes he tried to relax for as long as this test allowed. Rosalynn watched as Nak turned Preston away, she approached him and plopped down in front of him. Letting out a sigh Rosalynn stretched her hand out towards Nak. "Arm." Peaking open his eyes, Nak''s eyes displayed his tiredness much more when included with his eyebags, he observed Rosalynn''s stretched-out arm with a confused gaze. "What?" "Your arm, let me see it, I''ll heal it." "Ah, it''s fine, I''m fin-" "Stop being so complicated, just let me help you." Sigh - After hearing the slight irritation in her voice, Nak closed his eyes and placed his arm in front of her hand. After looking at it anyone could tell that it had gotten much worse than it previously was. As a glow released itself from Rosalynn''s hands, under her helmet she had a complicated look occupying her face as her eyes were glued to Nak''s arm. Although her thoughts seemed to be elsewhere, she continued healing him without faltering. The Basilisk, who was just having its healing finished up. It was watching Rosalynn and Nak with a curious gaze, it tilted its head towards Preston, asking him a question. "Those two," Referring to Rosalynn and Nak, Preston turned towards them before looking back at the Basilisk, waiting for it to continue. "Did they know of each other before this test?" "Not that I know of, but now that I think about it they certainly act familiar with each other." Preston watched as Rosalynn healed Nak''s arm, as he watched them Nak turned towards Rosalynn and said something, a moment later Rosalynn slapped the back of his head, face-planting him into the ground. Lifting his head from the ground he rubbed the back of his head as he seemed to be laughing, and Rosalynn was pointing her finger at him. The Basilisk and Preston looked at each other, questioning what they saw. Shaking their heads they decided to ignore them as Preston finished healing the Basilisk. As they were finishing up they heard some sounds coming towards them. Swooosh! - The sound of something speeding through the air at high speeds, along with the sound of trees crashing and breaking. Soon something zoomed past them as it slid to a halt some distance away from them. As the object attempted to stabilize itself they caught sight of what it was, Covered with cuts, claw marks, scratches, and blood with a broken spear in its'' wing was a giant bird of sorts, closely resembling an Owl.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Preston was surprised when seeing the injuries on the large owl, while the Basilisk merely observed it. Meanwhile, Rosalynn instead looked towards where it was launched from while Nak''s eye''s practically brightened when seeing the Owl. "Oh! They''re finally here." After he said that two figures rushed out from where, one was barehanded while the other was wielding a crescent-shaped blade. After they revealed themselves a golden blur dashed past them as it pounced at the giant Owl. As the blur pounced the Owl quickly swiped its right-wing, slapping it into one of the many different craters in the ground. Hahaha! - Letting out a hearty laugh, the figure that was the blur lifted itself out of the creator before stretching and cracking his neck. Being fully visible Shail had a toothy grin practically glued onto his face, he had surprisingly no injuries on his body. "Truly a worthy opponent! This is truly thrilling! Shall we continue, little birdy." - Licking the blood off his claws Shail prepared to launch himself at the Titan once again. The Owl seeing Shail lick his claws observed the wing it used to slap him and noticed it was bleeding from a new claw mark that appeared on its wing. Screeeeeech! - Letting out a bellowing, ear-piercing screech, as it flapped its wing sending out a heavy amount of wind in every direction as it lifted itself from off the ground. Raising his arms to guard his face, he was grinning maddingly as the wind pushed him back, and even started to cut him as well. "Hahaha, that''s more like it!" Shail started to get riled up as he witnessed the Owl''s display. Turner merely sighed while scratching his head at Shails words, turning towards Sitria they both nodded to each other before walking over to where Rosalynn and Nak were. Seeing them, Rosalynn turned towards Nak shaking her head at seeing his eyes filled with expectation. She squeezed his arm, which was yet to be healed, causing him to lose focus as she bent down and whispered in his ear. Nak chuckled and nodded as he waited for them to come closer, while Shail was being thrown around and laughing as he fought the Owl Titan. While Turner approached Nak and Rosalynn he continuously scrutinized both of them along with Preston, before his eyes landed on the Basilisk, who was watching Shail and the Owl with an uninterested look in its eyes. After his eyes landed on the Basilisk, Turner stopped in his tracks as he started sweating from its mere