Back in Origin a few hours before the horn, players gather, most looking for direction, a few having already found one……….

“So let me get this straight, we’re all here for this so called important meeting, but not to discuss how we leave this place, but to go on a ridiculous expedition through uncharted territory, with all those things out there? That would take at best, no less than two to three years and that’s if everything goes as planned, and we all know nothing ever goes according to plan!”

Before the unknown male player could finish, Vinn interrupted him, sensing the direction it was headed.

“Well one, you don’t have to go, so if you think it’s so ridiculous then please feel free to leave, but there is no point in us hearing you whine about the matter, you’re wasting all our time!
Two, it’s not going to take two to three years. Our timetable is six months and that’s if everything goes wrong.

The room began to chatter in an uproar. From Origin to the Ever-pass was at least 6 years, there was no fast travel hubs that far away from Origin, since it was Origin technology in the first place. Origin had began making hubs but even those could only be built and placed in certain locations, making sure not to upset the elven way of life. After all, the people of Origin were guess in Ever-land and had to make sure they didn’t do or create anything that would get them kicked out. The expedition’s destination was three to four years less from the Ever-pass.

“Six months is impossible! And the other guy is right, shouldn’t we be talking about how to get out of this place?” Another male player exclaimed.

Vinn’s voice quieted them down, but not without effort.

“The details…….Vinn paused for a moment until they were quiet enough to let him continue.

...the details will be given to those that choose to join the expedition. Three, sitting here in Origin is hardly going to get us out of NFNty-laND, the point of the expedition is to move the questlines forward and perhaps start new ones. Our theory is that the game has to be cleared in order to get out and back to our reality, it’s the only thing that makes sense at this point.We start preparing for the journey, as a team, in 10 days. See Tookey if you decide to join us, trust me when I say, those who do will not regret it!”

The room erupted into an even louder chatter that eventually turned to back and forth banter, which turned into a few arguments sprinkled in. This time Kaia’s voice subdued them, and it was in an instant. She didn’t have to wait, nor repeat herself.

“There’s a lot to be done, and this journey is going to be long and hard, prepare yourselves accordingly.”

The way they looked at her and nodded their heads in agreement, it seemed as though everyone that attended, even the two verbally combative males, were going to join. It was exactly for this reason, they decided before the meeting that Kaia wouldn’t talk much, not wanting people joining for the wrong reason, too much was at stake.

Kaia and Vinn left them all in their own stupors, and began to leave before Rob’s voice broke the trance, returning them all to their previous banter, and stopping Kaia and Vinn in their tracks. They were quite familiar with Rob’s work and were expecting or at least hoping he’d join the expedition.

“Can I buy you two a drink?”

Kain and Vinn didn’t hesitate to move towards an empty table much to Rob’s surprise.

“Tookey, can we get two rounds of drinks over here?”

She looked up, acknowledged with a nod and begin preparing the first round. Kaia spoke first.

“So, Battle Sergeant Robbie, what can we do for you?”

“Familiar with me, are we?”

No one called him that, most didn’t even understand what it meant, there was no such title in these lands.

“How can we not be? There aren’t very many players around Origin as skilled and experienced as you!” Vinn politely interrupted Kaia’s praise with his own.

“You’re no lower than tier 2, but could quite possible be tier 3 or 4.” Robbie interrupted this time.

“Tier 4!!? You give me way too much credit, but you both have a keen eye for talent, I do too.”

Kaia and Vinn looked at each other with playful smirks, in awe of his simultaneous modesity, and ego on display, but also at what he didn’t deny.

“I like to either surround myself with capable people, or go at it alone. I’m not really one for all that fucking jazzy stuff, I’m more of a brute force type of guy, but you two smart fuckers got plans and shit. I can see those pretty fucking minds of yours churning everytime I see you out and about. Everything you do seems to have a purpose, you know that big picture shit! It certainly feels like you two are seeing a picture that’s not even come into focus yet for the rest of us. Not a single one of us know what to do next, or how to get the fuck up outta this place!”

“And we do?” Vinn questioned, curious to what Robbie’s answer would be.

“Perhaps you don’t know either, but you two don’t seem like the type that’s going to stop until you do. That’s the type of direction I can put my strength behind, the type of path I’d be willing to blindly follow.”

Kain and Vinn again shared a look, this time conveying how pleased they were with that answer and the outcome of this well over do meeting, before Kaia offered more praise for Robbie, of which he immediately validated.

