The Saga of Eden

Chapter 2, part 5

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Let's just... pretend we did not see or hear or read anything. Just pretend that we were instead observing… Nakano! Right, we were observing Nakano! For… backstory! Yes, her backstory will play an essential role in Eden's future… Yes, it definitely will! I definitely did not just make it all up on the fly, no way!

14 years ago

Have you ever heard of the Crisis War between Narn Empire and its Northern neighbor, Juknak Kingdom? Yeah, of course you don't, but I was there. Before then, I mostly wandered around the West side of the continent. Those nations have many great stories of their own, but those are for another time. I've only arrived in Narn Empire at some point during the war. This was some of the earliest key memory that I remember, let me tell you:

It was named the Crisis War because Narn Empire, the undisputedly most powerful nation on the East side of Civilla continent, fell into a never-before-seen crisis. For the first time since its foundation, the Empire had no Legendary individual. Their sole Legendary, General Liam, tragically died in an accident when he fell out of a tower. Whether it was foul play or not is still disputed to this day. Nevertheless, the Empire had 2 kids with the potential to replace him, but yet to achieve the Legendary title. 

Juknak Kingdom saw this as an opportunity for an invasion. Their country was stable, and their army was strong, so they declared war. They had two aces up their sleeves, the Legendary spearman Veritas and the Necromancer Lord Shar. Narn Empire had the numerical advantage, but everywhere those two went, the Imperial Army suffered defeat. 

That brings us to the first battle I witnessed when coming to this land. Let me retell it from my memory.

In the far North of Narn Empire, a small army, no more than 50 men, are quickly but quietly traversing through the thick forest towards the capital Ella. Their armors are in tatters, with bloodstains everywhere; they must have been through a fight very recently. One can recognize from the symbol on their shields that they're members of the Imperial Army, high ranking ones at that: The symbol of a crown, with a mace hanging diagonally on its side, and a jeweled staff hanging diagonally on the opposite side, representing the three founders of Narn Empire. 

Most of the ones traveling right now are men; there are a few women among them, but they are all soldiers except for one. Among the group, a young girl stands out. She's no older than 15, with a bow and quiver behind her back. Unfortunately, she is too small to disguise as a soldier, so she can only wear her regular peasant clothing. Right now, these soldiers' mission is to escort the girl to Ella unharmed. Despite the nervous look on her face, one can notice the worn-out arrows soaked with blood from her quiver, showing she has also been fighting relentlessly alongside the soldiers. She looks scared, but this is definitely not the first time she has been fighting for her life.

Traveling inside the forest turns out to be the easy part. It allows them to stay hidden while no dangers inside the woods are a threat to them. The hard part is when they get out into the open plain. This group couldn't even travel a kilometer before the enemies caught them. The enemies are now blocking their path.

This Juknak Kingdom detachment has fewer people than the Imperial soldiers present, but none of them is easy prey. At least a quarter of this perhaps elite detachment from Juknak are Talented. The most dangerous of them all is their leader, the Level 78 necromancer Lord Shar, notorious for being ruthless towards his victims, both in life and death. He's the second person in Juknak Kingdom who has the potential to exceed Level 100.

"Yaklu, so we meet again," the bald necromancer smirks and speaks to the wizard in his fifties, his hair and beard are black with a mix of grey. He is no doubt the leader of this group.

"Lord Shar..." The wizard says cautiously while still smiling. He tries to remain calm while thinking of a way to get them all out of this alive. "I see the 'Pig King' was vile enough to even recruit practitioners of such a disgusting art."

"Your words mean nothing to me, I let my actions do the talking." Lord Shar rebukes calmly, but his blood is indeed boiling, figuratively anyway. That dude is white as a ghost, not a single hair on his skin, same for blood inside him too. 

"Hand us the girl and surrender, then I'll let King Basta decide your fates. You wouldn't want me to decide yours, would you?"

"A very tempting offer," Yaklu puts his left palm on his chin, pretending to be thinking, "I guess my answer will be..." 

Before he finishes his sentence, Yaklu raises his right arm and points his index finger at a Talented wizard to the right of Lord Shar.

