“Magic… claw!” Zeirona swung his staff forward as a pair of bright, blue claw shaped energy claws cut the side of a horned mushroom. He had only managed to make a small cut on it, and it didn’t seem to be the least affected by it.

“Focus! Concentrate all your energy into one claw!” Leah instructed. Her hands were on her hips and she was frowning. He figured she was irritated. He would have been too, if he was instructing someone who had been trying to master the same skill for a month. The magic claw was so much harder to master than the energy bolts. He was perspiring profusely, and his hands were numbed due to releasing huge amounts of mana through them and into the staff.

He spread his feet apart and swung the staff once more. A blinding light was produced, and then the horned mushroom was cut into two, the upper body sliding off the ground. It slowly faded away, groaning. He had finally done it! He smiled triumphantly as he picked up the gleaming coins.

“Hey, you finally managed to control your mana… try to do it again.” Leah ordered.

Zeirona sighed. He had just managed to get a hold of it after such a long time. Well, might as well get this over with, He thought gingerly as he gripped his staff and stumbled towards the next nearest dark axe stump.

“Magic claw!” The same bright light appeared as it struck the horned mushroom. Zeirona groaned as he saw that it was merely cut. This was harder than he thought. He had seen other magicians do it with such ease. They must have had a hard time mastering the skill, like him.

They had been training for almost a month now, and he had been progressing fine. Until he tried to master the magic claw, that was.

“Look, can we just skip the magic claw and go straight to some more powerful skills?” He muttered impatiently. He was already beginning to doubt the skill.

“No way! You have to master the basic skills before you get to the…” She was cut off by Zeirona.

“Yeah, before I get to the advanced stuff and whatnot. I get it.” He sighed. If mastering one skill was so hard, it was really hard to think of how hard mastering the advanced skills would be. He shuddered and began to strike the monster again.

That was two months ago.

The dreadful training had come to an end, and he had become a level twenty magician. It had all passed seemingly quickly.

Zeirona dragged himself out of bed and out the house. Was it Monday already? A whole pointless week that could have been used for training, and yet he had been lying in bed napping? His training was to resume in two more weeks, but he could barely wait.

He walked along his usual route, passing by a row of houses. The same, boring route.

“Hey, you really need a job soon! If you wait until you get to a high level, the other kids will laugh at you!”

“Mum! Stop that! I can make my own decisions!”

Zeirona walked by his neighbor and her son. The son blushed when he noticed Zeirona there, while the mother smiled and waved.

Right… If my level is too high, it would be weird, he thought to himself. He really needed something to do anyway.

He arrived at the Ellinia field and found Leah supervising Nera with his archery training. The field was as green as green could possibly have been, and it was accompanied by a slight breeze. The whole place was shaded with trees, making it comfortable and convenient for training.

“I’m leaving for awhile.” He broke the silence.

“Where are you heading?” She asked, her eyes still fixed on Nera.

“I’m heading to Perion. Don’t look for me there. I’ll be fine on my own.” He answered.

“Well, go ahead. It’s your break, isn’t it?” She answered. She wasn’t even listening!

Zeirona waved and headed over to a cab before counting his money. He took out a few notes and got into the cab, telling the driver exactly where he was headed. With a nod, he started the engine and took off. He figured getting there on a cab seemed fit after all his training.

“Perion…” He mumbled as he took a step out of the cab. The place was horribly warm, with the scorching sun right above him. To make matters worse, the stone floor seemed to be radiating with heat. He walked over to a few strangers and asked for directions to the job instructor. Apparently, the job instructor, known as Dances with Balrog, was right at the top of the town, something he found oddly familiar.

He found a hidden spot where nobody was, and slipped into some beginner clothes. Then, he kept his robes and headed to the Shrine of Warriors.

He arrived at the entrance of the Shrine of Warriors not long after. He opened the doors and entered slowly. A lone man sat at cross-legged at the top of the small stairway, his eyes shut tight.

“Excuse me. I’m here to become a warrior.” Zeirona’s gaze shifted round the room uneasily. The room seemed well-decorated, with treasures spread out on the floor, as if welcoming thieves to them. Magnificent pillars stood erect by his sides, carved with ancient writings.

“Yes, please come over here for a second. There’s something about you I can’t put my finger on.” He said.

Maybe it’s because I already have a job, Zeirona thought as he dragged himself closer. The Perion chief frowned, his eyes still closed, concentrating hard on something.

“You’re a magician.” He came to a conclusion, sounding oddly confident about it.

“N…No! That’s not it. There’s got to be something wrong with that. Just give it a try…” He stuttered, losing his nerve.

“Alright, then, we’ll give it a shot.” He picked up the sword that was lying next to him and unsheathed it. He got up to his feet and opened his eyes. He distanced himself, and brought down his sword. “Gift of the warrior!” The sword’s blade became a blinding light and sliced through him harmlessly. Energy rushed through his body and he felt himself getting stronger.

