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Archives: Liberation of Ales

Chapter 1: What is Myrii’s Plan?

    What was a warrior without a quest? After coming to gain possession of his inheritance, Niklas had felt a great deal of accomplishment. Indeed, he had finally gained every thing he needed to forge his own destiny, but it hadn’t taken to long too figure out that he had no idea what that would be.

    While he had taken the blade, and began to further hone his skills to gain experience with it, the land was at peace. His mother had always taught him how to fight, but in a peaceful land, that left few avenues. The others had chosen to follow their own paths, and he was left with little consul. Finally, it occurred to him. While his mother had told him titles given by others were meaningless, someone had called him one. Indeed, while he had thought it weird, someone had taken notice of something he had done, and it was a negative thing. When he had been attacked on the road with his companions, they had accused him of theft; he had done something in Flaim that disputed his own honor... but what could it have been? There was little choice; he would discover what had happened, and would make it right. Even if it was a brief diversion, it was one none the less.

    “Hey,” Lianora said, nudging Niklas from across the table. “What’s on your mind?” Though the rest of the group had disbanded, Lianora had stayed with Niklas to make good on her promise to bless his sword. She had gotten what she wanted from him the night before, but there was much more she could teach him. Myrii priests needed a hero to follow, and perhaps he was hers. At least that’s what she’d tell everyone.

    Giving a few blinks, Niklas was brought out of his reverie by Lianora. She had stayed with him, and he was still a bit confused. Especially after last night. “Oh, just thinking about our trip. Those individuals called me some title which I have not really heard before. They did try to kill me, so I think I did something wrong, and I will have to make amends.” Frowning, he took into consideration what it could have been. Maybe they were sore he had beaten their comrades in a practice match? It must have had to do something with that. “I know I’ll have to go back to Flaim, but I’m not sure what for. I can’t move on until I take care of all things in the past... this is just one more of those, I think.”

    Lianora thought back to the encounter with the Flaim soldiers on the road to Shinning Hill. “The Crimson Flash,” Lianora said. “It sounds as if you impressed them to gain a name like that. They also called you a thief. What might you have stolen?”

    “My master always said that names were meaningless, and often missed the point entirely,” he said, thinking about it. Niklas could understand his sword style, which put emphasis on raw speed, could be deemed ‘flashy’, but his own attire didn’t have a bit of red on it. “A thief... I can’t say I totally understand things, so I might be that and not know it. I think I might know what.... The person at that time was very angry at me, and I had a sparring match with two guards over it... at least I think it was a sparring match...”

    My, he is so incredibly na?e, Lianora thought. “I think that they were probably trying to arrest you rather than ‘spar’ with you,” she replied with a chuckle. “Do you know why he was angry?”

    “You think so? But their form was so rudimentary...” the young swordsman said. But then again, a lot of people had rather lax styles, he would have been beaten if he had shown that to his master. “I’m not really sure. He had a very thick accent, I could only understand ‘exotic’ and ‘fruit’. It was a bit tangy, but I was very hungry at the time. His shouting did bring a bit of a crowd, I was very confused at the time. When the guards came, I had thought it was some custom that I didn’t really understand.”

    Lianora sighed. “Well, it sounds like you stole some fruit,” she replied. As na?e as he was, he probably wouldn’t understand why taking a piece of fruit was such a bad thing. “Fruit you see on the market is not the same as fruit you pick off a tree. A farmer grows a lot of fruit, then sells it in a market. The money he gets allows him to take care of his family, harvest the next crop, and sell it again. That’s why you need to pay.”

    “So, I wronged several people when I took the fruit...?” Niklas asked, suddenly becoming more wide-eyed than normal. Looking down, he frowned. His honor was tarnished... Which meant he would have to go back, but first he would need to get money. At least he had Lianora to ask just how. “I have to go back... but first, do you know any way that I could gain money?”

    He is willing to go that far out of his way to make amends for a stolen fruit? Lianora was impressed. In his na?ety, he showed the beginnings of a great hero. His mother had given him good morals, he just had to test them in the real world. Perhaps her own lapse morals had actually worked in Myrii’s will. Niklas needed someone to guide him.

    “Well, you could become a mercenary,” Lianora replied. “You’ll make more than enough to pay back a stolen fruit, and hopefully enough to sustain yourself in your travels. However, you will need some guidance in picking the right jobs. Some mercenary are not always on the right side of the gods.”

    “A sell sword?” Niklas blinked in surprise. He hadn’t ever thought of that. He had always treated his talents as art, to be perfected as much as humanly possible, and to train one’s body as the perfect weapon. Whether or not he used the weapon was another story. As a mercenary, it would certainly be a test of how sharp he was at the moment. “I will adhere to Myrii’s will, and I only ask if you’ll tell me of jobs you find suspicious. I hate to ask more of you, but where might I... start?”

    “Well, we’ll have to find the local guild, then get you registered,” Lianora explained.

    “Well, when you’re ready, I suppose we should go,” he said, a bit happy. Niklas now had a bit of a direction, and a possible way to hone his swordsmanship. Still, he knew he had a long way before he could become to comfortable.

    “Oh, well, I’m ready now if you want to go,” Lianora replied. “I’m not entirely sure where Shinning Hill’s guild is, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find.” The priestess moved behind Niklas and laid her hands on his shoulders. She had a hard time keeping her hands off him since the night before.

    “Alright...” he said, realizing her hands were on his shoulders. After last night, and the events of it, he had been eager to explore his sexuality once more. If she was interested, he wasn’t going to pass on the chance. “We don’t have to be in a hurry though. We still have the room for a little bit longer, do you want to make sure we have all our items?”

    Lianora was puzzled for a moment, was his suggestion purely innocent, or was he trying to steal her away for another moment of intimacy? Lianora doubted it from him. “Sure,” she replied. Trailing her fingers along his shoulders, Lianora walked back towards the stairs.

    Following Lianora up the stairs, Niklas watched her move with great interest. As they approached the door, he opened it for her, and moved in right after her... and he made sure to lock the door as he followed her in.

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