{Heart pierce: small}

A metal needle instantly shoots out of his finger with immense speed. It instantly pierces through the enemy wizard's chest and disappears out of thin air. The wizard then drops dead, blood slowly flows out of the tiny hole. Yaklu is a Level 84 wizard, after all, his power cannot be underestimated.

"Now!"

"Attack!"

Both sides are dumbfounded at Yaklu's sudden kill, but they react quickly to their leader's command, and a chaotic fight commences. Yaklu hastily runs to the back while his vanguards charge ahead, protecting the rest with their giant shields. 

{Fortress!} They yell.

Lord Shar and his subordinates attack the vanguard with everything they have, but none manage to get to the backline. Their attempts to go around the vanguards also fail as the rest of the team try their best to protect the flanks, as well as returning attacks of their own. The vanguards are holding their ground, but their injuries are increasing steadily. They can't hold for too long.

Yaklu quickly approaches the young girl, who is trying to shoot over the vanguards at the enemy, managing to land a hit or two. Her hands are shaking, but her eyes are still focused.

"Nakano, stop. We will all die if we continue like this." The senior wizard tells her.

The girl immediately stops and turns to him, she's on the verge of tears. All of her suppressed fear and the pressure of being the next Legendary as a 14-year-old girl are closed to outbursts like a broken dam.

"Sir, then what should we do? I don't know what to do. I don't want to die. But I don't want you to die. I..." Nakano speaks very fast. 

The girl is panicking. She's still too young to handle all this stress: stress about the war, stress about the people's expectations, stress about attempts on her life. The wizard has been by her side since the beginning, and he's amazed she was able to hold it in until now. Yaklu doesn't know what to do other than to hug her and try to calm her down. Immediately, she hugs him back and cries her eyes out.

"Hush, child, I know." He speaks tenderly. "I need you to trust me. I swear we will all get through this... but I need you to trust me." The wizard pats her back and continues to try and calm her down. "I need you to focus and do as I say...for the last time. Can you do that for me?"

Nakano doesn't answer. Instead, she continues to cry, but her tears pour down less and less. In a matter of seconds, she has stopped crying, and Yaklu releases her from his grasp. Her eyes are bloodshot, and she still sniffles, but she seems to be ready. Nakano nods at the wizard and holds her bow tightly.

"That's my girl! Now, stay focused and aim at the enemy center. And whatever you do, DO NOT move, alright?" Yaklu smiles at the girl and commands her, which she follows like a disciplined soldier. 

He doesn't say anything more, he only walks to her back, puts his finger-closed palm on the center of her back, and begins chanting.

{Abandoned by your parents since birth. Your heart is rage.}

"Sir?" She asks, confused, but Yaklu only continues chanting.

{Killed by your enemies in the end. Your heart is rage.}

"... What?" Nakano is once again on the verge of tears.

{Destined for nobility, yet a commoner. Your heart is rage. Destined for Legendary, yet never achieved. Your heart is rage.}

"Stop." She speaks again. This time, she's not about to cry, but she feels angry. His words not only reach her, but she also starts to see those painful memories Yaklu is saying.

{Untimely death, untimely responsibilities, unwanted danger. Your heart is rage.}

"Stop!" She shouts. Nakano can feel herself burning inside.

{Anna, Charlie, Enera, how did they die? Your heart is rage.}

"No! Stop, please!" She screams. Nakano can feel the fire inside her, it feels so real, and it's getting hotter and hotter as she recalls her painful memories with these people. Fortunately, her trust in Yaklu is high enough to stop her from moving away, breaking off the chant. 

Meanwhile, Lord Shar has noticed what Yaklu is trying to do. 

"They're using {Raging Heart}! Kill the girl, NOW!" He commands. 

An enemy archer immediately switches his target to Nakano and releases his arrow. One of the vanguards sees no other way to stop the arrow flying over his head but to jump up. And so he does just that. He stops the arrow just in time, but it pierces deep into his face. The pain he feels is unbearable, but that brave vanguard resumes formation and continues holding the line despite bleeding out.