Suddenly, without warning, he felt pain. The energy flow had been reversed. He clutched his chest tightly as waves of pain starting coursing through his body. His surroundings spun out of control. His vision doubled. He bit his lip hard, tearing off some skin. Maybe he was really just an experiment gone wrong. The pain kept coming, leaving him struggling helplessly.

Nera gripped his bow in anger as he fired more arrows rapidly. He had been trying to master arrow blow for such a long time, yet his attempts had been nothing but futile. He gritted his teeth and fired again. The arrows began to light up with a red glow, then the glow faded and they fell onto the ground uselessly. This had been the case for a long time.

It was already evening, and even Leah had returned to the house. He had promised himself that he would only go home if he mastered the skill, but it was only then that he realized it was impossible for him to do so in such short notice.

“What’s a young archer like you doing in Ellinia?” It was obvious from his voice that it was a male.

He turned to see a tall person with a hood over his head, with messy, raven black hair coming out from the side of it, in a green leather hoodwear standing behind him. His hood covered most of his face, but his skin was unnaturally pale.

“That’s not the way you use arrow blow. Let me demonstrate it for you.” He suddenly changed the subject.

The stranger held out his bow and aimed at a mushroom. It was one of those super-rare maple bows he had heard about. It was carved to the tiniest detail, painted with a wide range of matching colors. He never actually seen one before, but the rumors about it were certainly true.

He pulled back the arrow and let go without even blinking. “Arrow blow!” He muttered, as the arrow lit up with red flame instantaneously and buried itself in the mushroom. It groaned and collapsed before fading away. Nera stared in awe at the mastery of the skill. It had seemed so smooth, so natural, so… easy. Nera had observed the arrow carefully and was taking mental notes of the few things it had that his didn’t.

The flames were controlled, only moving in a single direction, and it hadn’t been the slightest bit affected by the wind at all. It had sliced through the air like a thin knife. It was too precise. That was more than enough to show his prowess in archery.

“You have to transfer your mana into the arrow and release it just before it hits the target.” He instructed.

Nera nodded and aimed at another mushroom. He was determined to get this one right. He narrowed his eyes and let go of the arrow. “Arrow Blow!” He yelled. He accidentally released his hold on the mana just after he released the arrow. The arrow lit up in a tiny red glow, but it faded and the arrow fell to the ground again. He swung out his fist in anger. At the rate he was going, a normal shot would have been better than him actually using the skill at all.

“There was some improvement. Do it again. Try to release it only just before it hits.” The stranger said, his voice firm.

Nera gritted his teeth and clutched his bow tightly as he brought it up and aimed. Forcing his mana out of him, he pulled the arrow as far back as he could, and released it. “This had better work… Arrow blow!” The arrow lit up again, but in flames. The arrow flew at amazing speed and went right through the mushroom, leaving a hole in it. The mushroom lit up in flames and faded.

“I… I did it!” Nera cried in amazement.

“You did great… but…” The stranger paused.

“But what?” He demanded.

“The arrow was out of control… I’ve never seen anything like this before.” He turned to look at the arrow he had shot. Everything that came close to the arrow had been burned beyond recognition.

The darkness was slowly inching its way across Zeirona’s vision, and he wondered if it was time for him to leave. He forced his eyes open, but it was just so hard to even try. He was sure his heart had skipped a few beats. He fists were clenched, but he hands could no longer feel anything.

Then he thought he heard a countdown. No, it was definitely there, but it was in his head. It wasn’t a voice, but a very strong feeling. It started with a ten, then slowly went down. After what seemed like an eternity, it hit zero.

Then, it was over in an instant. The pain had just gone… like it had never been there at all. He didn’t even feel the slightest bit tired anymore. In fact, he had gotten stronger, or at least, he felt like it.

“Are you… alright?” Dances with Balrog was by his side, staring at him with a strange expression, unable to figure out what had just happened. Zeirona took deep breaths, not believing that it had just disappeared like that.

“I… I’m fine now. I have no idea what just happened, but I’m fine.” Zeirona stammered. He blinked in surprise as he found no traces of any injuries or scars. It could have been the side effects… of trying to get another job. By right, nobody should be able to do it. I guess that’s the price I had to pay to get a step ahead of the others. He thought to himself. On the bright side, now I have an alarm clock installed in me. Good for me.

“You’re a… warrior now.” He said, sounding a little choked. He had probably had the shock of his life. Zeirona, still in disbelief, tried moving his arms and legs to check if everything was actually fine. “I guess I was wrong about you being a magician, huh? I’ve never been wrong about these things before… Well, you’re going to need this.” He picked up a small book from the floor and tossed it to him. The warrior’s skill book, easily recognizable by the patterns on the cover, was now in his hands.

“Thank you!” He crammed the book in his pocket and walked out of the shrine. He had the powers of a warrior now. He was aching to try out his new skills.

He had to ask more people for directions as he made his way to the weapon shop. As he passed by houses and more shops, He realized that the whole place was exactly the same. Rocks, tents, the occasional salesman, and more rocks.

