Abe returned to one of the island’s beaches with Barry and Puck to regroup with the others, who had also escaped McGuinness’s fallen airship. The rest of Barry’s group watched as Abe’s griffin descended, touching down to earth as they approached to greet them.

  “You're all safe!” Ron spoke, relieved, just as everyone else was. “How was it on your end of things on that giant flying-”

  He stopped talking mid-sentence due to Barry placing a palm up after dismounting with the others. A bruised-up Barry then trundled over to one of the trees with the most shade to lay down in. It appeared to everyone that Barry and Puck must have gone through a lot, especially Barry since he had bruises from his fight with McGuinness’s robot.

  Puck ran up to the group, excited to show them the blue rock that they had travelled out to retrieve. “Look! We got blue rock from evil badguy!” He raised the blue prism high in the air, dancing with joy.

  They all observed the prism, admiring its mystical glow that radiated from it. There wasn’t any text description aside from it being called “Crystal Prism of Purity” and being referred to as a main quest item. This was surely what they had been seeking, and with this, only seven more prisms needed to be obtained.

  Upon gazing at the prism, Ron had an odd feeling stirring inside him. It wasn’t a bad or good feeling, but something that made him believe like this wasn’t the first time he had seen it before. ‘I’m sure I haven’t seen one of these before…so why am I getting déjà vu?’ He wondered.

  Everyone then received a pop-up notification relating to the main quest. It informed the following:

  “Villains? So…we were right to assume that there were opposing forces that are seeking these prisms just like us.” Ron concluded, he was curious by what sort of bad guy Barry and Puck must have faced. As was everyone else. “Puck, who did you two meet?”

  “Bad guy was short, chubby, had poofy hair, and crazy.” Those were the first words that Puck used to describe the dwarf inventor known as McGuinness. The group tried imagining what this McGuinness guy looked like, but figured it would be better to ask Barry for a better description later when he was finished resting.

  “We should return back to our base. Maybe Calista might know what exactly these prisms are meant for, what secrets they hold.” Ron suggested, his strange familiarity with this prism was bothersome to him because he didn’t know why.

  “Sure, we can go back using the teleportation glyphs that Calista marked on us.” Anna agreed, but remembered the people who came to help. “But what about the rest of the contestants that travelled with us? Are we just going to leave without saying anything?”

  Ron thought about it, but Kat gave her input. “I’m sure we can spare some time to give thanks for working together. They probably would want to know what happened and what these prisms look like…”

  “Yeah, they probably would want to know…but what about him?” Anna replied, jabbing a thumb at Barry taking his break. “Don’t you think he should come with us and explain to the others? I mean, he did help them get through those sea leviathans and take the prism back with Puck.”

  Barry heard a bit of everything that they were talking about, he didn’t feel the need to be there with the others to go explain everything. But there was one thing that appeared in his mind that he needed to go back for. “Shit…” He rose up from the ground, getting everyone's attention. “All your talking made me remember something else, so we might as well go back and say our goodbyes or whatever.”

  They were all curious what Barry meant by remembering something. Barry looked at Ron, thinking it would be in his interest to know what it was, since he was the first to wonder how the water castle and Murkers came to be. “You know how you were confused about why there were Murkers here? Well, I’m about to show you all the truth. So let’s go.”

  The whole group followed Barry to the center of the island where the water castle was at. And when they arrived, the rest of the contestants were wandering around the castle to ensure that there were no longer any threats. Upon being spotted, Puck raised the blue prism in the air to show them that they had retrieved what was assigned to their main quest. Word spread fast, praises and cheers spanned across the area, thrilled to know that they had truly won the battle at the end of the day.

  An explanation was given to them from Barry and Ron’s side, informing everyone about the looming threat of four villains which were: McGuinness The Dwarf Inventor, some Eviscerator leader, a beautiful plant woman, and one other person who was unknown. Barry’s group thanked the other contestants for their help in getting a win over the villains, they too were given thanks as well for leading and encouraging them to fight for the bigger purpose.

  “Hey.” Barry asked one of the people. “Did any of you see a female Merfolk? Blue skin, has fins, kind of like a mermaid inside the castle with their child?”

