Beliefs

[Ngjoko]

You have no idea how many times i'd read this thread ever since day 1 i joined the forums. Really like it. Oh, and the and hell thingy is from the ragnarok animation in which Takius destroyed the queen egg when being under her master's control.

[ShadowValentine]

I see little errors in your work, but they're very small, nothing that can't be caused by fatigue or it just being your own work, which means you see what you expected to type, and not what you actually did type. It is much better than anything I've come to expect from non-professional works, especially on the Internet. If you want, I'll pick out the errors I saw and put 'em here.

This seems like it's building to be quite the story. If you included perhaps a background information part, for example, an index at the end of sorts to explain what non-Ragnarok players would not understand, you could, perhaps, try and get this published?

It certainly seems to be of sufficient quality and (perhaps) length for a book...

[Zerrif]

I don't think I could get it seriously published because simply put, most of it is not my own creative writing. The world and characters and most of the concept is via RO. Hell, I even basically namedropped RO the animation in there, like Ngjoko said.

Thanks for the criticism though, Shadow.

[LunarChaosIsBack]

see these people Gerik?

Shadow & Fish are because i've been telling people about your story!! ! Yep im taking credit for this ;D

I love your story Gerik! I've only told you like 5 million times The characters are so cute and i find it really interesting how you based it in the RO world, now when i go to Payon or Geffen i will think of your story about little Bascht and little Gerik X3

btw, you've inspired me to write my own little story about Solar, ofcourse it wont be so long and i probably wont post it for a while x3 but i just thought i'd let you know regardless~

Waiting for more Gerik! ^.~

--Solar--

[Zerrif]

It didn't take long for the Mage to find the Acolyte and Archer sitting by the Geffen Fountain, giggling somewhat between themselves. He approached silently, coughing once and clearing his throat. This seemed to scare Ren out of her little giggle fit, making her blush and stare away. "Am I interrupting?" He asked, smiling behind his mask.

"No, of course not. Find a place?" Gerik asked, as he stood up, brushing off his robes. Ren stood too, and pulled her shirt down-- making it look more flat. She cleared her throat too, making her voice drop deeper slightly.

"Well if you two boys are ready," Bascht said, as he turned to stare at Ren. "I did find a place, yes. Muarim's off now seeing if he has any maps with the Kafra Ladies about Geffen Tower. Although I doubt we'll need it-- I'm sure where we're going will have enough documented on it to be sufficient."

"What, are we sleeping in the back of a library?" Ren said, her voice now resembling that of the male's she'd been imitating earlier. Gerik snickered a little at the joke, and Bascht just shook his head.

"No, we're going to use the house of my old mentor and teacher. It's small and out of the way, but no one bothers to well, bother him. It'll be a good place to get away and focus on what we need." Gerik looked at Bascht rather curiously.

"Hey B... did something happ--" The Mage was already walking away. He frowned.

"Come on, Gerik. He's gonna leave us behind." Ren quipped in, obviously sensing that something had gone wrong as well. The two of them quickly caught up to the Mage.

---

"Is there anything else that I can do for you today?" The Kafra Girl, Sorin said. She was fiddling with her hair lightly as Muarim stood before her, rolling up his maps.

"Actually..." The Merchant started, when he was suddenly bumped into. He blinked in astonishment at the offender's rudeness, not even bothering to say "Excuse me" or "Sorry". He looked back at the Kafra, nodding. "Did I have any White Potions in storage?"

She excused herself to look through her lists and see what the merchant, had, when he started patting himself down. His zeny was all there, and they hadn't placed anything extra on his person. He patted over his chest when it felt oddly flat-- and he realized it had been taken.

"You have-- huh? Where did he go?" Sorin asked, as Muarim was suddenly gone, the wheels of his cart clack-clacking against Geffen's stone street.

---

"Thief! Stop him!" Muarim said, running at his full speed. His aggressor had caught on that he'd given chase, and was now darting through people on the streets. He grumbled at how much harder it was to manoevure with the cart-- but he wasn't about to just drop everything he'd just gotten from the Kafra and leave it there.

Gerik looked up slightly as he thought he heard Muarim's voice in the air, looking over his shoulder to see someone pushing their way through people straight at them. "Stop! Thief!" He blinked as he turned himself around, and was about to step in the running person's way, when a wall of flame appeared between them.

"Fire Wall!" Bascht repeated, as two more walls appeared, blocking off all directions except the one from which the thief was running. He turned around to see Muarim closing in, and he just reached inside his clothes.