{Your friends, your family, your countrymen... Who do you blame?} 

For a moment, Yaklu considers stopping his chant. His heart can't bear her painful screams, but he quickly regains concentration and continues with the chant. Nakano still won't stop begging him to stop.

{WHO DO YOU BLAME?} He shouts, and Nakano's scream instantly ceases. The anger and hatred inside her, however, remain like a caged beast.

"Them." Her word is like a whisper. Her eyes light up a bright green color, focused on the enemy in front of her.

{Then, raging heart, I command you, UNLEASHED!} Right after the final chant, Yaklu falls to the ground, breathing heavily. He's exhausted.

"Vanguards, out of the way!" The second-in-command, another archer, has constantly been paying attention back and forth at the fight and Nakano, and she quickly takes command after seeing Yaklu fell. Without hesitation, the disciplined vanguards jump to two sides, leaving the mass of enemies in clear view for Nakano.

{My heart is rage} Nakano begins slowly chanting. 

Wait, what?

The girl unleashes her arrow straight at one of the enemy frontlines. The Talented soldier raises his shield confidently to block it, but then…

…The arrow shoots straight through his shield like a hot knife through butter and pierces right through him… and through another soldier behind him. From the gaping holes caused by the arrow, their bodies begin to burn up as if they're inside an invisible flaming pot. It doesn't take long before they fall down lifelessly; their faces are twisted in horror. 

{A price to pay} She continues to chant. The voice is like the sound of a caring but disappointed mother.

Lord Shar and the rest don't have time to process what just happened. Another arrow shoots at them, and another enemy suffers the same fate. Another arrow is shot, and another, and another... Her speed is too fast, as if her arrows appear out of thin air, and there's nothing they can do to defend against her. Lord Shar figures he has to kill the girl for her to stop, so he points his staff in her direction.

{Ray of death!} Lord Shar shouts.

A black ray shoots towards Nakano with unstoppable speed. Lord Shar grins and thinks he has finished his mission that easily. However, to his surprise, his attack bounces off of her harmlessly, and her attacks only keep getting more relentless. Her eyes begin to glow an even brighter green. For the first time in Lord Shar's life, the true feeling of death comes to his mind, and he feels scared.

"Retreat! Cover me!" He shouts and begins to chant another spell.

{There's no escape} Nakano keeps on chanting.

A few loyal subordinates of Lord Shar begin charging at Nakano to distract her from Lord Shar, and they are shot down first. Their sacrifices were not in vain. They gave Lord Shar enough time to cast a Teleportation spell and escape. He disappears right before her arrow can hit him. 

None of the others can do the same, so they try to run away or surrender, but Nakano doesn't stop shooting. Each of her arrows kills at least another enemy, and she only stops after they're all dead.

{Your death, your fate...}  

And with that, her eyes stop glowing. Nakano falls down, unconscious.

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{Raging Heart} is a really powerful spell that exploits the receiver's painful past, but it's rarely practical due to its long casting time and is only valid once for every receiver. Funny enough, the more mentally unstable the receiver is, the more potent that spell will be. I have seen the spell being cast dozens of times throughout centuries, twice the receivers were Legendary, but never have I seen the subsequent chant from the receivers. That mystery still keeps me up at night sometimes. That's why this memory is so… well, memorable.

...Yeah, I don't sleep, but I think about this moment a lot, okay?

Maybe because Nakano has a Legendary potential, combined with the immense stress she felt during the time that lead to a new variety of the spell? Very often, Legendary people revolutionize our fundamental understanding of magic and warfare.

After that, things were pretty boring, but that encounter was probably what encouraged me to stay around in Narn Empire for the past several years. I think they got to the Capital Ella safely, and the war went on for another two years. Narn Empire won, Yaklu was promoted and became the Court Wizard. Nakano was adopted, though tragically, the other kid who also had the Legendary potential was murdered by Veritas. A few years later, the Emperor died and another war came, and Nakano became Empress… right? I think so. Yeah, that's probably it.

Now that we're at it, I might as well go around the city and catch up to some new events that are about to unfold.