Beliefs

[Ngjoko]

I think i know, but i won't say it for zerrif's sake. XD

Think muarim can have a boost too.

[ShadowValentine]

Haha, I was thinking that too Gerik. Guess I'll just have to be patient =P

[Sinadrin]

Loving it so far keep it up :D!

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

Hunchback of Notre Dame!

[Zerrif]

Well if you're really curious you can always PM me or talk to me ingame. But that's your choice if you really wanna ask about the later parts

[Zerrif]

"Was all that really necessary?"

"Something had to be done."

"You could have done with a little less glamour and flair."

"Oh, you never let me have fun with this anymore!"

"This was never meant to be fun in the first place."

"If they knew the full gravity of the situation, do you think that they would approve of what we have done? Let them think that they are heroes, let them think that they are special. In the end, it won't matter."

---

"So what, you're stalking us now? Jesus, can't you just leave us alone?"

"Bascht, calm down." Muarim held an outstretched hand in the inn. The Mage was standing, motioning rather angrily at the Assassin to leave the room. "He helped a lot, even if he only joined in after the fight had broken out. A lot of the other adventurers helped out.

"He could have helped before, is what I'm saying." Bascht mumbled, stepping down. "We could avoided so much if we knew that he was there the entire time! He could have--"

"Guys! He's waking up!" Ren shouted. Everyone turned where they were to stare at Gerik, who began to mumble and sit up on the bed. "Slowly now, slowly." The Archer helped the Acolyte sit up slowly, the latter reaching up to grip onto his head like he had a massive headache.

"You were exhausted mentally and physically. I'm surprised you're able to sit up so quickly." Bascht said, moving towards the bed. Gerik mumbled some sort of response and stared down, finding he was in the minimum of his Acolyte robes.

"How did you do that? That show of power was... amazing." Muarim said, taking a seat opposite the mage. "I mean, I've heard stories of things like that, stories where people unlock a deep, hidden power within that makes them have abilities beyond what normal people can do but--"

"... I prayed." Gerik half-lied. "And then... suddenly I was full of that power." He stared up a Bascht, and he could feel the cold, merciless stare being given back. He looked down at himself again, seeing no ghostly apparition that reflected off of him. "Can I talk to B alone?" He asked. Everyone looked at each other, then to the Mage, who was still staring at the Acolyte.

"Come on, let's go." Konkon said, having been standing near the door the entire time. He was the first to go and the Merchant soon followed. Ren gave Gerik a warm smile and clenched his hand tightly before she too had gone.

"... Okay, I can't hide it." Gerik confessed, and Bascht just crossed his arms.

"So what? You spoke to him and then he took over your body? No one else noticed it because no one else knew what he looked like-- but I did." Bascht snapped. Gerik stared down. "So is he still alive? Or was that just some weird haunting?"

"If I really knew, Bascht, I would tell you. Trust me." Gerik stared up. "I called out for help and... I heard his voice. It took a while for me to remember but... the moment I trusted him, all that happened."

"So you'd trust some random spectre? Gerik, the amount of magical force that entered your body should have ripped you apart, put you in a coma, made you go crazy-- something. You're just lucky that you're all right, or seemingly so." The Mage made his own way to the door. "I'm going to go investigate, ask my teacher about any recorded cases of that happening before."

"Don't tell anyone." Gerik mumbled, almost ashamed. Bascht turned around, and just gave him a thumbs up.

"Our dirty little secret."

---

"So... are you stalking us now, or what?"

Konkon looked up to see Gerik, now fully clothed again, taking a seat beside him in the inn's common room. Granted, he was still moving slow and he had a tired look on his face, but the Acolyte was smiling warmly at him nonetheless.

"I've kind of been following you around. Making sure that Amoren gets his good treatment, you know. Just sort of watching."

"Like a Guardian Angel?" Gerik giggled a little, seeing the Assassin flush slightly.

"You've already got one of those, it seems." Konkon said, with a smirk of his own. "Besides, I figured if you had some sort of hidden weapon even you didn't know about, it'd help when you needed it most."

"Does that mean you're coming with us from now on?" Gerik asked, a little too cheerfully. "I'm sure Amoren would love to have you around."

The Assassin waved a hand. "Maybe. Maybe not. You won't know." He stood up from his chair, and chuckled a little. "Let's just say that if you need it, I'll be there. And if you don't, I'll still be there."

"That's sweet." Gerik said. Konkon was glad that he had turned his back on the Acolyte.

"Whatever. Listen, since you guys are heading down into Geffen Dungeon I figure I should tell you that I scouted a little. Nothing too far out of the ordinary-- so it should be a decent training ground for you all." Konkon stretched his arms straight up, his back pulling in tight. "I'll see you around."

"Hey, wait!" Gerik said, standing himself. "Why don't you just come with us? It'll be easier that way. You could join the par--"

"Not allowed." Konkon said, before he gave a mock salute, and disappeared into thin air. Gerik blinked, and clapped his hands together.

"Ruwach!" A bright blue orb began to circle around him, but Konkon was already gone. "Not... allowed?"

"Gerik!" Ren said, storming down into the common room. "You should be resting, not casting random spells!" He chided. Gerik smiled a little and rubbed the back of his head. "Once you got better, we were planning to head down into the dungeon-- so rest up and let's get going!"

"That's a lot easier than that sounds." Gerik joked, heading back upstairs.

[ABlueJelly]

Love it so far
And with the comments from DBF High Command, and KonKon- you're weaving a much deeper conspiracy...
>.>
<.<


KonKon... BlueBlue...
If I was an assassin, and didn't know better, I'd totally think you might have been alluding to me...


MORE~! I DEMAND MORE!~! Or no Tata Duets for you!