"Give back my--" The Merchant started, but there was the loud crack, and a roar as suddenly, a pool of lava appeared on the ground. It seemed to congeal a bit, and then rise-- giving form to a gigantic Lava golem. Muarim skidded to a halt and reached back into his cart, quickly pulling out an axe wreathed in a light blue colour. "What the hel--"

"Tch. Now I have to waste one on you all." The thief said, as the fire walls began dissipating. He made a break for it, and as the group moved to try and stop him, the Lava Golem reached up, and then brought a blazing, molten arm down in their way. Gerik reached out, grabbing Ren by her collar and dragged her out of the way. Just being in the vicinity of that arm made his skin feel like it was on fire, and he quickly took a few defensive steps back.

"Can't these guys just leave us alone?!" Ren said, angrily, as she took a spot beside Gerik. She could see how people all around were panicking and going elsewhere for safety, and she grit her teeth. "Dammit! I left my Crystal Arrows in Muarim's cart!"

"We need a plan." Bascht said, as Gerik stared up at the creature. "Quick, before it starts summoning it's Blazers. Once those come out, we're done for."

"Plan... plan? Why me? Why my plan?" Gerik thought as the monster began to ball up fists of pure lava. "Goddamit--! Ren, I'll try and distract it for a little, make your way to Muarim and get your stuff. Bascht, I need you to slow it down as best you can, pelt it with whatever you've got. Once you're there, Ren, you'll need to get Muarim to help me distract it while you and B take it down."

The Archer and Mage just nodded, making Gerik take in a deep breath. Sure their teamwork was getting better, but could they even take this thing down? This was far more powerful, and way out of their league--

"Come on!" B shouted. "If we just leave this here, it'll wreak havoc on the town!"

Gerik nodded. He was right. He didn't even know what really happened-- but that didn't mean he could just ignore the problem. "Hey you, ugly! Over here!" He said, as he tapped his Staff of Recovery against his Buckler. The beast, distracted by the noise, looked over and he made his way around to the beast's side. "Come on, show me what you got!"

---

"Yes... show me."

"What was that, sir?"

"Nothing. Interesting how things play out sometimes, isn't it?"

"I suppose. Though don't you think--"

"No."

"..."

"They're coming closer. They're getting closer. Start preparing."

"Understood."

[Kittie]

more please :o?

[Zerrif]

((Just something quick while HeRO's down))

He felt blood well up in the back of his throat, as he skidded right into a wall. He figured he was lucky to not have smacked his head right against the brick wall, but it still rattled his senses to the point where he felt sick in his stomach. The blood made it's way out, as he coughed it out onto the ground.

"Gerik!" He could hear Bascht shout, before there was some muffled incantation. There was a loud crack, as ice appeared all around the golem and crystallized around it; though it didn't last long. Steam, and the sound of the water melting rapidly filled the air, as the pure heat off of the Lava Golem made quick work of its icy confines.

His buckler felt like it could melt at any second. The fringes of his robes were singed, and he was already hurting. His mind reeled from exhaustion and it felt like he couldn't stand. "Gerik! Hold on!" He heard Ren cry.

"You're not dying on me." A familiar voice said to his left. He stared over to see no one, but felt a hand on his wrist. He would have probably jumped back from surprise, but he was too tired-- instead whatever was pulling at him pulled him straight down.

He heard a loud crash above him, as the Lava Golem surged forth a stream of lava right into the building he'd been leaning on. He looked up to see that gooey arm slowly drip, lava falling and burning the ground right in front of him. Again, he felt himself be tugged around by some shadow, invisible force-- it clicked in soon after that it was another person.

"K-Kon...?" Gerik mumbled, as he haplessly tried to get on two feet, and scramble out from under the slowly dripping magma. "What're--"

"Watch out!" He heard Bascht cry again. Gerik swerved in his awkwardly bent state, raising his buckler. Something heavy pushed straight down on him and pinned him to the ground. The metal of his shield became instantly hot, and it began to burn the hand that held it-- but he knew if he let it go, he'd lose his only defence against being burnt alive.

"Grimtooth!" Konkon shouted, as suddenly the ground began to be torn up, spikes of it jutting straight out. The tear ripped right for the Lava Golem, and once it hit, spears of pure earth shot straight up into the beast. It let out a loud cry and eased off of the Acolyte a little, letting him roll out and scramble. "Grimtooth! Grimtooth!" Konkon kept shouting, sending more and more waves along the ground.

"Who the hell--" Ren started, raising her bow. With her newly acquired crystal arrows from the Merchant's cart, she let them loose. "Oh screw it-- Double Strafing! Tah!" She began to let loose a volley of arrows into the beast, the elemental arrows leaving a trail of light blue in the air.

