The Sacred Frontiers

???, Time : Unknown

???’s POV

Heavily breathing, sun rays stabbing my eyes. I don’t remember much of what happened; I feel like my world is tumbling down. As I stare down at the flowery ground, blood drips down on the marigolds. I want this pain to end; it hurts.

“What’s the matter? Still reflecting on how you came this far?” said a voice. I start to look at where the source of the voice came from. There stood a man; I can’t get a good glimpse of him. He seems to wear glowing black armor while holding something in his hand, but the most significant detail is his godly-like wings.

“I thought you’d have more to say about how you’d end me in many ways, yet nothing has come out of your mouth since we started this fight,” said the man. “Especially with what I have in my hands right now.” I finally get a good glimpse of what he’s holding: a nun’s hat. Now I understand what has been happening. That man in front of me killed every single one of my allies, friends, and the love of my life.

“It’s a shame that this fight will be over soon. I feel like both of us could have worked out something together with no one standing in our way, especially that woman you swore you would protect with all your life,” the man snickers at the last remark. Stop it. I won’t let you badmouth her ever again! As I try to draw my sword one last time, a loud firing noise rings out as a bullet goes through my heart.

Guess this is it, huh? “Don’t feel bad that you didn’t get your revenge, but don’t worry, you can go brag to the people above that you fought The First Leviathan himself,” the man says as he leans toward my face. I’m blacking out. Shit. Sorry, but I tried my damned hardest, everyone. “Sleep well, may you find eternal peace.”

Ulvala, Utopia Athenaeum Library, Time : 9:48 AM

Narrators’s POV

“M... J...”

“Mr. Ja...”

“MR. JAMES!”

“Waaahah!!” The boy with brown hair was awoken by the loud booming voice. Books flew everywhere as he was startled, and he almost fell out of the librarian chair. But he quickly got the chair right back up before falling. As he started to rub his eyes and opened his emerald-like eyes, he began to process what transpired. A mountain of books was on the floor, seeming like mostly around a hundred of them. He looked up to see the person who woke him up: the head librarian, Julian.

“You are in so much trouble, little mister! Not only did you grab almost every one of the books from the aisle, but you also slept inside my library overnight!” Julian said in an annoyed tone of voice. ‘Wow, guess I went a little overboard,’ he thought as he grabbed one of the book labels, which read “Survival guide: Adventure with friends!”

“Sorry about this, Julian. Guess I really went a bit too far, huh?” he said while letting out a little laugh and rubbing the back of his head. “Well, if you’re done talking, I highly suggest you help me clean all of these up, and maybe you can go submit an application to form an adventurer squad with your friend,” she said in a scolding tone.

“Alright, alright, I’ll help out,” he said, accepting the task of putting all the books back in their order - Wait a minute, what did she say? “Wait, Julian. What did you just say?” he asked her. “If you help clean-” She cut him off before she could finish, “No, no, the other one,” he said to her. “Form an adventurer squad with your friend?” she replied. Wait, isn’t today the day for-

“HOLY SHIT!” He screamed, startling Julian too. “SORRY ABOUT THIS, JULIAN, BUT I NEED TO GO, ASAP! I CAN’T MISS TODAY! I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND! OK, BYE!” Jame said while rushing to gather his belongings and bolted out of the window, and in the process, he ran towards the door.

“BUT, OH MY GOD, JAMEEEEE!” She screamed in frustration, knowing she had to put all the survival tip books back in their own aisle.

Ulvala, Order of the Stars Church, Time : 10:01

The church bell rang throughout the church as many people were doing their regular prayers for The Order of the Stars. Among the crowd was a girl with light pink hair, dressed in nun attire, diligently performing her daily prayers.

“Oh, Lord of the stars who reach the heavens from above, please give me your blessings on this fine day of living, as a notable reward for living through this very day. Thank you, my God,” she finished her prayers and finally opened her eyes, looking up to see the knight of the stars—the person who helped rid the world of evilness.

“Well, that finishes all of my daily routines for today,” she stated as she got up to rub the dust off her robe. “Now, what should I do today? Maybe I should go hang out with my friend Jamie!” She started gushing about Jamie, planning how she would spend time with him. Perhaps she might take him to a bakery today or even arrange a picnic.

“MIANEEE!!!” Suddenly, the man she had been dreaming of appeared right before her—what timing! “Jamie, you don’t have to scream that loud, I’m right here, you know?” she laughed, feeling very happy that Jamie was there.

“MIANNE, WE NEED TO GO FORM A TEAM OF ADVENTURERS! MAYBE WE COULD GET EZRA AND ACE TO JOIN US,” Jamie stated very excitedly, before being interrupted by Mianne, who placed a finger on his mouth.

“Now, now, I can’t understand you if you don’t take a deep breath and tell me again,” she said calmly. “Oh, right, sorry...” he stated in his embarrassed tone, and Mianne let out a little laugh. “It’s alright, Jame. Now that you’re calmed down, you can tell me what you want to say,” she said encouragingly.

“We need to go form an adventurer squad right now, so we will have a squad of four going places everywhere! Me, you, Ezra, and Ace!” he stated excitedly, as if he might explode at any moment.

“Alright, alright, Jame! Let’s go to the town tavern, shall we?” she said, and as Jame was about to leave the church, Mianne got a brilliant idea. “But, Jamieee. My leg is kinda hurt, and the tavern is so far awayyyy. Will you help carry me there instead?” she pleaded with puppy eyes, pretending to be injured.

