Our Quest - Chapter 1

A quest for Power.

“I'll show you, this curse... I’ll make it my bless.”

A quest for Knowledge.

“Every mystery over the world is waiting for me to unveil it.”

A quest for Freedom.

“Without any worries, I live my fucking life the way I want.”

All of them guided by a quest for Justice.

“I believe everyone deserves a chance to be saved.”

Strong desires. A will to fulfill them. This is OUR QUEST.

Chapter 1 - The Girl From Loregard.

Welcome to the ancient world of Ekleipsis. Lots of tales lie around this gorgeous place: magic and swords, good and evil, life and death. Everyone has an interesting story, and I'll start by telling you the one about a young girl named Yuki and her quest. What's so special about her? Well, I don’t even know, so let’s go through the story together!

Walking over the green fields of the Kingdom of Loregard we find our happy little heroine. A sheathed sword dangled from her belt, at hip level

“Oh god, I’m starting to get tired!"

Well, maybe not so happy at the moment. She’s been walking for a while now so you can understand her mood.

"No, no! Yuki, you must remain positive!"

She’s telling herself that since an hour ago.

"There! I can finally see the town's entrance!"

Indeed there is. The Merchant Town: Thorald. A peaceful place with vivid people, home of every kind of salesman. From clothes to weapons, food or tools, almost everything can be acquired there... almost.

"What?, a library?, there's no such thing in Thorald you know?"

"I-is that so..."

How disappointing. But truth to be told, a library isn't a bookstore so...

“Though if you want books maybe you could go and ask Belle.”

“Belle?”

“Yeah, she works in the bar, but her father owns a bookstore.”

Which is not a library, by the way.

“That’s great! And where can I find the bar?”

“Just go east from here, there’s another entrance to the town there. Go through it and you’ll see it.”

“Thank you so much! I’ll get going, bye!”

It didn’t took Yuki much time to get there since Thorald is really a small town. The bar, paradoxically, was a big place.

“Wow... I wonder why they need such a huge door.”

Our heroine walks inside, where she finds a crowd full of “happy” people, mostly men of course, and half of the few women working as waitresses. Some are playing cards while drinking, the others are just drinking. Alone in a table on the middle you can spot a man smoking.

“Um... Hi, I’m looking for a girl called Belle.”

Nobody seemed to hear Yuki.

“Hello there?, anyone?, a girl called Belle.”

Finally a young woman approaches to her.

“Hi!, welcome to Thorald’s bar, can I offer you a table?”

“Thank you, but no, I’m just looking for someone, her name is Belle.”

“Oh then you’re lucky! I...”

Suddenly, a man smashes a bottle on his table, probably demanding attention. He has not company, except for a big object wrapped up in bandages standing next to him.

“Hey you damn waitress! , I want another one right now!”

Now that was rude.

“Right away sir!. Sorry lady, I’ll be with you in a minute.”

“Eh?... o-ok, don’t worry.”

But Yuki is the only one worrying. It’s her first time being in a bar, and she’s not really used to people’s aggressive behavior.     

“There you go sir!”

A bottle of very good wine, and just as expensive.

“Listen hottie, why don’t you take a rest and sit by my side?”

The man’s breath reeks of alcohol.

“Sorry sir, I’m not allowed, now if you excuse me...”

“Sit down, you whore!”

He tries to pull the waitress, but she is quickly pulled away by Yuki. Our heroine’s blue eyes look with hostility towards the drunk man.

“La... lady.”

“She said she’s not allowed.”

The man stands up, though he finds it a little difficult to keep balance. Almost twice as tall as Yuki, which is not difficult since she’s kinda short.. Still, now we know why they need such a big door.

“Who the fuck are you?! Don’t mess with me, stupid brat!”

The alcoholic guy tries to hit the girl with the high priced bottle he just got. She evades it easily and gracefully, then she unsheathes her silver blade.

“My name is Yuki, daughter of the Mornen family from Loregard, and I command you to apologize.”

“Don’t fuck with me!”

Mad, the man smashes a table to shards, making the clients run away scared. The only ones remaining are Yuki, the big guy, the bar’s workers... and the smoking man in the middle, who seems to be undisturbed by the uproar. The waitress tries to stop them.

“Please lady, don’t make him anymore angry! He’s no ordinary man! He’s the demon-hunter Joel!”

A cynical laughter explodes.

“Oh really?! You expect us to believe you are that so-called demon-hunter?!

The smoking man finally stands up and puts away his cigarette. An evil glare and a pretentious grin, guess you can’t call that “friendly”.

“Move, little girl from whatever Loregard family you said you are, I’m taking your place in this fight.”

“Eh?”

He then stands between Yuki and the drunkard. She can’t help but feel confused, and also a little relieved. It’s not like she was afraid of fighting, just that she’s never fought before.

“Are you mocking the great Joel, stupid shrimp?!”

“Yeah, I am.”

There’s no shame at all in this guy.

“That, of course, if you were actually him.”

“You doubt me?!, fine, I’ll show you the ultimate proof!”

The big guy then grabs the bandaged object and unwraps it, revealing his weapon, a claymore.

“This is the mighty weapon of the demon-hunter Joel! I’ll crush you with a single hit!”

The huge blade is brandished, Yuki is petrified. She wants to do something, she wants to stop the attack, but she can’t, her body doesn’t respond. Death. The sole idea of seeing someone die before her eyes scares her. She doesn’t want to see that, not now, not ever... not again.

“Pathetic.”

A horrid noise arises. The sound of clashing steel. With a single-edged sword that appeared out of nowhere, the smoker blocked the claymore’s attack.

“Let me tell you two reasons why you can’t be Joel. First, his sword, the Punisher, is bigger and stronger than your piece of junk.”

He pushes away the long weapon and, faster than the eye can perceive, he cuts it in half.

“And second...”

All of a sudden, the drinker is knocked down with a powerful kick and the tip of his opponent's sword is pressed to his neck before he can even react or try to get up. A frightening look covers the smoker’s face.

“That bastard wouldn’t fail to spot his prey.”

A strong air current rages inside the bar. It is accompanied by a tortuous sound. The wind, literally, howls.

“You’re... a demon!”

His yellow eyes stare with pride at the one who has discovered his nature. He slowly raises his sword.

“Stop...”

Yuki’s voice barely makes a sound. The fear of death still burns her mind, and it increases with every passing second.

“Stop...!”

The now identified demon swings his weapon. Our heroine finally reacts, though instinctively. She attacks the smoker with her own sword, without even thinking, but he notices and blocks.

“I said... stop... please... stop.”

Feeling tired, she drops her blade and falls to her knees. The fake Joel has lost consciousness. A group of armored men breaks in the bar.