Tales Of Gridarnia

Ray

“Tha…nk you.” Ray whispered. His body was completely torn.

“If you knew how to properly control my power, you wouldn’t need to be thanking me”

“How..do..I” Ray barely got out

“How do you control my power? HA! You don’t! You know nothing. I should let you die and finally go into the void!”

There was a long pause. Ray could not understand why he was so difficult to talk to. He lay there in the void of his consciousness waiting. The presence of the berserker was still there with him. Ray knew he had not left him there. Yet

“If only it were that simple…”

Ray felt the overwhelming power of the berserker crush down on him. His rage. His pain. His annoyance of it all. Images of his past and the pasts of others whom he did not recognize flashed through his mind. The death of hundreds of thousands at the hands of him? No of the berserker but through him as if he was the one doing everything. Ray felt trapped and unable to move. Centuries flashed through him in a matter of minutes. He had no choice but to endure it all as he waited. He felt himself grit his teeth and he took it while trying to understand.

“Listen to me, HUMAN. I have searched and seen your past. I know it all. I know of your loss and of your betrayal. I know of your triumph over that black dragon in the south. I know of your upbringing and your fathers upbringing and all the fathers before then. I know how you arrived at this very moment even if you do not. I know of the lives before you and of their past and how they came to their final moments…. And now you know all of mine”

Ray then felt pure agony wash over him. He felt his heart break into thousands of pieces. He began reliving tragedy after tragedy. Who were these people? Past bonds? Their families and friends and even loved ones? Ray took the pain and suffering of hundreds of years lived by thousands of people before reaching the last one.

“Minh!” Ray cried out.

He was afraid this would happen. He used to relive that day on a regular occurrence but this was just too much. He watched as he met her for the first time. Their first outing together. How she introduced him to her family. How he lived with them and learned from them. He watched himself reintroduce her to his mom and dad and little brother. Laughing at the dinner table together. Ray fell in love all over again and then had his heart break as he watched through her eyes as she fought that mage, Merrikh. She put up a hell of a fight but it didn't matter. Ray watched himself come home to find that she had been cursed. He remembered traveling with her searching for a cure. He watched her become weak and sick. Three years of trying everything they could think of. It was a cancer that would not leave. He witnessed through her as she transferred her bond to him and then with her, Ray fell deep into the void.

“I have missed you every hour of every day. Even on the days that I hated you, I still missed you.” He said. He could feel the tears coming and then there was a pressure against his side.

He managed to look over and see Mace curled up next to him. "We have missed you every hour of every single day Minh."

“Oh Mary, why did you leave me here? My sweet Mary, Why did you not listen to me? Trust Me? The Black king was always going to do this.” Oh my beloved Mary.”

Ray heard the Berserker talking, but he could not understand. Who was Mary? The black king? What was he talking about? There was a long pause and the berserker finally spoke in his normal voice.

“Fine. I will show you”

“Maybe you are the one. Maybe you can finally end it all. Maybe…” He cut off

Everything was silent and then something happened. Ray felt his body heat up as power rushed through him. It felt as if his entire insides were being rearranged as his wounds began to heal and his mana suddenly came creeping back to him. He faded back out of consciousness as the sound of people came rushing towards him.

“I will give you a way. A path to control my power. It is up to you to learn it. To master it. It is up to you to finish what I was unable to complete. You must succeed. I will be here with you, but you will not hear from me again. Not until it is time. I cannot speak to you again until it is time. Not until the very end. Do your best young lord. Until the end, Ray Maximum. Until the very end…”

Collin

2 days later…

Collin ventured forth on his horse. He had about twenty miles to go before reaching the kingdom. The events of the past few days replayed in his mind. The healers managed to get to Ray before it was too late. They healed him enough for transport and even forced a few of his mana crystals back into his system. He was still asleep when Collin left the village. Shortly before leaving, Collin received a message from Kono which was delivered by Kimberly. The information about the sea beast and the stranger with the black knight tattoo greatly disturbed Collin and it took a few hours for him to think of a plan to move forward on.

