Chapter 3:The Dark Reapers

I spoke to the messenger on the way to Lord Gairyu's office. He too didn't know why I was called by Lord Gairyu.

"I don't know why you're called, but it's got to be important. Lord Gairyu is the captain of the Dark Reapers. He doesn't mix with other Procyonians much."

Dark Reapers, sounded a little scary..."Erm, sir, what are the Dark Reapers?"

"Oh, you don't know? What am I saying, of course you don't! You're new here! The Dark Reapers are exactly what they names are. They're a very dark and mysterious group of assassins, and you're either going to join them or die."

"Join or die? You mean if I reject I die?"

"No-no-no, that's not what I meant. If someone meets Lord Gairyu, he's either joining the Reapers or is one of their targets. It's usually like that..."

I had no idea what was going on, but I was starting to get a little worried about this Gairyu and his Reapers.

"We're here, enter that door there. Good luck kid."

There only a few houses here and this was one of the biggest ones. The largest building was the council building. That's where the elders and sages meet and discuss issues about the Procyonians. I stepped in front of the doorstep before it had opened. A tall soldier had opened the door for me and told me to get in quickly.

"Lord Gairyu is in the hall. Make it fast boy!"

I had hurriedly walked into the hall. There were already some people there, six of them I counted. They were talking in whispers and had abruptly stopped talking when they saw me. Three of those men looked like sages and the rest wore the uniform of a Procyonian soldier.

"Ah, here he is. Zero Blitz, son of the great Scar and brother of Kane. Come over here boy. I had seen you perform in the arena just now. Spectacular performance! Simply superb! Your brother told me that you would easily take on 20, well i guess he was right."

My brother. So, he is in Procyon.... The thought of him here made me feel a little more comfortable.

"Sir, if I may ask, where is my brother?"

"He is already in the field, some where in the Forgotten Ruins. The war is about to begin boy, very soon the world around you will change.... Before we continue, allow me to state the reason of you being here. After seeing your performance in the arena and seeing your background, I have decided to choose you as an apprentice Reaper. Congratulations Zero, you are now a Procyonian!"

He walked to a closet and took what looked like armor. He handed over the armor to me. It was the Procyonian war suit. It was light, extremely light yet it felt hard. I was in! I am now a Procyonian! I couldn't help but smile.

"Stop smiling boy... this is a war, not a game. Usually you would get a lecture from a trained officer on the risks that you are taking by joining the war, but I will give you the lecture instead. First off, are you aware of the risks that you are taking by joining Procyon?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, why did you join us?"

"I... I... don't know sir..."

"That's good. Sometimes not knowing is better than knowing. To know is to have a goal. To have a goal is to have a selfish purpose. That wont benefit us now will it? You are pure. I can tell you why you joined us boy. The same reason why I joined Procyon.... No family, no love, just yourself and the world around you... Let’s skip that, now here's my last question, have you killed anyone before?"

"No sir, but I have killed monsters before."

"Yes, I can tell. But killing a person is different boy. You will know when the time comes, but for now i think you are ready to become an apprentice of the Reapers. Oh and by the way, you do know what we do right?"

"Ye-Yes sir."

Without saying a word he left the room with his previous company. The same soldier that had opened the door came and spoke to me.

"Congratulations Zero, I am Garin. I am going to be your master. I will train you and teach you the ways of the Reapers. Let’s start by where you stay. You will not stay with the other soldiers; you will stay here in the Dark Reapers headquarters and will only be allowed out for good and valid reasons. We must not mix with the others much. Why, because any one of them can be a traitor. The Dark Reapers are the pride of Procyon and our tactics in the battlefield has always been kept secret ever since the Cabal... We cannot risk losing any information at all."

"Where shall I train then?"

"Your training is done in the basement of this building, which I will show you later. Let me brief you on the history of the Dark Reaper. The Dark Reapers is a guild formed by Lord Gairyu during the age of the Cabal. It was meant to be a counter to the evil and powerful leaders of the Cabal. Its success in assassinating and taking on the most dangerous missions meant that its legacy still continues till today. Lord Gairyu is still the leader of the Dark Reaper and the assassinations are still being planned."

