Chapter 1: Chapter 1

“Next.” The woman at the counter called for the man in front of me. His eyes focused to his left where she stood. He had been watching the two men who had gathered at the challenge board. “Once you turn in your contract, you can do challenges too.” The woman had her hands crossed on the counter with her face holding a gleeful smile. “State your name, please.”

He glanced back one last time at the two men, one smiled at him, while the other gave him a friendly nod—no doubt they would be forming a crew once he had his plate. 

“Mike, Klinoutyupiin’ope, THE Second.”

The woman curled her lips as she slid her hands across the counter to his contract. “Nice to meet you Mike.” She rolled the contract over to its wax seal. She smirked, laughing slightly from her nose. “Shoulda known, you’re from Ferriklōōfk. Y'all sure love your extravagant names.” She broke the blue wax open and the seal let out a small puff of golden dust. The contract melted from her hands, dripping onto the counter to form a small oval-shaped plate. “The Goddess has assigned you a Golden Plate.” She lifted it and handed it to the man. “Happy Hunting, next!”

I walked past him. His smile was infectious. I turned my head just as he joined those from earlier. Their excitement filled the room as he showed them his plate and they erupted in joy.

“Adorable isn’t it?”

I turned back to the woman at the counter. “Good morning, Varin.” I said.

She turned her head slightly with a smile of suspicion. Her name was embroidered into the lapel of her blazer in an off shade of purple and the blazer's white contrast had given it a subtle tinted glow—quickly drawing my attention toward it. “Look at you, actually reading my name tag and not just defaulting to ma’am. What can I help you with today Mr...” She turned her head to the side, edging her ear closer to me as she cupped her hand over it. I was hesitant for a second but quickly realized what I was missing.

“Oh, Zero.”

“Alrighty Zero.” She nodded and stuck out her hand. I went to reach for it when she quickly yanked it back. “I don’t want a shake, I want your contract.”

I pulled it out from within my gown, handing it over to Varin.

“And here I thought a Golden Plate being formed today was special, look you Mr. ‘No Last Name’. The purple seal of an Emperor’s Knight. What made you want to become a Hunter?” She looked up from the contract, her thumb pressed over the seal. “Too much peace?”

I smirked, nodding slightly. “You could say that, it’s also because The Order was disassembled, so I will eventually need another source of income.”

 Varin’s hands slowly lowered onto the counter with the contract, her thumb lifting from the seal. “The Order, it’s no more?”

I shook my head at her.

“Does that mean the borders are open?”

I replied with a nod.

She lowered her head slightly, and from under her breath, I could vaguely make out her words. “I can finally go home.”

“Where’s home?” I asked. Her eyes widened and for a second I swear they had changed from purple to blue. Varin lifted the contract close to her chest and began to stumble over her words. I lifted my hand to my head and removed the mask that had been completely covering my face—revealing a smile. “It’s okay, you can talk to me, I promise.”

It was like I had taken the weight of a thousand suns off her shoulders and with my words her features began to change. Varin resembled most of those in Sidra, a human woman, but when I removed my mask, she began to change. Her hair and skin faded to a mossy green while her eyes shifted over to a pale orange.

“Oh, you’re a Nymph.” I said. Her cheeks blushed into a floral blue and her demeanor completely changed. “How long have you been hiding here?”

“How long has the border been closed?”

Varin’s words struck me to my core and before I could think, I spoke. “Let me take you back to Vol.”

Varin's grip on my contract tightened. “Would you really?” Those were the words of someone who had been yearning at the opportunity, not a second of hesitation.

I nodded. “I do, just tell me how long you’ll need and I’ll make sure to get everything in order.”

She looked down at the contract and immediately broke the seal. There was no puff of dust nor was there a delay between her opening it and it melting onto the table. “Oh.” She exclaimed. “Oh my.” Varin glared at me as she lifted the jet-black diamond-shaped plate. She rotated it back and forth in her hand, examining both sides. “I’ve been doing this a long time and even the top Hunter’s plates are gray and square, but yours and this insignia, is that a—.”

I snatched it from her hand, tucking it away into my gown. “We can talk about that on the ship, how long would you need Varin?”

She looked at me, I could see it in her eyes, she was pondering if she should push me harder or just accept my offering.

“Three Months.”

I nodded at her as I placed the mask back over my face. “I’ll see you in two.” The air around me became hot and I vanished from the building, teleporting myself into the forest to the East.

