Beliefs

[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..."