>>45588578
>Watch on.

>>45588578
You just watch on as Verna's brother launches forward towards Crystal, who is just... standing there. This would not end well.

"GET HER, VERN!" Verna shrieks.

...Vern. His name was Vern. Are they twins? If so, they really are alike. You watch Vern slam his blade against Crystal's trapped in a deadlock.

But suddenly, a shockwave sends him flying back against the stone wall, and Crystal then rushes towards him.

"GET UP, BRO!" Verna yells, nearly breaking your eardrums. You wish you were sitting a few feet away from her.

Vern manages to roll away from Crystal and swings his blade at her, but it was deflected by a spinning attack and an energy blast from the sword sends him down to the ground on his back.

"NO! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" Verna pounds the arms of her seat in anger. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! HE HAD HER! HE ALMOST HAD HER, KLINE! HE COULD'VE WON, RIGHT?!" She looks at you with a glare.

"Uh..." You start to say. You had better choose your words carefully here...

What do you say?

>"Yeah, he did..."
>"Not...really."
>"I couldn't see very well."

>>45589069
>"Yeah, he did..."

Rather say no but eh. Also you should start up a twitter to announce when you're gonna run or at least run regularly on days that are good for you. Pretty sure there are more than two players I just happened to see this by chance though.

>>45589069
>>"I couldn't see very well."

>>45589069
"Yeah, I think he did, but I couldn't see it well." You say, taking a quick glance over to the arena and seeing Crystal stand over Vern's motionless body.

"DAMN IT!" Verna shouts. "If only I were stronger, I'd avenge my bro myself!"

...She's kidding. She's got to be.

"I can't wait for master to come back. I want to train so hard my muscles will ache!" The blue-haired swordwoman stands up and grabs your hand, pulling you up.

"W-Where are we going?" you ask.

"To see my bro!" She replies as she drags you along with her. With the speed and strength of horse, you two reach the arena clinic and enter, seeing many wounded fighters in cots. You take a glance at an armless man cursing at the ceiling, his nurse trying and failing to calm him.

You take another glance at the right and see a woman with scars with a grizzled frown on her face. She doesn't look happy about being here, you suppose.

Verna then releases you, making you stumble onto the floor as she rushes towards Vern, who is resting on a cot. "BRO! BRO, I'M HERE!" She practically glomps onto the poor man as she bursts into tears. "Oh, gods, I can't believe you lost!"

You let out a groan as you stand up and brush yourself off. Sheesh, that hurt like hell.

What do you say?

>"Damn it, that hurt!"
>"What about me, Verna?"
>"No need to worry about me..."

>No need to worry about me

>>45589342
>"No need to worry about me..."

>>45589342
"D-Don't worry about me, I'm fine..." You groan out. Honestly, you were fine with Verna never dragging out like that again.

"V-Verna, I can't breathe..." Vern groans, making his sister release him from her death grip.

"Sorry!" She blurts out and then grabs you and pulls you towards her brother. "Bro, this is Vern. He's a friend."

"Hey." You reply causally.

"Hi." Vern is eyeing you with a judging look. "Are you dating my sister or what?"

"W-What?! No!" You blurt out.

"Why not? Is she not good enough for you?" Vern narrows his eyes even further.

"Bro! We've just met! Kline is teaching the Princess!" Verna blushes. "It's not like he's into girls like me!"

"Actually, I already have a girlfriend at home." You say.

Verna turns to you with questioning eyes. "When? How? Where? What's she like?" She asks you in a rapid-fire manner with child-like curiosity.

Vern is looking at you with those same eyes, rising from his cot. "Yeah, I wanna know too."

Gods, this is becoming a nightmare. Now there's two of them.

What do you say?

>"She's stuffy, yet kind."
>"She's an easy-going girl."
>"She's really energetic."

>>45589584
>"She's really energetic."

>She's an easy-going girl

>>45589584
>>"She's stuffy, yet kind."