*

My name is Zero and I live on an island nation called Sidra—located in what we all call The Outer Realms. Sidra is divided between The Four Kingdoms: Wylop, Centalará, Aegru, and my home kingdom; Hier. Each kingdom has endured countless centuries of calamity—from within and from where out. 

It is known as The Empire of Man and has existed long before any of our first written texts. The men and women here live to be hundreds, even thousands of years old, but that is dwarfed in comparison to the inhabitants of other island nations.

As of right now, we only know of the eight islands that make up The Outer Realms, because if you sail West of Sidra you’ll find the island nation of Ayce—their enormous glacier mountains are impossible to traverse thus locking us in from the West. And to the far East beyond Urith you will find a violent storm that we call The Ocean’s Wrath—a series of violent waves and storms said to be a challenge from those of higher power to test our strengths. Many have traveled into the storms and none have ever returned.

The Great Beyond is where my destination lies—the world beyond the storms, the world where true Hunters are born and the secrets of Arrithia await me and my future crew.

*

I opened the door and a chime above me echoed throughout the building, stirring my attention toward the culprit. “Huh, she got a bell,” I looked at the counter. “and she got a new sign.” I approached the counter. “Be back soon, then why leave the door unlocked or have a bell?”

“It’s so I can still know when people come in, you igit,” Varin appeared from the door to the left behind the counter. “I didn’t leave the building, my you’re dense.”

I leaned over the counter and pushed my finger against the tip of her nose. Varin couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or laugh. Her eyes widened and her nose scrunched as her mossy green skin rippled with shades of blue across her cheeks.

“Zero!” She exclaimed.

I couldn’t muster words, all I could do was laugh as I leaned back from the counter.

Nymphs’ ability to change their appearance originates from somewhere on their body. It’s the spot that their transformation expands from and I learned that if you press it, you can manually activate it, almost like an involuntary reflex.

Varin pulled away. She rubbed her hand against her nose, hiding it as the colors retracted. “I hate you.”

I took a step over to the challenge board admiring the changes that she had done to the building. “You’ve changed a lot about the place,” A lot was an understatement. In the two months since the news, Varin had changed nearly everything about the place. She had completely renovated the building making it look like a much more modern Hunters' Association. “Where did ya get the Onyx for all this, Varin?” 

“From working here?” Varin came out from the back again, placing a stack of papers on the counter. “I won’t need Onyx once I’m back at Vol, we don’t use it.”

“I used it there?” 

Varin laughed. “Yeah, you’re an outsider.”

“Ah that makes sense, wait,” I turned my focus from the challenge board. “Then what happened with the money I spent there?”

Varin smiled suspiciously at me before disappearing again to the back. “One month right?” 

“Time is still moving the same, yes.” I replied.

“And you are still a seezle.”

“You know you still haven’t told me what that means.”

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“And you still haven’t earned the right not to be called it.”

I laughed at her response and went back to the challenge board. “Looks like Li has been doing a good job keeping up with the challenges.” The board always had a minimum of thirty different challenges—all ranging in difficulty and reward quality. Li was going to be Varin’s replacement at the association and he had the board filled with so many challenges that he had to start pinning them to the back. “Where is he getting all these from anyway?” I asked.

“There’s no shortage of problems for Hunters to solve,” as if summoned, Li appeared from the back room where Varin had initially come from. “You should know that more than anyone.”

Li is a native to Sidra. He was born in Amapá and for the last fifty years, he had been working under the guidance of a Master Farmer known as Dungun. He had told Li that for him to complete the next part of his training he was to come here to Wylop and once here he would know what to do. 

At first, he thought he was going to be coming with us but I think he realized that being on a ship was about as far away from a farm as you could get and thus Li, the new Hunter Contract Broker was born.

Ever since the news of The Order being disbanded and the borders being opened was made public, dungeons have been popping up a lot more frequently. It hadn’t occurred to me at first as to why, not until I saw one of the challenges on the board—it was signed by The Emperor himself and its description made everything clear.

“Li, remember what we talked about?” I asked.

It was like a rotating door the way his personality shifted. “You can count on me sir Knight, never seen you or the girl here before in my life.”

Varin heard us talking and was looking right at me. I nodded and turned toward the door. I stopped in front of it and turned to the table to my right.

“Hey everyone.” Their eyes shifted to me, they did not speak, they simply watched as I flipped the sign in the window to ‘CLOSED’. I was met with a few nods and a man in the back lifted his finger and thumb into an L. He pointed it at the wall and whispered an enchantment, causing a fireball to erupt from the tip. It crashed into the banners on the wall, spreading fire throughout. It climbed up the wall to the wooden rafters and created a beautiful display of yellows and reds—raining sparks down on everyone as they began running around. “Thank you everyone, for all you did these last two months.” I stated. I looked forward to Varin, teleporting behind the counter. “Time to go.” I wrapped my arm around her and teleported us out of the building and into the forest. 

