Manifest War: The Weapons Within

At the edge of the pool stepped the first being, Moku, a tall pale man with four arms and incredibly razor sharp teeth (13,200 rlvl). The second was Mallie, a short woman with blue pigtails riding atop a dark blue, bear-like creature (13,600 rlvl).

The third was Lovi, a man with a long green ponytail, having three eyes and a sword on his hip (12,900 rlvl). The fourth was Trion, a muscular man with a silver helmet covering his face and on his back was a giant, curved ax (12,800 rlvl).

The final being to exit the water was a fairly young looking female with long red hair and small horns protruding from behind her bangs (13,100 rlvl). This being was the only one that Briddle personally helped out of the pool, reaching for her hand gently. As Briddle pulled the female out he smiled before kissing her hand.

“Homura my love, it has been way too long.” He said sweetly as she eagerly embraced him.

He let go of her and she walked over to the side, standing next to the other four that emerged from the pool.

They all had extremely pale skin, fairly sharp teeth, and similar thin black markings under their eyes. Despite having similar human features, the anatomy of their bodies told a completely different story.

“Welcome home my loyal generals!! I hope you rested well.” Briddle cheered with great joy and delight.

“Yes Master!” They all replied in unison, bowing their heads to him.

Briddle then aimed his hand at his resurrected subordinates, forcing his energy out. The ground beneath them melted and shifted, becoming incredibly liquified. The fluid rose up and wrapped around their naked bodies. Seconds later, it hardened and became unique clothing for each of them.

“Good, now that we have you back, things will go so much more smoothly. Karris, continue the ritual and bring the Boundless home.” Briddle demanded with a hopeful smile.

Karris nodded and forced more energy into the scroll, causing it to shine brightly once again. However, after a few moments, the scroll stopped reacting and nothing happened. The black water became still and the flow of energy coming from the Manifest ceased completely.

“Karris! What is wrong?” Briddle asked, growing annoyed by the ritual's failure.

Karris tried to force his energy into the scroll again, but it did nothing. He stood and began to ponder a brief thought.

“Hmm, it seems as though this Manifest had a finite amount of Core Energy within it. Reviving them first expelled most of the power remaining, only allowing us enough energy to bring back your generals.” Karris remarked, thinking this was the only explanation for the problem.

“Damn that Sially!! I guarantee you this was the one last failsafe to keep our race from returning.” Briddle angrily yelled, irritated by the past Ocean Goddess’ clever predictions.

As Briddle continued to curse his past foes, Karris walked over to the pool of standing water. He curiously dipped his hand inside, swirling the black water around. As he did so, Karris began to realize something.

“Lord Briddle! The ritual itself hasn’t ended! I think we just need new sources of Core Energy to act as a catalyst.”

“Oh? And how can you be so sure?”

Briddle raised an eyebrow, feeling skeptical of Karris’ words.

“I can sense faint traces of energy flowing throughout this water. I think that Manifest, the scroll, had just enough energy to get things started. We'll need to provide the rest in order to continue.” Karris stood and shook the water from his hand.

“Interesting… Well, how do you suppose we get the energy necessary to bring back an entire civilization? I’m all ears, Karris.”

Briddle crossed his arms and glared at Karris, not seeing how this would be possible in any reasonable amount of time.

“Just use the citizens of this world…” Said a soft female voice from behind them.

It was Homura, making a rather dark suggestion while she brushed her long red hair. Briddle took a second to think and then smiled, pleased with the idea.

“Could that work, Karris?” He politely questioned. Karris nodded and spoke from behind his dark hood.

“Yes. All we would need to do is extract their Core Energy and drop it into this pool. It would only revive one Boundless at a time, essentially trading one of their lives for yours. Slower and less precise, but certainly doable.”

Briddle’s face lit up and he immediately agreed to go through with the plan.

“Splendid!! Let’s get started right away. Moku and Lovi, prepare to head out soon.” He said, looking at the tall, four-armed man and the individual with three eyes.

They heartily bowed, ready for any instructions given their way. Briddle then shifted his gaze towards the young girl with purple hair standing there quietly.

“Priscilla.. Time to make use of your power.”

Priscilla flinched and began to look scared, not knowing what he wanted her to do.

“I need you to summon forth 200 soldiers to go with them. 100 each.” He demanded with great authority.

She hesitated and didn't immediately comply with his request, looking fearfully towards the ground instead.

Briddle, losing his patience, approached her and slapped Priscilla across the face. The intense force knocked her to the ground and left her cheek beet red, swelling quickly. He then crouched down next to her and lifted Priscilla’s head up by the hair.

“Priscilla… You are my tool and I expect my tools to work when I need them to… If a tool doesn’t work, then it is of no use to me. Do you want me to discard this tool?” He asked with a dark expression, staring deep into her eyes.

Priscilla, crying, shook her head no, not wanting to be killed. Briddle’s expression quickly changed and he smiled. “Good!”

She slowly stood while taking out an amulet necklace from under her top. The silver amulet had a skull and two skeletal hands on opposite sides of it. It could barely fit in her little hand as she gripped the edge tightly. The amulet began to glow a sinister purple color before an immense amount of Core Energy flooded out of Priscilla.

Her shadow grew to an impossible size and from it crawled out soldiers of various sizes and shapes. They were faceless, wore purple plated armor, and carried a variety of weapons and shields. Within a few seconds, 200 soldiers were standing at attention behind Priscilla, ready to be given orders. Briddle smiled at the sight and turned to his generals.

“Let’s get started shall we? I can smell humans at a village nearby. Start there and get acquainted with your new bodies. Leave no witnesses.” He coldly ordered.

“Yes, Lord Briddle!” Moku and Lovi loudly replied, excited to get started.

