Chapter One: The Cave Incident

Chapter Two: Second Contract

Chapter Three: Surge Kingdom Clash

Chapter Four: Clashes' Conclusion

&#x3C;p&#x3E;Bizarre screeches echoed throughout the interior of an enormous cave. This cave was home to a vast city, one that had suffered catastrophic damage. No longer appearing to be habitable.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;The city had been overrun and brought to this deserted state by an army of monstrous creatures. Ghastly, humanoid lampposts, owls, fish, and other mutated animals and objects. Each of these entities shared a common trait. They all had a giant, glowing worm wrapped around their bodies.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Within the center of the city stood two individuals. Verlena Estelle, and Teres Bright. Powerful warriors who put their skills to use by accepting contracts from a variety of sources. They had recently accepted a contract from some mysterious entity. A contract which led them here.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Alongside the duo was a young girl, who they were protecting. Verlena held her free hand in front of the child, gripping the other on the handle of her blade. They were completely surrounded by countless of the bizarre beings.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Verlena held an expression of concern. &#x22;Teres, just where on earth has that strange contract brought us?? Never in my life have I encountered such nightmarish creatures!&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Teres responded. &#x22;Not sure, hadn&#x27;t heard of this cave city before we took this job on. But, it shouldn&#x27;t be blowin&#x27; your mind straight outta your skull. The thing that gave us this contract didn&#x27;t exactly look human itself. I figured wherever it was sending us wasn&#x27;t gonna be a jolly wonderland.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;Neither did I, but I didn&#x27;t believe it would be some hellscape either!&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;The creatures were closing in on them. Verlena glanced at the frightened young girl, before looking back at the surrounding creatures, putting on a determined expression. &#x22;Well, whether I anticipated it or not, a hellscape is exactly what this place is. And by request, it is our job to rescue anyone who happens to still be alive within it. So that&#x27;s precisely what we&#x27;ll do.&#x22; She aggressively pointed her blade at the enemies. &#x22;Throw whatever you have at us then!! In the end, it will matter not!!&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;The sudden display of aggression from Verlena triggered one of the creatures to charge at them. It was a ghastly looking, mutated fish.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;C&#x27;mon Verlena, did ya really have to rile &#x27;em up like that?&#x22; Teres said, reaching into his coat. He pulled out a medium sized bell, ringing it as the fish entity grew close.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Once the fish reached him, Teres slammed his fist against the fist of his opponent. The pure power behind both of their blows sent shockwaves in all directions.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Teres had an ability he called &#x22;Bells of Might&#x22;. He carried countless bells within his coat, whose size would determine the power of his next attack.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Ringing the bell once more, Teres shifted the positioning of his body, slamming his leg on top of the fish, then driving it into the ground. The mutant fishes insides were scrambled from this attack, killing it.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Nearby, Verlena had begun to massacre a large number of the surrounding monstrosities. She moved swiftly and elegantly, slashing her glistening blade through several of the creatures.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Rather than tearing the creatures apart as a traditional blade would, Verlena wielded a rare and legendary weapon known as the fragile blade. A blade capable of shattering whatever it connected with as if it were made of glass. As she made her way through the crowd of monstrous beings, their bodies were cracking and shattering into pieces each time Verlena&#x27;s sword cut through them.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;She drove her blade through the stomach of a humanoid owl. Cracks slowly crawled up its body, before it eventually burst into glass like shards. The worm that had been wrapped around its body, however, avoided Verlena&#x27;s attack. Following the owl&#x27;s death, the worm hit the ground with a thud, then beginning to desperately scramble away. Verlena ignored it, trusting Teres would take care of it.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;The worm made its way straight toward the little girl, who was with Teres. Before it could draw close enough to harm the child, Teres stomped on it, crushing the worm. &#x22;Really thought you were capable of slippin&#x27; by someone like me? Mm. Guess I shouldn&#x27;t expect a mindless worm to know any better.&#x22; He said, then glancing back to check on the young girl.