Tales of a Young Wizard

[Kenshiro-san]

This is my first post with a story on RO. Hope you all like it!

Naoto opened her eyes slowly. She yawned and fixed her diadem, which was twisted strangely on her white hair. As she stood, she saw a crusader rush past her with great speed. Naoto stared in wonder, hoping someday she could become a high wizard and battle that crusader. -But dreams are dreams-, she thought to herself as she shrugged off a few leaves off her long and black cloak. She looked around for familiar faces. Soon enough she saw her newest friend and disciple.
?Hello Angel Gabriel!? she greeted joyfully as he answered back in spanish. They chatted for a while, until Naoto remembered the promise to herself. ?I have to get at least half of guild exp done before I leave?- she remembered as she rushed off to the WarpNPC and ran towards Moscovia Fields.
She began recognizing familiar voices, until one particularly echoed in her head. ?Prince Shikari!? she whispered to herself. He was a magnificent crusader, owner of the guild Algid Skepcis, and she, Naoto, was his girlfriend and co owner of the guild. He wore a great red cape and silver armor as he smiled softly at Naoto. ?He?s here, he?s really here?? she blushed as she began to talk to him.

?Shik, Letha agreed to help us level our guild, she does such a great job! She got us 1,500,000 exp in less than ten minutes! Can you believe it?? Naoto said excitedly.
?I can do that too?? Shikari replied, slightly glaring.
?Well, you?re barely here, so for us it?s a huge advantage having her.?
?Right, right.?
?We leveled the guild, but we didn?t get any skill points, there seems to be a problem.?
?What? No no, I leveled the guild that time Nao. Remember? I added the skill to expansion.?
?Oh! No wonder! Poor Letha will kill me, we really thought we had leveled the guild??
Just then a message arrived for Naoto. She smiled to herself as she read from who it was.

?From: Dirge of Cerberus
Hello, what had happened??

She frowned a bit. She had forgotten about her little problem a few hours before, and remained completely oblivious until then about her promise to tell him. She bid a quick goodbye to Prince Shikari and ran back to Moscovia City to meet Dirge. There stood the loyal friend, a great gunslinger and one of Naoto?s role models for being able to achieve level 99, the highest any can achieve. Sure, others have done it, but Dirge was Naoto?s only level 99 friend, so she treasured him dearly. They sat and chatted, as Naoto explained the situation at her work. Afterwards, a quick hug helped her feel better. ?I can always count on him when I feel sad? What a great friend.- she thought to herself as she smiled. Of course, for her, Shikari was her one and only. But at the time she didn?t want to bother him, he has enough to worry about. She?d tell him later that day, when they were calm and relaxed, away from Prontera?s shop frenzy and Moscovia?s monsters.

?Dirge, you know what?? she said, holding in her laughter.
?What?? he asked curiously.
?You really are flirty!? She giggled.
?Huh??
He didn?t understand the term. Nao didn?t blame him, all her friends, including the girl ones, were flirty around her. She took their flirt as a sign of comfort and just giggled at their kindness. After all, even Shik gets flirty, and he usually isn?t. Of course, Naoto?s definition of flirting and other people?s definition of flirting were quite different. Then again, she had her own dialect?

?Naoto, can I ask you a question??
?Yes??
?You told me you don?t really go to many places in this kingdom, correct??
?Mhm???
?Would you like me to show you some new places??

Naoto smiled widely. She loved exploring, but she couldn?t afford it much. She died easily, and the costs for a warp were too much for her sometimes. Most of her zeny was in the bank, saved up for guild prizes and donations to novices. Earlier that day she had sold two gold to Dirge, which in return gave her enough zeny to travel for a few days without going over her budget. She looked up at Dirge as she stood quickly.

?I?d love to!? she exclaimed in excitement.
?Perfect! Meet me in Alberta.?

Alberta? That meant she would have to give ten thousand zeny to a random person at the docks. ?He knows I?ve been to Amatsu, and of course Moscovia, where to?- she asked herself, as she handed the WarpNPC 200 zeny to transport her to Alberta.
Quickly she walked south, where the Kafra was. Almost instantly she received another message.

?From: Dirge of Cerberus
I?m waiting at the docks.?

-Right! To the docks!- She bursted full speed in search for the gunslinger, but the young wizard had no luck. But Naoto doesn?t give up that quickly when it comes to finding someone! Suddenly she turned and there he was. She jumped back a bit, startled by his presence, yet somehow calm. He lead her to a dock with, as she predicted, a random man asking for money to take you to a certain town. She reluctantly gave him the ten thousand zeny needed for the transport. Almost immediately she appeared in a great plane, with monsters she?d never seen before. She gawked at the strange creatures as she tried to learn each of their names. Soon enough Dirge appeared, and warned her to stay behind. He took a step forward slowly?

BAM! A baby leopard had pounced on him. It seemed it was waiting for him, or anyone, to dare cross its territory. Naoto jumped back, afraid. She was known for being dealt a great amount of damage with small hits, and looking at the way other baby leopards charged at her friend, they were ready to kill.

The young wizardress looked behind her as out popped a lazy baby leopard, a bit sloppy in its pouncing work. She stared in wonder, and it wasn?t until it pounced on her fiercely that she realized she needed to run. She dashed past Dirge, unable to cast a spell quickly enough to save him or herself. She wished she had safety wall, and regretted having spent the skill points on ice wall and fire ball spells. Swift bangs were heard behind her. Naoto looked over her shoulder and smiled. Dirge had taken care of all the leopards with only one quick hit of his gun. Eagerly the future high wizard ran towards him, giving him a hug as a thank you.

?Are you alright?? he asked her in a worried tone.
?Yes, I?m fine.? She lied. She, in fact, was near death once more. Little will left inside her, she searched her pockets for white herbs and quickly swallowed each. She felt revitalized. ?Let?s keep going!?
?Okay!? he answered joyfully.

After a long walk and several leopard encounters (to which Dirge was triumphant), they arrived at the great city. Naoto was too distracted by the great cave entrance to notice the name, but after walking through it, nothing could be more distracting than the amazing height they were at that moment. As she began to cross the bridge, she could swear it was swinging precariously, whispering evil things to her. She began getting dizzy as she tried to walk a few more steps. Then Naoto did something she should not have done. She looked down.

At once nausea came. She ran to the other side of the bridge and met with Dirge, whom was joyful. Naoto sat quickly, grasping her stomach.

?Are you okay?? he asked.
?Y-ye?no? I?m afraid of heights. Extremely afraid of heights.? She said as she forced her nausea away and stood slowly while regaining balance.
Dirge looked slightly ashamed. ?Oh?? Naoto noticed, and forced her cheerful spirit back.
?Well! Let?s go!? she chanted merrily. This seemed to cheer up Dirge.
?Alright! Let the tour begin!?
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To be Continued