presence. Calming himself down Turner observed it for a few more seconds, walking towards Nak once again as he noticed it was currently docile, it was even chatting with the dark elf he saw earlier. Ooooh - Seeing the Basilisk, Sitria was looking on amazed as he continuously changed the angle he was looking from, "Hey Turner, isn''t that the big snake that was chasing us earlier?" "Wow, Sitria, I didn''t know it was that obvious," Turner rolled his eyes as he heard Sitria point out the obvious. Sitria started marching on over to the Basilisk as if he were about to pick a fight with it. He stopped after he took a step past Nak, taking a sniff in the air. Turning towards Nak he looked at him with about something before stopping in surprise. "A child? I didn''t think this was a daycare. That smell couldn''t have come from you, how about-" Sitria stopped himself as Rosalynn caught his eye. "You, you smell unique. Mind telling what you are?" Rosalynn simply turned her head and ignore as she began moving her hands around in a flowing motion as magic runes and magic lines began appearing in front of her. Sitria rested his arm on Nak''s head, leaning on him. Watching her preparing some magic he asked Nak something, "Hey kid, what''s she up to now?" Not bothering to remove his arm from atop his head, Nak answered him. "She''s making a barrier mister." Nodding his head, Sitria rubbed his head, before crouching down to Nak''s eye level. "Hmmm, I see. So what''s your name kid?" "The names Nak, what''s yours, sir?" "Call me Sitria kiddo, you can also call me big brother." "Ok brother!" Rosalynn, who was secretly listening flinched at Nak''s current attitude and how he was acting towards Sitria. Visibly weirded out, she stared daggers at him, as if telling him to stop acting like a child. Seeing this he quickly looked the other way and acted like he didn''t even know she was looking at him. Ugh, she grunted and finished her magic spell. Upon finishing the spell, Rosalynn''s voice wrang out for everyone to hear. "Detached from Avarice." Upon releasing those words a bubble appeared and encompassed the entire forest, it spread out and stopped just before reaching the titan that was now close enough for its shadow to begin to cover the area they were occupying. The bubble soon became transparent and invisible to the naked eye. Nak was gazing at the sky in fascination even after the bubble was no longer visible. "Is this your first time seeing magic kid, wait no you knew she was making a barrier? WHat''s with that look on your face?" "No, it''s not my first time. I just always find it truly fascinating when seeing magic." A bitter smile took hold of Nak''s face. "To be able to control the world around you is such a grand ability to possess. People with such an ability are truly blessed." Sitria raised his eyebrows when hearing Nak''s words, "You talk like you can''t use magic, kid?" Hahaha - "That''s because I can''t." "Hmm?" - Sitria looked at him, surprised, before looking at Rosalynn with a raised brow, he noticed even with her helmet obscuring her face, that she was attentively paying attention to Nak. He shrugged his shoulder, not dwelling on it. While they were talking, they tuned out the fight that was definitely being dragged on for some reason. Nak watched this fight with a deadpanned expression, it bored him, the fight was a boring back and forth between the owl and the lion. Nak''s deadpanned face suddenly lit up as if a light bulb was switched. As soon as Shail and the owl put distance between themselves Nak quickly made his way to Shail. Doing so had surely surprised Sitria and Turner, Turner was merely spectating, while Stirial tried to stop him before being intercepted by Rosalynn, who shook her head. Sitria catching sight of a child-like figure in his peripheral vision turned his gaze towards Nak who just stopped next to him."Hey kid you should st-" "Throw me!" "What?" Shail who was just interrupted was at a loss for words after hearing the child''s demand, forget being interrupted, a child just told him to throw him! "You must not b-" "Throw me!!" "...." Shail was interrupted by the boy once again. He looked at the boy, getting a clear look at his facial expression. The boy had a large smile plastered on his face, while his fists'' were constantly shaking up and down due to his contained excitement. Shwiiiiick! - Shail quickly caught two iron feathers that were thrown at him by the owl. Shail threw them back at the owl, which slapped it away with its'' wings. "Hey kid listen, you''re distracting me, just go and si-" "THOW ME!" ".... haaa. Fine then, I''ll throw you." Shail sighed as the smile he had continuously throughout the battle had disappeared. "So how do you wish to be thrown?" "Like a spear! Like a spear!" "What a strange kid. Alright then." Shail shook his head and grabbed Nak by the shirt, effortlessly lifting him, he spun around before