"Wait a minute; did you people assassinate the First Sage?"

"No, we did not. I would not lie to you; you are one of us now. The assassination of Raizer was done by another guild, a Capellan guild probably. That is the reason why we joined Procyon... we were falsely accused... either way it doesn't matter... By the way, your position in the main Procyon army is as a Blader, 1st Division. Do you know the classes involved in the army?"

"Yes master."

There were 6 classes all in all. My brother had told me sometime back about these ranks. They were determined by the proficiency of the person with a weapon or a force. There were the dual sword wielding Bladers and the great sword wielding Warriors, both of which did not require any force training. The remaining 4 all require force training. The first force class is the Magicians. This is followed by the Force Archers, Force Shielders and Force Bladers.

Each and every class has a division in the main army and a guild. The main army is the main attacking force in the battle field. Guilds are societies or associations that select people with special traits for special missions and training.

"Good, now that we have that clear, get your Reaper uniform and get your katanas made by Cassius up stairs beside the bedroom. Cassius is our blacksmith. Doesn't do much, but he's the best blacksmith you'll ever find. You'll never see any blade sharper than his. He saw you battle, so he probably knows your battle style and has probably started crafting your katanas. I think you've had a long day... hahaha... I think I better stop talking. You better go to bed; I'll see you in the morning for training."

"Okay, good night master. Erm, where is the kitchen?"

"Oh, you're hungry? Yes, well its right over there down the hall. We have a chef. I think we still have some leftover from dinner. Go help yourself."

I almost ran to the kitchen. My stomach was so empty, I felt like dying. I found the food, and I stuffed it happily into my mouth. I didn't even look to see what I was eating but it had tasted really good.

After eating I went up to the bedroom. There were 20 beds all neatly arranged. I jumped on the first bed that I saw, since there was no one in the room and fell asleep almost instantly.

I doubt I would have, if I had known what was really going on in the war...

Chapter 2:The Test

The Procyonian leader, Apollo, was supposed to be an extremely powerful man. He was a war veteran during the age of the Cabal, like my father and has a lot of experience in battle. Being a Sage, he is obviously a magician. There are very few magicians in Nevareth. Many blame the lack of force training from a young age. Some also say that the power of the force is dying out, but either way, the race of the magicians is slowly dying out...

There are a few magicians that I personally knew, one of them was my mother. She was not the strongest magician that i have seen, but she is definitely the most artistic. She could make the stars appear in a cloudy night sky and even make the a castle out of colors. I had loved them when i was younger, but after she became ill, her magical powers had waned into almost nothing...

On my first day in the Procyonian camp, i was put through a few tests. The first test was done orally. A high ranking officer asked questions to the newcomers to find out their capabilities... and loyalty. I did not know how I had done in the first test, but they had told me to proceed to the next test, which was the test of skill. There were two camps set up for this test; the Force camp and the Physical camp. Every rookie (like me) had to go through both camps, where they would be rated skill wise from a scale of 0 to 10.

I knew I would get 1 in the force camp. I had never seen my own force before. All the people who can use the force are able to see their force visualize when they concentrate. I had tried concentrating before this, but nothing came. My mother tried coaching me when i was much younger,

"Close your eyes Zero, and think of something you hate. It can be anything, but make sure you truly hate it."

I was a kid. What could i possibly hate besides the boys next door who always picked on me. My brother was capable of visualizing his force. Whenever he did so, an icy cold feeling can be felt near him. It was like as though it was winter, but there was no snow, at least not yet. Much later, my brother had become so good with his force, he could make snow appear around him even in the hottest places.

But that was as far as he could go. He was not able to create any other force beside his frost aura. This is where magicians get their name. Magicians are capable of using and combining multiple forces to form one new force.

I learnt a little bit about combining forces from Fenrir during his experimentation of forces. I had seen how wonderful (and disastrous) it can be to combine forces.