“You seem to have much more of a grasp for all that ”Jazzy stuff” then you think, and a much clearer view of that picture than most!”

“Why have one shield, when you can have two, no disrespect intended though, I know you’re a lot fucking stronger that you’re leading others to believe.”

Kaia smiled, while Robbie slapped Vinn on the back, making him choke on some of the cider Tookey had just placed down on the table moments before.

“You are too, you little fucker!”

As Vinn cleared his lungs, he thought about how everyone besides Kaia usually irritated him, but Robbie didn’t. He actually liked his personality, respected his strength and skill on the battlefield and was happy to have it now helping him protect Kaia.

“Two shields indeed!” Vinn thought to himself.

The tremendous thunder of a horn silenced everyone in the bar, but only for a second, most didn’t know what the sound was or meant in Origin and therefore most simply didn’t care. Kaia and Vinn however, knew exactly what that sound was and what it meant.

“Damn! Is that really the Telic Horn? This changes things, our timetable will need to be accelerated, but this means are logic and reasoning isn’t too far off, we’re headed in the right direction.”

Vinn’s voice sounded a little bit more worried than usual. Kaia’s voice always calmed him down, though.

“This most certainly complicates things but you’re right, heading back seems to be the setting things in motion.”

Robbie finished his first round of ale, and was reaching towards the second, when the horn sounded. He watched as Kaia and Vinn showed the only real reaction in the entire bar. Hearing the conversation he then wondered what they were heading back to, and what the expedition was really about.

“Of course you two fuckers know what that sound was if I don’t know how to pick’em!”

“I wish we had time to feel you in Battle Sergeant, but we have things to do, besides I have a feeling you have something to tend to yourself, I’m sure you’ve kept her waiting long enough!”

Robbie paused for a second, wondering how she knew about Carla, but then realized he had indeed kept her waiting too long. He yelled across the bar at those still left from the meeting.

“ You’re all fucking assholes, by the way, the whole lot of you, except for those who decide to join the expedition and these two fuckers right here, they’re alright with me!”

“Let’s meet back here in a few days, we’ll fill you in on everything we understand about this land and what we believe needs to happen next.”

Kaia’s voice and presence, was Queen like when she got serious.

“Sounds like a fucking plan, and it’s Rob by the way. I only make fuckers I don’t like call me Battle sergeant Robbie.”

“Until we meet again Rob!” Kaia replied.

“Later Rob, have fun!” Vinn replied shortly after.

Rob paused again as he hurried towards the steps, second drink in hand, and turned to look a Vinn.

“Oh, that’s going to take some getting used too!”

Kaia laughed out loud, thinking about all the times she told Vinn that his loose and light-hearted side, of which he usually only showed to her, was weird to others and often caught everyone off guard.

As Kaia and Vinn left the inn, they were approached by a figure who, at the time, they couldn’t have known would make the hardest, and perhaps the most important part of the plan, that much easier.

Back at the Telic order……..

“GrandMaster Alder!” The two young Telic warriors cried out!

They had never heard the horn in their lifetimes, they were far too young, but it was the second for both the King and GrandMaster Alder. The King, focused on the panicked young warriors, had not noticed his father moved, and was now standing back near the edge of the balcony, looking out into the vast wilderness like once before. The wind from the birds simultaneous flight had finally coming crashing down through his father’s silver hair, grabbing his black and red GrandMaster robes, as it swooshed past while pulling the heavy fabric against his well toned body. Telic elves were incredibly tall compared to all the other elves of Everland, but GrandMaster Alder was short for a Telic elf, standing only six five. Telic elves has an average height of about six ten or eleven. While, most of the other elves of Ever-land averaged around five eleven, or six feet.

Elves aged differently than all the other mind-kind species on the large blue planet. Even though GrandMaster Alder was well over 500 years old, his nubian-melanated skin was pristine and glistened in the fading light of the moon. His round, but long, muscular face gave an intimidating background to his deep red and intense eyes. He looked young but sounded and leaked wise.

The council would be coming together for the first time in a few years, and besides the reason for the horn being sounded, there was much to be discussed anyway. GrandMaster Alder couldn’t have planned it any better if he wanted too. Getting the Telic order council all together was a feat in itself. The horn had tackled that issue!

“It appears this reunion will have to be put on hold for the time being!” GrandMaster Alder had already turned away from the view once more and was making his way out.