>>45589584
"Well, she's from my guild, and she's really energetic. About hurting people very badly. And she grins a lot. And she's not like her stuffy, yet kind friend." You say, hoping that will get the two siblings off their backs.

Unfortunately, that only makes them look at you in awe.

"By the gods, your girlfriend sounds fun!" Verna shouts in glee. "I can't wait to meet her!"

"Good job finding a diamond like her, man." Vern grins. "I'm proud of you."

"...Er, thank you." You nod. "Are you all right, Vern?"

"Yeah, nothing too serious. I guess Crystal was going easy on me." The blue-haired man grunts.

"I still say you should've hit her while her guard was down!" Verna huffs, hands on her hips.

"Maybe next time, sis. Maybe next time." Vern sighs. "So, what brings you here, Kline?" He turns to you.

>"I wanted to see the city."
>"I wanted to see the guild."
>"I wanted to go to the shops."

>>45589737
>"I wanted to see the city."

>>45589737
>"I wanted to see the city."

>>45589737
"I wanted to see the city, but your sister decided to come here instead." You sigh.

"What did you expect, my bro was fighting today!" Verna nudges you in the ribs. Ouch, that freaking hurt. "I couldn't NOT go!"

"Well, I'll live. So, go take your friend out to the streets, ok?" Vern waves you two off. "Go on! I'll just hang out here."

"Ok! Come on, Kline!" Verna grabs your arm and drags you out of the clinic, ignoring your protests.

Soon, you are out of the Colosseum and into the city, trying to take in the sights as best as you could while you were being dragged around.

"You said you wanted to go to the guild, right?" Verna asks you.

"Yes, now can you please stop dragging me?" You groan out. Your feet were killing you so much, you couldn't even begin to describe the pain.

"We're already here!" Verna stops in front of a brick-layered building with a gold sign on it. "The Eagle's Claw!" She proudly announces. "You wanna go in? Or let me show you around?" The swordwoman asks.

>"I'll go in walking by myself, thanks."
>"As long as you don't drag me around in the building."
>"Can you help me to a seat inside?"

>>45589997
>"As long as you don't drag me around in the building."

>>45589997
>"I'll go in walking by myself, thanks."

>>45589997
"I'll be fine by walking on my own, thank you." You state. "My feet are killing me."

Verna shrugs as you follow her inside. The interior of the guild hall put yours to shame. It was grand, spacious, and mostly beautiful and clean. How was this possible?

"I guess Dad had the gang make this place spick-and-span clean today." Verna cheerfully muses.

"...Dad?" You say.

"Yeah! My dad, Vernon!" Verna smiles. "You didn't know that?"

"...No." You blurt out. Good gods, was everyone important related to Verna today?

"So, what do you wanna do?" Verna asks.

>Hang out in the hall.
>Check out the barracks.
>Visit Verna's dad.

>>45590429
>Hang out in the hall.

>>45590429
>Hang out in the hall

>>45590429
"I guess just hang around." You shrug. As you sit down in a booth, you see several guild members shuffle in, various expressions of anger, happiness, tired, excitement on their faces.

You watch two of them chat on about how the country they went to were filled with snobbish assholes and stuff like that.

"Are you sure they're all on missions?" You ask.

"Yeah, they only take on the toughest missions on the board." Verna states. "The weaker ones just tend to stay within the country borders to train until they get strong enough to leave the country for better missions."

"...That's interesting." You say.

"Yeah. At least the stronger ones aren't here. They'd probably break everything in one of their brawls." Verna replies cheerfully.

"...I gotta ask, do Rioelians really like fighting?" You say.

"It's in the blood." Verna states in a serious tone. "Our ancestors were descended from Sharia, goddess of war."

That explains a lot, actually.

What do you say?

>"So, how did Sharia create you?"
>"How does one join the guild?"
>"So, about your dad..."

>>45590607
>"So, how did Sharia create you?"

>>45590607
>"So, how did Sharia create you?"

>>45590607
>"So, how did Sharia create you?"