  The people around him knew who he was referring to and pointed him at the castle, saying that Captain Cook was inside talking to her at the moment after finding her upstairs in her bedroom. Barry and the gang went inside the castle to see the Merfolk queen in person.

  When they arrived upstairs to the bedroom, they spotted Captain Cook and some of his people tending to the Merfolk queen and her child. It appeared that they were calmer than Barry had last seen them, which was a good thing, given how depressed they had been.

  “Ah, Barry!” Captain Cook acknowledged. “One of my people last saw you and your friends hitching a ride on one of those metal golems up to that massive flying machine. Glad to see your all alive and well.”

  “Yeah, that place was filled with a bunch of metal heads. But he managed to bring it down on the inside and escape with the blue prism. Your people can explain the rest…” Barry replied, then turned to face the queen. “How are you feeling currently?”

  His group was surprised to see the queen, sharing somewhat of a resemblance to the Murkers but a lot kinder and friendlier looking. They weren’t expecting to find someone like her in a place like this, that was overrun with Murkers before. “I’m…adjusting to the reality of things…” She commented, cradling her child. “The loss of my people…why they turned in monsters…is still…heartbreaking.”

  “Your people turned into monsters?” Ron asked with a puzzled look. “What do you-”

  He stopped talking, and just like everyone else, it dawned on them what she meant by that. “No…” Ron had his hands on his head, pulling on his curly hair. The rest of the group panicked as well.

  “Those Murkers that we killed…” Ron looked at Barry with concerning eyes. “Barry, tell me that I’m just overthinking things. Tell me it isn’t true.”

  Barry didn’t say anything for a few seconds before unveiling the hard truth to him and everyone else. “Yeah…it’s what you all think happened…the damn moderators did it. They converted basically everyone into those Murkers to oppose us in taking the blue prism. Cruel I know.”

  The room was now filled with dread and sorrow for the Merfolk that were unintentionally killed. At first, everyone tried to apologize to the queen but were quickly told to quit. She knew that they didn’t mean to do what they did, all she wanted was time for herself and her child to think about what to do with their lives afterwards.

  Now knowing that the moderators could do such a thing to just about anyone or anything to make the game interesting for the gods watching, an even bigger desire to back-hand and challenge the gods grew within each one of them.

  Believing it was time to go, Barry informed everyone else that him and his group were going to leave the island for their next search for one of the prisms. Captain Cook asked where they were heading off to now, so Barry told him that they were going to return back to their base to reorganize and plan their next move.

  Barry told Captain Cook and the people he was in-charge of to remain vigilant and continue pressing on to complete the main quest no matter what. Barry also parted with half of the equipment he found in the Merfolk’s treasure room to be given to Captain Cook and the rest of the contestants, who greatly appreciated it.

  They all gave their farewells before moving on to find a spot where they could channel their markers without interruption, in order to teleport back to the Nightwalker’s base. After choosing a room within the castle, Barry distributed the rest of the loot with everyone before they channelled their markers. The whole team was well-equipped with decent items, but nothing greater than Uncommon rarity.

  Kat was told by Abe to ring his bell once they returned back to base, so that he could reappear once again, and so she promised. Everyone then began channeling their markers while imagining their home base for about 5 minutes before feeling their bodies start to drift apart from reality. Each of their bodies radiated a dark purple light until eventually vanishing from the material plane.

  Now briefly travelling through the ethereal plane, seeing galaxies and streaks of stars, Barry felt a bit nauseous from the experience and wondered when he would ever get used to teleporting from one place to another. It took about 5 minutes before everyone became blinded by a white light, reaching their destination.

  One by one, everyone stepped out of the portal with some light-headedness, taking it slow walking down the steps of the teleporter. Barry was the last person to emerge, stumbling out like a drunk. “Fuck, I hate this feeling…” He made his way to the nearest chair by the lake to sit, the others were taking a breather there as well.

  “Welcome back! I take it that you all succeeded with retrieving the first prism?” Calista asked them, she just so happened to be discussing some things with the other Nightwalkers close by.