"Lets put it this way mate, there are 4 main forces and loads o' sub forces. The 3 main forces are Water, Earth, Wind and Fire. Combinin' these forces with each other will' result in a sub force like Electric or Ice. I got Ice by combinin' Water and Wind and Electric by combinin' Wind with Earth. It's weird how they form, but once ye' actually think bout' it, it makes sense. I mean if you reduce the temperature of water, it freezes so you get ice. Cause friction with earth and you get static electricity."

Back in the force camp, an instructor had called me forward,

"Next, Blitz, Zero. Step forward please. Can you visualize your force?"
"No sir."
"Do you know anything about the force?"
"I have seen it before sir, but I can't do it myself."

The bearded instructor started laughing suddenly,

"You people really are as stupid as you look! Hahaha.... Listen up kid, and listen well, everyone in this universe has a force. It determines how they look and behave. The problem is, there are some people who are incapable of visualizing their force because they lack confidence in themselves. YOU can't visualize your force because you are weak mentally. But i need to do a test on you anyway so close your eyes and think of something you hate, something that you despise and wish it never existed."

I did as I was told... What did I think of? My parents... my brother... everyone whom I loved had left me... why? Why did they leave me one by one... I had wondered whether these created hatreds would help me visualize my force. Then I opened my eyes to see whether I had produced an aura of my force yet.

"You idiot! Why did you open your eyes!!! Concentrate you fool! Concentrate!!!"

I tried a few times, but without any success. I was not true to myself. I did not hate anything in my life. I was sad about my parents, but I didn't hate them for leaving me and my brother. There was no one I could blame for their deaths. My brother had taken care of me for so long. He was always there beside me. For him to leave is not wrong. It was his way of telling me that I needed to grow up, and in every way I am.

In the end, the instructor gave me a score of 0 upon 10. I wasn't disappointed. I knew I would get that score. Then I walked to the next camp, the Physical Camp. This one was much bigger and some screams and shouts could be heard from it. I walked into the camp and saw a magnificent arena. it was built for the Procyonian rookies to be tested as a gladiator in the ring and for the senior soldiers and officers to watch as entertainment and also to evaluate the skill of the rookie contesting.

Fortunately the battles held aren't against the other rookies. They were against monsters. All kinds of monsters were let out to be slain by the rookies. If the rookie is unable to handle the monster, the guards will help rescue the rookie. Failure in this camp would mean that I would not be able to join Procyon. I had heard from Fenrir, who had also followed me in joining Procyon, that a minimum of 10 points. Fenrir is already safe though. His skills in the force camp had out shined all the other rookies. The instructor had happily given him 10 upon 10 for his performance.

I was called into the camp by a guard. Fenrir followed behind me. We were given a short briefing by the instructor on the rules of the arena.

"Only a few simple rules boys, don't show your backs to the monsters, don't taunt back at the audience and don't even think about cheating."

Some of the rookies were caught cheating. They would sneak into the monsters cage and injure it or give some drug to make it weaker and enable them to easily slay the monster. The punishment was to be immediately excluded from joining the Procyon army.

A short while had passed before my name was called out.

"You'll do fine mate, I know you better than ye' even know yer'self," said Fenrir before i stepped into the arena.

A guard near the gate had given me a choice of weapons. There were blades, staffs great swords, bows and even maces. I chose the blade and took two of them. The guard stared at me for a while and said, "proceed into the arena. I hope you know how to use those blades well kid. Most of the rookies who choose two blades end up failing miserably..."

Yep, real words of encouragement from an anonymous guy.

So i stepped into the arena. The crowd was huge. There were so many Procyonians gathered I was actually frozen for a few moments. Then out of nowhere a loud voice booms around the arena.

"Fellow Procyonians! Our next rookie is Zero Blitz! He will face the most terrible monster of Blizzard Ice, the Shades!!!"

Shades? That was all? I could take care of those easily.

"Let out the Shades! Let the fight begin!"

