Burst_Swords to the Skies Read online

  "You can do it!" said Spica.

  The king nodded.

  I looked at the portal, I breathed in and out. I nodded my head.

  "Bye"

  I entered the portal that leads to the world of Gayala. My new adventure has begun!

  XFire 6: Arrows

  "Hey"

  I heard a voice of a girl. My eyes were still closed. I just got through the portal.

  "Hey"

  I heard it again. She was calling me, most likely. I opened my eyes.

  It was a young girl, she was a bit taller than Spica. Her hair was blonde, her hair reached her shoulders. Her clothes were green and white in color. Her eyes were blue like the ocean. She had a quiver full of arrows on her belt.

  "You must be Cel Alt, right?"

  "Yes, I am Cel Alt. Nice to meet you"

  "I'm Ayla. I'll be you're partner in this world"

  "Umm... Ok. Where are we?"

  "We're in the palace. I wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for the king"

  "So... What do we do now?"

  "I don't know. I just want to leave this place. Though, you could use some weapons and armor... You know what, I'll take you to the weapons center. Follow me"

  "Ok"

  We left the palace and headed to the weapons center. It was located near the city. The weapons center looked cool and clean.

  "Have you ever used a bow before?" asked Ayla.

  "No, I never used one before"

  "Hmm... How about getting a crossbow?" she said pointing at the crossbow.

  I had no idea about bows because I have been fighting with a sword since the beginning!

  "I don't know about that..." I replied.

  "Come on! You need at least one long ranged weapon!"

  "I think I'll take the crossbow..."

  "Ok! Let's go and get you some armor then"

  We walked to the armor section. I saw many kinds of armor there.

  "So... What would you use as your main weapon then? You're not using a bow that much anyway"

  "I mainly fight with swords..."

  "You need to get real close for that! Are you sure?!"

  "Yea" I said as I drew out my Lucinar.

  "Everyone has a different fighting style anyway. You'll get a metal chestplate and maybe some pads..." she said as she picked the armor for me.

  "Here you go!" she said handing me the stuff.

  "Umm... What's the currency here?"

  "Zetta. Don't worry, we can convert Cies into Zetta"

  "Phew..." I said in relief.

  We went to the counter to pay for the stuff. Ayla picked up some arrows.

  "2, 500 Zetta, please"

  "In Cies?"

  "It translates too... 250 Cies"

  "Here you go"

  "Thank you!"

  After Ayla paid for her arrows, she dragged me to another room.

  "Where are we going?!"

  "The training center!"

  We entered the training center, it was connected with the weapons center.

  "Phew!*"

  I saw people shooting at moving targets. The targets move randomly and respawn in random locations.

  "Let's go!" said Ayla.

  She pushed me to a training booth.

  "Press that button and it will start your training"

  "Ok" I said as I took out my crossbow and some arrows.

  I pressed the button. A counter stated to count down the time to start.

  "3"

  "2"

  "1"

  "Go!"

  The target appeared. I tried to shoot it but missed.

  "Target ahead of the target. You have to predict where the target will go"

  I listened to her advice. I tried to predict its movement. "Annnnd... Now!" I thought.

  "Biiiing!*"

  "First one!"

  "Biiing!*"

  "Nice!"

  "Biiing! Biiing! Biiing!*"

  After practice, i went to wear my armor. After wearing it.

  "That looks hardcore on you!"

  "Heh..."

  I put the crossbow next to my quiver on the right. My scabbard was on my left. I had a metal chestplate, a pair of shoulder pads and a pair of knee pads.

  We left the weapons center after buying our stuff. I am finally fully equipped with the thing that I need. I just wasn't as good at using the bow yet.

  XFire 7: Ambushed

  We were walking to the palace, it was sunset by that time. The world was slowly moving into the darkness of night.

  "Its been quite a day, don't you think?"

  "Yea, thanks for giving me those shooting tips. They were quite helpful"

  "You're welcome!"

  The place was quiet. The sun was setting at its slow pace. I was hoping to reach the palace before night.

  "Pheww!*"

  An arrow was shot at us but missed. I saw the arrow stuck in the ground not far from me.

  "We're getting ambushed! Split up! Meet up here soon!"

  "A-alright!"

  I ran off to the nearby pillars. The pillars were quite old. It seemed to be from an old building.

  "Phew!!!*"

  An arrow passed by me. It was close, I saw the person who sniped me behind the bushes in the nearby forest.