  Barry had a hand resting his head, showing the blue prism with the other. “Yeah, and what a helluva trip it was. We’ll tell you all about it later, for now let us get over this sickness.”

  “Fair enough. Tell me when you're ready, I too have news to share with you all as well. Sherry should be making her rounds soon, the girl has been working non-stop with fixing up the place. And what a great job she’s been doing so far.” The witch then went on to do her daily tasks of managing the place here and there.

  After about 15 minutes of rest, they heard a familiar voice calling out to them with excitement. “Ah! You’re all back!” It was Sherry, she returned looking busy from all the work she was putting into base but the joy from seeing everyone return, re-energized her. “Where is it!? I saw the notification about getting the prism. Who has it?”

  “Right here.” Barry replied, presenting the blue prism. He felt a bit better after his short break, as did everyone else.

  Sherry’s eyes sparkled with interest and grabbed it off his hands without permission, Barry didn’t care and instead got up to stretch a bit. “Wow! It’s so pretty, and tough too. I’m sure it must have been challenging to get this thing.” She figured.

  “You have no idea…” Barry glanced back at the others, they seemed to have recovered from teleporting. “If anyone wants to join me in sharing the news with Calista and Sherry, feel free to join me.”

  Ron and Kat were the only ones out of the group who seemed well enough and rose from their seats to join in. Sherry greeted Kat with a hug, happy to see her once again. And when it came to greeting Ron, he couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. “H-Hey Sherry, h-how are-”

  Ron stopped talking when he saw Sherry suddenly reach out a hand and brush his curly orange hair with a light smile. “I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you without your hat. It’s so curly, how does your hair naturally do this?”

  “A-Ah, m-my hat!?” Ron panicked while blushing from embarrassment, he quickly ran back to where he sat to retrieve his hat and placed it on his head as he returned. “S-Sorry about that…my hair is just the way it is. I sometimes think it looks silly compared to everyone else’s…”

  Sherry couldn’t help but laugh a little in response to his comment. “Haha, You think it looks silly? No, not at all. I think it suits you just fine as it is, there’s no need to be so self-conscious about the way you look. I like it.”

  “R-Really!? Thank you…” Ron felt his heart beating rapidly, her compliment making his heart stir so much with butterflies.

  There was a bit of a pause after he spoke, Barry wondered why Ron was acting so nervous talking to Sherry. But Kat could see what was going on, she also had a feeling that Sherry was expecting a compliment back from Ron based on the silence between them and Sherry slightly stroking a strand of her turquoise hair.

  Unsure what was going on, Barry broke the silence by saying something. “Alright well…I’m going to find Calista.” He then started walking away in search for her.

  “I’ll join you, she might be over here…” Sherry and Barry walked together to go find Calista, leaving Ron and Kat to follow from behind with some distance between each other.

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  Kat then saw Ron do some breathing exercises to calm his nerves, Kat found it kind of funny. “You doing alright?” She asked, even though she could clearly tell he wasn’t.

  “H-Huh? O-Oh, yeah, I’m still feeling a bit light-headed from teleporting here, is all. Nothing serious, I assure you…” Ron lied, wondering if he really made a fool of himself in front of Sherry.

  “Ron, you…like Sherry, don’t you?” Kat questioned, despite knowing the answer.

  “W-What!? Noooo…” Ron looked around making sure no one heard them, especially Sherry. “...is it that obvious?” He got embarrassed again.

  Kat silently laughed before responding. “Ron, it's okay if you do. But yes, the way you act around her is…telling. But honestly...I think she was expecting you to give a compliment back.”

  It was hard for Ron to believe what she was saying and shook his head in denial. “No, I don’t think she was. C-Come on, we don’t want to be left out of the discussion.” He started walking faster to catch up with the two, not wanting to think about the subject any longer. Kat tagged along, deciding not to question him further about his crush on Sherry. Especially if he was embarrassed discussing it.

  As the four were roaming around the base, Sherry figured she might as well give them a tour around the place about the improvements they had made while they were gone.