throwing Nak with full force towards the owl. HAHAHA! - Nak was laughing loudly as he was quickly approaching the owl that was about to fly up to avoid the incoming danger. Before approaching Shail Nak had put his gauntlets back on, his aura started pouring out and around his gauntlets, sharpening the otherwise blunt tool. Seeing what Nak was doing Rosalynn facepalmed, deciding to assist him she used her mana to pull the owl back to the ground. Kiieek! - The large owl let out a loud cry when it smashed back into the ground. It started to push through Rosalynn''s mana, as it strugglingly stood back up Nak was right in its'' face. Bang! Black! Splat! - When they made contact The owl''s head was ripped in two while two fist indents appeared on both its wings. Its body was practically split in two, Nak had crashed into its stomach as the owl''s body went flying back into a tree. Hahaha! Nak''s loud laughing resounded from within the owl''s corpse. Rosalynn, Shail, Sitria, and Turner approached the body, while Preston and the Basilisk didn''t bother and continued to casually converse. Hahaha! Titan Fall III : Giants And Titans The other team and Rosalynn, who were standing around the large owl''s corpse, watched the boy covered and animal guts laughing in joy. Rosalynn kicked the corpse''s wing while speaking to Nak, "Can you come out of there already?" Hup! - Nak hopped out landing in front of Turner, who quickly backed away from him. Nak wiped his arms... not really cleaning himself off, at all. Hahaha! - Shail and Sitria began laughing as they got a good look at Nak, who was covered in guts and blood, along with bits and pieces of bones. Turner could only back away and look at Nak''s current appearance in disgust while being confused by the laughter. Rosalynn stepped to Nak in a way that displayed annoyance, when she was by his side he was looking at her, his smile not faltering at all. "Hm? Is something the problem Rosalynn?" Acting ignorant Nak pretended not to know why Rosalynn was annoyed as he smiled innocently in her direction. Looking at his innocent smile irritated her even more, putting her hands on his shoulders, she forced him to sit down, looking at his arm she sighed and also sat down as she began inspecting it once again. "I told you not to do anything reckless, your arm needed a bit more time for the healing to be complete because your body is compatible with mana and magic." Speaking to him in a worried tone she sat there gazing at his mangled arm before she began healing his arm once more. "Ah yeah... Sorry about that, guess I got too excited at the prospect of getting thrown." Nak stopped smiling as he spoke quietly. Shail, Sitria, and Turner felt awkward watching them. The two displayed a strange closeness towards one another, causing the three to not want to interrupt their conversation. As they all were there in silence they heard a loud banging. There, and then there again, the banging continued resounding throughout the area. Looking around their eyes landed on the barrier Rosalynn previously erected. The Titan that stood before it was crashing its fist against it. Fortunately, though the barrier looked to still be holding on, every time the Titan slammed its fist against it the barrier shook like the waves of water. Rosalynn who watched this quickly assessed the situation before she talked to everyone, "The barrier is currently still protecting us, but it won''t last for long, so I suggest everyone prepare. Everyone, you best try your hardest, that thing is our way out of here after all." Shail and Sitria both couldn''t hide their excitement as they stared down the Titan that towered over them like a large humanoid mountain. While Turner paced back and forth continuously mumbling to himself. "Gah! I''m going back to the Weapon Yard!" Saying this Turner ran off to try and secure a good weapon, Shail and Sitria could only shrug at him as their bodies were their strongest and most trusted weapon. "Hey Nak, why''s a kid like you doing here anyway? That was pretty entertaining what you did just now, never thought the day would come where I''d see a child get thrown at a giant owl." Sitria ruffled Nak''s hair as he watched him being healed. "So your name is Nak huh?... Now that I get a closer look at you, you''re not an actual child are you?" Shail rubbed his chin as he squinted his eyes at Nak. "What are you talking about he''s clearly a ch-" "He is not a child." Sitria who tried to refute Shail''s words was interrupted by Rosalynn''s indifferent voice as she said it was true. Looking toward the person in question, Sitria waited for what he had to say. Nak nearly shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I''m decently old, at least older than all of you," Nak answered not feeling guilty at all at the fact that he previously lied about the fact that he was a child. "As I thought, there''s no way a child would have