Alright last vote for me this evening, gotta wake up early. Have fun, lads.

>>45590607
"So, how did your goddess create you?" You ask.

"...That's a funny question." Verna stares at you oddly. "From her blood, of course."

"Her blood." You reply dumbly.

"Yup! She cut her finger with her blade and shed blood onto the earth, and our ancestors rose from the soil, clad in armor!" Verna recites her story, as if she practiced telling it. "She's a hot-blooded warrior, you know."

"I see. That's interesting." You say, trying not to cringe at the unintentional pun.

"And then she led our ancestors to battle against her brother, Gaira, the god of fear. The battle lasted quite a while until they drove him off." Verna continues, her eyes were on fire as she told the story. "Then she told us to build a monument in her honor and fight for glory and bravery on the battlefield, and went back to the heavens."

"...Amazing. And that really happened?" You ask.

"She left an obelisk in the center of where our town stands today." Verna nods. "With her words on it. Of course, it's written in the divine language."

"I can't wait to tell Eve about this," You say.

"Who's that? Does she read divine glyphs?" Verna asks.

>"Of course!"
>"Well..."
>"Um..."

>>45590838
>"Of course!"

>>45590838
>"Well..."

>>45590838
"Of course! She is a mage, after all! A mage that loves history than life itself." You say. "Well, the last part isn't entirely true."

"That's so cool! I can't wait to meet her!" Verna cries out.

"Will you two shut up over there?!" A large, brawny Brawler snaps at the two of you.

"YOU SHUT UP, YOU BIG HORSE BUTT!" Verna shouts at him.

...Dammit, Verna. You watch the Brawler get up and walk towards you, cracking his knuckles.

"You can take him, Kline! He's nothing but bark!" Verna encourages you. Seriously, you just want apologize to the guy, but apparently words aren't going to cut it.

You slowly stand up and gulp. You just hope Verna's words were true and not hyperbole.

(Cont)

>>45590999
You are Kaire Bueller, and you are currently fighting a tenacious priest, who is bleeding.

"Y-You will not pass!" He gasps out in pain, coughing out some blood. "I will defend our holy land!"

"...I don't think you'll be defending much of anything in your condition." You say softly. You wonder if killing him would be a mercy at this point.

"Silence! I will not stop until you are destroyed!" He then begins to cast a spell with his good arm, a ball of light aimed at you. "This is the end!"

Gods, you really should've sliced his head off back there.

What do you do?

>Stab him in the chest.
>Slice his hand off.
>Punch him in the face.

>>45590999
Gods, Verna is annoying. I'd be tempted to just leave her behind.

>>45591033
>Punch him in the face.

>>45591033
You punch him in the face, watching him fall onto his ass, writhing in pain.

"Ugh... No... How could I lose...!" The priest groans as he tries to get up, but fails.

"Just stay down." You sigh. "I'm not in the mood anymore."

"Wench! You will not pass...Ugh!" He then passes out. Sheesh, you'd think these natives have a penchant for drama.

As you head out of the forest, you come across a large temple, with carvings of the moon and people dancing under it. Hmm.

You walk towards the temple, curious why the priest was so hellbent on guarding it. It seems like a bad idea to go inside, but you can't ignore your adventurer's instinct.

As you enter the temple, you hear scratching noises. Sounds like an insect or an animal. Betting on the times of scratching you heard, probably the former.

Heading deeper into the temple reveals a large chamber, with a large diamond globe on the altar. Huh. So this place must've belonged to the moon god once. You wonder why did the people here vacated it?

Suddenly, a giant insect-like shadow looms over you, and you quickly turn to see a giant centipede hissing at you.

"...Bugs." You groan. You've hated bugs ever since you were a child. Your brother tried to prank you with one, and you gave him a lump on the head for it. And now there came bugs in jumbo size.

You sigh as you pull out your blade. It was time to face your greatest battle yet.

>To be continued.

Thanks for playing. See you Wednesday.

>>45591194
At least she's nothing like her dad.