"HIIII-YA!!!"
She turned her headed to see the commotion that was several yards away. On the nearby practice mat her best friend was just finishing off her opponent with a nasty flip. The attacker was a man nearly twice the size of her associate who ended up dazed and on his back after the throw. He didn't even bother to try and get up.
One of the master instructors who was watching at the side of the mat came over to congratulate her friend. The girl listened to the teacher's advice and bowed promptly. She then grabbed her towel that was lying on the platform's edge and briskly trotted over the grass toward the watcher.
"Nice move there, Ryko," the observer said rather glumly as her friend sat on the bench next to her.
"Thanks, Jan," the arriving girl replied and noticed Jan's tone. "What's wrong?"
Jan sighed and stared at the ground in front of her.
"The Weapon-Fighting Dojo didn't accept me again..."
"What?! Again?! They must be crazy!" was the response.
With a nod, Jan continued, "Every month they have tryouts, and every time they let me participate... but they never select me to join afterwards."
Ryko sighed herself and looked at her depressed friend. Jan was a few years older than her, almost twenty, but had been her best friend for her whole life.
Jan dug a small hole in the dirt at her boots with her sword. She had shoulder length blond hair and wore a half suit of gray-colored armor. Her blade was slightly banged up, showing more than a few years of wear and tear on it.
She continued, "And this is the fourth time that I actually beat everyone in tryouts..."
Ryko shook her head.
"If that's the case I think that they may have something against women in that dojo... plain prejudice..."
Jan replied, "But what can I do about it? I know I'm better than anyone there... yet can't get in. The next semi-tournament is only a few weeks away... I need to be a part of a dojo to be invited." She looked at the girl next to her.
Ryko was a young athletic girl with black hair. She currently wore a blue training karate gi, a pair of red wristbands, foot guards and a small red hairband. Ryko was shorter than Jan, but she knew that the girl was a lot stronger than she looked.
Ryko dried her forehead with her towel.
"Are you sure you want to be a fighter? Maybe you should try settling down and finding a man-"
Jan turned away with a scowl on her face.
"Don't say that! That's exactly what those fools at the dojo say after I finish defeating them. Anyway, the man I fall in love with will have to be strong... and no one in this place has beaten me yet in sword-fighting."
Ryko grinned a bit.
"Okay, okay! Don't get in a huff," she giggled. "You shouldn't let them get to you... eventually they'll let you in. I've seen how you practice outside of town," she spoke while pointing to the gates of Horam. "Not only do you beat on those guys, but you actually practice on real monsters out there. Heck, I'd feel a lot safer traveling with you than anyone else in this place."
Jan's expression lightened a bit.
"Did you ever consider trying to get an independent entry invitation? I'm sure the master of the main dojo here has noticed you by now by your tryout victories," Ryko quested. "Or perhaps you should try to enter my group. I'm sure you'd make it in based on your flexibility and agility."
She motioned toward her dojo, a somewhat generic one that specialized in martial arts such as karate and judo.
Jan considered it.
"Perhaps, but I'd much rather continue to use the sword... I'm more familiar with it."
Ryko looked down at Jan's blade again.
"Speaking of your sword, do you think it's time for a new one?"
Jan shook her head and put her sword across her lap.
"It was a gift from my father in Vane. He's been there for a few months now since he decided to teach weapon magics to the students," she replied.
Ryko looked puzzled. "Weapon magics? Oh yeah, those fancy fire spells you perform with your sword... there's another reason why the head master would probably have noticed you by now. Who else in this town has even attempted to combine weapon skills and pure magic, let alone master doing it like you," she said with a grin.
The sword-bearer smiled as well.
"Well, I do agree that I should look into buying a new blade... this one is quite beat up."
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a call from the practice mat.
Ryko stood up and motioned to her friend.
"Ah, break is over. Think about what I said and I'll see you after the next lesson, okay?"
Jan nodded and sheathed her sword.
"All right, I'll consider those options... I'll see you later."
Jan watched Ryko's rapid footfalls as she dashed back to the training platform. She decided to take a walk and think.
In a few minutes, she was at the Horam gates. She waved to one of the gate guards as he did the same. In was a bit more dangerous outside the training town, but Jan found it quieter and actually more relaxing to walk the plains out there.
It indeed was quiet out in the wilderness. Jan walked along aimlessly and stared into the blue skies overhead. Surprisingly, she didn't have any monster encounters.
"I shouldn't let them get to me," she muttered to herself.
Suddenly, the skies overhead were pierced by a beam of gray light. It smashed into the ground at the edge of the nearby woods. Curious, Jan ran in its direction to see what could have been flying so rapidly.
She found a large smoking crater where the beam had stopped. The fencer looked through the wispy smoke into its depths, sword at the ready. Nothing stirred, but an object was at its base.
A voice, weak yet elegant, popped into her mind.
"Would you like to show them... get vengeance for them treating you as an outcast to their group?"
The soothing nature of the voice enraptured Jan's consciousness. It sounded like a wonderful offering. She found herself crawling over the lip of the crater and sliding down to the object.