an aura such as yours. You''re quite frightening for a human, wouldn''t you say?" Shail just laughed at Sitria''s ridiculous expression as he continued to converse with Nak. "Wait!" "No idea, I just know I''m definitely way stronger than any humans I''ve met in my life." "Wait!" "Makes sense, your strength and aura are just spectacular, you''re definitely the first human I''ve met that''s this strong." "WAIT!" "..." "..." Both Nak and Shail paused as they looked at the loud Sitria, meanwhile Rosalynn paid him no mind. They looked at him as if confused, though they have been speaking over him as he tried to talk. "No need to be so loud boy." An annoyed look took hold of Nak''s face, ticking Sitria off even more. "What do you mean!? I''ve been trying to talk, and you guys kept talking over me!. Whatever, if you were an adult, why''d you have to do that weird act and act like a child?" Sitria waited for an answer as he watched Nak who had a blank look on his face. "Because I was bored, it seemed fun." Hearing just that Sitria immediately concluded that Nak was a weird guy. "Anyways, how old are you Sitting? I''m just curious, no need to stare at me like that." Nak asked as a weird expression took hold of Sitria''s face.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "... I''m nineteen, why?" "Hmm, I see what about you Shail?" "I''m currently twenty-one." "Rosalynn?" "Twenty-six." "I see... that means I''m the oldest one here, surprising indeed." After getting their ages he let out a light chuckle towards their age differences. "Wha- Oldest? You? How old are you?" Sitria couldn''t believe a single word he said. "Uhh, I should be about twenty-nine or thirty. I''ve never had a birthday celebration so I wouldn''t accurately know." To say that Sitria was surprised would be an understatement. He didn''t want to believe that this childish shorty that looked exactly like a child was older than him. Yet, he couldn''t deny it either. What he did to the large eagle moments prior, and his lack of reaction toward blood was not something a child could do. "Sitria you need to calm down a bit, you''re starting to act Turner." While Sitria was busy being as surprised Shail was busy laughing at him. "Okay, I''ve finished. You should be able to fight for quite a while now, just be a bit careful, or who knows, your limbs might just fall off." Though her tone was indifferent there was a hint of malice behind her ''advice''. "Yes yes, I get it, I''ll be more careful." Nak merely replied in a lackadaisical manner as he looked at the cracking barrier. "Hmmm, you seem to care about Nak quite a bit, Rosalynn, why''s that?" Sitria finally decided to ask what''s been on the edges of his mind for quite a while. "..." Rosalynn stayed silent not even bothering to try and give him an answer. She stood up and gazed at the barrier that was on the brink of its life. "It''s coming," Preparing her scythe, Rosalynn''s free hand moved at fast speeds as five magic circles appeared around her. "Yep. But it hasn''t used Sky Crasher or it''s Sky Bane, so we''ll have to be prepared for that... ugh I''m so tired of this." Nak also stood as he complained a bit before he also prepared his gauntlets that were accompanied by the flash of his golden eyes. Preston hurried over to join them followed by the Basilisk slithering behind him. With a bellowing roar, Shail''s claws extended out as thickets of fur appeared, covering his hands, arms, sides, and the sides of his face. With a different type of transformation Sitria''s eyes became an oceanic blue accompanied by tribal markings depicting different sea creatures appearing on his body, as two blue lines appeared under both of his eyes. After the markings finished manifesting they all started to glow in a brilliant blue. Preston readied his blade as he coated it and himself in a dark aura, following which he hopped on the Basilisk''s head, to which the creature strangely relented. As they all stood and waited with baited breaths silence enshrouded them and their surroundings, as the large humanoid Titan stuck the barrier once more, then again, and again, and again, and again, and agai- The sound of shattering glass burst out from the broken barrier as the silence was interrupted. Following the sound of shattering glass was the sound of a large stampede, headed straight towards them. Hearing numerous steps shaking that ground under them Nak''s mood soured once more, "Well Shit." The incoming stampede brought up an enormous dust cloud, as the creatures drew closer everything in their path was being knocked down and destroyed as they brought about a massive deforestation project. Bellowing and ferocious roars sounded out from the dust cloud as large, huge figures began breaking through the veil. Large bipedal lizards, large bears, large lions, many different creatures, all multiple times larger than all the people present here. Woohoo! - With a loud