“Tell my son, his mother and I love him very much, and that we’re proud of him, in case we don’t get the chance to say it to him ourselves for a while!” The King, now just as serious as his father understanding what the sounding of the Telic horn really meant, said as the GrandMaster moved past him.

“I will relay the words. Go now and prepare your kingdom for whatever is coming!”

“Be well father!”

“Be well my son!”

The young Telic warriors, in such a panic, failed to even acknowledge the King but he cared little for such things. One of the warriors extends his hand out in the direction they need to go.

“This way Master Alder!”

“It’s GrandMaster, and I know which way to go you, young idiot! I’ve been traversing this land and these halls far longer and much before your existence was thought of!”

Of all the GrandMaster’s in the Telic order, GrandMaster Alder was the hardest to appease, and many had, in the beginning, felt sorry for Gar, but were just as equally surprised when GrandMaster Alder chose him as his apprentice. The empathy didn’t last long, eventually being replaced with envy. Most started to believe, based on Gar’s results or lack thereof, that he only made into the order and was chosen because GrandMaster Alder was his grandfather and his father the King. Despite the powerful family connections, GrandMaster Alder didn’t choose him for that reason, and also didn’t plan to go easy on him either. As it turned out, Gar was the best student GrandMaster Alder had ever seen. He trained hard, listened well, absorbed everything and progressed faster than any apprentice GrandMaster Alder had ever chosen and then some. GrandMaster Alder was also pleasantly surprised to see that, as hard as Gar trained, he also played, enjoying nature and all it had to offer, spending time with Lunariverse and Penne, as well as his younger sister, but his favorite thing to do was play tricks on all the other warriors and masters of the Telic order whenever he got the chance. At one point GrandMaster Alder thought that Gar would become rigid and cold, drunk off the power he obtained and could obtain, and need to be constantly reeled back in. The GrandMaster also thought it would get dangerous, teaching Gar so many Telic ways and arts so quickly, but Gar lacked ego, cared little about power, and only wanted to be the best he could be. No, GrandMaster remembered, in Gar’s exact words, “I want the strength and knowledge necessary to always protect the Telic Orders Way!”.

It amused GrandMaster Alder, he had heard the words before, but to actually see it, made him proud to be alive, proud and honored that nature deemed it necessary he be apart of it and whatever was to come. As the GrandMaster made his way through the halls of the Telic order and to the inner sanctum where the council met, he couldn’t help but smile, also remembering all the times he had to appear to scold Gar about his practical jokes to the benefit of whatever warrior or master had been the current target at the time.

“Your pupil lacks discipline!”

Was the common theme, some even basked in the fact that GrandMaster Alders pupil appeared to be less than ordinary, but in truth, GrandMaster Alder made it appear that way. Gar was progressing so quickly that it would surely cause uncomfort, bewilderment, and extreme animosity. These mixed with envy, could spell trouble for Gar and bring unwanted attention. GrandMaster Alder kept Gar’s true progressing a secret from everyone. Today was the day though, he would try to make the council understand, perhaps something they all weren’t ready too, but he could not hold Gar back any longer. The horn had sounded, and he wondered if Gar was the reason behind that as well. He couldn’t wait to see him!

“Hey!” The young idiot as GrandMaster so proudly put it, exclaims perhaps too loudly.

“What?” The other responds with a whisper and the look of wondering why he is even talking.

“Is GrandMaster Alder smiling?”

“Yea, I guess, so what!”

“And you don’t find that to be just a little bit creepy and concerning, he never smiles!”

“You really are an idiot, shut up before he hears you!”

But it was too late, he could hear the entire conversation without even trying too.

“If you two aren’t too tired to talk, then that should probably tell you, you aren’t training hard enough! I’ll speak with your Masters later and express my concerns.” GrandMaster Alder spoke so calmly that it frightened the warriors slightly but not nearly enough.

“You should be more concerned with your own apprentice!” The young idiot mumbled

“Dude, shut up!” The other exclaimed while giving him a nudge.

The smile was gone, and GrandMaster Alder eyes were wide, fearsome and locked in on the two young Telic warriors. They both wondered how Gar made it, as they lowered their heads to avert the GrandMasters Gaze!

~A few days earlier, on the human side of the Ever-pass~

“Hey! You up there in that tree, state your business!