The Festival ended without any additional hitches so to speak. The Villagers were for the most part, oblivious of the battle that occurred five miles to the south. Collin met with the elders, advised on what would be done next and then left the village. Adam would be able to handle the day to day stuff while they were gone. The letter from the Kingdom had said for Ray and Collin to present themselves but Ray was injured and needed to go south. Collin felt he could manage this task on his own. He hoped anyway. Collin reached the interwoven path and proceeded up a large embankment. At the top he could see for many miles in all directions. There he was able to see the large white marble walls of the Kingdom. Collin thought back to the last time he saw those gigantic walls.

It was about three years ago. The village was under the control of some mages who had managed to kill Collin’s adopted mother and imprisoned Collin’s Father, Kreado Chintzy. Ray and Collin attempted a rescue mission to save him. They managed to find a hidden path deep into the mountain and into the dungeons where Kreado was being kept. There Kreado gave up his rights as the Lord and handed the magical contract to Collin who was going to succeed him. It did not work however and the contract rejected Collin. Kreado died before giving any sort of explanation and the two barely escaped the dungeon alive. Since the Magical Contract was first created by the Original King of the continent, Collin decided to make a visit to the kingdom for some answers. It was during this time that Minh became very sick and Ray had taken her to parts unknown in an attempt to find a cure.

Collin managed to obtain an audience with the king’s court. He presented his problem and the court proceeded to push him along without any sort of reason as to why. He spent many weeks in the great library which is where he met a lovely librarian by the name of Bridget. Bridget was as old as the library itself. That is, she was really old. Bridget suggested he check on his family lineage and even took some of his blood for testing. There it was discovered that Collin was not just the son of some Lord of a smaller village in the XI Region. He was also the only son of the first daughter of the King. The first daughter, Katrina II, who died nearly twenty-five years prior from a very unfortunate demonic ambush while returning to the kingdom. This information which the system recorded automatically, managed to set off many alarms and was met by a group of well armed soldiers who then escorted him and Bridget to the King. More tests were made, arguments between the court commenced and Collin sat there awaiting his judgment from the King.

The King, whose name he discovered was Liam, absolutely loved his daughter and was completely unaware of her pregnancy with Lord Kreado, King Liam accepted Collin as his grandson with no additional questions. Collin then learned that because he was the direct grandson of the king, he was in the running to be the heir to the throne and was unable to be a Lord of any Village in any sort of Region of the Kingdom. Evidently there were so many grandchildren that the King had no idea who would be the new king after he passed. They had plans in the works to address this and would reveal them later they said. At first they did not want Collin to leave the Kingdom, but after some convincing, they finally allowed him to return to the Goldenleaf Village.

Collin arrived at the gates at around noon and showed the guard his badge. The guards quickly allowed him in and he proceeded to the main castle. He had about an hour left before he was to be in the main court so he grabbed a bite to eat in the square and then checked himself into one of the lodges where he showered and changed into his best attire. He then walked into the castle, made a left at the large statue of a dragon breathing fire and into the courtroom.

Ray

Ray woke up to the sound of people whispering around him. He made a quick mental check of his vitals and extremities, wiggling his fingers and toes before he opened his eyes. To his surprise he appeared to be in a cramped room that barely fit his bed. Bed? How did he get into bed? He pushed himself up and adjusted his eyes. It was dark except for a small lantern that was floating around the middle of the room. Ray looked around and finally seemed to notice that this was not a room. He was in the back of a carriage with. People? Who were these people?

“Lord Ray, Please take it easy.” a voice said from the dark.

Ray recognized that voice. One of his students maybe? His eyes finally adjusted to the dark and he could see the worried faces of them. They watched him, afraid to say anything.

“Dimitri, what is going on? Where are we going and how long have I been out? Ray asked, looking around the carriage at the other occupants. The other 6 younglings sat there also watching on benches attached to the inner wall of the carriage.

“Sir, We are on our way to see my dad, Reese. Dayton said. He and Theo sat opposite Dimitri to the right.