  One of the first things that immediately stood out to them were ghostly figures doing different tasks and chores for the development of the base. Sherry explained that the witches figured they could use more hands and summoned some help from the other side in exchange for reducing their wait time to being reincarnated again. This was interesting to Kat because her Class was associated with witchcraft, hoping that she could summon other ghosts like Dusk to assist her.

  Everyone in the base clearly has been working hard to expand further in order to make room to get started on agriculture, livestock, housing, etc. Sherry’s proficiency with her transmutation magic improved bit by bit every time she got to use it, which made her motivated to do more everyday. Currently, she was working on building high stone walls to fortify the base from any potential invaders. There had been a couple of attacks on their new home from different creatures that were never around before, it was assumed that the moderators summoned them to mess with the Nightwalkers base as entertainment.

  Tools, carriages, wagons, anything that was needed to help build their home, Sherry would do her best to provide what was needed. This was going to be their new home from now on, after all.

  They eventually found Calista supervising a group of ghosts organizing some foraged ingredients used for alchemy and cooking. “No, no, don’t mix the ‘Toad Stalk’ with that pile. I’d hate for whoever’s on cooking duty to mistakenly put that in our food and get us all sick.” Calista warned, letting out a sigh.

  She turned around to see the four arrive and smiled. “You’re back, my dear.” Calista greeted Sherry with a warm hug before looking at the others. “So, ready to exchange some news together?”

  “Yeah, the others are still taking a breather. It’ll just be us for now.” Barry told her.

  The witch nodded and told them to follow her to the pavilion near the lake, but she first asked one of the other witches close by to make sure that the ghosts were organizing the gathered items correctly.

  Each of them took a seat around a round table, Calista was the first to start the discussion with her curiosity of what they encountered at the water castle.

  Ron used his illusion magic as a visual aid while Barry explained to her about everything that happened. The first being how there were Murkers inhabiting the castle, who were actually Merfolk previously before the moderators converted them as enemies to prevent them from retrieving the blue prism. And after eliminating the Murkers, came the automatons. Calista and Sherry were fascinated by these automatons, considering them as metal golems or constructs, just like everyone else originating from the world of Scion. Barry then told her how these constructs were made by a person named McGuinness; some short, chubby, crazy inventor guy with a lot of facial hair.

  Ron did his best to manifest what McGuinness looked like because he wasn’t there with him and Puck when they fought against him. That was when Calista, Sherry and Ron realized that he might have met a dwarf, based on how creative and intuitive this person was. They then told Barry, who had no idea what dwarves were, that they usually worked in forges, workshops, tinker places, and construction jobs for places across Scion. They were uncommon to see, but not as rare as it was, meeting an elf.

  Anyway, Barry continued to tell Calista how he was able to get some interesting info from McGuinness because of how easily it was to make him spill it. He informed her about there being villains that had their own agenda to claim the prisms for their own purpose, which was to bring doom across Scion themselves. McGuinness was only one out of the four villains chosen by the moderators, those other three being: an Eviscerator leader, a beautiful plant woman, and one unknown foe.

  “And that’s what happened.” Barry said, taking a breather after saying so much. “But that McGuinness guy was something else, I can’t believe he decided to become a villain all because he didn’t get first place during his inventors fair or whatever. What kind of villain origin story is that?”

  “Seriously? If he’s able to make these amazing constructs, what did he lose to?” Sherry asked with a puzzled look. Everyone was genuinely curious what sort of invention McGuinness lost to, that made him lose the running.

  “A fucking magical chocolate volcano, apparently. So stupid, but yeah, that’s what he lost too.” Barry couldn’t believe it either as he said it. This made everyone around the table laugh, wondering how the hell something that simple was able to win first place. “As dumb as that sounds, I still don’t think losing to that is a valid reason for becoming a villain.”

  Once they had calmed down, Calista wiped away her tears of laughter and gathered her thoughts of what she had to tell them. “Haha…well, I guess it’s my turn to share some information as well. First, again, I am glad to see that everyone came back fine. I’m sure you all must have faced some other issues while on your way there. As for what I’m about to tell you all, it relates to that one prism location I had trouble finding…and unfortunately I don’t quite have its exact location…”

  Everyone else around her was a bit let down once she said that, until she spoke again. “However…I have a hunch about where it might be. Whenever I’ve tried to look through my crystal ball to find this prism while imagining the eerie and ominous place from Ron’s vision; I sense some sort of…negativity near these coordinates that I’m about to send you all.”