“Fret not, Miannie. I, Jame, will carry you to the tavern as fast as possible,” he said, lifting Mianne up in a bridal style. “Let’s go onward!” he stated before sprinting all the way to the tavern, with Mianne happily smiling in his arms.

Ulvala, The Safe Birds Tavern, Time : 10:25 AM

“We have arrived!” Jame stated as he kicked the tavern door open. “See, I told you they would be here, Ace!” The man with black hair and ruby eyes said, exhausted.

“Well, Ezra, if a certain SOMEONE wasn’t late, then we wouldn’t have waited this long,” the man with a top hat, brown hair, and yellow eyes replied.

“Hey, Ezra! Hey, Ace! Sorry if I was a little late!” Jame said as he waved back to Mianne in his arms.

“If this application didn’t have an applicable queue, I would have choked the both of you right now,” Ezra stated aggressively. “Now that you guys finally let go of each other, Hane and Jarp, I would like to get in line right away,” Ace said as he pulled out the card written as “Queue Squad Forming: 231.”

Jame, with a flushed face, put Mianne down as he apologized profusely, and Hane told Jame it’s okay.

The Diamond Rise, Mountain Road to Sleekhill

The Diamond Rise is an icy mountain that holds legendary tales of a cave filled with valuable gems. However, this place is home to very dangerous natural disasters that could occur at any time. It is also home to two mythical creatures. A line of horse-drawn wagons traverses the road, one of which is covered in gold. Inside that wagon...

“ACHOOOOO!” sneezed the dark-skinned man with spiky hair and gray eyes. “God, why did you bring me here? You know I hate the cold,” he continued in an aggressive tone. “Oh, be more grateful, Dy’valeth. I gave you my exclusive winter coat, so you should be fine,” exclaimed the man with purple eyes, spiky blue hair, and a smug grin. “Alright, fine, at least I should be grateful for having this coat. But that doesn’t explain why you chose me out of everyone to be with you, Sugar,” Dy’valeth exclaimed.

“Dy’valeth, this is how you should get to know your workers, and besides, we haven’t hung out in a while. So, I decided to send Rosco and November on a mission while both of us pursue my gold laundering scheme,” Sugar explained, retrieving his “Terrain Yonder” newspaper. “I wonder how they’re doing in their situation right now? I hope they’re okay,” Dy’valeth expressed his worries.

“Ugh, nonsense. Those two are strong together; they’ll be fine. Besides, if anything goes wrong, I can just teleport them back here,” Sugar said as he started to read his newspaper. Sugar burst into laughter as he read the paper. “Alright, what’s funny, old man? Is it the dad jokes section again?” Dy’valeth said in his sarcastic tone. “Well, no. But the squad I sold the ‘Cosmic Nova’ bomb to was just found incinerated to ash this morning. I guess it backfired on them. Haha!” He laughed, finding amusement in his scamming scheme working. “Well, Dy’valeth, today’s Squad formation day, you know. That means my scam would be even more effective on the newcomers this season,” Sugar stated, showing the newspaper headline of the Squad formation. “I guess so,” Dy’valeth agreed.

“Sir, we have arrived,” said the driver of the gold wagon. “Alright then, Dy’valeth. Let’s go get our protection money,” Sugar said with an evil smirk.”

Ulvala, The Safe Birds Tavern, Time : 10:25 AM

“Number 231, please come to the registry room,” exclaimed the manager of the Tavern. “That’s us. Let’s get going,” Ace stated as he headed to the Squad registered room. “LET’S GOO!!!” said Jame as he ran over Ace in the process of going into the rooms. Mianne let out a small laugh while Ezra let out a sigh.

“Hello, and Welcome to The Squad Registry,” exclaimed the very tired woman who had several eye bags. “How many people are in your team today?” “Four,” said Ace as the SR woman wrote it down on her notes. This process continued as Ace provided some information about the team, and the SR woman noted down the important info.

“So, what’s our team name going to be?” said Ezra, looking at both Mianne and Jame. “Hmm, I don’t know actually. Maybe Jame has some ideas!” Mianne said as she looked at Jame, who was still thinking about the team name.

“And finally, the team name? If you’re done with this process, you’re officially a registered adventurer,” said the SR woman. “Alright then, the team name is going to be So—” “The Lucky Inquisitors!” Before Ace could say anything, Jame interrupted him, naming it first. “You little sh- I am so sorry about him.” “That settles it,” said the SR woman as she registered the team name as ‘The Lucky Inquisitors.’ “But, but—” Ace tried to say something but was interrupted by the SR woman. She said, “You did say this little dude is your leader, correct? So the leader has more power over the goons,” as she told James, “Your official adventure certificate will come in the mail tomorrow, and from that day forward, you can be considered an ‘Adventurer.’”

“Haha, yeah!” Jame cheered as he went to tell both Ezra and Mianne about it, leaving a very frustrated Ace clenching his hands in anger.

“Welp, we are officially The Lucky Inquisitors now!” It was the next day, and Jame said excitedly as he informed all the members of his team. Mianne clapped, Ezra concerned about Ace as he started to tear up and look up into the sky.

“Well, Lucky Inquisitors! Let’s go!”

To Be Continued!