“Yeah! Mr. Reese said there is a giant sea monster we have to battle.” Theo said, trying not to let his excitement get the better of him.

“Master Ray?” Jacie asked

“Yes, Jacie?” Ray responded. He snapped his fingers and the lantern glowed a bit brighter making the cabin glow.

“Master Collin told us to give you this letter when you woke up. He said that it would explain everything. Also, you have been asleep for a few weeks now. We got a bit worried but Master Collin reassured us that you would wake up eventually and that it was important for us to leave. We are about a day's ride away from the coast I think. That's what the driver said anyway.” She explained, handing a letter to Ray

Ray took the envelope, opened it and read the page.

Ray,

Good, you're awake. Listen, We did not have much time and you have been out of it for about 3 weeks. First things first. The 2 you fought were killed. The berserker did it. Everyone is fine. The Festival went off without any major issues. Georgie won a ribbon for her singing. There was crying. It was beautiful. Mace peed on the ice sculpture so much that it turned yellow and Annie showed up right after you teleported away.

Ray looked up. “Where is Mace?”

“Uhhh, Akota, you had him last, where did he go?” Theo asked. Looking around the carriage.

“I think he is on the roof. He got annoyed at Jacie and teleported away.” Akota said

“He had ticks, I needed to get them off of him!” Jacie protested. Kicking Akota in the shin

Ray closed his eyes and let his mana reach out to touch his bond. He could feel the carriage and the younglings in it, He could sense Kim in the front driving the carriage and there next to her was Mace, Curled up in a Jacket fast asleep. Relieved, Ray went back to the letter.

So King Liam sent us a summons. I have attached a copy of it here. I am currently on my way there to see if we can address whatever the hell this The lord of freaking Manchester is claiming. It is utter bullshit, but you do not need to worry about that. I will kill hi…I mean. I will handle it.

Ray pulled the other page out and read the summons. He sighed and went back to reading.

Attached also is a report that we received from Kono shortly after you were injured. This is more important so I need you to heal up and prepare to slay a sea monster which may or may not have the key and to activate the next beacon. I have a theory that the key is on that monster. Defeat it and activate the beacon.

Also, you are on babysitting duty. It is your turn with the younglings. I need a vacation. Theo and Dayton are utterly ridiculous. I am never having kids ever!

Don’t do anymore stupid shit like dying. I'm not allowed to be the Lord remember. I will return as soon as I am able.

- Collin

“Theo? Dayton? What did you do to Master Collin” Ray asked, not looking up from his reading.

“Uhh, Well you see.” Theo started.

“It was not my idea, but..” Dayton said

“Yes it was!. You dared me to do it.” Theo stated.

“Boys, What did you do?” Ray said peering up and staring directly at them

“Theo tried to pick up the ice sculpture of Mace but it was too heavy and so we used a little bit of fire magic to try and you know blast it upward but ice and fire do not like each other and we had no idea that Mace and all the other puppies in the village were peeing all over it so it started to melt but also it started to really stink and then I convinced Jacie to help Theo bury it with her earth magic and she tried but at that point the sculpture was a puddle of pee and so it kind of got absorbed downward and.” Dayton ran out of breath and started to cough.

“The semi frozen semi melted puddle of pee dropped into the cellar. Room thirty-nine.” Kim yelled from the front of the carriage. She clearly had been listening to everything. Mace woke up with a Yawn and teleported inside the carriage to rest himself on Ray's shoulder.

Rooms thirty to forty were designated to handle the filtering of water for the entire village. Rain water as well as a portion of the Maxwell River was collected and brought in through a series of pipes and small tunnels. It entered through Room thirty and over a set of very complicated procedures using water earth and fire magic, the water was purified and made healthy enough to drink and use. Room thirty-nine in the cellar happened to be where the village's last stage of filtration was located before being sent to forty which was more of a storage of healthy water that was used by the village. Normal pee wouldn’t be much of a problem, but Mace was a magical beast, technically, and a user of teleportation which according to the "Magic Text Book of Sub elements Grade 4". Was an ability for dark magic or more specifically, void magic users. Dark or void mana in the water supply was bad. Very very bad.