After five ladders and eight flights of stairs, he found the store.

“God, this is one hell of a mess.” He thought out loud as he made his way in. It was strewn with opened boxes lying all over the floor. There were even knives and swords sticking out of them. Talk about messy.

He jumped over the boxes to the weapons shelf. He impulsively chose the only two-handed sword in the shop. It was only until he looked closer that he saw the sword was scratched and cut at some parts. Someone had attempted to patch it up to hide the scars, but they were glaringly obvious once spotted.

“So, you think you can handle it now, do you?” The shopkeeper startled him from behind. He had been under the counter, so he hadn’t noticed him. Zeirona rolled his eyes.

“Can you use it better, then?” He muttered under his breath. The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow.

“Try using it.”

“Gladly.” He took the sword off the shelf and tried to raise it up. Only to see it drop right down. He frowned. The sword weighed a ton… no, heavier. He struggled to move it, but it didn’t even budge. After trying with repeated failures, he gave up in exhaustion.

“What the hell is this thing made of?” He finally choked out. The shopkeeper snatched the sword off the ground with one hand, holding it up as if it were no heavier than any other sword.

“You lack strength, yet you choose to become a warrior. Why the hell did you become one, anyway?” The shopkeeper shook his head.

“Why the heck are you even asking me? Aren’t you just a shopkeeper?” Zeirona retorted instantly. Damn shopkeeper. It was almost as if he didn’t want customers.

“Wait, follow me outside.” He said, already heading out the shop with two swords in his hand. Zeirona just shrugged and followed him out.

“Okay, now we have some space. Come at me from any direction… You’ll see what this sword can do.” The shopkeeper threw him the second sword he was holding. It was thin, without a hilt. Then, he beckoned for him to attack.

Zeirona tightened his grip on the sword and readied himself. Then, without hesitation, he dashed to the shopkeeper’s back and slashed. The shopkeeper seemed to fade for a second, and then disappeared. His puzzled look was replaced with widened eyes as he realized the shopkeeper was right behind him. He tried to defend himself, but he was a second too late. The blade knocked his weapon aside like a plaything.

“Shit!” He cried out loud. Instinctively, he teleported behind the shopkeeper just before he brought his sword down on him. Which wasn’t exactly a great idea.

“You……!”

“You can’t do that again?” The stranger asked for the umpteenth time. No, umpteenth wasn’t even the word for it.

“No… I really can’t…” He sighed.

“Try to remember what you felt when releasing the arrow.” The stranger instructed.

“Well, I felt as if I was… connected to the arrow. Like it was draining mana from me, but I couldn’t stop the mana from flowing out…” He said, raising his hands up to emphasize on what he had said.

The stranger thought about it for a second, before muttering out an “impossible”. Then, he turned and looked at Nera.

“I’m sure you didn’t release your mana at all… It must have been draining your mana without stopping until it hit the target. If that energy was all your mana, you would have been drained completely by now. No, worse, you would have used up all your mana, and your life energy. Not many archers below level thirty have that much mana, and even if they did, would never have been able to force more than a third of all their mana all at one go. And… you’re not even tired?”

“Uh… no?” He blurted out with a puzzled look on his face. That didn’t even make him the least bit weary.

“No, there has to be some other explanation…” He went on.

Nera looked up and realized the moon was already out. He hadn’t even noticed that it was night already. Time had really passed by fast. Time.

“Oh, damn! I’d better get going now. I’m… sort of past my curfew, if you know what I mean.” Nera cut in. “If I don’t get back now…” He shuddered at what he had pictured. “Well, thanks, anyway, mister… what did you say your name was?”

“I don’t think I’m obliged to tell you my name…” Without another word, he left. Before long, He had completely disappeared from Nera’s sight. Now the field was completely empty, and even the monsters seemed to be missing. The silence was screaming into his ears.

Nera shrugged to himself. The stranger didn’t even bother to show his face. Well, he did help him to master arrow blow… the arrow blow that he hadn’t come close to mastering in the past month. He looked at the huge clock tower in the distance. Moonlight shined on it, and it reflected light back to the park. It was already an hour before midnight.

“Oh god, I’m dead now! It’s an hour before midnight already?” He snatched his bow and ran for the entrance to Ellinia. As he neared the entrance, he caught sight of a figure. He could barely make out any features at all in the darkness of the night, but the person had a sword with him. After focusing on the figure, he realized it was running. It was coming in his direction.

“Might you be DCR-15?” The voice startled him. The dark figure he had just seen was now right behind him grinning, and his sword, gleaming in the moonlight, was under his throat.

Note: I tried to improve on this one (Thanks, Sobriquet Nightmare), but I’m still not sure about the quality. Also, I never planned on letting Zeirona make his two jobs an obvious thing. It was always supposed to be a secret (duh), but thanks for the advice as well. Sorry for taking so long to write. Let’s just say I got lost in my own world of anime again (Always happens). Feedback is always welcome, so please point out the flaws or good points of the story. Also, please review, it will probably speed my writing up!