(no ones POV)
Our adventurers continued on their way to Oma island as they crossed the forest. The sun was hiding on the horizon and the night was about to start. Our adventurers were tired physically and mentally, wishing nothing more than a comfortable bed to sleep and recover energy. Amalia, who was walking in front of the group, stepped into a puddle of mud to her displeasure. That's why one regularly wears shoes during walks.
Amalia: *Grunts* Shouldn't we have gotten within sight of Oma island before it got dark?
Eva: Maybe. Not that we can see much with all these trees around!
(y/n): We are not even close to the ocean. How are we going to be even close to a island?
Ruel: Can someone tell me how we managed to get so lost?
Nora: I blame the map!
Ruel: One could think that it will be easy with a magic map, but no, every time we use it, we end up lost!
Yugo took the magic map to inspect it and find out how far away from the Oma island the group was.
Yugo: Marvellous map! Handsome and very intelligent map! How do you suggest we get out of the forest?
Grufon: Figure it out yourselves! The Iop and the crazy girl hasn't stopped insulting me!
Nora: Who are you calling crazy?!
Amalia: Well, there we are! Because of you two, we're lost and we'll have to sleep on the ground like Mush Mush! ONCE AGAIN!
Dally: Nah, don't worry about it! We just need to take a right after that tree over there.
(y/n): *Sigh* This is going to be a long trip
The night had finally fallen and our adventurers had to spend the night in the forest. They unfortunately didn't find the exit of the forest. Dally was sleeping on a group of leaves that he had put together in a pile. Amalia was sleeping on a flower that she made grownquickly with her magic. You were sleeping while you were lying on a tree. Nora was sleeping on your left side while she used your shoulder as a pillow. Eva was sleeping on your right side while she also used your shoulder as a pillow. Yugo was sleeping next to Eva and Yugo used her arm as a pillow. On the other hand, Ruel was sleeping... Well... God knows where Ruel was sleeping. But one of our adventurers wasn't having a good night.
(Nightmare)
You were in a dark room extremely exhausted. You had cuts, burns and there was blood falling from your forehead. You were kneeling on the ground while using your sword to support your weight. You tried to catch your breath but you lacked the energy to continue fighting. You were constantly panting while looking at the ground. You heard footsteps in front of you and each time their sounds became louder.
???: Are you done already?
You used the strength you had left to force yourself to look up. Your father was standing in front of you with his sword in his hand, still dripping some of your blood.
Percival: You still need more training.
(y/n): P-Please stop, I n-need to rest.
Percival put his sword in front of your face and a red light appeared on the tip of his blade.
Percival: You can rest once you fall unconscious.
*BANG*
(End of Nightmare)
(y/n): AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!
???: KYAAAA!!!
Your first reaction after waking up from that nightmare, was jumping and tackling the first figure that appeared in front of you. You were holding the dolls of the figure that was in front of you and you were also sitting on the stomach of that figure. You were taking deep breaths and there was a look of fury on your face, but your expression changed to concern when you realized that you were no longer in that dark room. It turns out that the person you had tackled on the ground was Evangelyne. She was scared and you were still pinning her to the ground. You quickly released Evangelyne and you got up from her. You looked around and saw the rest of your friends looking at you in a worried way. Yugo approached Eva and helped her to get up from the ground.
Dally: Dude, what was that about?!
(y/n): I-I'm so sorry, Eva!
Eva: I-It's fine...
Yugo: Why did you do that?
(y/n): I... I was having a nightmare and I mistaken Evangelyne with someone else.
Amalia: Are you sure it was nothing more than a nightmare? It looked more like-
(y/n): It was just a nightmare... Why did you wake me up anyway?
Nora: Smell the air and tell me what you feel.
You started sniffing the air and you felt the familiar smell of hot bread, fresh from the oven.
(y/n): Food?
Yugo: It smells like warm, fresh bread!
Nora: I hope that there are some pancakes there!
Eva: Where is Ruel?
Dally: Making us something to eat, I hope!
Amalia: I'd be surprised. When Ruel is around, it never smells nice!
Speaking of the king of Rome, Ruel casually woke up from his dream and got up from some bushes where he was sleeping.