“Kim, did anyone die?.’ Ray yelled back

“We had a couple of the villagers randomly teleporting short distances but no one died. It just took a couple weeks to fix. We had to flush the whole system and a couple of water benders came in to sanitize everything.” Kim yelled back.

Ray sighed “Have you three been punished yet?”

“No, Master Collin said you would want to do that.” Theo said, looking down.

“Kim, Where are we currently and what time is it?” Ray yelled

“It is about mid morning. Another hour or so and we can stop for lunch. We are currently on track to arrive the day after tomorrow sometime before sunrise sir! Kim replied.

“What is today?” Ray asked the group of younglings

“Thursday December 20th” Dimitri answered.

“Alright. Everyone on the roof. Begin working on your Mana Meditation Exercises one through five. No talking and no dilly dallying. I will think of proper punishment when we get to the coast. I am sure Reese would love to contribute to his son’s discipline” Ray said, staring Dayton down on the last bit.

Dayton’s face turned white as he rushed out the back of the carriage with the others.

Ray turned back to his letter and began reviewing the detailed report from Kono. There was an issue with a sea monster keeping ships from exiting port, another member of this Black Chess piece group that Ray had never heard was poking around. As far as Ray knew, Mace and him were the only ones with a white Chess piece. Could there be others? What was the story behind that?

Ray chose to put that to the side and moved to the next item. There was a detailed report of the village and how everything was going. As of now, not great. The village stores were getting low. The rail system should help once they could fix the import and export issue at the coast. But another month or two and the village would be out and people would go hungry. The idea to turn the goblin loot into clothing for the village appears to have helped raise morale a bit and the treasury had increased a good bit from the sale of metalworks. Turning those goblin made weapons into usable smithing bars was a good call. Ray missed his meeting with the gnome’s elder. He would need to meet with him on the way back. Having them on their side would be good for everyone. Ray continued reviewing reports for the next half hour before putting them aside and moving to his own personal well-being.

“System, display status screen, full detail” Ray said. There was a short delay and multiple screens popped up in front of him

Name: Ray Maximum Age: 31 Weight: 225 lbs Height 5’ 11”

Citizenship: Affirmative Military Status: Retired/Reserve Military Rank: Captain -locked

Adventurer Status: Active Adventurer Rank: Master - Teacher

Health: 100% Health Rank: A -> S Health Recovery: 15%/ Min

Mana: 100% Mana Rank: B -> A Mana Recovery: 10%/ Min

Class: Master Elementalist , *NEW - Berserker Level 1 , Other - Locked

Weapon Proficiency:

Swords, Bow and Arrow, Daggers, Throwing Knives, Hammers, Buckler, Shields

Magic Affinities

Water: S Earth: S Fire : S Air : S Void/ Dark: B Holy/ Light: B Lightning: A

Ice: A Plant: A Lava: A Sand: E Metal: E

Matrix -Max (0/1)- Removed (All associated Class, skill, and abilities locked)

Titles:

Lord of The Goldenleaf Village

Description on next page

Goblin Assassin

Description: + 5 Damage +10 Health and Physical Resistance +20% when battling Humanoid Creatures : Goblins, Orcs, Gnomes, etc

Others - locked

Bond (1/1)

Name: Mace Age: Unknown Weight: 12 lbs., Type: Canine Beast

Title: NEW Berserker King’s Beast Level 1

Form: Pup (Base), Lambda (Wolf)

Abilities: Teleportation, Puppies Roar, Puppy Scratch, Wolf Sense

Lord of The Goldenleaf Village

Total Control 32%

Regions controlled: Golden Leaf Village, Boar Canyon, Boar Canyon mine

Lord Skills:

Telepathy (Region only)

Access to Lord System (Kingdom Only)

Teleportation Golden Leaf Village (Region only)

Teleportation Boar Canyon (Region Only)

Lord Pocket Inventory

Skills:

1) Elemental Smash Level 3

Imbue your weapon with an elemental orb to deliver the specified elemental damage to an effective area.