First there was 2 shades appearing on the other side of the arena... then 5.... then 10.... then 20! 20 shades!!! I tried to remain calm but not for long.

2 Shades had already reached my flanks and were already going to attack me. I leaped up while spinning, creating a blade helix slicing the 2 Shades in half. There were more coming. This was my chance to charge at them.

I stabbed on blade into the first Shade while dodging the slash of the another one. In my mind, I was counting down how many were left. 16....15....10....5....2....1...

The last Shade was remaining. I was tired and exhausted by this time. The Shade lunged right at my face with his soul sword. Everything turned slow at that moment... The i dodged and saw the Shade's blade fly right past my face, missing by inches. Then, with almost lighting quick speed, I obliterated the Shade into dust.

There was a load cheer from the audience. They had applauded my skill. I had felt so happy at that moment... happy that i was appreciated.

"Very well done Zero Blitz! Superb performance! As expected from the son of a legend... 10 over 10!", said the instructor after i had left the ring. He knew my father... then again, which war veteran didn't.....

"Nice work mate! Knew you would handle them easily!", said Fenrir.

He gave me a pat on the back before leaving for his turn into the arena. I was about to make my to the stands to watch Fenrir perform before a messenger had arrived bringing me a message.

"Zero Blitz, Lord Gairyu would like to meet you."

Meet me? Who was this 'Lord Gairyu'? Was I in trouble? I did not know, but I would just have to find out now wouldn't I?

Chapter 1:The Beginning of the War

I was only a kid back then, trained to kill monsters on command by the local officers. My brother was the true warrior. He had always talked about Nevareth dividing in two, but I didn't think it would ever come true....

5 years ago, news of the splitting of forces within among the sages had spread like a plague among the citizens of Nevareth. Some were praying for it to be solved, others; like my brother, knew what was coming and had already started preparing. I had heard about these political problems from Fenrir, my close friend.

"Apparently we're going to war! That's cool righ', war! Me' dad reckons that it ain't going to last long, but it's still cool!"

His dad obviously had no idea how serious the situation actually was. Fenrir was a tall teenager, only a year elder than me. He was very good with the force, and mastered so many skills with it that sometimes I feel left out. My brother had always stressed on how important it is to know your own strength and capabilities. He knew his, but I never knew mine.

"You may be embarrassed by the fact that you cant use the force Zero, but rejoice at the fact that you are the fastest sword dancer I have ever seen! Someday, you will do our nation a great deed..."

'Our nation'? He had already chosen a side for himself, and me?

"What do you mean our 'nation'? What nation? The political problem among the sages are very common and always become serious, but never to the extent of war.... right?"

"Heheheh, you are still very young... the time will come when you will find out, and when it does, WE will fight side by side. But till then, stay safe. I know how hard it has been without our mother and father, but you are strong. You have the blood of a warrior, and someday it will show... I have to go, take care Zero!"

He gave me a hug, the warmest hug I had ever got. That hug reminded me of my father. He was a Warrior, a legend. They called him Scar. From what I heard from his friends and my brother, he was a very tall and masculine man. He was the most skilled fighter anyone had ever seen, but even so, he had never enjoyed fighting. He had fought in the 10 year rampage of the Cabal, and was the only one who survived the attack of the Minotaurs. He had died when i was 5 years old. He had left to take care of some of the remaining abominations left from the age of the Cabal. He never returned... Even his body was not found. All the men from his team, the 21st Elite Squad were said to be dead.

I can still see the tears flowing from my mothers eyes. She was devastated by his death. A few years later, she had fallen ill. My brother had taken care of me and my mother since then. She had passed away when I was 10 years old. It still makes me cry, thinking of my them, but not my brother. He was like a lion, just like my father. He mastered the skills of swinging the Great Sword from our father when he was younger, and had continued his training even after his death. He also noticed my agility in playing with the lighter swords. He made me a wooden katana which I still keep for sentimental reasons. Today, I own two Katanas which I use to earn money. I don't use it for killing people though.... at least, i didn't....