Ruel: *Groan* I slept like a log. What about you?
The whole group looked at Ruel in the same way. Curiously, everyone thought that Ruel was hiding something... again. Probably because he wanted to save some kamas... again!
Ruel: Yes, well, anyway... The smell of bread is coming from a village that's, um, just over there.
Nora: Are you fu-
(y/n): Language!
Amalia: You mean we slept outside in this weather when there was a village just over there?!
Amalia was pulling Ruel's beard and putting him dangerously close to the fist of the enraged princess.
Dally: Ha-Ha! See? I was right! We weren't lost!
Amalia: One day, I swear I'm gonna- *Angry Amalia noises* AAAAAHHH!!!
(y/n): Welp, there is no point in crying over spilled milk, let's keep going!
Our adventurers continued with their walk and with the desire of a good hot meal towards the village. But one of our adventurers was keeping its distance from you, it seems that our favorite archer is still a little affected by what happened a few moments ago. You tried to apologize again on the way while everyone walked towards the village, but Eva simply looked away ignoring you.
(time skip)
The village was in sight and the smell of fresh bread was growing stronger with each step.
Yugo: Wow, it smells really good!
Amalia: Wheat fields! It's definitely a bakers' village.
Nora: I'm so hungry... but not for power.
Dally: Great! Let's go! I'd rather check out their bread than their fields.
*Rumble*
(y/n): Jeez Nora! I knew you were hungry, but I didn't know you were THAT hungry.
Ruel: I think it's about time for Dally and Nora to eat something. They sound really hungry. Me too!
Nora: That wasn't me!
Eva: No, for once, it wasn't them. Look over there!
In the distance, inside the village, there was a monster made of croissant that was walking through the wheat harvests of the village and destroying everything in its path.
Amalia: Err, what do you figure they're doing?
Ruel: Nothing, nothign. They are just fooling around, okay? So let's eat, we're all starving.
Ruel tried to walk back to the forest, but you stopped him while holding his wrist. Suddenly, a man with a clay oven shovel left his house and started attacking the croissant monster. But his attacks proved useless for the simple fact that he was not even using any kind of weapon.
Dally: We have to do something! That poor creature is being attacked by a crazy baker!
Dally took out Rubilax and hit him on the ground, causing the blade of his sword to increase in size. Then, Dally charged stupidly against the baker and left the rest of the group really confused.
Amalia: Wait a minute, was he serious? Because if he was, he's just reached a new level!
Eva: No, I actually think he was joking for once!
Just before the baker could attack the monster again with his shovel, Dally jumped in front of him and cut the baker's shovel with his sword.
(y/n): Welp! Congratulations Dally, you graduated like an idiot with a level of stupidity of one hundred!
Ruel: Are you sure you wanna help out, you guys? Only no one's seen us yet, we could still sneak off...
???: *Whisper* Pssst! Master (y/n)!
(y/n): Hmm?
You saw the holster of your sword shine with a blue light and you began to panic. This means that Atlas has a new message from the abyss. To gain a little time, you hit the holster of your sword, right where the fire symbol of Atlas is.
???: AUCH!!!
Ruel: Did you say anything, (y/n)?
Ruel and Az were still standing at your side, both of them looking at you with curiously.
(y/n): I-I didn't say anything at all my friend!
Ruel went to help the others to face the monster and the... strange ninja that was on top of its head? This world is really confusing, even for the narrator. Anyway, you stayed behind at the entrance of the village. Then, you let Atlas out of your sword holster to talk with him.
Atlas: Why did you hit my face, master (y/n)?!
(y/n): Of all the moments that you could choose to communicate a message, you chose the worst!
Atlas: You know how the king Percival is, things must be done at the moment he wants... Otherwise, fire will rain from the skye... Again.
(y/n): For the love of- Listen to me, moron! No one, And I mean NO ONE, must find out where we come from! If that were to happen, then things would get really ugly. I don't want the "destroyer" to visit this world.
Atlas: Don't say that name!
(y/n): And exactly HOW do you want me to call that thing then?
Atlas: Emm... Fair point.
???: Aaaahhh! The grainstore! We have to save it! It's full of golden wheat!
