The Last Bandit

The Usual Disclaimers

I do not own Maplestory. In fact I'm rather noob and this is my first fanfic! I just like Maple and recently created this bandit-bound rogue. Sorry if the chapters are too long or short, as I have said I'm really a fanfic newbie and please advise me!

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Chapter 1: Claw and Dagger

The Dark Lord summoned the two scrawny boys into his personal tavern, and tutted as they rejected the two glasses of beer on the table. But the deal was smooth. Afterall, Jon's parents were friends to the Dark Lord, and seasoned Hermits themselves, except that they were currently running around in Ossyria doing some Protection of Ossyria assignment, having fun with Lycanthropes. Jon looked at the trendy clothes hung behind the Dark Lord which would be given to new rogues, trying to hide his excitement.

His friend, Gordon, was calm and steady as usual. That guy was bigger than Jon, and always in control, from when Jon was mobbed by particularly unfriendly Red Snails (Jon had moaned when he got snail slime on his pants), to when they lost their way near Sunset Sky. Gordon knew the way, and he treated his promotion to an official Rogue like it happened everyday.

Then the weapon ceremony. Jon had watched this happen many times before. The Dark Lord held out two weapons for everyone – a claw or a dagger. Gordon chose first, and had no doubts – he was already shoving his hand into a slightly rusted garnier. Jon was proud of the fact that he never 'copied' anyone, and chose the equally rusted fruit knife from the Dark Lord's other hand. The Dark Lord glanced at Jon briefly, as though to thank Jon for helping get rid of one dagger – there had been an upsurge of budding assassins in the past few years.

As they left the pub, Jon knew his parents would not be happy. They would have been expecting a garnier fixed firmly on Jon's hand, not some 'dumb weak dagger', as they saw it. But it was Jon's desire to become a bandit, ever since a mystery man wearing a highly advanced outfit had saved him from a mob of orange mushrooms using a move that Jon later found out was Savage Blow. Even Gordon didn't know of that incident. Jon knew Gordon was a staunch believer of the claw.

Gordon was grinning profusely as he followed Jon out of the pub. "Let's go train! Not that I know how to handle a claw properly yet, of course" – Jon knew that was a lie, he had seen Gordon burying his head in a 'Handling a Claw for Dummies' book the previous day – "but we might just fool around with some slimes!"

As though the monsters heard Gordon, a gigantic blob with a greenish pigment appeared out of nowhere. Feeling a surge of adrenalin, Jon rushed forward to sink his wonderful dagger into the monster but when he was two metres away the slime sank into the ground. There were two Subi throwing stars embedded in it.

Jon turned back and stared. Gordon grinned, embarrassed. "The Dark Lord taught me a few tricks about Lucky Seven, you see."

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Jon had one-on-ones with the Dark Lord every Thursdays, not because he was especially good or lousy, but simply because he was the only thief from his batch using a dagger.

"Faster, m'boy!" boomed his mentor, who had boyish features not much older than Jon's. "You can't expect to learn Double Stab unless you do it fast!" the Dark Lord sank his zamadar into the slime, which exploded immediately. There were three dagger marks in it.

Meanwhile, Jon could see who was much better than him in the other class. Gordon had nearly perfected his Lucky Seven, and was practicing with the older pupils, attracting the attention of some female rogues. Gordon ignored all of them with shy smiles all the time, and did not stop his practices.

After a few months, though, a new female rogue joined the class. Jon, who had made it a habit to watch the assassin lessons, fell in love straightaway. Her name, he found out, was Kim, and she was threatening to be as good as Gordon, even though she was one year younger than him. Gordon did not seem to be attracted by Kim or any other girls, but Kim (Jon noticed with dismay) kept looking at the now-muscled Gordon from the corner of her eye, along with the other girls.

Jon's parents, meanwhile, had become more distant from him ever since they came back to Victoria and noticed Jon practicing on snails with his fruit knife. His father had taken him into the room and lectured him. "Don't you understand why everyone else is becoming assassins? The most important thing to a rogue is RANGE. Besides, we as Hermits have experienced smooth lives and have outclassed those Bandits even though they trained much harder than us!"

"But… Chief Bandits have a great time with the meso… the meso-whatever skills!" Jon remembered himself saying.

His father placed his head in his hands. "Jon, you must understand your limits. Maybe Gordon or your other friends have inspired you with dreams that you people will make it to the end as seasoned Hermits or Bandits. But unlike Gordon, who is talented, we have seen your weaknesses. Your inability to handle even small snail mobs. Your fear for the smallest slimes and mushrooms. We just know you are not cut out to be a hardcore bandit. Just become an assassin, you don't even have to become a hermit if you're not cut out to become one. At least when you become an assassin, you can hunt from range. Daggers are a thing of the past." Jon's father took out from his bag a brand new shiny garnier, and placed it on Jon's bed, before walking away.

Jon thought about not being the odd-one-out dagger rogue anymore. About being able to train with Gordon, Kim and his other friends. He picked up the garnier and tried wearing it. It felt nice.

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Is this a good start? How to continue? Suggest in a review thanks!