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Teres was caught off guard when he laid eyes on the girl, as her expression and facial features had completely changed. She no longer displayed a hint of fear, and her eyes were glowing the same yellow color as all of the worms. Leaking from her lips was a grotesque slime also mirroring the slime that covered the giant worms.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;The girl shifted her gaze, making eye contact with Teres. Once their eyes had met, she instantly shifted back to her fearful demeanor.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Back where Verlena was, piles of glass covered the surface around her. She&#x27;d killed an enormous sum of these creatures, however countless more still remained and continued to surround her. Verlena gripped her blade tightly, scanning her surroundings. &#x22;It&#x27;s like a never-ending gauntlet of these atrocities. What purpose could they have in appearing here? Do they intend on using this cave area as some kind of nest?&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;All of a sudden, each and every single worm loudly screeched, then bursting. Their fluids splashed all over. Verlena put an arm up to block the fluid, her face wincing a little.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Lampposts hit the ground with a thud, fish were flopping around, and owls soared through the air, one of them landing on Verlena&#x27;s shoulder. She looked at the owl, before shifting her attention over to Teres, who approached her while dragging the corpse of the little girl.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;A look of horror grew on Verlena&#x27;s face. She began yelling. &#x22;Teres! What the hell happened to her?! Have you lost your god damn mind?? How could you-...&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Teres cut her off, tossing the girls corpse in front of Verlena.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Taking a closer look, Verlena noticed the same inhuman features Teres had seen earlier. &#x22;What...? Was this girl... the source of those grotesque creatures?&#x22; Verlena questioned.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Pulling out a piece of candy from his coat pocket, Teres slipped it into his mouth, staring at the body. &#x22;You hit the nail right on its head. Caught glimpse of the slimy bastard lettin&#x27; some of her less than flattering features slip out, so I put her down. Had no idea it&#x27;d take down everything else along with her though. That was a nice surprise.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;I suppose it was. To take down every last one of the nightmarish beings present here manually would have been a difficult task to accomplish. Admittedly, I was beginning to grow overwhelmed. I must have killed at least one hundred of them, yet they still continued to appear. This girl assembled quite an army, though I don&#x27;t know how it was done.&#x22; Gathering herself, Verlena took a deep breath, sheathing her sword. &#x22;But Teres, must you be so erratic with your decision making? It was not a guarantee that the girl was completely inhuman. She could have been merely possessed, you know?&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;Maybe. Didn&#x27;t have the time to consider every last factor or possibility though. I figured she looked inhuman enough, so I&#x27;d take her down and go from there.&#x22; Teres looked around at the aftermath of the battle. &#x22;But I think it&#x27;s about time we get outta this cesspool. All these shattered corpses are makin&#x27; the place smell like shit. We&#x27;ve got no reason to stay here anymore with the girl and all her little minions dead and gone.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Verlena nodded. &#x22;Yes, you&#x27;re right. We&#x27;ll head back then and collect our reward. Hopefully the provider of this contract did not want us to save that girl despite her role as leader of those beings.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;If they did, guess we failed our first contract.&#x22; Replied Teres, slipping another piece of candy into his mouth, beginning to walk toward the cave&#x27;s exit.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Verlena followed shortly thereafter, and the two made their way back outside the cave, then traversing across the island in which the cave resided on. It wasn&#x27;t long before they arrived at a grande ship. The ship was incredibly advanced, sporting countless weapons, and tools used to traverse landscapes that would be impossible to sail through with a standard ship.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;A ramp from the ship rested against the island sand. A woman with moose ears, antlers, and a little moose tail, stood upon said ramp, displaying an annoyed expression. She had a number of piercings on her face, and locked her gaze on them with her sparkling purple eyes. Her name was Esca Cassius.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Esca placed one hand on her hip, and aggressively pointed the other toward Verlena and Teres. &#x22;Shame on the both of you for leaving me unattended for so long! We sailed circles around this area just to find this island, a place so hidden and mysterious must be home to loads of threats! So I requested for the two of you to make this quick! Did it go in one ear and out the other??&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Teres replied. &#x22;Nope, I remember everything you said clear as day. Problem is, our ship&#x27;s maid isn&#x27;t here to be makin&#x27; demands.