You looked at the direction of the cries for help and saw a barn that was on fire. You abruptly put Atlas inside the holster of your sword and started running towards the fire. You jumped into the air and with your elemental magic, you created a water blast to extinguish the flames. Although you managed to put out the flames, the structure had been weakened too much by the fire and couldn't hold up its own weight anymore. Unfortunately, the whole barn collapsed. You regrouped with the others and you couldn't help but feel bad for the poor baker.
Yugo: Why did you attack the baker?
Dally: Hmm? Uh, I don't know! He looked more dangerous than the other one!
Nora: Bakers are the best friends of the woman!
(y/n): Eh?
Eva: I'm sorry for the burning arrow.
Baker: No, you did the right thing. Without your help, the monster would have destroyed everything!
Baker's Wife: How can we thank you? What about breakfast, would you like that?
Nora: Yes! YEEES!
You gave Nora a soft smack on her head. She held the top of her head in anger while pouting.
(y/n): I apologize for my friend. She lack some manners sometimes.
(time skip)
What was happening now was the best thing that happened to our adventurers in a long time. In front of them, there was a table full of all kinds of bakery groceries just made. The holor of hot bread with jam, jelly and other sweets completely filled the room. Each one of our adventurers was eager to get their hands on such a delicious food. Everyone sat down at the table and began to eat happily the food. Dally took a big piece of French bread with jam and completely buried his face in the delicious bread.
Eva: Dally, you're so rude! Don't you have any manners?
(y/n): Tell me about it.
Eva looked at your direction for a second and despite still being a bit annoyed with you, she couldn't help but giggle a little at what she was looking at. You were with a plate and a pair of silverware, carefully cutting the bread. But at the same time, your face was being constantly pecked by a large piece of bread that Nora was trying to eat in a single bite. After seeing that, Eva took a big piece of bread like Dally's did and began devouring it borazely. But somehow, she managed to prevent the jam from staining her face. You looked at how Eva was eating while you put a piece of food in your mouth with a fork and raised your eyebrow asking yourself "how does she do that?".
Yugo: I've never eaten such a delicious bread! At the inn, the only that my father didn't know how to make was a good bread...
(y/n): Well, there are plenty of ways to-
Ruel: Well, at least you didn't have to be the guinea pig when he first tried making some, right?!
(y/n): *Tsk* Okay...
Yugo: Why did that ugly little dwarf attack you?
The baker named Xav, who introduced himself to your group after all of the group entered his home, reluctantly answered what he suspected.
Xav: He wanted to stop me from taking part in the competition, of course!
Xav's wife: Every five years, the village organises a competition to see who makes the best bread. The winner gets to take theirs to the king of Bonta himself!
Yugo: Well, I'm definitely gonna vote for you, Xav!
(y/n): Yugo... the grainstore...
Yugo: Er, you are gonna take part, aren't you?
Xav: I've got no chance of winning without my golden wheat flour. Normal flour just wouldn't cut it. That stale old crouton has really messed things up!
Xav's wife: That's ridiculous! Seriously, Xav you don't really believe that Ratweasel was controlling that monster?
(y/n): Who?
Xav: Oh yeah? And why not?
(y/n): *Tsk* Okay... just keep ignoring me...
Xav: He'd do anything to be the best baker in the village! If you remember, he hatched a little scheme so he could get his hands on the purset water in the whole region. He knows perfectly well that the quality of bread depends entirely on the quality of the water used to make it! But this time, he won't get away with it, I'll-
Xav tightly pressed a piece of hard bread in his hand with frustration, causing it to break and frightening his son. Xav's baby began to cry uncontrollably for the sudden loud noise. Meanwhile, Xav's daughter was looking through the window and saw someone approaching the house with a carriage
Xav's daughter: Oooh! It's grampa Ratweasel!
Xav's daughter ran out to greet her grandfather, with an enraged Xav not far from her. The others went out to see what was going to happen outside Xav's house. You were about to get up, when once again, the holster of your sword began to shine with a blue light.
(y/n): You have got to be kidding me!