Up to 3 elements per attack

2) Goblin’s Roar Level 1

Create a shockwave of sound which causes enemies to be stunned and unable to move. Duration: 3 seconds Cooldown: 5 seconds

3) Mana Manipulation Level 4

4) Elemental Manipulation Level 4

5) Sub Elemental Manipulation Level 2

6) Others - Locked

Ray skimmed through his status window. He stopped at the Class Section. Normally there was a cooldown for the Berserker Form. It was no longer just an ability, but an entire class.

Each pledge was provided a Matrix when they entered the compound. A Matrix was an item that granted its user a special system similar to what Ray had received as Lord. The Pledges trained for many years in the compound. The Matrix, which had its own artificial intelligence, assisted them in learning classes, titles, abilities and many other things. Ray’s Matrix was named Max. They fought a war and even killed a dragon. Afterwards, Max was taken away. Ray was not sure where he was now.

“System, More detail on new class.” Ray said.

NEW Class : Berserker Level 1

Description: The Berserker King known as Curaidh Von Cu Chulainn, has granted you his power and abilities. Progression to higher levels will unlock more Skills, items and abilities. Berserker class has been integrated into the Lord system. Progression in the Lord System will have a positive impact on the Berserker Level.

Primary Matrix - Max ( 0/1) Removed - Berserker class unable to access prior stats and abilities. Adjusting skills and abilities

NEW Skills

Berserker King’s Armory Level 1

Berserker King’s Authority Level 0 - Locked

Berserker King’s Elemental Control Level 1

Berserker King’s Army 0/8 - Locked

Berserker King’s Mount Level 1

Berserker King’s Beast Level 1

Berserker King’s Transformation Level 1

Berserker King’s Court 0/6 - Locked

NEW Stats

Health Reservoir Increase + 30%

Health Recovery Increase + 20%

Mana Reservoir increase + 50%

Mana Recovery Increase +20%

Ray skimmed the list of new skills and stat increases. Forming a fire Orb in his hand. Ray Focused on the mana and condensed the flame into a ball the size of his hand. Increasing the mana, he began increasing the temperature of the flame slowly. The flame went from red to orange to yellow and then finally white. Watching the status screen he saw that his mana had dropped about ten percent and the mana was perfectly condensed.

Looking out the rear flap of the carriage, Ray spotted a tree about a hundred yards away and sent the fireball flying. The tree disintegrated with a powerful explosion that left a crater in its wake. Ray looked back at his status screen. Mana dropped 20% total and was already beginning to recover.

“Everything ok?” Kim yelled back.

“Yeah! Sorry, Everything is fine. I was just testing something.” Ray yelled back.

“Master, can you teach us how to do that?” he heard from above him.

“No talking, Focus on your Mana control first” Ray said, hitting the ceiling with his hand.

Ray smiled to himself and returned to the status screen. He opened the armory and found a full assortment of armor and weapons for all kinds of situations. It appeared to have added his entire inventory as well.

He was unable to open the locked skills and the system refused to give him a description as to what they did or how to go about unlocking them.

“System, Expand details on Mount, Beast, and Transformation.”

Berserker King’s Mount Level 1

Description: Summon the Kings Mount for transportation purposes. Type of mount summoned depends on climate, and terrain needing to be crossed.

Berserker King’s Beast Level 1

Description: Transforms Bond into the King’s Beast. Bond’s Attributes raised to 150

Mana to Transform: 25%. Time Limit 10 Minutes

Berserker King’s Transformation Level 1

Description: Take the form of the Berserker King. Increase to all attributes by 50%

Mana to Transform 40% Time Limit: 10 Minutes Cooldown: 24 Hours

“Mace, did you know you could transform?” Ray asked, looking up at his bond. Mace was sound asleep and made no comment. Ray picked him up and placed him in his lap and began itching the back part of his ear while they continued on their way.