  Calista then messaged Barry and the others coordinates directing them north-east. “I’m unsure as to why this prism is harder to locate compared to the other two that we assigned to Edward, Sylvia, Ned, and Oswald to retrieve. My only guess is that something is interfering with my way of perceiving the exact location. It’s up to you if you would like to travel out there to get a head start before the moderators reveal the next couple of prism locations.”

  They observed the area that was given to them. It would take the same amount of days it took to travel to the water castle if they went to inspect the region, that’s accounting for the amount of challenges the moderators threw at them along the way..

  “Hmmm…” Barry tried thinking of what the reason could be for her not being able to find this specific prism. “So there’s a chance we’ll be able to find it near these coordinates…or we could just be sending ourselves on a wild goose chase.”

  Kat chimed in. “But we can always teleport back with the markers, right? So even if we don’t find it, there shouldn’t be any harm in checking it out. Besides, we already have two groups getting a head start on getting two prisms, and that should put us in a good position compared to these villains.”

  What she said was true, they already had two teams on their way to secure two more prisms, so there really wasn’t any harm in checking out the area. “You have a point…” Barry said, not minding going on another journey whether it turned out to be a bust or not. “I’ll bring it up to the others before making a final decision, but I am thinking of going there.”

  “That reminds me!” Calista wanted to know something now that they were back. “How would you rate Abe’s services so far? Has he been reliable?”

  The witch happened to be looking at Kat, since Kat was the one who she gave Abe’s summoning bell to. Kat responded to her question for the group, a bit startled by the direct question. “O-Oh! Y-Yeah, Abe’s been a huge help for all of us. Even his animals, they’ve gotten us to where we need to go pretty fast. So…I’d rate Abe’s services 5/5 in my opinion.”

  Ron and Barry shared similar opinions, thinking highly of Abe and would continue to rely on his expertise in completing the main quest. Abe was chilling inside his carriage the entire time, yet, he had a hunch that some people were saying good things about him which made him feel good inside.

  There seemed to be nothing else for them to discuss besides the shared information that was given. Sherry had prepared for Barry and his group’s return with more crafted potions and promised to have them ready for them once they decided to make their next journey. This reminded Barry about the ‘Leviathan Mutagen’ that he had obtained and asked for her to make something out of it. Sherry took it off his hands, intrigued by the mutagen’s characteristics, and agreed to make something out of it before he left.

  Believing she would need some assistance just in case for preparing for Barry and his group’s departure, Sherry called upon Ron for help. This sudden call for him, made Ron’s heart beat fast but tried to play it cool. He agreed to be of use and the two left.

  Kat was curious to know more about Calista being a witch and if she could give her some advice on using her black magic from her Class. Kat had always been interested in witchcraft and supernatural stuff before becoming involved in the game show they were in.

  And while Kat spent her time with Calista roaming around the base, Barry went back to check on the others and relay the discussion they had. When he returned, Anna, Luna, and Puck were still there, but Buford had gone off to check out all the renovations that were done to the base. After telling them everything, they were all on board with going on another trip tomorrow to inspect the area.

  “Hey grouch.” Anna called out to Barry, just as he was walking away to go get some rest so he could train in his dreams. “I’m cooking tonight, so try not to sleep in. You have a habit of skipping meals because you're always sleeping all the time.” Her voice was pretty stern as she spoke.

  “I’ve been functioning fine so far, you don’t need to-” Barry stopped talking when he heard the sound of his stomach grumbling, as did everyone around him.

  “Was that…your stomach growling?” Luna asked, trying to hold back her laugh. Puck and Anna also found it amusing.

  “...fine. Just have somebody wake me when it’s time for dinner.” Barry submitted to his defeat, accepting the truth of hunger that bothered him. He started walking away, heading back to his room for some sleep.