That was the last day I saw him... I didn't have any idea of where he was going or what 'nation' he was talking about. The time came quite fast before i found out about the forming of the 2 nations; Capella and Procyon. I heard from a friend that all the locals were joining Capella, who apparently were fighting for the rights of the people.

Procyon was depicted as the power crazy rich folk who wanted to keep control over the riches of Nevareth. The whole war had started after the First Sage, Raizer had announced that the land and the riches of Nevareth was to be divided equally among the leaders and their people. The Second Sage, Aron and The Fifth Sage Apollo had debated about Raizers announcement. Aron said that Apollo did not deserve an equal share, and Apollo had retaliated by saying that Aron was a thief and always was one.

This eventually led to the death of Raizer by the hands of an assassin. And so begins the war between two power hungry nations, Capella of The Sage Aron and Procyon of The Sage Apollo. The lands of Nevareth had already split and so were its people.

The time had come for me to make a choice, but i did not know where to go. Where was my brother? Which nation was true to its word?

And I must say, I made the best choice I had ever made in my life.

War Cry: Chronicles of Procyon (Prologue)

5 years has passed since the war had began, many have died for their side... I am one of the few survivors remaining after the siege of Tierra Gloriossa.

We were outnumbered, 3 to 1. There was no escape. We lost all our strongholds, and have only our main base left, and now the Capellans have surrounded us.I have lost too many friends to this war... The time has come to end it once and for all...

"Procyonians!!!Lend me your strength and your bravery! Prove to them once and for all, what we are worth! Avenge your fallen brethren, and fight for the truth! Take back what is rightfully ours and teach those Capellans a lesson about stealing! On my command! Fire!!!"

The 2nd Division Force Archers let fly a volley of colourful yet deadly arrows from their magical crystals. They were very good, but none as great as Elroy, 2nd Division Force Archer Captain. He was a great man... none had his skills with the gun or bow...

The Capellans are breaking in.The first gate had been breached by the The Capellan Siege unit. They held back by the gigantic force towers the 5th and 6th Division, Support unit were excellent! They had succeeded in summoning the force towers only a few minutes back, and now it has bought us sometime to plan a counter attack on the main Capellan forces.

"Kane, lead the 3rd Division to intercept the Capellans from the rear. Make sure your Force Bladers don't meet the enemy along the way!"

"Got it sir! Alright 'girls', you heard the boss! MOVE!" Kane said to the crack 3rd Division Offensive Squad B. They were the best at fighting enemies one on one, and most of them are veterans. Kane being the best and the most seasoned, naturaly is the Captain.

"4th,5th and 6th Division, get ready to guard the walls and hold the reamining gates! Don't waste time! 1st Division, come with me.... we got some business to settle"

The remaining 5 in the 1st Division Blader, also known as Secret Ops, are the best men I have under my control. Together we have succeeded in assassinating multiple key figures in the Capellan's side, one of whom realy meant a lot to me....

"Alright, listen up. We are going to aim for the Capellans head directly," there was a gap probably to allow them to take in the information properly,"We will, as usual, move stealthily. Lucas is not as vigilant as you may think he is, but he is definitely strong. Remember, the success of this siege depends on our success in assassinating Lucas. The Capellans will be scattered after his death, but i remind you all again, practice extreme caution! Now, move out!"

With that, we disapeared into the darkness.... The sounds of the siege was still within earshot.... I knew, this would either be the end of something bad, or the beggining of a new age...

Latest update! (Rewriting in progress!)

Sorry for the long wait for chapter 4!
Sorry I didnt update for so long!
I stated my reasons in the asiasoft forums so you guys should know

I am going to rewrite the whole story so please be patient!
I will send out an update in the asiasoft forums (and here too) when it's ready

I expect it to be done by May 20th (around that time, cant be sure)

I might be a little delayed also because my mid sem exam is coming so it would be hard to focus on the story.

But i will try my best to improve the story. I will make it better, that's for sure

Till then, thanks for reading!

ZeroBlitz
(author)