Gerik felt a hand pull at him again, looking up to see the green-haired Merchant dragging him out. "You okay there, Gerik?" Muarim asked, as he continued to drag him out. too tired to even give a reply, Gerik just rolled his head a little, his legs scrambling along the ground to find footing. "Whoever's helping us is really helping-- but you did great. Let us handle the rest."

Gerik mumbled something, but Muarim didn't hear it above the chaos. The Merchant rolled to the side as a volley of ice shards flew right by, the Mage having sent out a few spells of Cold Bolt straight at the monster. It let out a furious roar as the cold tore through it, and it raised its arms straight up, then plunged them into the ground.

"No! It's making it's Blazers! Quickly!" Bascht shouted. Gerik struggled to sit up, seeing Muarim whiz by him, axe straight up.

"MAMMONITE!" Muarim shouted, as he leapt into the air and brought the axe down, cleaving through the monster's "head". As he swung, a rain of zeny shot down like hail, pelting the monster as an added strike. He continued to swing making more and more cash plummet.

Gerik's vision began to fade, watching his friends keep fighting. "N-no... I need to be... strong.... The world slowly turned a sickly black, and he fell back-- the vision of the blue sky above the last thing he saw.

---

"I want to be strong!" Gerik said, his arms raised excitedly. Father Bamph just chuckled a little, and ruffled his head, pushing him to walk.

"The time will come, young Gerik." the Priest said. "Who knows, maybe one day you will become an Acolyte, and maybe even a Priest yourself."

"Are priests strong?" Gerik asked. He barely even came up to the holy man's hip. "Can they fight?"

"Anyone can be anything they want to be, so long as they exert the amount of effort that is necessary. If you want to be strong, you don't have to be the best fighter, or the most powerful anything. Strength is something found from deep within-- strength is something you draw on. Not something you show."

"... I don't get it." Bamph began to laugh. "Hey! 'S not funny!" Gerik pouted.

"You will one day, child. One day."

"When...? I need to be strong... now..."

[Zerrif]

"How much do you want this power?"

Gerik looked around-- only able to see what looked like a slight glint in the darkness. He reached out for it, not being able to discern how far it is, or if he was even reaching the right way. Something just drew him towards some direction in the darkness, and he felt a need to reach out.

"Who...?"

"If you really believe you want this power, then accept it."

"A...Accept it? How?"

"I can bestow the power you seek on you. The only condition is that you have to allow me control of your body."

Gerik felt his hand drop. Control of his body? How would he be sure that what he wanted would be done? Was this some sort of trick by a demon?

"Trick? Nono, rest assured young Gerik this is no trick. Do you not trust me after all that I've done?"

"... Can it be-- ?!"

Gerik gasped in surprise, and reached out again.

"Just stay with me. You'll be safe."

---

"Oh! He's waking up! Give him room!"

A crowd of people that had converged upon the unconscious Acolyte soon shuffled back as he sat up. Gerik let out a small mumble-- having been dragged out of the fray by Konkon earlier. He looked over at the unfamiliar faces and stood on his feet. He didn't even shake, and his body felt renewed.

"Careful! Slowly now you're--" Someone called, but soon after Gerik's whole body began to tingle. A powerful burst surged forth from him, sending those on the innermost ring of people sprawling. "What in the world--?"

Gerik felt his mind race and his breath began to grow heavy. Something was glowing-- and upon further inspection, it was him. His whole body had taken on a blue shine and when he looked down, he thought he had been drugged. While he could see his normal outline, there was a faint image of something-- no, someone else, around him. Instead of Acolyte robes, the image mirrored something of a Priest-- a rather highly accomplished Priest at that.

He stared out, making the circle of awestruck people stare out as well. Bascht, Muarim, Ren, and Konkon were still fighting-- aided by a few other adventurers who had come to see the event. The Lava Golem had spawned multiple blazers at this point, and the fight seemed to go more from trying to defeat the beast, to controlling the Blazers so that the town wouldn't burn down.

Gerik felt himself take a step forward, and he stared down again. There was that transparent image of robes again, before his vision focused on his Acolyte's garments. But that step wasn't his. Someone else was driving him. It was like he could only watch as someone began to tug at his strings.

"Feel. Focus all your energy and power into your hands. I will do the rest."

Gerik found himself running now towards the fray, and all he could muster up to do was to let out a loud battle cry.

"FOCUS! Do as I say, or all this will be for naught!"

His battle cry broke Bascht's incantation, making the Mage turn to look over his shoulder.