As soon as we landed, I had Varin step back. I lifted my hand, dropping it to my left side where a sheath would rest. My hand let off a faint purple aura as a longsword manifested itself in my grasp. I wrapped my fingers around the hilt and swung it upward in a forward motion, cutting the air with a vertical slash.

Purple flames flung themselves from the black blade and barreled through the forest. It disintegrated a pathway through the trees and collided with the building, creating an opening for everyone to run through. I turned to Varin, sheathing my sword into nothingness.

I wrapped my arm around her once more, looking back as those who were in the building came funneling toward us, with Li leading the pack. “Look at that, my brilliant plan did work.” And before Varin could snap back, I teleported us from the forest and to the docks in the upper North-West of Wylop.

I looked around at the docks. It was smaller than the main port, but it was usually a lot busier than it was currently. I let out a sigh that Varin heard because she asked. “Why are you huffing, I don’t like when you huff.”

I looked around, the small buildings that lined behind us were all closed down and all but our ship had been moved out of the port. It wasn’t fishing season which meant—the hair on the back of my neck stood up, causing me to turn around. I quickly pulled Varin behind me as a gust of invisible aura bashed itself against me.

I looked up and let out another sigh, this one purposely loud and exhausted. “The Emperor really does have a hard time letting go doesn’t he?” I asked the area in front of us. “Come on out Roland, I know it’s you.” 

The air became charged as Roland appeared before the two of us and with him another gust of wind pressed against me. “How long has it been now, Zero?” 

Roland was a tall and muscular man who was never too far from his sword or armor and today he had brought both. His face was covered by his helmet, but I knew he was glaring and gritting his teeth at me—he always was. 

The two suns were hovering high in the air, their rays reflecting off his blood-red armor, giving it a metallic glow. “How long since what? Since we last saw each other because that was like nine months ago when The Order disbanded, or are ya talking about how long has it been since we talked? Because that’s been about thirty-five years.” 

“Arrogant as ever.” Roland lifted his arm outward, his hand gripped around the air. His sword manifested in his grasp, sending a gust of wind swirling in all directions for the briefest of moments. The short metal blade was translucent and at times would ripple with the breeze that rolled through the area. “I was going to be number one, the next leader of The Order, then you come along and suddenly I’m tenth? There ain’t no way, I could have easily cut your head off at any—.” Roland’s words were cut short as three blade tips suddenly appeared around his neck.

I smiled at him as puffs of smoke echoed around him, revealing three black-robed figures.

“Hey, guys, right on time.” I waved at the one standing directly in front of Roland. “Hey Sukki, new dagger?” 

Sukki kept her blade on Roland's neck while using her free hand to lower his sword—she kept her eyes on him as she spoke. “I hate how you called this like a scripted play Zero, it bothers me how good you are at predicting people.” Two more puffs of smoke appeared, and two more women were holding a captive knight. “He was even where you said he’d be.”

I laughed and began walking up to her and Roland. The two robed figures nodded at Sukki before disappearing with their captive. I put my hand on her shoulder, pulling her away, her face was hidden but her cold blue eyes were uncovered and they were telling me to let her kill him.

“Not today Sukki, he hasn’t done anything wrong,” I locked eyes with him. “And he isn’t going to, right, buddy?” 

Roland pulled himself away with a grunt, his sword disappearing as he released his grip. “The Emperor knows what you’re doing.”

“Well considering I don’t work for the Emperor anymore, it’s really none of his business, besides, I’m not doing anything,” I nodded back at Sukki, giving her and the others the alright to leave. “But if I were,” I turned back to Roland. “What do you and The Emperor think it is that I am doing?” I lowered my left hand to the side, resting it on the air above where my sword hilt would lie. 

Roland pointed to Varin “The Nymph thing, you’re trying to smuggle it out, probably gonna take it to Myso and sell her for a huge amount of Onyx, huh? Or maybe you’re gonna take her somewhere so you have your way with—.”

I drew my sword and the blade pierced the air to the right of Roland’s head—cutting the side of his helmet. “Finish that sentence and I will remove your head and give it to your children as a keepsake.” I lowered my sword slightly to his neck, resting it on his shoulder. “Do not test me, Number Ten.”