Atlas came out of the holster of your sword and stayed levitating in front of you. An angry look was engraved on his face, and in his mind, he wanted more than anything to go back to the abyss and say goodbye to his work as a messenger.
(y/n): *Sigh* Now what?
Atlas: First of all, never put me in the seal like that EVER again, master (y/n)! Second, I'm afraid that King Percival is insisting too much on communicating with you. It would be better if you find a place to answer his call! Because guess what, I don't want to be punished because of you!
Atlas, furiously, went back into the holster of your sword, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You walked out of the house and you had to think about how you could evade the current situation to answer the call of your king. It seemed that you spent hours in your thoughts, because when you noticed, Ruel had dragged you to a group meeting to decline the desires of Yugo to help Xav.
Ruel: There we go, getting to know the guy, I bet you that in two minutes, he'll be over here, going, "hey guys, what do you think about lending a hand to someone who really needs our help?".
Dally: What, and help him bake bread?! No, thanks, I'd rather get some fighting done!
Amalia: And what then? We'll end up solving the problems of every single village before we know it!
(y/n): Right now, I have a "call" to attend with a "royal" duty.
Nora: Royal?... Uh-Oh.
Eva: *Whispering* Watch out, he's coming!
Ruel: *Whispering* Ok, no look. This time, we don't give in. Stick together.
Yugo approached the group and each one of them was ready to refuse the obvious proposal to help others from Yugo.
Yugo: Hey guys, what do you think about lending a hand to someone really needs our help?
Nora: Every word... Ruel knows how to read minds...
(y/n): Nora... *Sigh* I don't care right now...
In response to Yugo's request, everyone else looked to another direction, in an attempt to evade guilt and responsibility. With the exception of you, that you were simply with your arms crossed while shaking your head in a no manner. What everyone didn't know, is that Yugo had special powers to change people's minds!
Yugo: If we help Xav, we could have a real bath and sleep in a proper bed.
Amalia had disappeared from the group, reappearing next to Xav, while she was hugging his arm in a... very affective way...
Yugo: And, maybe make a little money by selling some of his bread.
Ruel disappeared in the same way as Amalia, and reappeared next to Xav, patting the back of the expert baker.
Yugo: But I'm warning you, it's probably gonna be super dangerous. Apparently, there are monsters *whispering* and they're big ones!
Dally disappeared from the group, reappearing along with the others, while holding Xav on his shoulders. Now there were only three people left to refuse Yugo's proposal.
Yugo: Pancakes!
Nora appeared with the others, holding both Xav and Dally over her shoulders.
Yugo: So, what do you say?
Eva: And what about me then? Don't get I a little sentence to win me over?
Yugo: Nah, it wouldn't work on you, you'd never fall for that!
Eva: He's figured me out.
Yugo: And what about you, (y/n)?
(y/n): There's nothing you can say for me to change my mind.
Yugo: Pretty pleeeease!!!
(y/n): No.
Yugo: Why not?
(y/n): Look, I would normally love to help someone who needs it. But at this moment, I have to do something really important or I will have problems in the future.
Yugo: And what do you have to do?
(y/n): Emmm... LOOK, A DISTRACTION!!!
You went running while Yugo looked in another direction. Honestly, you were wondering how that old trick did even work. But now, first things first, you needed to find a place to answer the call of the king.
(Time skip)
Xav's wife took Amalia and Eva to the wheat field of the farm. That unfortunately, was completely crushed by the attack of that monster.
(Mecha: This is the name of Xav's wife and just now I found out her fucking name! T.T)
Helen: Xav makes his bread out of golden wheat flour. It's a very rare wheat, of unmatched quality. We... have enough grain for two attempts.
Eva: Don't worry, Helen. Amalia is a sadida princess. If anyone can help you, she can!
Amalia began to focus her powers on the grain seeds, this caused the seeds to begin to float in the air and the wind to blow with force.
Amalia: I need some water, Evangelyne, but not too much.
Eva: Leave it to me!
Eve shot an arrow with her bow to the clouds, causing a little rain on top of the grain seeds in which Amalia was applying her powers. Amalia was working hard with her powers, and she got some flowers to grow around her. Although, unfortunately, the energy consumption that Amalia required was too much. This caused that Amalia lost her concentration and that the flowers that did grow with her magic died. Amalia was about to fall on the ground, but Evangelyne caught her before that happened.
