-Age 25-
Continent: Terrafide
Φ "Did you all hear it seems Weltenzahnrad had been giving preferential treatment to adventurers in terms of land sales. It seems the officials within the country have not so slightly been pressuring residents to give up and sell land."
"It's not surprising. They are the country closest to Cordum, and many people already know that a large amount of their revenue comes from adventurers buying Vilas and whatnot. It seems they are competing with their neighbours in recent years for who can attract the most residents."
"Apparently, it is being done as a selfish usage of national defence. By having a lot of adventurers' homes be in their land, if war were to break out within or from outside the land, they have a large population of skilled and trained combatants."
"Still, how many incidents has that been this year across the continent?"
"Földvére had 17, Światozdrówca had 19, Cleddyfbuddug 14, and I believe Uilepheist had 28. It seems that incidents regarding the leadership in Terrafide have been going a bit crazy. At the very least, Captivant allows us to see past all their deceptions."
"Do they not understand the situation? The great powers in the world currently are Molstoria, Dá, Blestemate, Avalon, and the rising power Gevurah. The only force outside those countries that can fight back is Cordum, which is where we align ourselves with, don't they know that selfish actions and chaos only hurt people's will?"
"At this rate, they might start looking to break our allegiances and work under more competent heads. I have heard rumours that some people believe asking to become part of Avalon might be the best bet."
"I know people from Cleddyfbuddug and Uilepheist like showing their asses to Avalon whenever things get hard, but leave us out of it, we of Światozdrówca actually respect our national identity."
"You guys have to believe me, if we don't start getting ourselves together, we will be facing issues. Molstoria in the last year has been rapidly reorganising itself, and you read what Captivant wrote about the monster in the east, it's going to get chaotic. If war stretches towards our land."
"War isn't coming, stop being an upstart, there is no power strong enough to declare war against large chunks of the world without backlash from equally powerful opponents. We should be focusing more on the problems within our country than outside of it."
"Don't you see how foolish that idea is, as we sit with our faces in our ass our enemies are gaining power and strength. Pretending like the rest of the world doesn't exist can be fun, but in truth, there are people just as strong and even more vicious than us, and we need to be prepared."
"Should we start stocking away food? If things get bad, we've seen how rulers will take from their people, like in Molstoria. I don't want such things to happen."
"Then we need to start talking back to take control of our land from the incompetent people who sit above us. Make them feel the fear we feel, make them start getting things in order, whether through formulation or force."
"Can you all come down with the violent words? The kids have started to ask me about it more often. We don't know how they are going to take this."
"We need to go about this smartly. While Molstoria's revolution seems to be a success, I've heard their has had to essentially take over all of the old king's responsibilities, creating a scary force that could at any moment do whatever they want without restraint."
"So, it's exactly the same as before, except the people can now participate and change things? is that supposed to be a bad thing?"
"As a group, we should travel to the other villages and start looking for nobles and such to join our cause and bring our pleas to whatever nobles we can find. I heard Cordum tends to reward nobles who are adventurer-friendly, so we can just accept more adventurers in exchange for their support."
"Still, who should be trusted?"
"Well, let's see what Captivant says."
"The Światozdrówca apparently have a habit of forcing alcohol down the throats of young virgins and taking hold of them. They've been making new concoctions that apparently can knock a women out in one go. Disgusting."
"Those damn fiends in Földvére have been intentionally taking a loss when they sell their wheat and grains to completely undercut the market; many of us will be completely unable to stay afloat at this rate."
"I heard Cleddyfbuddug has been trying their best to get adventurers to join Avalon. Their country is a popular spot that a lot of adventurer rookies use to train, and make wealth in the giant mass of dungeons scattered everywhere. Despite being more aligned with Cordum, they are sending their support to another one of the great powers, traitors trying to get whatever they can."
"Did you hear the greedy wealth hoarder of Uilepheist has started to allow mercenaries from Amurdjustia to set up shop within their land. Those child traffickers have been running rampant all across the world for centuries at this point, and Uilepheist thing they've gotten enough economic power to now do something like this. I bet their eyes are made of demons."
"Ubrydeligland seems to be becoming more self-dependent and has started to train soldiers rapidly. It seems their little bond with Gevurah that has stood through the centuries is starting to wane more and more, I guess even the blind can see every once in a while."
"Keep up with Captivant? I prefer not to. Everything I read from that man just gives me more and more anxiety. Like the world is constantly moving from extreme to extreme. I hear he is a trustworthy source, and I've only lived in this country, so I can't say much about the state of the world, but I feel like things get a lot worse when you all read what's going on than it was before."
"Looks like we finally found him. The pest who's been threatening the stability of our nation."
"Annoyance like that beast Morgan Elia shows up every now and then, but this time I am going to cull this bud before it blooms entirely."
