Tales of Zeroth

When overwhelming odds confronts a person, they have two options, fall, or rise, many shall decide to fall, and those who will rise, will be the gold in the mud.

Adventurers from Dartine, were tasked to fight a basilisk in the village of Beltor, but unbeknownst to them, the quest had more fangs than they had expected. Tavern managers, watching from the forest were damning themselves.

"WE JUST SENT THOSE ADVENTURERS TO THEIR DEATHS!!" The head manager yelled out as more and more adventurers came in by stretchers, "We sent fifty adventurers in Beltor, five have died and ten are out of commission."

Another manager was overseeing the injured adventurers, with healers trying to keep them alive, "We're falling like flies here, we need to retreat and come back with a stronger force," but as the manager suggested this, an adventurer grabbed his arm.

The adventurer was a man caught by the basilisk venom, his left arm was corroding off while multiple healers were trying to fight the corrosion while cutting his arm clean off, "D-Don't," the man pleaded, "If we r-run now, those b-basilisks will grow, WE NEED TO DESTROY THEM HERE!!"

The managers' eyes widened in shock at what the man said, and they saw the injured adventurers, after being healed, grabbed their blades as they ran back to the battlefield, "These damn adventurers," the head manager commented, a worried tone as he looked unto the battlefield, "They don't know when to give up."

The village of Beltor was filled with elements whirling together as an army of snakes fought the adventurers, the adult basilisks whipping with their tails and shooting out venom, yet still the adventurers fought.

Wiel, a high-rank adventurer had lost his hand due to the corroding venom, the only reason why he still had his arm was due to him cutting it off before it could spread, "WE WILL NOT FALTER!!" He yelled his axe still surging with electricity, "WE WILL NOT LET THESE BEASTS DESTROY MORE LIVES!!"

A rallying cry was made by each adventurer, Bok and Wiel fought one of the adult basilisks while Rapl and Leena fought the other one. The elf archer fired shots into the mouth of the beast, her fingers were bleeding from how many arrows she had fired, but then she thought of something.

Winding up a shot with her full electrical kutha, Leena fired an arrow that only pierced the beast a bit, "RAPL!!!" She yelled, but as if he already knew, Rapl ran to the arrow, coating and channeling his hands, he punched the arrow, shoving it inside the beast's body, then Leena lifted her hand pointing at where the arrow was, "SHOCK!!" A surge of electricity entered the beast, causing it to flinch in pain.

But the beast still managed to pull off a tail swipe, Rapl and Leena managed to dodge it with Rapl's gift and Leena's speed, but as he dodged an attack, he encountered another, with baby basilisks wrapping themselves around him. Rapl tried to get them off, but then he foresaw himself being tail-swiped.

Panic came over him as he saw a basilisk tail about to hit him, but before it did, a wall of ice blocked Rapl, "I got your b-back," the voice of Alex called from behind him, but Rapl saw that Alex was getting more and more tired.

Rico ran to Rapl, biting at the snakes to free him, "Thanks boy, ALEX!! What's wrong with you," he asked in a worried tone.

"I-I'm fine," she assured as blood came from her nose, "Just focus on yourself." Rapl then saw Alex turn to other adventurers, using her ice to protect them, and Rapl realized it, Alex was overusing her mana.

"A-" But as he was going to call out for her, a venom spit appeared behind Rapl, it was going to hit him until Rico jumped, and ate the venom, "RICO!!" Rapl yelled out, but then he saw Rico, swallowing the venom, unaffected by it, Rico gave Rapl a reassuring look as the salamander rushed to Alex. Rapl saw that everyone was giving it their all, and he knew that he also needed to bring out everything.

Rapl focused yet again, he needed to be strong, for the villagers who used to live here, and for the adventurers who were currently fighting. Leena was out moving the basilisks, some adventurers were also helping her whittle it down, but from one of the roofs of the ruined houses, Rapl appeared, his fist a bright red with wind, "IGNIS!!" He yelled, punching the beast to the ground.

"Alright everyone, let's do this." Leena along with Rapl and a few adventurers continued to battle the beast. But for the other basilisk, Bok and Wiel saw their fellow adventurers melt from the venom, leaving only the two of them to fight it.

But their deaths didn't dismay the two, instead, it made them fight stronger. Bok was heavily injured, a few of his ribs were broken and his right hand was crumpled, but using some bandages, Bok wrapped his blade with his fist, so that even though it was broken, Bok could still swing.

Wiel was also very injured, he had been caught in his side by the venom, and if it wasn't for his split-second reactions, he could've melted, "Bok!" The warrior called, Bok turned to Wiel, "You're one hell of a warrior!" He exclaimed, a smile on his face as Bok replied with his own.

"Thanks." The two charged at the basilisk. As all of this was happening, Sevi was hurrying around the place, notifying all the mages about a plan he just made, and when the mages understood it, he just needed all warriors to leave the area.

"EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE RUN OR GO ON TOP OF THE ROOF!!! THE ICE MAGES ARE GOING TO FREEZE EVERYTHING!!" Sevi yelled out, leading the adventurers to do as they were told, and as Sevi saw everyone safe, "NOW!!!"

The ice mages began to chant some spells, Alex widened her arms, as she began to bleed from her nose and eyes, but a smile was on her face as she lifted her wand, her blood freezing, "Unending tundra." The ice mages made a gust of frost at the village, it didn't reach the roofs of the houses, but it engulfed the entire village.

Sevi smiled, just from pure deduction of the baby basilisks, he noticed that they didn't have any hard scales yet, meaning that they were still super vulnerable to the weather. The warriors saw the small snakes frozen to ice, immediately eliminating the advantage of the basilisks.

The two adults were unaffected by the attack, but after seeing all their children had been frozen, the two began to retreat, but yet again Sevi smiled, "NOW!!" The fire mages then prepared massive fire spells as other fire mages used a bit of warmth to melt the ice the ice mages made.

The highest-grade fire mage of the group, Sheril focused everything on her staff, all her mana surged as she and the fire mages cast their fire, "HAIL OF THE INFERNO!!!" Multiple fireballs flew out at the beasts, some hitting the beast, and the rest meeting the water from the ice.

It created a smoke cloud that made the basilisks blind, so trying to see, they lifted their heads. But from the heavens, Sevi descended, directly landing on the basilisk's head, with his two legs on the lower and upper mouth. So as Sevi performed the splits, it opened the mouth of the snake, "I heard your venom reacts explosively with fire," Sevi remarked, seeing a surge of venom coming from the throat of the serpent, so he opened his palms, and pointed his hands at it, "FULCRUM!!!"

A wave of continuous fire came from Sevi's hands, blasting the insides of the serpent. Rapl from the roof saw Sevi, his arms cracking with magma, "SEVI!! YOU'RE INJURING YOURSELF!!" But then like a form of enjoyment, Sevi began to cackle as cracks began to form near his eyes.

"FINAL!!!" And just like a volcano, Sevi's fire spell grew stronger, "FULCRUM!!" The serpent began to burn from the inside, and Sevi's fire came out of the beast's many wounds, like water in a bag full of holes. The attack had so much recoil, that Sevi began to float without using magic arts.

And with one last wave of fire, Sevi was blasted up, his hands cracked with glowing magma, with cracks also appearing near his eyes. But in the air, he laughed with jubilation, the other basilisk saw its mate fall, but then on its face, Sevi landed, he stared at the beast straight in the eye, his gaze sent chills to a beast that paralyzed it, like a prey in front of a predator.

"FINAL!!" Sevi's hands began to burn with an intense fire, "FLASH!!!" Sevi blasted the beast with his fist, sending it crashing into another building. With it trying to recover the beast observed from the smoke, multiple adventurers made their appearance, battered and bruised, but with a look that spoke of their resilience.

Bok, Wiel, and Rapl stepped up, and their blade, axe, and fists were enveloped by their elements, multiple adventurers also began coating their weapons, producing lights that the basilisk could see through the smoke.

Like a cornered prey, the beast tried to quickly strike at them, but a row of arrows struck its mouth, one of them surged with electricity, "SHOCK!!" Leena shouted, leading the beast to take massive damage.

"You've taken out many lives today," Rapl remarked, as the warriors approached the injured basilisk, they all charged up their weapons as Rapl stared directly into its eyes, and then, he said words that made the beast's eyes widen as if it understood him.

The adventurers descended their attacks on the beast, and finally, after a hard battle, the adventurers of Dartine had defeated the basilisks, losing thirteen adventurers, and many more injured, yet they held their heads high, for they had accomplished their mission, and seeing the villagers of Beltor being joyful made it all worth it.

Even with the ruins of their village, the people of Beltor danced and celebrated the reclaiming of their village. The tavern managers took the bodies of the basilisks, as they also assured the village chief that builders were coming to rebuild Beltor.

The head tavern manager sighed at the sight of the adventurers carrying themselves to the healers, he quickly composed himself as he searched for a certain adventurer, and there he found her, worry came over his face, but he quickly suppressed it, "Sheril," he called out.

The mage girl turned to the manager, a cheeky smile on her face, "Hey darling, were you worried about me?" She asked, wiping off a streak of blood coming from her mouth.

"You damn idiot," he exclaimed, bringing out a handkerchief to wipe the blood away, "We've got a newborn and here you are taking on high-danger quests." Sheril chuckled as she saw the worry hiding behind the manager's face.

"C'mon Folli, us having a newborn is the reason why I did this quest, we've got to be both working parents," Sheril replied, leaving the manager named Folli to scoff a bit, but Sheril put her arms over him as to both comfort and to rest, "You're an amazing husband and father Folli, don't ever think of yourself other than that."

When Sheril whispered this, Folli blushed a bit, but it was only for a moment as he got composure again, carrying his wife on his back, "How's the new kids?" He asked, he had been hearing a lot about the trailblazers for a while now, "I saw that red-haired kid pull off some extreme magic."