  He shot again, I hid behind the pillar. It was quiet after that. "He must be waiting for me to come out" I thought.

  "I should be able to block these arrows with my sword. I should cut them in mid air.

  I took out an arrow from my quiver. I wanted to trick him into shooting his arrow. He would have to take another after he shoots the arrow, hoping that he is slow at reloading his arrows.

  I tossed my arrow to the side.

  "Phe-"

  "Time for my move" I thought. I got out of hiding and started to charge at him. He panicked, he fumbled when he was reloading.

  I drew out my sword, I was ready to block his arrows. He shot his arrow.

  "Phe-"

  I hit it with my sword. The arrow got blocked by my swing.

  It has been a long time since I last used Lucinar in a real fight. The last time I used it was in a battle with a fellow guard for practice.

  The man had three more arrows ready in his hand. He reloaded and shot again. I slashed it to the side. He reloaded again, and shot it at me. I sliced his arrow to pieces.

  I jumped at him before he could shoot his last arrow. I hit him in the head with my handle. He fell unconscious.

  I left him alone. I didn't feel like killing him. He wasn't the man I was after. Though I'm sure that Ayla was shooting at them with no mercy.

  XFire 8: Attacked

  We were ambushed by an unknown gang. I didn't kill the man who tried to shoot me. I didn't think he was of any use to me.

  "These guys must be ambushing us to get weapons and money" I thought. "They were random, they have no connection to the guy I am after. Well, I think so. This should be enough to teach them a lesson. Don't mess with me" I thought some more.

  I saw Aylus on the other side. She was having a bow fight with two guys. I thought that I should help out. "This guy on the left wasn't that far away from me. I'll get him" I thought.

  I took out my crossbow and aimed at him. "Time to test this out this crossbow" I thought. The guy noticed me, he tried to shoot me but I dodged the arrow.

  I went to hide behind a rock. I wanted try again. I quickly stood up and shot at him.

  "Gahh!"

  He was hit on the shoulder. He looked angry. He took out a different bow. The bow looked like it could rapid fire many arrows at once.

  I sat down to hide again. "I won't get a chance to shoot if he is using that thing. I gotta use my sword to knock him out of this fight" I thought.

  I put my crossbow back on my belt and drew Lucinar out. I was ready to come out but I knew that he was ready to shoot me.

  "Here goes nothing" I thought. I got out of hiding.

  "Phephephephew!!!*"

  I was slashing very rapidly. Al
l of the arrows got deflected.

  "Woah!"

  He knew that he was in trouble. He was trying to reload as quickly as he could. I knew that he had no chance against me.

  I twirled in the air. He was confused when he looked back because I was missing from sight.

  I landed behind him. He was surprised and shocked to hear me.

  "You have no chance... Next time, don't you dare mess with us" I said as I was standing behind him. He didn't dare to look back.

  "Let this become a lesson for you. Nighty night" I added.

  I hit his head with Lucinar. He fell unconscious. He should have learnt a lesson from me.

  //Ayla's POV//

  I saw Cel slashing through the rain of arrows easily. It was as if it was nothing to him. His skill must be high. His experience should be higher too.

  The rain of arrows stop because his opponent was reloading his arrows.

  Cel jumped and twirled in the air gracefully as his opponent just finished reloading. He had a brilliant strategy, to me.

  He didn't even end that guy's life. It seemed like he just hit him in the head, rendering his opponent unconscious.

  "Phew!*"

  "Ugh, damn you. I should not have spaced out thinking about minor things yet. Gotta focus on the fight" I thought.

  I continued to fight my opponent.

  XFire 9: Unknown

  //Cel's POV//

  I stood there, my unconscious opponent was on the ground. He was grounded.

  I saw that Ayla was still fighting her opponent. It has been quite a long bow fight. I thought that I should go and help her.

  "Are you him?"

  I heard a creepy and deep voice coming from behind.

  "Him?"

  I jumped forward and looked back. I saw a man wearing a black robe. His face was covered by a mask. The mask looked like a cracked skull. I couldn't see his eyes.

  "Are you Cel Alt?"

  "How did he know my name?" I wondered. I was scared, my heart was beating really fast. I felt like this guy was bad news.

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "Are you Cel Alt, the knight who originated from Cielo?"

  He definitely knows who I am. He was just asking for the heck of it!

  "Those sword skills, that sword..." he added.

