Beliefs

[Zerrif]

Author's Note: I also want to note that I want any and all forms of constructive criticism, as I'm trying to constantly improve my writing capabilities. I know I haven't viewed this 32 times by myself, so I know people are looking. D: Please? Criticism keeps me warm at night.

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They hadn't gone anywhere too extravagant for their first time, just a small ways due south of Prontera. They ventured into the desert, much to Gerik's dislike of the arid, broiling heat, but the other two seemed to walk through as if it were just a nice summer day in the park. The trek was short, albeit uncomfortable, and they soon headed eastwards into the desert, arriving at a tropical island.

"Few people seem to know about this place." The Priest explained, as Gerik was simply thankful to have not felt like he was melting within his clothes. He could understand the smith being comfortable in the heat-- working in front of a blacksmith's furnace was most likely hot to begin with; it didn't make sense to him, however, how the priest had walked through casually, dressed fully in his robes.

"What is this place?" Gerik asked, walking out further. The ground was still covered in a light layer of sand, but the sky was much more forgiving, and the winds that flew by weren't dry, heated ones. He looked around as various different Porings hopped around and mingled with each other, some even seeming to follow the commands of others.

"Poring Island." The Blacksmith said, carrying something wrapped over his shoulder. He'd carried it the whole journey not letting Gerik know what it was. "You'll find out when you need to." He'd been told, and he figured there was no use in fighting witht he man. "Home to every and all kinds of Poring. From Poring to Poporing, Marins and Drops, even the rarer Ghostrings, Master Drops, and Masterings, they're all here somewhere."

"And in great abundance." The Priest added. "Adventurers can come here, and they don't have to worry about hunting the Porings into extinction. Don't ask me how, but you can kill a few, turn your back, turn around again, and there's replacements already."

Gerik just nodded-- this sounded like a decent place to train. He look around again, when the smith heaved the wrapped item on his shoulder off, and set it on the ground near Gerik. No words were spoken, the elder just nodded his head and Gerik nearly tore through the wrappings like it was a gift on his birthday or something.

He first saw a delicately crafted handle, fine and smooth, yet somehow tough and weighty. He took a grip on it and found that his hand didn't slide around, despite the smoothness. He heaved the weapon up, finding that the opposite end was far lighter than he'd thought. The mace was lifted easily from the wrappings, and he stared at it. It looked far more beautiful than anything he could buy in one of the stores, and closer inspection showed that there was an engraving just underneath the blunt bashing head.

"How's it feel? Better than that Blade, yeah?" The smith asked. Gerik just nodded. While the Blade had felt good in his hands, this Mace felt... felt right. He gave it a few practice swings, amazed at how well balanced it was. The weight at the end was enough that the force in each swing seemed to be multiplied, but it wasn't so heavy that he couldn't stop his swings, or that it threw out his arm when it did so.

He blinked as he swung again, his arm moving faster than he could see, this time. After that, there was a faint blue glow around him, two little angels about his head dropping some sort of dust on him. He felt invigorated, his senses sharpened, and he suddenly became aware of all that was happening around him. He knew what this was. He looked at the priest, who just smiled.

"We'll be right behind you, don't worry. And try not to take on Marins, or any of the leader Poring yet. We'll handle those if things get too hairy." The Priest said, just stepping in behind Gerik. The smith grinned, and just heaved up his cart again, waiting for him to go. It was like for the moment being, he was being given pseudo-leadership of the group.

He turned around, and eyed the various Porings again. A mischevious grin turned up his mouth, and he strode forward, feeling more confident than he ever had been.

---

"Above you, look out!" The smith cried, and Gerik barely stepped back in time, the Master Drops landing down in front of him with a thunderous crash. How was he supposed to know that Drops had been let behind? He'd started fighting it, only to have an angry Master Drops come out from the bushes nearby, and begin attacking. Damn this jungle, it was probably dense to hide all these blasted Poring!

"Increase Agility!" The Priest chanted, and Gerik kicked off quickly to the left, whizzing by as the Master Drops surged forward into where he'd just been standing. He'd been acting on pure instinct for this whole fight, fear having dissipated quickly. At first he'd been too afraid to move, and the smith had shoved him aside from the first strike. That had knocked him into his senses-- they trusted him to do his job, and being stuck frozen meant he wasn't doing it.

"Raaagh!" Gerik cried, lashing out at the Master Drops with his mace, but a smaller Drops had jumped in the way, exploding upon impact, taking the blow for it's leader. He was heaving breaths now, and even with the Priest's support, his body was getting tired. He dashed backwards as the Masterdrops surged forward yet again, stumbling back.

"He's not strong enough." The Priest said, not in a condescending way, but factually. Gerik brought himself to his feet beside the holy man, and just whined slightly. "Don't worry. You will be someday. Just not at the moment."

The smith adjusted his beret, and pulled a large axe from his pushcart. It seemed to have a faint blue hue, as if it were water or ice elemental, and he chuckled. He dashed forward faster than Gerik could even hope to achieve with the Priest's boosting, and raised his axe high above his head. "MAMMONITE!" He shotued, bringing the axe down forcefully on the Masterdrops. Many of the Drops jumped up and into the way to block the hit, but the Blacksmith didn't cease. An image of a man appeared above his head, wielding a great sack of zeny in his hands. For a moment, axe and bag of money were one, and it came crashing down upon the orange blobs, money exploding everywhere, along with the orange jelly.

The axe continued past that, cleaving into the Masterdrops, another great explosion of money flying out. There was an even greater wave of orange as the Masterdrops too, exploded, and any remaining Drops left seemed to just melt into a puddle on the ground. The smith stood, barely having even broken a sweat, returning his axe to his cart.

"Let's call it a day, hm?" The smith asked. "The kid looks tired, and we've come a long way. Besides, he'll have to start thinking about what he's going to do after novice life. We can't rush him around." The priest just nodded, and rummaged around inside his robes, pulling out a small blue gemstone. It glowed much like before when he had been creating the Basilica, and a pillar of blue light appeared on the ground, small waves of blue light coming out from the pillar.

The smith stepped in without a word disappearing in a flash. The priest smiled, and urged him on. "You did very well today. You have much to learn, that's for sure, but you've the making of a fine adventurer. I have no doubt you'll find where you belong easily." He said. Gerik blinked, not really fully understanding those words, stepping in himself.

His body felt separated from his mind for a split second. It was like he had been torn apart, but without the pain. He felt ethereal for a moment, gliding on unseen winds as the world rushed past his eyes. And suddenly, the picture focused, leaving him standing in front of the Prontera Fountain, the Kafra girl just smiling, and welcoming him back. His stomach lurched for a second, getting used to the quick travel, and he went slightly green.

"Aha, new to teleporting? You'll get used to it." She said, with a smile, bowing at him. "Have a nice day!"

Stumbling on his feet, Gerik made his way down the street, heading back for the church. Tomorrow, huh? They hadn't even agreed on a place to meet! How was he even supposed to know where to go?