Sheril chuckled proudly, "They're amazing for their age… although." Sheril's smile disappeared as she saw Sevi and Alex, passed out, being healed, both bloody, "They don't know what self-preservation is sometimes." Folli sighed as he heard this.

"Reminds me of a certain fire mage," he commented, leading Sheril to smile yet again, he had always made her smile in moments where she couldn't.

"If it wasn't for me pushing myself, you would've died to that rock lion, and poor baby Fild would never exist wouldn't he." The adventurers began to celebrate as they made their way back home, Sevi, Bok, and Rapl were covered in bandages, along with Leena, whose hands were covered with it, making them look two times bigger.

"This is completely unnecessary," Leena remarked as Bok aided her in drinking water. As for Alex, due to her extreme overuse of mana, she was instructed to rest to refill it, sleeping on an exhausted Rico, "You and Alex pushed yourselves too much," Leena commented, leading Rapl to give Leena an 'Are you kidding me' look.

"Says you, all your fingers are broken," Rapl replied, leading Leena to shrug as to acknowledge Rapl's point. But then from one of the carriages, Wiel jumped to their party's carriage, Bok saw that Wiel's hands were wrapped in bandages.

"They couldn't save it huh?" Bok asked, leading Wiel to awkwardly laugh.

"Yeah, it was too late, the healers did their best though." Wiel saw the somber expression of the party, "D-Don't worry, I'll just get a prosthetic," he remarked as a wide smile entered his face, "I'm planning to throw a celebration, I'll buy a drink for everyone in the tavern."

Everyone in the carriage lit up, but Leena calmed Sevi down, "You and your sister are too young," she instructed, leading Sevi to somber down.

Wiel laughed, "Don't worry, I heard from the tavern managers they have been recently selling these sugary drinks from Entarealm, I'll buy you and your sister some." Wiel saw Sevi's face brighten up, which made him smile as well, but he also wanted to warn Sevi about something.

Wiel's face became serious as he kneeled near Sevi, "W-what?" The kid asked him, the warrior staring deeply into his eyes.

"Look kid, what you did in that quest was heroic, and I commend you, but please don't overuse your mana," he warned in a serious but caring tone, "If you run out of mana, it starts eating away at your body, that's why blood comes out of your body, it's used-up blood that takes the mana particles' place for you to cast spells."

Sevi, Bok, and Rapl's eyes widened at this information, Sevi quickly turned to Alex, worry showing on his face, "N-Not again."

But Wiel then patted Sevi on the shoulder, "I'll buy you all any dish you want back in the tavern, make sure you eat it all to make up for the blood you used today," he promised, a gentle smile on his face as he got ready to jump to his carriage, "Also, good planning, you have some serious talent."

When the adventurers returned to Dartine, they were met with a jubilant crowd, Rapl's mouth formed into a smile as he saw kids running to their adventurer parents, finding it funny the same people who can be so savage in battle, can also be so loving.

When the adventurers reached the tavern, the celebration commenced, headed by Wiel, the adventurers ended their brutal day with fun and delicious food, but Wiel, seeing Sevi, picked the boy up and carried him on his shoulders, "EVERYONE!! Can we get a round of applause to the person who planned our victory, SEVI!!!"

The tavern erupted in cheers as Sevi could only awkwardly wave, Rapl, Bok, Leena, and Alex all stared at Sevi, a proud look on their face, "Why does he look so awkward," Leena asked, "I thought he would be more confident at things like this, especially with all that laughing a while ago."

Rapl chuckled, "Yeah, that's true, he looked like a demon in that battle, but now he looks like a…. a.."

"A newborn horse," Alex finished, gulping down the sugary drink Wiel gave her.

"Yeah," Rapl smiled, "What a kid." As the tavern celebration continued, the trailblazer party had solidified themselves in Dartine as an elite party, in just two weeks, something never heard of by any adventurer party in Dartine. So as the night sky rose, so did the celebrations.

Hark hark to all who will listen

For he comes with a dark mission

Rivers will turn red as the dead will rise

Be wary of any word said, near the beast with crimson eyes

Immediately the city fell silent, as dread consumed all the souls that resided in it. Each breath was silent like a prey hiding from a predator. Rapl looked outside the windows, and instead of the darkness of night, the red lights spoke of a dark omen, none dared to even let out a noise.

Let all sons beg of mercy

Let all fathers cry of pity

Let all daughters beg of mercy

Let all mothers cry of pity

A horrible symphony cried through the entire city, sang with the voices of children as bells completed the song, yet it felt like Rapl could not hear it, even though it was there, for all he could hear his heartbeat, his blood flowing, his food inside his stomach being digested, he could hear everything, but nothing.

A thousand heroes will weep

And all will be slaughtered like sheep

For the red night will consume everything in its path

And all of Zeroth, will witness the demon king's wrath

A sound stood out from the melody and the silence, the sound of a steady footstep, as each soul turned to the door of the tavern, a man entered, his eyes telling of the sight that he saw, and with a shaking mouth, he uttered, "He has come."