  When Barry arrived in his room, he immediately crashed onto his bed. His body went into a deep slumber, feeling disconnected from reality.

  “You’re here. Welcome back, Barry.” He heard Thalia’s voice call out to him as he opened his eyes to find himself in a field of grass with a bright blue sky filled with clouds. It was just how Barry had left the environment before.

  Rising up on his feet, his eyes caught Thalia sitting on a chair by a pond playing her violin in front of a family of swans swimming. Her melodic music was very entrancing to his ears, the light soothing tone singing to him. “Have you ever thought about opening an opera show? You're clearly really talented with the violin.” He complimented.

  “Maybe…” Thalia replied, continuing to play her violin. “I’m a firm believer that music is a necessity in our everyday lives. Do you agree as well?”

  His first thought that came to mind was listening to McGuinness’s playlist of rock n roll, heavy metal, and other loud, pumping music. Barry didn’t have a favorite type of genre of music, especially since he didn’t know what he liked before losing his memories. “I guess? I mean, that playlist that McGuinness guy was playing on his airship was really hardcore and blood pumping, despite it being obnoxiously loud at the same time.”

  The swans finished swimming across the pond and started walking away towards the trees. Thalia finished up her performance, setting her instrument beside herself. “I can see you liking that sort of music, given your relentless and rough attitude. Although that kind was a first for me to listen to.”

  “Yup, that about sums me up…” Barry wanted to ask Thalia about her brother that appeared during his fight against McGuinness’s giant robot. “Say, where’s your brother? I wanted to learn how to properly use a spear and piercing through solid metal, just like how he did it. What’s his name?”

  Upon hearing him, Thalia smirked behind her helmet. “Ah, yes, my brother. It seems he finally came around to help train you into becoming a more proficient fighter. It was your feats that convinced him to help. From your camaraderie to rally those contestants across the ravenous ocean filled with sea monsters, to your capability to lead an assault on the unfortunate Murkers, as well as your persistence against a legion of metal golems. You’ve impressed him.”

  “I needed help in order to get the prism, it irritated me before when I saw those contestants give into their fear of failure and ignore the bigger picture. But I’m glad they decided to join me, they made the task easier for us.” Barry hated people that gave up too easily, it was sickening to him. But he was willing to forgive a person if they chose to give a challenge another shot.

  “Of course, you only offer your assistance to those in need if they provide some way of being of use to you in the end.” Thalia replied, yet, she sounded as if there was something more to Barry’s reason for helping others other than getting something in return.

  “Exactly…” Barry said, his eyes shifting all around the area, trying to spot where Thalia’s brother was at. “So…where is your brother at? I thought he was going to show himself to me, he even challenged me to a duel, last time I remember.”

  Thalia knew that he was really eager to see him upon returning. “Oh, he’s here…” A slight breeze flowed through the air, Thalia smirked upon feeling a strange presence in the area. “...this should be entertaining.” She mumbled.

  Barry was puzzled by what she said. “What did you say-”

  In an instant, Barry’s view of the world around him was turned upside down, literally. ‘W-What!?’ His mind could not process what was going on, he could see the ground below him from a view high up in the sky. Barry tried moving his legs but couldn’t for some reason, before he found out why upon looking down. ‘M-My body!? It’s been-”

  His mid-section of his body had been blown apart, with his lower torso and legs remaining where he last stood and his upper body and head still intact as it flew in the air. Barry began feeling excruciating pain and could not make a sound, blood sprinkled across the ground as he soared. ‘How did- Wait! Could it be…’

  As he fell down back to earth, his eyes shifted around till he caught sight of the one responsible for his fatal downfall. ‘It’s Him! He really did show up!’ Barry’s eyes widened.

  “I told you I wouldn’t hold back! Be prepared to die numerous times till I’ve had my fill, Barry!” Down below, adorned in a different armor, was what Barry could only assume was Thalia’s brother shouting at him energetically.