&#x22; He passed by Esca, and stepped onto their ship. &#x22;Instead, you should be preparing the thing to set sail, and then makin&#x27; our dinner.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;Eh..? Slow it down there, I&#x27;m still recovering from the trauma you put me through! And I am not the ship maid, I am the ship caretaker. I suggest you don&#x27;t label me as some slave, or else I&#x27;ll leave the two of you stranded the next time you take this long!&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;You wanna hang around this island of joy a little longer then? If you&#x27;re filled with so much trauma, then right here&#x27;s the only place you can relax and recover from it.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;No no, of course we&#x27;re not staying here. I&#x27;m simply saying don&#x27;t rush everything, okay?&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Verlena partially made her way up the ramp, stopping next to Esca, softly placing a hand onto her shoulder and gently smiling at her. &#x22;Yes of course. Please, Esca, take however long you&#x27;d like to prepare our departure and cook our meal.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;Ah. Why thank you Verlena, will do!&#x22; Esca smiled back at her, then heading up the ramp alongside her.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Once everyone fully boarded the ship, Esca placed her hand against a mechanism, which pulled the ramp back into the vessel. &#x22;So then, question number one. What kind of frightening hazard held you guys up for so long??&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Sitting onto a fancy bench that stretched across the edge of the ship, Verlena answered. &#x22;The cave city mentioned in our contract, had been overtaken by an army of incredibly bizarre mutant creatures. We made an attempt to rescue who we believed to be the only survivor of the situation, a young girl, but Teres discovered that she was in reality, both the leader and source of our opponents. He ended her life, reversing the mutations and returning everything effected back to normal. And that is all, contract complete... I suppose.&#x22; Verlena&#x27;s hands rested on her thighs. She began tightening them both into fists. &#x22;But.. I cannot just forget what has happened here and move on to the next contract. The entities we encountered were unlike anything I&#x27;ve seen before. Teres and I have undertaken so many contracts that I&#x27;ve lost count, and despite that, this is the first time we&#x27;ve come across anything unidentifiable. We got involved in something truly unusual, and I believe the thing that hired us must be connected to other, similar nightmarish events, which would explain its abnormal appearance. I believe we should seek this individual again to see if they have more contracts available.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Esca momentarily closed her eyes. &#x22;Verlena, I think that is an incredibly stupid idea that we should not consider at all. We should instead move on and take on a normal, only moderately dangerous contract this time. Prying into this supernatural business will only get us cursed, handicapped, enslaved, killed, or all of the above!&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Ignoring Esca, Teres responded to Verlena. &#x22;You and I think a lot alike, I can&#x27;t let it go either. But before we start searchin&#x27; for the eerie S.O.B.... I think it&#x27;d be best if we wait and see if the thing comes itself to contract us again. May not need to find it if it takes a liking to us.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;That&#x27;s true...&#x22; Verlena said. &#x22;We have never seen them prior to our agreement. It would be a bit odd for them to contract us this one time and never again. Though they may have been too busy to deal with a nightmarish event they would have taken care of themselves normally, and decided to contract a high tier group to deal with the occurrence. There is no way to know for sure, we&#x27;re only able to hypothesize for now.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Teres replied, &#x22;Yeah, so we&#x27;ll wait it out a while and hopefully get another job from it. Can ask it some questions and try to learn as much as we can without pissin&#x27; it off. But... if it doesn&#x27;t come to us again, we&#x27;ve still got some options.&#x22; He opened his coat, and the corpse of the girl spilled out. &#x22;Snagged the corpse of the worm girl and brought it along with us. Can bring it to a researcher and see if they can discover anything worth a shit. As for the mystery client themselves, we&#x27;ll figure out how to track &#x27;em down if it comes down to it.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Esca said, &#x22;Now this idea, I much prefer. I&#x27;ll put all my faith in whatever weird client you&#x27;re talking about&#x27;s ability to hide from you two, and keep all its shady business a secret from anyone who dares attempt to learn too much.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;All of a sudden, a large wave of sea water splashed across the ship. From behind Esca, a bird-like aquatic creature opened its gaping mouth, attempting to chomp both her and the ship itself.