The human soldiers poked at the branches with their spears but the lump of a person sleeping in the tree barely budged. It took it’s time waking up, first yawning and stretching in all directions, before realizing that feeling this good meant it had slept too long. The lump sprung up but hit it’s head on a branch above, the impact causing it to lose balance and fall out of the tree with a thud, much to the shock and confusion of the human soldiers surrounding it. The four soldiers pointed their spears towards what appeared to possibly be a male human. As he rose he moved the spears without touching them.

“Hey guys, that’s dangerous, you shouldn’t go around pointing sharp objects at people!” The young male exclaimed while rubbing the pain away from his now sore head.

“Did you see that?” One of the soldiers exclaimed in a frightened manner.

The others did see it but had also felt it, and drew back a little in fear.

“Sorc…….Sorcery isn’t allowed on this side of the ever-pass, we need you to come with us!”

Not being allowed was an understatement, humans caught using sorcery were put to death.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’m not from this side of the Ever-pass!”

As the young male spoke again, he removed his cowl from his head that was attached to his skin tight armor and free flowing robes, jet black and trimmed with red. It was all made from material the soldiers had never seen before. His nubain golden brown melanated skin caught their eyes first, and for a second, they believed the long, hard journey was much closer to coming to an end then they thought, but all their hopes and dreams came quickly crashing down once they noticed his ears. They jumped back a little more, right into undisciplined fighting stances, spears drawn more seriously now.

“An elf? You gotta be kidding me! Whats an elf doing on this side of the pass?”

“What do………..do you mean doing on this side of the Ever-pass? Elves actually exist?”

The more scary and frightened of the four questioned.

“Are you wet behind the ears? Everyone knows elves live on the other side of the pass!”

“No……..No! Everyone doesn’t know that! I thought those were all just fables and myths! I suppose you’re going to tell me fairies exist too?”

“Where’d this guy grow up, in a hole?”

“Who told you to speak elf!”

“Told me to speak? I didn’t realize I needed permission! So where you guys headed?”

The young Telic warrior grew a little more serious in tone, wondering if they thought they were going to make their way across the Ever-pass.

“None of your business elf! And we’ll ask the questions around here!”

The young warrior waited for one of them to ask a question, as he watched them intensely look back and forth at each other, appearing to not know what to ask or do next.

“So?”

He could see that the human soldiers were shaken, quite possibly even terrified, despite having what seemed like the upper hand.

“Listen, guys, I’d love to wait around and chat with you, humans are so interesting to me, but I took much too long of a nap. Oh, thanks for waking me up by the way. I need to get going, though, so if you don’t have any more questions….”

“You’re not going anywhere elf! What are you doing on this side of the pass?”

The calmest of the four seemed to regain enough composure to finally ask a question.

“One, yes I’m an elf, but elf is not my name! I’m Gar, you four can call me Garbanzo, and your names are?”

The four soldiers responded with more intense stares and silence. Garbanzo looked at each one, again waiting for a response.

“No?... No?..... No?.... No?”

“Well okay, you guys are such a pleasant group, so nice to people you’ve never met before!”

“Why would we be nice to an elf?”

“There’s that elf word again! Why wouldn’t you be? What exactly has an elf ever done to any of you? Even further, what exactly have I done to you?”

“Can it! Elf, we’ve heard all the stories about what your species has done to us, humans!”

“My species? I’m not trying to rattle any cords but here’s a planet and perhaps existence shattering revelation! You guys listening? Bring it in, get a little closer so you feel the moment.”

The soldiers didn’t move and when Garbanzo leaned in, the scary one tried to stick him with his spear but Garbanzo playfully dodged it without effort and continued.

“ Whoa there buddy, kids shouldn’t play with weapons! You guys listening? We’re the same species, just a different race! Wow! I know right, that just like blows your mind right? Right? As far what the elves have done to humans, if you mean put them in their place when they decide to out reach the limits of a very small grasp, then all the stories are true. I suppose this is the part where you tell me humans are such kind creatures, and spread peace, love and hugs to everyone and everything they encounter on this planet? Please spare me your obvious narrowed minded perspective of reality! Humans don’t even know how to treat each other for evers-sake, you guys still haven’t gotten over the fact that you’re all not the same hues and some how believe you’re all different races, some being less than others. Yet, you constantly sit in judgement, what lunacy! Even now, I bet you’re up to no good! Well, as much as it pains me to say this, as long as you keep that no good on this side of the ever-pass, you humans, may do as you please!”

The soldier’s minds had gotten so lost in Garbanzo’s words, that they hadn’t realized he started walking off, back towards the main path, that led through the Ever-pass.