Amalia: I'm sorry! I-It's too hard. I can't do it.
Eva: I believe in you. I know you can do it!
But something interesting happened after that. Eva saw you walking towards the forest, with the little fire spirit, Atlas, flying by your side. Curiosity seemed to bring out the best in her and she decided to follow you. But obviously, not without first asking Helen to take care of Amalia for a moment.
(Your POV)
Atlas and I are already far enough from the village to be able to speak freely. It's good that Nora did not follow me. If Percival saw her, it would indicate that I'm not fulfilling his orders, that would bring great consequences for everyone around me.
Atlas: Are you ready for this?
Me: Just... *sigh* start the communication!
Atlas took the shape of a circle of fire and in the center, the image of Percival appeared. He, as usual, has the same stupid expression of indifference on his face.
Me: Greetings, my king.
Percival: What is the status of your mission?
Me:... In progress...
Percival: Well, that doesn't matter at the moment. I have a request for you.
Me: A request?
Percival: I understand that you are traveling with an Eliatrope by your side, right?
Me: Yes?
Percival: Good! Now, I want you to kill him.
Me: My king, if you allow me to give my opinion I can-
Percival: Did I ask for your opinion?
Me: N-No, my king.
Percival: Then save your opinions for you and follow my orders!
Me: Yes... My king.
Percival: Good, I'll be waiting for results.
(No ones POV)
Atlas returned to its original form and approached you with caution. He could feel the fury growing inside you. There was a dark aura surrounding your body and it was slowly growing.
Atlas: Master (y/n)?
(y/n): RAAAAAH!!!
You struck a tree near you with your fist covered in darkness, the moment the darkness of your hand came into contact with the tree, it turned the old oak into ashes instantly. You were taking deep breaths to calm yourself down.
*CRACK*
Both you and Atlas turned in the direction of the sound and heard the footsteps of someone running, with each step, moving further and further away from you two.
(y/n): Someone found us!
Atlas: Whoever it is, it must be eliminated!
(Evangelyne POV)
I can't believe this! (y/n)... wants to kill Yugo? Does that mean that (y/n) was lying to us all this time? Anyway, I need to get with the others and warn them of (y/n)'s true colors. I'm running through the woods back to the village, but I could hear a few steps behind me and they were getting closer and closer. Before I could move forward, a stone wall appeared in front of me. I didn't have time to climb it or knock it down. I took out my bow and aimed it in the direction from which the footsteps were coming. But to my surprise, the first thing to appear behind me was the spirit of fire, Atlas.
Atlas: So you were the one who put her nose where she shouldn't!
I shot Atlas an arrow of light, but it went through his body without causing any damage.
Atlas: Prepare to die!
???: Don't you dare, Atlas!
(y/n) appeared behind Atlas walking towards me. I shoot an arrow at (y/n)'s feet to stop him from walking towards me.
Atlas: But master, she saw the abyss and the king! This insolent elf knows too much for us to let her go! You must eliminate her!
(y/n): Try telling me one more time what to do and I will send you back to the abyss with a kick! Now, Eva... put the bow down.
Me: No! The moment I lower my bow, you will take advantage and try to kill me in the same way you want to do it with Yugo!
(y/n): That's a lie I told my father, I don't want to kill Yugo!
Me: And how do I know if I can trust you?!
(y/n): Because I'm your friend... and it is for that reason, that I am doing what is in my hands to keep you safe from... the dangers of my world.
His world? What does that mean? Before I could ask myself more things, the wall behind me went back inside the earth and I saw (y/n) throwing his sword to the ground.
(y/n): If you don't want to trust me, I understand. But please, don't tell anyone about this or the consequences will be terrible for everyone. But if you want to trust me, I will tell you everything. Where I come from, my mission, and the reason why I'm lying to my father.
(no ones POV)
There was tension in the air. Eva continued aiming her bow towards you, but you stayed firm and without showing any sign of wanting to stop her. Atlas looked at the situation cautiously, waiting for the worst to happen. But suddenly, Eva lower her bow and stopped aiming her bow at you. Atlas relaxed and let out a sigh in the form of smoke.
