"Attention, attention, I'm right outside of a dungeon that has just opened up in Lillian City!" A reporter stood in front of his cameraman, a large grin on his face.
By 'right outside', he really meant he was over a mile away, since otherwise the camera that was currently livestreaming him would be dead.
The reporter was a short and pot-bellied man, dressed in a heavy-looking bulletproof vest and other scraps of armor just in case he had to get involved in a fight. He also had a greatsword that dragged along the ground beside him due to how short he was.
Behind him, in the distance, was a large purple barrier. It flicked with power and formed into a dome shape, going over an entire portion of the city. The dungeon had just appeared out of nowhere and without warning. He didn't know what was inside of it, or the sort of boss monster that called it home, and he also didn't want to know. His only job was to report about the Knights, who were currently saving the day.
"The dungeon appeared at exactly ten A.M., and in less than one hour, Lillian was able to request the support of some Arcane Knights." The reporter announced, speaking to the camera. "Knights from the guild, Pantheon, arrived. I'm told three are currently in the dungeon, and they have managed to evacuate all citizens. Of the three Knights in question, one of them is up-and-coming Cinder! She's been in the guilds for less than two years now, yet has already made a name for herself. It makes me wonder what Myth, the leader of Pantheon, thinks about having such a hotshot like her in his guild-"
A loud scream cut the reporter off, and he turned just in time to see that people were running away from the dungeon. The barrier shimmered, and something came ramming out of it, appearing in the streets of Lillian.
It was as big as a bus and covered in thick grey skin. It looked almost like a dog, but it had three heads, which all oozed with fire. A Cerberus. Most likely the boss of the dungeon. It had emerged and was now rampaging through the streets, shooting out fire in all directions, which easily burned through skyscrapers.
The reporter let out a loud yelp, and he fell onto his ass as the mighty beast came charging at him. It howled and dove forward, but at the last second before it could reach him, a golden blur slammed into it. The Cerberus was smashed into the street and rolled across it. It stood back up and growled, while the reporter stared at the figure who stood in front of him protectively.
"Sorry about that." It was a young woman. One with long black hair, and blue eyes that were blazing as if they were made out of fire. "I let this guy slip past me." She wore what looked almost like a black military uniform, but it had a long black cape that was added to it. In either hand, she held oversized guns, each one having enough stopping power to blow through a tank. "Keep that camera rolling." The woman announced, and casually she pulled out a pair of sunglasses and slipped them on. "I want everyone to see how badass Cinder is."
The hound roared, and it surged forward, and the Knight let out a loud cry of her own and jumped toward it, raising her guns—
The screen turned black as the phone suddenly shut off, stopping Davi from watching the rest of the fight. "Olivia, your phone broke," Davi said, unhelpfully throwing it at the back of Olivia's head.
Olivia turned just in time to catch it and huffed. "It's not broken; the battery just died because you've been on it for hours! I regret teaching you how to use the internet…"
Davi shrugged. "Well, since the phone doesn't work anymore, I guess I'll just have to do what I normally do and stare at all the pretty colors that are scattered around us."
There were many different nations and kingdoms throughout the world, but four stood at the top. The Estiria kingdom was particularly famous because it was the land from which Haru, the creator of the Arcane Knights, came. Estiria was a land of magic, and so its land varied greatly. One moment it could be calm and tranquil, but then the next, a traveling merchant could find themselves marching through a storm of fire.
Daisy was covered in ice and snow, all because of the great snake, which had haunted it for the past few months. Its mana was so cold that it had changed the weather. Leaving Daisy, though, caused everything to heat up, and only a few miles down the road, it stopped snowing and became a calm summer day once more.
Olivia's eye twitched, and she gasped, struggling to yank the carriage forward. It barely budged, moving only a few pitiful inches. Despite how little progress she made, though, she didn't give up. Mana kept pumping through her blood, and her eyes glowed, and she kept it up. She had dragged the thing all throughout the night, and the sun was finally rising. She didn't know how long she had been traveling for, but there was still no town, village, or city in sight. She hadn't even seen any cars or anything like that on the road either since they were in such a backwater part of the Estiria kingdom.
"You need a break?" Davi asked casually, from on top of the carriage, which was where he had been all night, watching videos of Arcane Knights on her phone.
Olivia weakly shook her head. "No. Not yet." She forced a grin even though she hadn't slept in over a day. "You said it yourself, if I don't do this, then there's no point. I need to get stronger. It's the only way I'll be able to become an Arcane Knight like you! I don't want to be saved anymore; I don't want to be a damsel; I want to be cool and badass! Like a real Arcane Knight!"