They took off with their newly crafted soldiers and started their mission of subjugation. The remaining generals stood there, awaiting their orders.

“Trion, establish a surveillance perimeter around the palace.” Briddle said to the muscle head, helmet wearing Boundless. He nodded and immediately left the room.

“Mallie, scout out some more areas that we should target next.” He asked of the short woman riding the dark blue bear.

With a bow, she exited the room quickly, her bear shaking the ground with each heavy trot. Briddle then walked over to Homura and took her hand.

“Karris, you handle things here for a bit. I will be in my chambers. Do not disturb me unless absolutely urgent.”

“As you wish, Lord Briddle.”

Briddle walked out of the room with a giggling Homura, their hands linked tightly.

A few mornings later in Ariana City, the trio struggled to enjoy their early breakfast in the grand dining hall.

“Why did Miss Zalthia tell us to get up this early? The sun isn’t even out yet.” Rivell asked with an exhausted cadence.

Sarah and Carmen silently shrugged, their tired eyes barely staying open.

“You guys ready?” Said a voice entering the room.

They looked over and saw Zalthia, full of energy despite the early hour. They gave her pathetic grunts as a response, causing her to annoyingly shake her head at their lack of drive.

“Well, let’s go.”

They stood from the table and followed her outside.

The group made their way to the training & combat facilities of Castle de Belouis, invited in by its large gated entrance. They walked inside and saw a tall, burly female with shortly cut black hair. She wore a white button up shirt with simple black slacks and around her shoulders was a similarly colored suit jacket. Her left arm seemed to be a prosthetic, its metallic steel glinting in the light, and she looked to be in her mid forties. Despite the apparent age, her body was incredibly toned and well kept.

The woman turned around and saw them, glaring at their weak bodies with judgemental silence. She clearly couldn't have cared less about who or why they were there, not impressed at all by their presence.

“Ah, Jorah, you beat me here.” Zalthia said, surprised to see her already at the arena. Jorah shrugged and glanced at the trio again.

“So these are the kids you want me to train? They don’t look like they’re worth much…” She said with a deep tone.

“Yes.. They may not look like much, but they’ve been in more action than you might think.” Zalthia replied, crossing her arms and joining Jorah in sizing up the trio.

Carmen, not recognizing the woman, posed a question to Zalthia.

“Umm, who is this?”

“Ah, sorry. This is Jorah. A Vesta from Melspire. She will be your combat instructor over the next few weeks.”

They all gazed at Jorah up and down, still not sure what to think about her. Jorah was annoyed by their blank expressions, prompting her to speak up.

“Will you kids stop staring at me like that? I don’t want to be here any more than you do. I only accepted this job as a favor to Tiaran, so buck up will ya.” Jorah remarked with a healthy level of irritation.

“Huh??” Carmen responded, confused even more by her response.

“Azhane asked Tiaran to come and train you all but apparently she’s too ‘busy’ right now. So, in her stead, Tiaran asked Jorah to fill in.” Zalthia replied, hoping to clear up any confusion.

“But, how does she know Tiaran?” Carmen wondered as Jorah reached into her pocket, pulling out a cigarette and quickly lighting it.

“I’m her master… Taught that girl everything she knows.” She proudly responded while blowing out a puff of smoke.

Carmen’s eyes went wide with shock, surprised that Tiaran even had a master.

“Yeah, and she’s also the only person Tiaran could never beat. So, you all better treat her with great respect.” Zalthia chimed in, hoping that they finally understood the level of the person standing before them.

“Who is Tiaran??” Sarah asked, struggling to follow their conversation.

“It’s another one of my sisters.”

“Just how many sisters do you all have?”

“There are five of us… Azhane, Me, Tiaran, Nyanza, & Carmen. Tiaran is kind of a nomad, we rarely ever see her. She would much rather roam across Alaira and fight strong opponents than help out around the castle.” Zalthia said with a slight sigh, not understanding why their sister was like that.

“Pfft, I don’t think you would want Tiaran around the castle anyways. That robot of a girl can barely tell you how she feels, let alone hold a conversation with nobles and councilmen. This kind of lifestyle is definitely not for her, you know that heh.” Jorah remarked, lightly chuckling about her aloof student.

Zalthia shrugged as she turned her gaze back to the group.

“Alright then, I will leave you all to it. Listen to Jorah’s instructions and train diligently. I will check in on your progress from time to time. Any questions before I leave?”

The trio shook their heads no and Zalthia walked towards Carmen. She pulled out a slender box from behind her robes and handed it to her. Carmen gently opened it and inside was a crafted rapier. Its silver blade gleamed in the light as she lifted it out and inspected it. The champagne-colored hilt was heavier than her Manifest and it felt cool to the touch.

“Use this weapon instead of your Manifest for the time being. We can’t have you going berserk again. This can at least help you train and improve your skills with a rapier.” Zalthia said.

Carmen thanked her for the weapon before swinging it around, getting a feel for its weight. Zalthia nodded to Jorah and with that, she exited the training facility. Jorah averted her gaze towards the group as she tossed her cigarette onto the ground, stomping it out.

“I will not be going easy on you. I don’t care that you are royalty, I don’t care about your families, and I for damn sure don’t care about where you’re from. This is my world and you all are merely existing in it. Do not question my methods and do not waste my time. Simply do as you are told and I promise you all will come away from this as much stronger Vestas. Do I make myself clear?” She said with a cold and dangerous glare.

Chills went down their spines as they slowly nodded their heads.

“Good.. Let’s get started.”

Jorah cracked her knuckles and deviously smiled, exerting her Core Energy in a sinister fashion. She immediately started her regimen with a brief sparring match, eager to see what she had to work with.