Atlas: If the king finds out about this, I'll spend the rest of my days inside a lamp, granting wishes to stupid people.
Eva: You better give me a good explanation!
(y/n): *Sigh* There is a place called the abyss. It was in that place where everything began, where the magic was born... only to be separated and create the biggest war in existence. The forces of light and darkness brought destruction everywhere! This war never stopped and everyone was dying... Until one day, the abyss knights appeared, bringing the order and balance that everyone wanted.
Eva: Balance?
(y/n): The forces of light and darkness could not rejoin, the only thing we could do, was to maintain a balance between their forces. In other words, intervening when one of those two forces was breaking the balance somewhere in space time.
Eva: So... You and Nora...
(y/n): We both are knights... Well... she is still in training.
Eva: And what about your mission? Was that a lie?
You began to tell Eva the true objective of your mission. That it wasn't to recover the eliacube, that your goal was to destroy it. You also told Eva that your motive to come to this world, which was to protect your brother, it wasn't a lie. You two continued talking for a few minutes, you telling Eva the whole truth... or at least what she needed to know. There was a moment where Atlas got tired of waiting and went back into the sheath of your sword. When you finished telling Eva everything, she remained silent, assimilating the information.
(y/n): That's pretty much it. So, what do you think?
Eva: It's... a lot of information to be assimilated. The fact that our world is nothing more than a fraction of the very existence is amazing! But, It is also very worrying to know that we are watched all the time by your people.
(y/n): Eva, You must keep quiet about my little secret.
Eva: Or else your father will destroy the world?
(y/n): Yep! He is a complete jerk!
Eva: I promise you that I will not say anything to others, but you should know that there will be a moment where you will have to tell them the truth.
(y/n): I know. But after how you reacted, you must understand that it is not something easy to say.
Eva: Either way, we need your help with the grain seeds. Amalia is having problems and maybe with your magic you can help her.
(y/n): Then let's go now, before something else goes wrong.
(time skip)
You had arrived with Eva where Amalia was. Now also Nora was there, because she said she got tired of helping Ruel and Dally. You were inspecting the ground, specifically in the areas where the monster of that ninja had stepped. Just as you thought, the monster ruined the earth and made it difficult for plants to grow in those areas. You placed a hand on the ground and began to use your magic to rearrange the earth beneath you, making it easier for the plants to make their way to the surface and for the roots to expand easily.
(y/n): Okay girls, try now!
Evangelyne shot an arrow towards the clouds in the sky, causing a small rain. Amalia began to focus her magic again on the grain seeds. Only this time, her magic began to pay off and several golden wheat plants began to grow from the ground.
Nora: Hey (y/n), can I ask you something?
(y/n): Yes.
Nora: What were you doing in the forest with Evangelyne?
(y/n): W-Well...
Nora: What did you do?!
(y/n): W-We talk about-
Helen: Great job. It's perfect!
You were saved by Helen, while she ran happily through the golden wheat harvest and distracted Nora.
Eva: Great! You're a real sadida princess, Amalia!
Helen: Now we just need to put this through the mill, and we'll have our flour!
(time skip)
Nora: Why are we here again?
It was still daylight and our other adventurers went to the village competition to help Xav. But for some reason, you asked Nora to stay with you near Xav's house.
(y/n): Nora, do you remember our agreement?
Nora: ... If you promise not to ask anything about it, then yes, I remember everything about it...
(y/n): For the love of- YOUR TRAINING!
Nora: Ohhhh! Yeah, I remember that! Wait, are we starting now?!
You took your sword from its holster and pointed it towards Nora, your eyes shone with a strong blue color and the wind began to act more violently.
(y/n): Nora Valkyrie, prepare yourself to become a knight!
AAANNNDDD DONE!!!
Or not?
(small advance of the next chapter)
(Nora POV)
I don't know where I am! There are only flying islands everywhere and the sky always stays shining with a golden light. Is this the abyss?
???: You seem a little lost, do you need help?
Nora: Who... are you?
???: Let's just say that...
???: I'm a friend.