Davi looked up at the rising sun. He still hadn't told her he wasn't a Knight. He knew he should, but even he was shocked he wasn't actually one. He had gone most of his adventuring life simply thinking it didn't matter. An issue with traveling around so much and never bothering to stick around in one place was that he really didn't know how the world worked. He also ran the risk of what would happen if he suddenly told his traveling companion he wasn't really a Knight. He didn't like lying like this. It wouldn't matter soon, though. Once the two of them arrived in the capital, he could leave and go back on his solo adventure.
So long as he got to help people and could chase after the Dragon, he didn't care if he held the real title or not.
The law wasn't going to stop him.
"You okay?" Olivia's question broke him out of his train of thought.
"Yeah? Why?"
"Well, for one, you're covered in bruises, and your hand is kind of fucked," Olivia said flatly.
Davi sat cross-legged on top of the cart and had taken his baggy hoodie off. His skin was shockingly pale beneath his clothes, not getting a lot of light, likely due to hiding beneath his armor. He had dozens of faint scars crisscrossed across his flesh, along with dozens of bruises, which he had received from being slammed around by the snake. In his armor, he looked bulky, yet outside of it, he wore baggy clothes. Now that his shirt was open, though, Davi had lean muscles, mainly around his arms and shoulders, built up from years of swinging around a heavy sword. His nastiest wound, though, was his right arm. From the hand all the way to just past his wrist, he had received a nasty burn scar that wasn't going to go away anytime soon.
Olivia had no idea where he got such a wound. After all, Garon hadn't hit Davi with any spells, and Davi refused to tell her any time she tried to bring it up to him. She suspected it had to do with wherever it was he snuck off to before they truly left Daisy.
Davi dipped his hand into his shadow and gathered up some sort of muscle cream, which he rubbed on his bruises. He had been doing it for a while, attempting to ease his wounds. When he was done, he slipped his hoodie back on. "I ran out of potions a while ago, so try not to get banged up anymore, okay?"
Olivia made a face and dragged the cart once more. "The potion left my bloodstream a while ago, so no more from me either. And since you gave away all the treasure, we basically got nothing out of it."
"You got Garon's dagger." Davi offered, uncaringly.
At her belt was the knife Garon had used, the one made out of a fang from the snake Davi had slain. She still didn't know how to use a knife fully, but the weapon was too cool to get rid of. Not to mention, she had built up a fast resistance to the venom, which was lucky for her, since she had accidentally stabbed her leg while tucking the large knife away. She wished the cloak Garon had survived, since invisibility cloaks were rare, but it had burned up when he blew himself up…
Olivia shook her head, trying to shoo away the thoughts of Garon. There was no other way that situation could have gone, right? The man had been caught, his plans ruined, with no way out except to dive headfirst into the deep end.
Olivia turned her head to look back at Davi, shocked to find the man's eyes boring into hers. Davi's eyes softened, and he shook his head in a silent indication for her to let go of any guilt she felt about Garon. She didn't know how, but she was certain he could tell she was still thinking about Garon.
"You okay?" Davi questioned.
"Yeah." Olivia reached for the knife once more. "Yeah, I'm just fine. I'm still alive, aren't I?"
Despite how grim it all was, Olivia felt herself become giddy at the fact that she got to hold an enchanted weapon. Plenty of objects were enchanted, such as brooms that would sweep the floors for people or carpets that could fly. This allowed people without magic to still use the benefits since mundane enchanted items could be bought. Those items, however, were made cheap and wouldn't last. After only a few days of use, a broom or carpet would run out of mana and have to be replaced.
The items Garon had didn't suffer from this effect, though. They were real magical items. The dagger was crafted from the serpent's tooth, being enchanted to always produce its venom, and the cloak had been woven together by some of the serpent's scales, allowing it to make the wearer unseen. Items created from powerful magical beasts lasted far longer. It was one of the reasons selling magical beast corpses was such a big deal, since the stronger the magical beast was, the stronger the item crafted out of it would be.
"Any plans for the next town or city?" She asked, shooting her traveling companion a look.
Davi changed the bandages on his burned arm and shook his head. "We'll stop at the next place we find, but I have no plans to stay for long since we're heading for the capital. We'll get a working car or something while we're there so we don't have to walk anymore. All the cars I have in my vault don't work or were turned into bird nests."
"Bird nests? Why?"
"Don't worry about it."
As usual, Davi was weird. Olivia gave a soft smile and stared ahead. She was glad she got to travel with someone like Davi. There was never a dull moment. "We should pick up some new clothes as well." She said.
The jacket Davi had given her had a huge hole in it because of Garon stabbing her, and the sleeve around Davi's hoodie was ruined. They were both in need of an updated outfit.
"Sure, we'll see what the next place has to offer." Davi hummed.
"We'll be nearing Rose soon." She said, humming. "I guess that means this little adventure will be coming to an end, won't it?"