Behind the mask, Bascht's eyes widened. Gerik? It looked like him but at the same time... that image! It couldn't be--

"More! More! Focus all your might-- focus on how much you want to save your friends, and these people!"

Gerik let out another loud cry, zooming past the Mage who had been standing near the back of the group. "Holy Light! Holy Light!" He found himself shouting-- in a voice not wholly his own. His arms pulsed as energy raced through them, firing off more magical force than he knew he could. As he dashed in, great glittering crosses of white exploded on the Blazers-- in turn making them explode into nothing but ash.

"Holy--!" Ren shouted, as the Acolyte darted past him. He lowered his bow as Gerik ran, continuing to fire off his barrage of seemingly powered up Holy Lights. Each one struck with a fierce accuracy, dispatching a Blazer with only a single cast.

"Gerik! Are you okay?" Muarim shouted-- his eyes never leaving the beast in front of him. The Lava Golem let out a roar and the Merchant rolled out of the way of a crashing arm, looking over. "Gerik?"

"Begone, foul beast-- you shall not defile this land any longer!" Gerik shouted, almost threateningly. The Lava Golem stared directly at him, and raised an arm above him.

"Gerik watch--!"

Another surge of energy flowed out from the priest as his robes began to buffet in some wind centered around him. Everyone fighting the beast stopped to stare-- and even the Lava Golem itself seemed to be unmoving. Gerik began to chant loudly, and his voice had a ghastly echo as it carried over the streets.

"Say it with me. You know the prayer."

"O, salutaris hostia, voca me cum benedictis, confutatis maledictis, gere curam mei finis!"1 Gerik's hands clasped together in prayer, then he he assumed a different stance. One palm raised to the sky and the other pointed straight at the Lava Golem, Gerik shouted the chant over and over. "O! Salutaris hostia, voca me cum benedictis..."

The Lava Golem reared back for what appeared to be one of it's mightiest strikes, and everyone snapped back into action. But before they could even take a step forward, there was another gale.

Then, a light shone down straight on Gerik, causing even the clouds from above to part. "HOLY LIGHT!"

The light flowed from his upward palm straight into his other arm, the light flowing out almost like a beam. It hit the Lava Golem straight on, and then pierced right through it easily-- but upon hitting a building behind it, it dissipated like normal light.

"Ho...ly..." Muarim said, his axe dropping and clamouring down to the ground at his side. He sank to his knees in awe, and his arms fell limply to his sides. While he was never one to believe in God, or any sort of holy act, the scene before began to elicit tears from his eyes.

Ren let out an amazed gasp as the light began to tear through the Lava Golem-- doing more damage than any of their previous assaults seemed to combined. "Hey B... do you see that?" Bascht remained silent, crossing his arms. This had to be impossible. And that Priestly image that seemed to come off of Gerik-- "B?" He just nodded his approval, and stared.

"Salvum fac populum tuum!"2 Gerik shouted, as the light grew, strengthening the magic that was flowing through him. The monster let out one final roar as he noticed it begin to dissipate into the air, steam and smoke rising off of its body. The Acolyte let out a final cry as the beam of light from above died off, the final bursts of energy sending him flying back along the ground.

Instinctively, his friends ran up to him, as the blue light around him faded away. The transparent image of the Priest also left him, leaving the Acolyte seemingly as unconscious as he had been before.

Except this time, he had a smile on his face.

"How many times is this now...?"

"Where what happens?"

"Where you have saved my life?"

---

"... He's interfering. Again."

"Master?" There was a scraping of a chair, and angered, dull footsteps. "... Where are you going, Master?"

"This is enough. If he chooses to interfere, I will not accept this."

"But..."

"Continue as planned. You are the leader now, do as you see fit. I will go and seek out my Lord."

"... I understand, sir. I will not fail you."

"See to it that you don't."

---

1 The chant that Gerik says is latin, and is translated as such. "O saviour, saving victim, call me with the blessed, when the damned shall be cast down, help me in my final hour." I stole it from choir XD.

2 Translation: "Save Your people"

Cookie points to whoever knows which Disney movie / musical it's also from.

[ShadowValentine]

Ima take a shot in the dark and say that was a Soul Link, but sorta from inside himself. Perhaps a self-discovery of the power of his ancestors, as mentioned in the Soul Linker jobchange quest, but through ... For lack of a better term, self-reflection or meditation?

Or am I dreaming.

[Zerrif]

Without spoiling too much of what's to come, it was a Soul Link.

As if blue glow and superpower Holy Light wasn't hint enough. But how would an Acolyte get soul linked? :O