Roland didn't move for a moment, then he let out a small muffled laugh. I released the grip on my sword and lunged backward as a lightning bolt struck the spot where I had just been standing. I took my attention to the roof of one of the buildings to my right. The suns were in my eyes but I knew that helmet pattern anywhere.

While Roland had a more traditional helmet with its curved front, these were a more rigid pattern, with the sides panning out into wings and the tops shaped into mohawks.

“Ahh, Pax and Dax, the twins, shoulda known you’d be tools to The Emperor when it was all over,” I turned back to Varin, she was still standing in the open, and no one had attacked her yet, even with my back turned. I looked back at Roland. “What does he want her for? Varin.”

Roland looked at me, his head tilted to the side. “You named the stupid thing?”

Before I could think, I reacted. I lunged forward, summoning my sword back again, cutting the air with intense speed. My sword was met with a loud gong as it clashed against a large oval shield. My sword bounced back and as it did, I released my grip, allowing myself to keep my balance. I pulled my hand forward, balling my fist to punch the shield but it moved and I was greeted with the blade of a shortsword. I sidestepped to my left, catching a glimpse of my assailant, my eyes widening under my mask with excitement. “Oh, Zola, you’re a tool too, neat.”

She tried to pull her sword back around to slash through my stomach but was stopped by an arrow that flew into the ground between us. I took a step back and then teleported back to Varin.

Roland and Zola looked over to our ship where a woman was standing. She wore similar clothing to me, the tattered shirt and pants that had been sewn a dozen times over, and in her hand was an enormous golden bow.

“Dammit, it’s Kai,” Roland grumbled, turning his head back to me. “You really did think all this through didn’t you, how long have you known he’s been watching?”

I looked to Varin, then back to Roland. “The Emperor is always watching, you should know that. Let me guess though, The Emperor, he’s the reason dungeons we once closed are opening again.” I rested my hand back to the left, summoning my sword back to my side. “It’s going to be used as an excuse to close the border to keep control over the island, but why does The Emperor need The Princess of Vol?”

Roland removed his helmet, revealing his pale skin and shaved head—his eyes were sunken with years of hate. “Do you know why they even opened the border and disbanded The Order, the real reason, it sure as hell wasn’t because of peace?”

Roland smiled, grabbing Zola on the shoulder. “Grab the twins and go, we ain't gonna beat Zero and the number four, even if Bleu does show up.” He looked over at me, his eyes focusing down on Varin. “You think he won’t send a fleet after you?”

“You think I won’t sink any and every ship that I see coming after me or my crew?”

“THIS IS WHY WE WERE GONNA KILL YOU ZERO!” Roland’s words echoed across the dock. “We hated how arrogant you were!”

I could feel that they shook Varin to her core. I laughed to ease her as much as I could. “The Emperor disbanded The Order because he knew a civil war was brewing from within all because backing up my attitude with uncontested skill is a means for execution, got it, now about the borders?”

Roland was furious that I hadn’t reacted, I could see it in his eyes. It was taking all his strength not to change his mind and attack me, but he knows just as much as I—that would be suicide.

“It’s the magic isn’t it, the border magic failed and he can’t get Hier to recast, so he is gonna have Wylop unleash dungeons all around Sidra as an excuse. He’ll tell the people it was the magic of the border being closed that allowed The Order to close the dungeons.” I pulled out my sword and pointed the tip of the blade toward him.  “And the soul core inside her can do it for him, he won’t even need Hier.” The purple flames from before crawled out from the hilt and wrapped around the blade of my sword.

The flames grabbed out at Roland like claws, causing him to take a few steps back even with the distance already between them. “Take my words to The Emperor, if he even thinks of sending a single ship after us,” The flames grew larger, crafting themselves into a large torsoed monster. It growled at Roland and sparks fell from its mouth as it lashed out at him once more. “I will ensure an all out war between The Four Kingdoms and I promise him I will be the one to remove his senile old head from its shoulders.”

Varin looked at the flame creature that protruded from my sword, then at me. “Zero, you’re him aren’t you?”

I kept my blade forward, but turned my head slightly, enough for her to see my eyes through the slits of my mask—the purple flames within them send a shiver down her spine, but it was quickly swept away with a nod and a smile.

“Now I understand how you knew I was a Princess, you weren’t always a Knight of The Order were you Zero?”

I turned my head back and released the grip on my sword—it and the flame creature subsided away into ash. I lowered my hands to the side as Varin waited for me to answer. I let out a long and exhausted sigh. “Nope, I used to be a Dragon.”

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