-Break-
Location: Terrafide
Location: Chronicle Nimbus Molstoria Hideout 543
Φ With all the power I can muster, I reach my hand forward, trying to grab the pen in front of me, yet it falls from my fingers. It slips like no force was placed on it at all, and staring downwards, I slam my fists against the ground and feel a surge of pain, which then sends me onto my back.
In this dark room with only a white flame candle illuminating it, I stare at the bandages across my hands, and feel the rage within my soul rise, as I shout, "ARGGGGGGGHHHH! WHYYYYYYY!" As I feel the numbness only grow by the second.
"It was just one mistake, one little mistake, and now my hands are messed up. I ran faster, yet luck allowed that blow to strike me. What have I done to deserve this!! Dammit, Dammit!!"
Placing my hands over my eyes, try my best to hold it all in, yet as a knock on the door hits, my body tenses up in fear.
Cracking the door open, Ai turns her head towards me as she holds a basket and says, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, now get out of here."
"I've brought some foo-."
Throwing my shoe against the door, I shout, "GET OUT!"
Her face freezes before she starts saying, "Hey, I am trying to help you, and you're giving me attitude, you big baby!"
"Does it look like I am in the mood to handle your web of sounds?"
"Do you think I've ever been in the mood to handle your stupidity? This is the I don't know how many times I've had to save you at this point. You've been picking fights with your writing more and more, going from client to client and inciting trouble."
"I don't want to hear that from a member of CN. You're the group of cowards who couldn't even stick by your own words. I am nothing like you all. I am the man who will stand at the apex of this generation; I will be a hero."
"And how did that work out for you? Look at you, know a man who has scars all over his legs, and a pair of useless lumps of meat against his body, you can't write, you can't fight, you can't even wipe your ass without help. Yet you have the balls to give that attitude to me? I am the only reason you're not dead in a ditch right about now."
The look of scorn she gives me forces my body to turn and forcefully grab the pencil as all the muscles in my hand that are barely holding themselves together scream at me at full force to stop.
Grabbing the scraps of paper I had scattered across the floor, I start writing, and letting out a sigh, Ai says, "Argh, okay, sorry, I apologise, you can stop."
Ignoring her, I keep my hand moving as blood starts to leak through the bandages and sitting beside me in a panic, she says, "What the hell are you doing? I said stop and apologised, if you keep going, you're going to permanently harm your body, idiot."
"Leave me alone."
"Has your mind escaped you? You don't even know if your hands can ever be fully healed. Right now, you need to relax and try to regain as many of your functions as you can."
"I don't care."
"I can't keep letting you do this." Her arms reach out, grabbing me, causing a scuffle to break out between the two of us.
Swiping at her, I push her body all the way to the wall of the small room, and say, "GET OFF OF ME!"
She bashes her body off the wall, and staring into her eyes, I shout," I CAN'T STOP! THIS IS ME! THIS PEN, THIS PAPER, IT'S EVERYTHING THAT MAKES ME! WITHOUT IT I AM NOTHING, WITHOUT THIS I CAN BE NOTHING BUT TRASH WHO CAN ONLY STARE AT OTHERS IN JEALOUSY! CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR WAYS TO PUT PEOPLE DOWN AND ELVATE THE REST OF THE TRASH AROUND ME SO I CAN DELUDE MYSELF INTO BEING BETTER THAN OTHERS! I REFUSE TO DO SUCH A THING, I REFUSE TO BE NORMAL, I REFUSE TO BE DISGUSTING! THE VERSION OF ME THAT MAKES OTHERS SCREAM WITH JOY AND JEALOUSY EXISTS OUT THERE. HE EXISTS WITHIN ME, HE IS ME, AND I REFUSE TO LET HIM GO, NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE IN THIS WORLD MAY SAY TO ME! EVEN IF MY HANDS BREAK, EVEN IF MY SOUL BURNS AWAY, I WILL SURVIVE WITH HIM! MY FREEDOM ARE THE WORDS I WRITE, WHO I AM IS THIS! AND EVERYTHING I CAN BE. I-I-I-I-i am not like you, I am not born perfect, I am trash."
The boy's eyes fill with tears as his head falls into the palm of his arms, and the woman across from him moves her body from the wall, and seeing the crying boy, she cradles him as she holds him close to her.
Her hands are sore and filled with fresh cuts, blood courses down from the back of her head, her checks are flushed, her eyes are moments away from tears with heavy bags formed beneath them, her hair is unwashed and her clothes are rugged, her body is filled with fresh wound that open as her body moves, and an anxiety from every single sound she hears around the hideout fills her body with fear.
Yet she holds him, she keeps him close, she enraptures the boy mere moments away from breaking down, because whether she wants to or not, she has in her heart given him everything she has, and within his heart, he has-.