Davi dangled his legs over the side of the carriage roof. "That's correct. I won't be staying in Rose. I need to keep on the move so I can try to catch up with the Dragon."
"Have you ever even seen this dragon, besides when you were a kid?" Olivia asked.
"I haven't."
"So, how do you know it's still alive? What if another Arcane Knight, or dark mage, or something already slayed it?"
Davi shook his head. "No. I know it's still alive. Maybe it's magic, or maybe just a gut feeling, but I know that thing is still out there. It's waiting for me. Waiting to finish what it started." He rubbed his scar.
"And what did it start?"
"So what are you going to do when you become an Arcane Knight?" Davi asked, suddenly changing the topic.
Olivia frowned and shrugged her shoulders. She could tell what he was doing, but if he didn't want to discuss his past, she had no right to force it. "When I'm a Knight, I might try to look for my dad. I know I want to help people, though. Knights go on quests and can go nearly anywhere, so maybe I'll even catch up with you and help you find this dragon. That would be fun, wouldn't it?"
"That would be fun."
Rose was the capital of Estiria. It was in the center of the kingdom, and the path they walked was supposed to lead to it eventually. There were other towns and villages and places they'd stop on the way, but the end goal was Rose City, the place where the Arcane Knights' entrance exam was held. There was less than a month left before the test would start, which was why she needed to work so hard. Plenty of people from all over the kingdom would try to become Knights, but in the end, many failed and ended up like Garon, giving up or having the mind of Olis and not bothering to take the exam at all.
Typically, it was just the people who came from elite families, had special bloodline skills, or could afford to buy stat-boosting items and spells that made it into the Knights. The Arcane Knights were made up mostly of nobles or special people, but every now and then a country bumpkin like her would somehow pass the exam and get in.
She'd need to work hard to pass the exam. She wasn't as strong, fast, or durable as Davi was, and if not for the fact that she had that snake venom in her veins, she doubted she'd be able to defeat Garon. If someone like Garon wasn't able to pass the exam, what chance did someone like her have?
This thought went through her mind a lot as she forced the cart forward over the bumpy trail. After leaving Daisy, the farmlands opened back up. In front of Olivia was a dirt road that had been traveled thousands of times by merchants. On her left and right were a series of different crops, mostly corn. A few farmers were scattered through the fields, which likely meant she was nearing a village of some sort and could finally stop dragging Davi's carriage around.
"You're doing well." Davi tried to encourage her. "Just a bit further."
"Yeah, yeah." Olivia groaned and shook her head. She was covered in sweat, and her arms and legs ached like they never had before, but she just couldn't bring herself to stop. She wanted to do this. Needed to do it.
Luckily for her, though, in the middle of her marching, something finally happened that caused her to stop. A scream echoed out from the cornfield, followed by a rumble that spread across the ground. One of the many farmers who had been working in the cornfields let out a yell.
A large hand forged of dirt and rocks stabbed out from the middle of the field. The hand grabbed hold of the ground, and something began to rip its way out of the ground. It was round like a ball, made out of various metals, roots, and mud. It had a flat head that lacked things like eyes or ears, and stubby arms and legs jutted out of its body. Golems, creatures created when enough mana swirls around the ground long enough for them to gain sentience. Several of the farmers yelled as the creature began to stomp around the field, flinging mud and rocks everywhere. It wasn't alone, either. Dozens more were starting to rise up.
"Monsters!" Olivia felt her eyes go wide when she saw the magical constructs. "Is there a dungeon nearby or something? Why does it feel like we've been running into so many of them now!" Seriously, she had gone most of her life never seeing a dungeon up until the one near Fri appeared, and now it felt like every few days she was finding a new one.
What was going on?
"Stay here," Davi ordered.
"But—" Olivia didn't even get a chance to finish what she was saying as Davi took off.
One of the farmers tripped, his foot getting caught on a root, and he dropped to the ground. A golem reached him and lifted its foot, bringing it down, but before it could crush the man, Davi appeared in front of him. "Row Shadow Armor." Black armor exploded out of the ground and formed around him, minus his helmet, and he brought his arm up, catching the golem's foot.
The farmer stared at his savior in shock, his eyes wide as he watched him shove the golem back, sending it stumbling.
"Go," Davi ordered coolly. "Get out of here. Now."
The farmer nodded and took off, making a break for it, along with the other farmers. Davi watched the man leave, and once the farmer was gone, he opened his vault, pulling his claymore out.
Casually, he placed it over his shoulder and stared at all the rock monsters who glared back at him. His other hand grabbed his headphones that he normally kept tucked in his armor, and he slipped them on, his loud, blaring music starting up.
If his music worked, that meant there wasn't a vault nearby. He wondered where these golems came from, but at the same time, he didn't really care. It was time to do what he did best.
Davi gripped the handle of his sword and let out a sigh. "Let's do this."