[Zerrif]

DBF High command, who says it's them? XP There's a reason I leave out details in certain interactions.

No, Konkon was an old player, and a close friend, who actually was the one that got me to join HeRO. I decided to give him a somewhat important part as thanks XP

[ABlueJelly]

Oh, it's always High Command... giving orders to send X to pester t- oh, my bad...
High Command is just a bunch of brown-nosing politicians, aren't they? The "High Command" I'm referring to is the group that seems to be calling the shots...
Mind you, the recent ones regarding Konkon could totally be from a counter-DBF organization that has yet to be named... the Lively Zoological Nation or something... Or even one completely unrelated to the DBF, just now entwined with the protagonist(s).

And as I said, if I also didn't know better

[Ngjoko]

The suspense is killing me! O___O More!!

[Zerrif]

It's been a while, hasn't it? How are you doing?

We're doing okay, I guess. We're slowly working out way back up into travelling strength. Gerik has been seemingly getting more and more energetic everyday, telling us that if he doesn't push himself, he won't get any stronger. It's kind of admirable-- how he has that drive to just push himself, but it's also dangerous and stupid at the same time.

Bascht has been spending a lot of time with his Master, refining his magic. Apparently, he asked if he was ready for the wizard test yet-- to which his mentor simply dismissed the thought. He's been kind of down since then-- but he's still training every day.

He's also gotten a lot of information about the tower itself, and what's underneath it. It sounds like we should be really prepared against whatever is going to pop up down there.

Muarim? He disappears now and then, saying that he has business to do in town with the merchants. He never seems to buy anything new-- and we never seem to lose any of our own possession, so it makes me wonder what he's really doing. Though, if he had any sort of hidden agenda, he's not really being the best at keeping it secret. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to hold a secret all too well.

Me? I'm just... here. My shot hasn't gotten any better to be honest, but Gerik keeps pushing me to try.

I miss you. We'll be together soon. I think we're going to attempt going into the dungeon tomorrow, from how things look.

Ren stared up at the sky a little, before a squawk on his shoulder startled him, causing him to stare back. A falcon sat perched on his shoulder pad, and he just wrapped up the letter he had been writing, tying it to the bird's leg. He shrugged up and it spread it's wings, a few powerful beats sending it high into the sky.

"Who's bird was that?" Gerik asked. Ren jumped, startled again, staring over at the Acolyte.

"Just a friend's. Writing to him to let him know how things go, y'know?" Ren replied, just nodding. Gerik smiled. "What?"

"Nothing. Makes me feel like I should be writing back to the others at the Church, or something." He stretched out wide and took a step to stand beside Ren. "I think our plan is to leave tomorrow. Is everything okay on your end?"

"Hm? Yeah, yeah, all good. Muarim picked up a couple things for me cheap so I should be all good." Ren pat his hips, and smiled. "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's get some last minute practice in!"

---

"Remember, if you see Dracula or god forbid Doppelganger, you've gone too far in for your abilities at the moment."

"Yes sir..." Bascht groaned, and the wizard just glared, hands on his hips. "Don't worry, we won't be aiming for the bottom floor."

"And bring me back a souvenir! Maybe a Tyrfing would do." The wizard stepped back inside his small house and just left everyone else on his doorstep-- as if they never existed in the first place.

"Well... I guess that's that, huh? Where's Muarim?" Bascht asked, turning to face the Acolyte and the Archer. They all exchanged glances, shrugging. As if on cue, there was a familiar clack-clack of wheels on stone. They all turned to see the Merchant walking up, toting his cart behind him. "Late, as usual."

"Bleh." Was all Muarim said back, as the group moved towards the tower. "So, have you guys heard? There's apparently been some commotion down there-- a few monsters out of the ordinary."

Gerik raised an eyebrow, and just nodded. "You think--"

"It's pretty much validated at this point. But the latest report was just yesterday, so it seems that we'll likely end up butting heads with the DBF again." Muarim added. Gerik let out a hum of thought, and the Merchant rolled his shoulders. "Personally, I'm hoping that idiot from a couple weeks ago is still there-- he's still got something I got." His hands clutched his cart tighter, and Ren just looked over.

"What did he steal, exactly?" He asked. "I mean, you never told us."

"You'll find out when I get it back." Muarim grumbled, his mood having soured just at the thought of having lost it. The Archer and the Acolyte stared at each other, and just shrugged their shoulders.

---

It didn't take long for them to reach the tower, and no one had been there to bar their access to the dungeon proper. Everything seemed like a regular, casual stroll into a dungeon, when they began to approach the stairs to descend a floor further. Scattered around the area were bodies, and pools of drying blood. Gerik immediately ran forward, Ren keeping close to him.

"What the happened here...?" Muarim asked, as he slowly began to walk in as well.

"... There was... so many..." A voice mumbled. The Merchant stared to the side to see a wounded, yet living adventurer leaning against the wall. He quickly moved over, the adventurer batting away helpful hands to sit himself up straighter. "You guys... goin down? You should.. be ready right as you go down..."

"What's down there?" Muarim asked, but the adventurer shook his head. Gerik approached and knelt by him, holding his hands out over the figure. Muarim reached out and clasped the Acolyte's hands shut, stopping his spell. "Don't. From what it looks like... we might need it too. These guys will be fine."

"How do you know?" Gerik bit back, although he relaxed his arms and just stared over at the stairs. The rest of the group stared, before they heard some sort of deathly howl coming from the stairs.

"They're safer up here than they are down there-- and if whatever is down there wanted to end it, they wouldn't be here licking their wounds." Bascht said, as he started to walk down the stairs. "Come on. It's our turn."