“ You….you better run elf! You and your kind days are numbered, when the King and his army invade your lands, it will be the end of the elves!”

The most shook, and silent of the group, had finally found the courage, once more, to speak. Humans were hardly a threat though. Any king mad enough to bring an army and his delusions of grandeur across the Ever-pass and into Ever-land, had nothing more than an instant death wish. But as Garbanzo walked away, a lesson he’d been taught many years before started kicking all his thoughts around. It was as the GrandMaster was walking right next to him, stride for stride.

“Gar, you must never underestimate your enemy! No matter how powerful you may think or believe yourself to be, no matter how weak your enemy may seem, especially if their stupid enough to make themselves known! Underestimating an enemy has been the downfall of so many powerful beings, kingdoms, Queendoms, lands, races, and species throughout history. Never be left with that regret on the battlefield or in life!”

Garbanzo sighed as he stopped. These soldiers, despite their ignorance, had been willing to let him leave in peace, but his next course of action meant he could not do the same. It was the way of the order, and for Garbanzo the order was the way! He soul-heartedly believed in everything the Telic order stood for, and was extremely happy and proud to be a part of it. To be trusted with so much power and knowledge in order to uphold, protect and carry out the tasks that made up the overall mission was humbling. But, despite what most believed, the Telic order didn’t just protect Ever-land, or the way of life for just the elves, the order protected all of NFNty-laND, all of the planet, and all of it’s existence. It protected the balance, and Garbanzo’s soul shined with such brightness and strength, fueled by the honor of that mission. His soul never hesitated because of this, and it always put his heart, mind, and body at ease when facing such a difficult choice or choices. This situation with the soldiers was no different, when Garbanzo fought, he was a different person!

He spoke the words out loud like he was taught, that gathered the energy around him, which fueled the Telic arts.

“Telic Art 0 - Flash step!”

Flash step was the very first Telic art every apprentice of the order learned. Though it didn’t have to be mastered, every apprentice had to reach a certain level of it before they would be taught any others. Garbanzo often thought it was intentionally built this way to separate the few from the many. Most were so anxious to learn the infinite other art forms, that flash step rarely ever got mastered. Telic art 0 would be the first of many theories Garbanzo formed concerning art usage and the first of many arts he would master. The soldiers never stood a chance!

Before they could react quick enough, Garbanzo had already traverse the space between them, and dodged one spear by laying on another. He used his foot to first hold and then push away the spear, he sidestepped, in the opposite direction, while using the force generated from the push, to flip over and disarm the spear he was so comfortably lying on, arms spread out like he was lounging around, leaning like he was bored. He thought about how weak these soldiers were, and how if the majority of them were like this in this so called army, then they really weren’t a threat. One Telic order Knight could handle thousands of them by her or himself!

He quickly regained focused. He flipped the spear around, and ran it through two of them, making sure to hit a vital spot, before the other, whose spear was kicked away, had time to recover from the stagger. He was hit with the force of two men clad in armor and limp, he died instantly. The fourth and last soldier, the scary one, had started to turn and run. Garbanzo used the momentum from the spear, of which he buried into the ground with so much force, the three bodies created a small comet like explosion and crater, propelling him forward through the air, and landing softly at his destination. He lunged forward into open palm, dead center chest. The force from the strike went through the soldiers front breast plate and directly out the back one, snapping the spear in half sticking out the ground, nearly twelve feet behind the soldier. He too, died instantly! It was the Telic way, no one was to ever suffer to death, that was cruel.

This part was over in an instant. As Garbanzo eased down, he thought about again how weak these soldiers were. They were slow, lacked a fighting style or discipline, and had no knowledge of the world they lived in. Garbanzo’s next thought further brought out his lower self, as his anger started to consume him.

“What type of king fields an army like this, these people were sent to die, especially if they intended to cross the ever-pass!”

It didn’t make sense to him, which meant he was missing something. Open palm wasn’t even a Telic art form, just how weak did this king, did the humans, perceive the elves to be?

“No!’ He thought

“I have to be missing something!”

The soldiers wouldn’t have patrolled to far from the main army or camp. It was close and it didn’t take long for Garbanzo to find it. What his eyes laid upon, meant that for the first time in over 200 years, the horn would be heard across the Ever-lands, and that every choice made from this point forward, would be a crucial and most likely pivotal one, concerning that balance the order existed to protect!

Next Chapter: Aaahh!! Real Monsters?(4)