Arcana Defenders | Lore

Nikobi Cross (Part 1)

You're a wanderer and met another person that has struggled the same way you do. What would be your choice on that? Would you form an alliance with them or would you kill them?

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1325 AD, in a place, a town at the northern part of Grey Barrier, a man called Nikobi Cross prepared himself to discover the ruins of his cousin. Nikobi Cross is a marksman. His weapon is a bow & arrow and he's proficient at it. Little did anyone know that he had a curse back then that would turn him into a more powerful human being. Before he left to the ruins, a friend of his approached him.
"Hey, Cross, out for exploration?" asked his friend.
"William Willman, I'm surprised to know that you care", said Cross. His friend's name is Willian Willman. Like Cross, he's also one of the people that had a curse mark planted on them.
"Use your curse mark well only in very tough situations, man. Your curse mark is powerful but controllable. Mine however, is more powerful than yours but I really have trouble controlling it." said William, "Anyway, good luck on your journey, Cross",
"See you later, William".

Cross made the necessary preparations to go to the ruins. That was, including his bow & arrow and other necessary equipments, all that he could take. He didn't want to bring unnecessary items that would only add weight onto his body so he only brought items that he thought were enough. After he had prepared himself, he went on to the ruins.

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Still remembering the time I watched that event happen, he went to the ruins. Honestly, he would die if he's alone because my ruins had been infested with dangerous creatures since I left it.

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Cross knew that the ruins was around a very dense forest. The forest was so dense that sun light was a little bit dim because the thick leaves covered the sun's light. Unlike a runesword cave, Michael Black's ruins' entrance was always open and never hidden. Michael knew that anyone that entered it would die as the creatures were too dangerous.
After a while of walking, Cross finally found the entrance to the ruins. The area around the entrance had thick grass and that was the only thing hiding it, and it was never meant to be. The wind was blowing hard as he reached it. He knew that it would be a signal that he should be ready to enter the ruins. Michael Black invented that wind. In fact, in his early teens, Michael Black even showed a 5 year-old Cross the ruins back when he still used it. Cross remembered that wind straight away. Cross had a sad face for a moment because of the memories of how he used to spend his childhood with Michael Black. The ruins was full of moss after it hadn't been used, but it was Michael Black's secret base back then.
Soon after his thought, he quickly jumped into the ruins. The ruins wasn't directly the ruins. First, Cross had to enter a cave system sophisticatedly built by his cousin. It had been a long time since he got to the place, he couldn't memorize all of them but he still could remember some of them.
The cave system had that eerie, calm, and very quiet atmosphere. One single sound, even a rock dropping on the floor, could make anyone shake. The cave system was free of monsters because the door that led to the ruins was a special door designed to keep unwanted creatures away. Cross thought that maybe Michael Black wanted to give the explorers a feeling of insecurity before being bashed by the creatures as they get inside the ruins.

Cross passed the cave system by whatever memory he had. In the middle of the road, he heard fire. He was unsure of that fire, but he went to explore it, slowly, by walking heel to toe so that he could suppress as much noise as possible, until zero if necessary. He prepared himself by equipping his bow and inserted an arrow to the string, preparing to attack. As he got near the fire and the sound of the fire got clearer, he waited first on the side of the wall. Then, he quickly moved and aimed at the fire. What a surprise, it was actually a fireplace and no one was there. Cross made a relieved face. He knew that he had to rest, so he took over the fireplace and rested. Little did he know, a man with a sword appeared and approached him slowly. The fire flickered oddly, and Cross knew that someone was coming. Not a second after the fire flickered, the man dashed and attacked Cross. Cross guarded but he soon felt the heaviness of the blade and his arrow broke because it couldn't hold the blade's weight, so he quickly jumped out of the range.
"Who are you?" asked Cross.
"Stop stealing my question." said the man, "Why are you taking over my fireplace?"
"I found it and I needed a rest!" said Cross.
"Insufficient excuse", said the man, and he went to attack Cross again.
Cross felt that he knew the man but he wasn't sure of who the man was. There was only one thing that made Cross recognize the man.
"Wait! Hey, that sword, is a runesword, right?" asked Cross.
"Oh, so you know?" said the man.
"That rune, you must be from our town. What's your name?" asked Cross.
"You're from the town, how couldn't you recognize me?" said the man.
Cross still couldn't remember the man even if he already saw the sword as it only gave a hint of where the person was from.
"If you can't recognize me, I'll get out of here and won't assist you, man" said the man.
Cross thought for a moment, and as seconds go by, he finally remembered.
"That tone, that manner of speech, you must be...Nelson Patricia!" said Cross.
"Oh, you finally remembered me. Anyway, you're Nikobi Cross. I only pretend that I didn't know you, sorry about that", said Patty.
"Put that aside, why are you here?" asked Cross.
"I'm also exploring this place. By looking at the cave walls and the smells of the air, I believe someone was here before us." said Patty, "We shouldn't talk, let's move".