  The knight’s armor color was a mix of dark yellow and gray, with a crafted figurehead of a dragon on one shoulder along with a yellow cape that had the symbol of his and Thalia’s kingdom. His helmet had a long yellow plume ponytail, which also hid his face as well behind a visor, making Barry curious what he looked like. In one hand was a spear crafted from the parts of a dragon just like Thalia, except this one appeared to be made from one that had yellow scales. The spearhead was weirdly shaped with lots of jagged-edges and curves with enchanted glyphs. There was nothing else in the knight’s other hand, possibly choosing to have it free for anything. All of his equipment was of legendary rarity, just like Thalia’s.

  Barry’s vision blacked out once he struck the ground, passing out and submitting to his inevitable death from getting obliterated. He would soon awaken again to find his body fully restored to his normal state, his blood and previous body no longer there from before.

  He got up and looked at where the spear knight was at previously, but did not see him. “Where did he-”

  Again, Barry’s perspective shifted once more with him getting a bird’s eye view. ‘Can this guy at least tell me his name!?’ He didn’t mind getting killed multiple times by this guy, but it bothered Barry that he still didn’t know his name.

  This would continue on for a while with the knight never giving Barry a chance to speak to him, until after about 44 deaths which was when Barry was given a breather due to Thalia’s intervention. She stepped in to stop her brother from torturing Barry, even though she was enjoying the massacre that was going on.

  Barry collected himself after his numerous deaths, still feeling his body throbbing of pain for a while, and began questioning the yellow knight. “May I please know the name of the knight that’s been slaughtering me for fun? I also take it that you’re not done, am I right?”

  No words were spoken from the yellow knight’s end, it was as if he was deciding whether to puncture multiple holes inside Barry again. But the knight would reply back after a few moments. “...Claude, that is my name…and yes, I am not yet finished tearing you apart.” Claude then resumed getting into his usual stance, preparing to strike Barry again from a distance.

  ‘At least he told me his name. Now I just need him to properly teach me how to utilize a spear efficiently.’ Barry sighed, wondering when his torment would officially end.

  Thalia stepped in, placing a hand on the handle of her brother’s spear as if telling him to settle down. “Easy there, brother. I know you still have doubts about our king bestowing his will on him. But you must have seen something within him like I have, you would not have shown yourself otherwise. We must use our time efficiently if we are to shape him into a proper knight befitting to stop this great calamity.”

  Claude glanced at his sister, even though neither could see one another’s facial expressions, they both knew what the other was feeling currently. “...alright.” Claude backed off, retracting his spear and standing tall, exuding a prideful aura. “I was growing bored anyway, not like he could respond fast enough to my movements.”

  Finally putting a pause on Barry’s death streak, Barry was glad that Thalia was able to convince Claude to stand down. “So…like Thalia said, I take it that you’ve decided to help me fight better? Seeing as how you’re no longer hiding yourself from me?” Barry asked, he wanted to hear it from Claude personally.

  “Yes, I have, you riled up badger.” Claude was making fun of Barry’s moments of intense anger and frustration. “So you had better not let me down. Listen, observe, and break down every one of our teachings that we bestow upon you. You should be honored to now have two exalted knights take you under their tutelage.”

  “Of course I am. I may seem like a hardass in you and Thalia’s eyes, but I would never take your lessons for granted. I need to get stronger in order to reach the end of this damn game, I can promise you that I’ll be giving it my all to improve my growth.” Barry's voice was nothing but honesty and truth, Claude and Thalia were able to tell he meant every word.

  Thalia joined in, vouching for Barry. “You’ve seen how much he’s improved since I’ve assisted him. Although he isn’t anywhere close to being a grand knight, nor has a controlled temper…” She said that last part on purpose to irk Barry, which worked. “...He’s shown promise through his own source of motivation, albeit dark and rageful, Barry can pick up things quickly. All by getting a bit…frustrated.”

  “So he does.” Claude eyed him, still thinking about what his King saw in Barry that prompted him to gift his will to him. “Well then Barry…if a bit of anger is all that is required to expedite your growth, then I’ll be doing a lot of that. You best not disappoint me.”

  Barry gave a small smile, ready to get to some training from not only Thalia, but her newly introduced brother. “Let’s get to it already, I’m eager to impress both of you.”