  "I don't know what you mean"

  "Hmph. Never mind. I already knew who you are"

  "I knew it!" I thought. He could also tell my reaction to question.

  He walked up next to me and said "You're on my murder list. I'm looking forward to a good fight, don't let me down"

  He left the area in a puff of black smoke. I was suspicious of him. "Could he be... Zeynox?!" I wondered.

  I was really afraid because I wouldn't know what he would do. I expected him to do a surprise attack during the talk or something. I was kinda relieved that he didn't do anything, but felt guilty that I let him go.

  //Ayla's POV//

  I finally ended the bow fight between me and my opponent. I saw Cel standing a bit further from the last time I saw him. He was also facing the other way.

  I went to regroup with him.

  "Hi! I'm done at last"

  He didn't respond. I looked at his face, he looked terrified.

  "Hey, snap out of it already! You look like you just saw a ghost or something else that's equally scary"

  "Zeynox... Zeynox... He talked to me... I'm on his list..."

  "Huh?!"

  I was confused. He seemed to be horrified from seeing Zeynox. Well, that's what I think he said. To clarify, I asked him "Did Zeynox come here, physically?".

  "Yes... He didn't attack me or anything but I was scared of him. I didn't know what he'll do next"

  "We gotta tell the king this information"

  "Yea, let's go back to the palace"

  XFire 10: Who

  //Cel's POV//

  We rushed back to the palace. We wanted to tell the details about Zeynox.

  We entered the throne room of the palace. The king was there.

  "Ah, Cel. You've arrived!"

  "I actually arrived this morning, Your Majesty. Ayla and I went to the weapons center to get me some equipment. We were ambushed by a random gang on the way back. I was confronted by who I think is Zeynox"

  "Zeynox???!!!"

  "Yes, Zeynox. He even knew who I am. He didn't do anything to me. But he stated that I was on the murder list"

  "This is bad... What did he look like?"

  "He wore a black robe that covered him from head to toe. He had a cracked skull mask to cover his face"

  "We couldn't tell who he is from just that"

  "At least we know what he looks like. If we were in a bar with that guy, at least we know its him and not get killed" said Ayla.

  "True" replied the king.

  "Well, this was quite useful information. You two are doing a fine job. I'll inform the guards to be aware of a man dressed up like that" the king added.

  "We have to hope that he doesn't change his outfit" I said.

  "Yes. You may go to your rooms. Ayla, you're sleeping in the palace tonight. Guards, guide them to their rooms"

  "Will he change his outfit? He might want us to know how he looks so that he can have a fight with me" I thought.

  Our rooms were across from each other, we decided to talk before going to bed.

  "We'll have breakfast first tomorrow" said Ayla.

  "Yea, I think we should go to the scene of the crime tomorrow"

  "The bar?"

  "Yes, let's search for some more clues there"

  "We should have the guards to accompany us. It should be boarded up. And I think that it is safer to have them around"

  "Alright, I am hoping to find more notes, a list of customers or anything else that could be useful"

  "The customer list wouldn't be that useful. Zeynox may or may not be using his real name. If he wrote a different name, we couldn't tell who he was"

  "You're right... Well, its getting late..."

  "Yea, good night"

  "Good night, Ayla"

  We entered our own bedrooms to get some sleep. I was thinking about ways to track Zeynox down.

  "How... Just how... It seems to be quite a hard case... No... A really hard one..." I thought as I fell asleep.

  XFire 11: Scene

  The next day, I woke up and saw a ceiling I wasn't used to seeing.

  "Haa... That's right, I'm in Galaya. I'm this on this manhunt..."

  A day has passed since I entered this world. I had to leave my friends at Cielo to go on a manhunt.

  I got up and took a bath. The water was warm, it wasn't cold like the water in Ayrus. Though it was only cold during certain times and in some places.

  After the bath, I got dressed up in my white jacket. I started thinking about the case.

  "We just have to kill him if we don't find a way to arrest him..." I thought.

  "Fight and kill him..." I thought some more.

  "Knock knock*"

  There was a knock on the door.

  "Cel Alt! You are invited to the dining room"

  "K"

  I left my room and headed to the dining table. I entered the 'ok' sized dining room. It wasn't as big as the one in Cielo.

  "We're heading to the crime scene today" said Ayla.

  "I'll allow you to take some guards with you"

  "Thank you" she replied.

  I felt like going to the crime scene was useless. I didn't think going there would give us much information.