Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ War of valkyries: battle for Midgar ❯ Chapter 2

Disclaimer: this is a original story, but I would like to thank square enix the owners of FFXI for making the game that inspired this story.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 

Kou was taking a nice walk around the battlements in the outer sections of Nyzule. Usually Kou did not do this but since waking earlier than usual, he had time before the Guardians branch office would open and he could see what missions he could get that day. Kou sighed, five weeks had passed since he came to the capital; during his first two weeks, his missions were all D rank the lowest rank of missions and therefore the lowest payout. After two weeks he was considered to have enough experience, he then began doing C rank missions that to his thankfulness paid mostly in silver. Thinking about mission made him think about scroll the bank had delivered to him, it was a simple statement stating how many coins were in his account their, the bank also had at the bottom scroll a number showing him the value of the coins which was constant no matter what country you were in. This was the reason Arashi had his clients' pay in coins made of bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Kou pulled out the bank scroll; he quickly scanned through the inventory of the coins until he came to the total balance, as if yesterday he'd earned a total of seventy-thousand money notes.

 

 

Kou continued his walk until he found himself standing outside the Guardians branch office, he noticed the door was open so he knew it was okay to head inside and receive his missions for today. Kou entered the small one story building, upon entering the building Kou made his way over to the long desk not far from the entrance, behind the desk was a middle-age man wearing a set of brown villagers clothes. The man smiled and said, “Hello Kou, how are you today?” Kou smiled back and responded, “I'm fine Mr. Giles, so any interesting mission request today?” Giles smiled, as he walked towards the back of the desk where the requests were he said, “That depends, are you able to work with others and play nice?” Kou laughed as he said, “Yes I can put up with people for a short while, if two minutes is long enough.” Giles laughed and pulled out a scroll that posses seal with the picture of a soldier on it, the Askar seal. Giles handed Kou the scroll; he opened scroll and read what it said.

 

 

To: Arashi leader of the Guardian Mercenary

 

From: Ramirez Angelis Supreme General of Askar armies

 

Subject: Request mercenaries for rank B mission

 

 

Dear Arashi

 

I, Ramirez Angelis formally request a squad of four-mercenaries be assigned to a mission that patrols our northern borders in the province of Scion near the neutral zone between the nation of Askar and Kingdom of Alluvia. One mercenary should specialize in scout, the others I leave up to you to decide on how to fill the squad. For payment, I will pay the two thousand gold coin fee, as well as for successful completion of this mission; each mercenary will be given two hundred and fifty gold coins each. Duration of mission will be thirty days; the squad needs to be ready to leave by high noon on the eleventh day of this month, they will meet with the eleventh division at the northern gate to assist in the escort of supply caravan. Thank you

 

 

Signed

Ramirez Angelis Supreme General of Askar armies

 

 

Kou stiffened at the words two thousand gold, he knew the way payment went, it was divided fifty-fifty between the mercenary and the company, in the event of multiple mercenaries their half was then split evenly between all the mercenaries on the mission. If Kou completed this mission, he would receive two hundred and fifty guild from his cut plus another two hundred fifty as a bonus. Kou looked at Giles who smiled and asked, “So Kou Uruzaki, do you accept this B rank mission?” Kou straightened his body and nod his head. Giles pulled out his logbook and said, “Okay, your teammates for this mission Regina Miller, Minato Ibruame, and Robert Aregoneu. Well that's everything please be ready by noon tomorrow for your mission, you have the rest of the day off to prepare.” Kou gave a slight bow and departed from the office.

 

Kou returned to his barracks after having a meal in the mess hall, when he arrived at his bunk he lifted mattress up he stuck his hand inside a hole and pulled out a small black pouch. Kou reached inside the pouch and pulled out a dozen bronze coins; he then closed the pouch and placed it back in its hiding place. Kou left the barracks, he went to the bank first to get the coins traded into money notes, and he left the bank with six thousand money notes. Kou entered the inner area of the city, he then first went to the market to prepare food for the journey to the fort; at the butcher, he picked up several pieces of beef jerky, at the produce vendor he picked up various dried fruits and raw vegetables that would be good for the trip. After Kou picked up the food for the trip, he made his way towards a tailor to have a cloak made for the trip. After the tailor finished taking the necessary measurements, he informed Kou that the cloak would be ready within one hour, in an attempt to kill time Kou made his to the training field in the outer section of the city to practice his swordsmanship. Kou arrived at the deserted training field; he calmly drew his blade, for the next hour Kou moved through different kata stances until he finished them all, he put his sword back in its sheath and made his way back to the tailors shop. Once at the tailor shop Kou quickly took the cloak out of its box that he was just handed to inspect it, it was a brown hooded cloak, when he tried it on he saw that it fitted perfectly, after returning the cloak back to its case Kou paid the tailor and left the shop.

 

Upon leaving the shop Kou returned to the barracks, once there he put the food he picked up away in his travel pack, he then opened the trunk at the foot of his bed, and pulled out the red armor he got from the armory. Kou carefully inspected the armor making sure everything was in place, after inspecting each piece he set the armor next to his bed, he the took off his trench coat, his body suit, boots, gloves, and placed them all in the trunk. Kou locked the trunk back up, clad in his white t-shirt, and brown pants Kou lay down on his bed and went to bed knowing he had a big day tomorrow.