"Then pick me up... and enjoy power beyond your wildest dreams..." the voice concluded.
Jan didn't know what was going on as she saw her hand slowly reach down around the object, which was revealed to be a cruel looking black sword, and ready to grip its handle.
Far off in the distance, a barely audible voice seemed to say, "No... don't...!"
But it was too late. Jan's appendage tightly curled its digits around the cold handle of the sword.
Searing pain plunged into her brain as a shock flew through her body. Her other arm flailed about as energy coursed though her entire form. Her other hand released her old sword and it flew up and out of the crater. She screamed in agony.
Jan's pain was mental as well. She detected a presence invading her mind... one that she could not block out. Its power was enormous and Jan felt her own consciousness rapidly waning under its dominance. She emitted one last heart-piercing scream and everything became black.
Minutes later, a shadowy figure could be seen climbing out of the crater from a distance. It stood up straight and stretched its arms and wings for a second. It then looked up at the Blue Star in the sky and emitted a loud screeching sound (familiar to a falcon or eagle) before flapping its large feathered wings and shooting off into the air.
Jan's sword lay next to the crater...forgotten...
He turned his coiled body at the presence.
"The Guardian again... or an invader..."
He shifted his form into a heavily armored humanoid shape and waited in the large chamber.
In the room in front of him, a crystalline device stopped spinning and filled the room with white light. When it cleared, a figure lay out on the floor of the chamber.
Alisia sat up and brushed her ponytail out of her face. With a hand to her forehead she glance around dumbfounded at her surroundings.
"Wha... what is this place?" she stammered and slowly rose to her feet. "Last thing I remember seeing was the moon looming close..."
She looked around at the strange room. It was filled metal structures and devices... not unlike Baldour's palace. Behind her was a shimmering green crystal that slowly rotated clockwise.
"Is this the moon? Could it be inhabited?"
Alisia glanced again at the room, stopping her gaze on a doorway to the south.
"But where are my friends...?"
She slowly walked toward the door to find a large purple chamber.
"Maybe this is all a dream..."
A noise above her alerted Alisia. She jumped away from the portal just in the nick of time. Where she had stood now rested the tip of a seven foot sword. A ten-foot tall giant, clad in purple and black armor, lifted the blade out of the ground and stared in her through a glowing visor on its helmet.
"An intruder... usually they come from the other door... must be why I missed..."
Alisia picked herself up (again) and faced the titan.
"Who... what are you?"
"I am known as the Star Dragon... that is all you need to know. No one must use this gate until the Blue Star is revived. I am its guardian... and you are an invader. You must earn the right to pass in combat... which begins now!"
Alisia watched the giant brandish its sword in front of him.
"Why... where am I?"
The Star Sentry reached down to its side a pulled a sharp star-like object from its pouch.
"If you are from the Blue Star... you should not have ever seen any of this yet... not until it is revived."
As he spoke, the animal friend began to concentrate on a spell.
"This guy looks ready to dice me... better have a blade ready to counter his," she thought to herself as she manifested LightningFang in her left hand. She quickly shoved the electric sword into her waist cloth and got ready to duck.
The Skewer Star flew wildly around the room, rebounding off the walls and then flying at Alisia's head. The magician hit the floor and rolled as the projectile slammed into the wall behind her. The Sentry dashed over to recover the weapon.
He felt a massive sting on his back as Alisia cast her Thunder Magic at his back. The Star Dragon's current form shuddered as she kept the lightning bolts locked onto him. He tried to dash and slash at her but couldn't complete the attack with her constant stream of electricity concentrated on him.
"Hmm... this is a strong one... better try an indirect tactic..."
The titan crouched and leapt into the blackness that hid the ceiling of the tall chamber. Alisia appeared relieved for a moment as her Thunder spell ran out of juice at just that moment, leaving nothing but sparks flying from her outstretched fingertips.
She counted a heartbeat before hearing an inhuman yell above her.
The Star Sentry plunged at her with his blade pointed downwards... at her neck.
A flash of lightning interrupted his strike, as Alisia pulled LightningFang out from behind her back and parried the blow in a split second. The Sentry bounced off and Alisia stared at him, holding her short sword in a manner that she had watched Dragon Frye hold his claws when he fought tooth and nail against one of Baldour's guards.
Obviously not intimidated by her strange stance, the Star Dragon ran at her again. Their blades locked and he stared into her blue eyes. She responded with a short growl-like noise emitted through clenched teeth.
A feeling of evil suddenly entered his mind from a far off source... something else that shouldn't have come to Lunar apparently indeed had... he focused on the girl in front of him...
...maybe there was a reason she was there... she certainly wasn't merely a traveller with the reactions and abilities she had shown in battle... perhaps she was...
The Star Sentry leapt backwards and away from Alisia.
"Hold... you have proven your worth..." he spoke as he sheathed his sword.
"What?!" Alisia replied, still holding LightningFang at the ready.
"I will reveal a little of the story to you..." the Star Dragon answered, motioning for her to follow him.