and excited cheer, Shail and Sitria rushed headfirst towards the Titans, following after was Preston and the Basilisk as it slithered quickly. Nak who was occasionally peeking towards Rosalynn as if asking for permission stood there waiting. Simply nodding her head, Rosalynn let loose the magic she was casting, causing different devastating effects to take occur. Taking her nod as permission to let loose he ran off towards the others while one of her spells hit him, resulting in a noticeable increase in his aura. With the other four spells flying over and around him Nak couldn''t help but have a look of awe in his eyes. The first spell hit the ground right before the Titans, with it what came was an earthquake as the ground began to split. A red thick viscous liquid-like stream shot out in the air like a guiser, raining down on the Titans and the land melting on contact, even more lava began splurging and pouring out of the cracks. The scene before them was a true natural disaster brought about by magic. The spell that launched to the sky began vibrating and spinning in a violent vortex, speeding up the wind speed velocity, dragging in some lava as a violent wind and lava tornado formed and began ripping into the Titans accompanied by the melting force of lava. The third spell flew quite a distance away, stopping itself above the distant treeline. With its halt, the land, and nature below it began to wither, as a blue liquid was being sucked out of the surroundings. With the water being sucked from the area before being pulled to the spell an enormous sphere of water took place above the now barren and drought ground. The fourth and final spell that Rosalynn cast surprisingly went to the Basilisk, being hit with the spell the Basilisk was surprised as an empowering feeling rushed throughout its body, its body began expanding as it tripled in size, easily dwarfing the Titan''s in the stampede yet not close to being as large as the humanoid. With every spell being astronomically effective chaos wreaked the field, Shail was dashing left and right, slamming, slashing, and clawing at many Titans at once. Preston who was now on his own feet was brandishing his sword with the proficiency and skill of a master, as he precisely sliced, bisected, diced, and beheaded a few creatures. Sitria who was being assisted by Rosalynn used the water she gathered and slid across and around the many different creatures, crushing them with his bare hands. A split second later a bunch of water was pulled from the sphere and slammed to the ground, bringing about a giant wave, with it was Sitria who had transformed into a blue whale, as the wave swallowed up many Titans Sitria began slapping them around, then once again turning into his humanoid form, he easily transversed through the water, bursting through and swinging the creatures around. As the Basilisk slithered across the field, it left rows upon rows empty as it swallowed many of the Titans body''s whole. Due to its increased size, the Basilisk became an even easier target, yet as soon as the Titans laid a single hair on it poison would shoot out and crawl across their body, melting their flesh, muscles, tendons, bones, everything was melted into a disgusting black liquid. Though every one of them was busy taking care of Titans, Nak was the only one who wasn''t fighting, while on the field he was simply dodging each and every Titan as he seemed to be watching the entire field, eyes filled with amazement as he watched the havoc the others were wreaking. His eyes moved from the field to the humanoid Titan that had yet to move after breaking the barrier, but as he was watching he noticed something was happening. It was shrinking, I stopped until it was noticeably smaller. As he watched it, the arm on its back, handed the gray-scaled sword back to the main hands, its eyes once again released a red, menacing glow as its eye immediately zoned in on Nak, as if honing in on him. The humanoid Titan got in a reminiscent position with its sword, with it beginning to charge up, Nak was once again met with a scene that only his eyes seemed to see. In Nak''s eyes saw a vortex of red began swirling around the Titan before moving on to its sword, this scene that would''ve caused a commotion if seen by others progressed much quicker than it did the first time. The Titan began to swing its sword almost as soon as it started charging up the attack not giving him enough time to react. Quickly sending Rosalynn a signal, Nak covered himself in aura with barriers surrounding the others, another began to form in front of Nak yet it wasn''t fast enough. A split second later Red covered his sight with the red Sky Crasher ripping apart the land leading towards him. The others could only see the many Titans being devoured by the attack along with Nak, with only red remaining before shooting off crashing into the sky. ____________ 2.3k words