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Esca&#x27;s eyes widened, and she glanced back at the colossal sea creature. Through the pores of her skin, a black mist seeped outward from her body. She pointed an arm toward the entity, directing a massive amount of the mist down its throat. Shortly thereafter, the creature exploded into a blast of flesh and blood.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Blood rained onto the deck of the ship. Esca heavily panted. &#x22;You know, I think I&#x27;ve finally mentally overcome the distress you two put me through! In which case, it&#x27;s high time we get going! Be careful and keep your balance! I heard that the sea surrounding this island is home to a dangerous race of bird fish. We wouldn&#x27;t want anyone falling overboard, and encountering something like that now would we??&#x22; She immediately directed her mist toward a number of mechanisms across the ship. Flipping a number of switches and filling several tubes up with the mist to power the ship. Detailed engravings carved across the ship lit up a deep blue. Soon enough, the vessel was prepared, and set sail toward Shimmer, a city made entirety of crystal.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;That&#x27;d sure as hell be a disaster. Not sure how you would handle it especially. A powerless maid like you needs our protection, or you&#x27;ll be toast.&#x22; Teres said. &#x22;Speaking of which, I&#x27;m in the mood for just that. So go make our dinner already ya lazy procrastinator. Probably slaughtered a hundred of those things waitin&#x27; for us without breakin&#x27; a sweat. You&#x27;ve been just fine.&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Esca sneered at him. &#x22;Tch. Very well then. As I said, I suppose I&#x27;ve mentally overcome the distress. So I&#x27;ll get to it.&#x22; She crouched down, and lifted a piece of bird fish flesh. &#x22;I shall cook these here pieces of flesh, and see how a rare and undocumented species like this fairs taste wise. Alongside the mentioned toast. Now be patient and it will be prepared soon enough!&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Some time passed, and the trio consumed the bird fish and toast while conversing amongst one another, continuing to make their way back to Shimmer. They had nearly arrived.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Standing up, Esca cracked her back, then placing her hands onto her hips and gazing out toward the direction where Shimmer would first appear visible to them. &#x22;You know, one of my personal favorite views I get to see as this ship&#x27;s caretaker, is that initial glint Shimmer&#x27;s magnificent skyscrapers give off from a distance. Ah.. it&#x27;s truly a magnificent city! I can&#x27;t believe this is where you received the contract from that freak-..&#x22; A gargantuan chunk of crystal flew right past Esca&#x27;s cheek, hardly missing her and cutting her off mid sentence. It splashed into the sea close behind the ship, creating an enormous wave, covering the ship with a layer of water. &#x22;Oh-.. uh, was that a piece of Shimmer I just saw...?&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;A moment later, several more hunks of crystal were hurled in all directions. One torpedoed straight toward the center of the ship. Before it could connect with the vessel, Verlena stepped in front of its path, slashing her blade through the center of the crystal, shattering it to bits. &#x22;Please Esca! Push our ship to move as quickly as it can, so that we may see what on earth is going on!!&#x22; She yelled.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;Okay- very well! Give me a sec, and please make sure none of those things blast my head straight off my shoulders!!&#x22;&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;&#x22;Is forgetting you have your own powers some new thing of yours?&#x22; Teres questioned.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Esca didn&#x27;t respond, and instead focused on overflowing the tubes across the ship with her mist, while also flipping additional switches. The engravings across the ship turned a deeper blue, and the vessel charged toward Shimmer at an incredible speed.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;As further crystal chunks were flung all across the sea, Esca maneuvered the ship out of their way. Any that Esca was unable to dodge, were destroyed by Verlena or Teres.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;&#x3C;p&#x3E;Before long, the ship grew close enough to Shimmer that the city became visible. Once it finally came into view, a devastating sight revealed itself. Shimmer... had been completely wiped off the map.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;

&#x3C;p&#x3E;Verlena Estelle and Teres Bright, two powerful warriors who put their skills to use by accepting contracts from a variety of sources. The duo have never failed to successfully compete a contract, and due to their unparalleled success, have gained worldwide fame, having their services constantly sought after by high class individuals. When the two are approached by a strange entity that could hardly be described as human, Verlena and Teres never expected accepting its contract would spiral into an unforgettable series of extraordinary experiences, that would forever change both their lives, along with the world itself.&#x3C;/p&#x3E;