 

Kou approached the northern gate, it was nearly noon, and he was ready for his trip dress in his red armor and brown cloak ready to see how he does on his first mission for the nation government. When Kou reached the gate, he found a dozen wagons being prepared for the journey, around wagons was a company of armed soldiers. One of the guards turned towards Kou, the guard approached Kou and asked, “Can I help you sir?” Kou reached in to his pouch where he grabbed his badge and displayed it to the guard. The guard took the badge, he examined then handed it back, he then pointed to a wagon that bore the Guardians signature and said, “That wagon is the one you and your comrades will be using for our trip to the frontlines, the rest of your squad is already here, we'll be leaving in twenty minutes.” Kou gave the soldier a slight bow and walked over towards the wagon.

 

Kou entered the wagon, inside were three people. The first was a man older than Kou but not near middle age, he looked to be just less than six feet tall, his frame suggested a man who was well toned, he had black hair and his face was one of passive. The man wore a set of black plated armor; on his gauntlets were strange symbols that Kou didn't recognize. Against his collarbone was blood red sheath held a sword that was several inches longer than Kou's blade, on the hilt he noticed four colored gems that were red, blue, green, and gold, but what caught Kou attention wasn't the hilt but a strange aura he felt from the blade. Across from the man sat a middle aged man, he looked to be only five feet tall, his build was thin and frail, the man hair was white as well as his beard. The man wore a pair of green pants, a green shirt, a pair of brown ankle boots, and a set of blue robes with a gold sash around his waist. Laid out in front of him was a wooden staff as big as the man was. The final person at the end of the wagon a young woman who looked barley of adulthood, she looks to stand about five foot three. She was wearing brown pant with a white blouse, over the blouse was breast plate that was designed to match he curved body perfectly on her hands she wore a pair of leather gloves that went up to her wrist, over all this she wore brown travelers cloak. Connected to her brown belt hung a saber and on her back, a weapon Kou had heard about called a rifle a weapon that shoots a metal object called a “bullet” a great distance, the weapon was developed by alchemist when they discovered a powder they called “gun powder.”

 

Kou made his way to the empty seat across from the woman; he unhooked his sword from his waist and set it down in front of him the said, “Hello, my name is Kou Uruzaki swordsman, may ask your names since we'll be working together for the next month.” The woman nodded her head and said, “My name is Regina Noccison, Ranger.” The robed man turned his head and said, “Shou Garab, Cleric” lastly the armored man said, “Gafgarion Nomonde, Rune swordsman.” Kou raised a eyebrow and said, “Rune swordsman, never heard of one, so what can you do?' Gafgarion chuckled as he drew his blade from it sheath; the sword was a few inches longer than the standard double-edge sword, along the surface of the blade etched into were lines connecting together to form various designs. Suddenly the sword began to glow as if it had just been set on fire, everyone in the wagon backed away for fear that they would be burned until the fire faded away. Gafgarion chuckled as he returned the blade to its sheath and said, “The symbols on my blade are runes, if we get into a battle you'll see more.”

 

Kou was about to ask question when the wagon began to move, as caravan began its journey the four began to get to know each other on both professional and personal levels. On the night of the fourth day, the caravan stopped to make camp for the night, after setting up their tents Kou and the other mercenaries began to go through their individual training routines. Gafgarion had just finished his last kata when he heard someone politely clear his or her throat; Gafgarion turned around and saw Kou waiting patiently. Gafgarion approached Kou and said, “Good evening Kou, how can I help you?” Kou took a step forward and asked, “That ability to empower your sword, is that something I can learn?” Gafgarion chuckled and responded, “Yes, the runes on my sword are a formula which help focus the power of the of the stones in the hilt, by combining their power with runes formula my blade can take on four different forms, can I see your sword please?” Kou detached his sword n sheath and gently tossed the weapon into Gafgarion waiting hands. Gafgarion drew the blade from its sheath, after he examined it a bit; he reached into his pouch and pulled out a crystal. Gafgarion made a gesture with his hand telling Kou to sit down, after Kou sat down Gafgarion sat down next and began to speak, “It will take a bit of time to etch the runes into your blade, I wont tell you which elemental stone I'm using, however there is one task that you and you alone must complete.” Gafgarion held the crystal up which suddenly it began to glow. “This crystal is glowing because of the magical energy I'm sending through it, you may not be aware of this but all people posses magical energy just some more than others, Shou for example could probably make this crystal glow so bright it could blind you, as you can see I can make the crystal glow a bit. The task I'm giving is to make this crystal glow by channeling the magical energy of your body into it, once you are able to do that you can become a rune swordsman like myself.”

 

For the next, several hours Gafgarion began teach Kou about magical energy and techniques to assist him in his efforts to channel it. On the night of the ninth day was when Kou made his break through. The caravan had stopped for the evening, despite not having his sword back Kou went through his sword routines none the less by simply picturing the sword in his hand, after going through each kata Kou sat down in his meditation stance, he pulled the crystal out and began channeling into it. Over the last few nights Kou would spend at least a few hours attempting to channel his energy in it, but his efforts were only rewarded with the dim light much like what he had right now. Suddenly Kou was struck with an idea, instead of forcing his magical energy into stone he would do exactly as Gafgarion had told him to do channel his energy. Kou calmed his thoughts; he then began to guide through his right arm and into crystal, the crystal glowed warmly and steadily. Kou was so happy with his success that at first he didn't realize that he was not alone until he heard someone clapping. Kou turned around and saw Gafgarion smiling as he clapped lightly. Gafgarion made his way towards Kou, when he was standing right next to Kou he said, “Now that you've gotten this exercise down your ready to us this” Gafgarion pulled from behind his back Kou katana. Kou took the blade, he noticed the red jewel in the hilt, and taking the blade out of his sheath Kou saw the runes along the surface of blade. Gafgarion kneeled down and said, “There is much for me to teach you, but you have taken the first steps to becoming a rune swordsman.”

 

 

 

R&R