<Zero>
A distant memory sparkled like a movie for the entire world to see. The O.M. projected its images into the sky, showing the world the scenes like a movie before the people. The majority of the people watched silently, while the bishops continued to sing their songs. Their minds were so in tune with each other that it was difficult to break their concentration. Even if a magical nuclear bomb exploded, they would not have noticed.
A warm fireplace lit the living room of a small cottage, giving it a homely feel. From left to right, wrapped in blankets, were a human male sitting in between a pair of female human twins, a male troll, a stocky dwarf, and a beautiful male elf all gathered in a semicircle in front of the fire. Each one of them was laughing and conversing with each other in happiness.
The human male was seated the second closest to the fire. The stubble on his face was freshly shaved clean, and his sharp features reminded people of a hawk. Even though his body was slim and fit, his simple attire made him look more like a commoner than a warrior. It was apparent that he was nobody to mess with. He was leaning back onto the sofa with one arm draped over one of the twins.
Sitting on both sides of the human male were the twin human women. On his left side was the one with short brown hair and a petite circular face who sat quietly eating hot steaming dumplings and tea. Her rosy red cheeks became round from her chewing. She accidently dropped a couple of pieces of the dumpling onto her brown pants. Her skintight top was overlaid with chain mail hugged tightly against her body, showing off her curves.
On the opposite side was the other twin, who was pushed up against his chest, laughing merrily with him. Her long brown wavy hair was pulled to one side. Her smile radiated like the sun as she glanced up at him with love in her eyes. Her white and blue priestess-like outfit was hidden underneath a brown blanket.
"Kah, this apple cider tastes the best," the human male said gleefully as if he was drinking some beer. He wiped his mouth with his hands and placed his cup down in front of him.
"Drake, you always act like an old man. It's just apple cider," said the short-haired twin as she rolled her eyes and munched on her dumpling.
"Come on, Lilith. Join me like your sister and come under my arm. I'll keep you warm," Drake said with a bit of mischief in his voice.
"I'm fine. Lulu should be enough for you."
"Aw, sis, it's really warm in his arms. Especially in this cold winter weather." Lulu pouted a bit.
"Pass," she stated with no intention of joining.
Across from Lilith was a handsome young male elf. Even though he sat on the floor, his posture was like a prince's. His long golden hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and his leather sea green outfit stood out from the rest. It reminded people of the ocean rather than the forest.
"It seems our lovely princess still does not take to your personality. I understand her perfectly. Your womanizing skill knows no bounds," the elf stated with a hint of coyness in his voice.
"Kehahahaha. Samuel, you need to loosen up and enjoy the women out in this world. Your cold personality does tend to push them aside. I always wondered if you ever had any before," Drake teased. He pulled Lulu closer, and she snuggled into him.
"My race honors women and takes care of them like treasures. We do not flirtatiously move from one to another. It is unbefitting of my race."
"Kfph. Enough with women. When are we going to eat?" The ugly looking male troll cut into the conversation. His sharp teeth protruded out of his mouth, making him look fierce. His blackish-red mohawk stood out from the rest of the group. His right eye was covered with a patch, which had a black skull design with diamond jewels embedded into the eyes. If one was to see him, they would think he looked like some kind of pirate.
"Cello, is food all you can think about at this time? Give me some more of that apple cider, Drake," bellowed the dwarf. His bushy beard covered half of his face, and he rubbed his belly cheerily. "I wish we had some beer."
"Khmpfh. Beer, Beer, beer, beer. Any more and your stomach would be coming out of your belly. I wouldn't be surprised if you dwarves explode by the time you finish drinking your third barrel of beer," Cello mocked.
"Khuhuhu, it's alright. Konnor is the world champ in drinking beer anyways. He won a lot of competitions and received some good prize money when we were close to starving," said Lulu with a chuckle.
"Food and beer is not the problem here. This snowstorm is. We are going to be delayed till this is over," said Lilith worriedly. "We need to find a way to arrive at our goal quickly before the curse in my village gets any worse."
"Don't worry too much. Give it a couple of days to clear up. We can't get out of here in this snowstorm. This is our last adventure, you know. We should be enjoying every bit of time together before we go back to ruling our city," Drake happily stated. "How long has it been since our last adventure? Almost seven years?" His voice was full of nostalgia as he remembered the past.
"I must say those days were full of hardships, but I would agree that they were fun," Samuel replied. He pulled his blanket a little bit closer, trying to keep himself warmer. "How are your twins kids doing, Drake? The last time I heard from both Lulu and you, you were having kids. How old are they, five right now?"
"They're doing fine. I left them with Jenova to watch over. I trust him with my life. I know they'll be well taken care of. Plus I couldn't bring them with me here and Lulu insisted on coming along," Drake said with ease. "What about you? Have you found anyone you are interested in yet?"
Samuel's eyes drifted towards Lilith and turned away just as quickly. He smiled and stayed silent without answering Drake. Lilith slightly blushed and cast her head down so nobody could see. She twiddled her fingers in embarrassment for a moment. Then she looked back up and cleared her throat. "How much further till we reach the dungeon? Isn't it a day away?"
"It is, but the mountains are not kind during the snowy season. You're all lucky you guys are in my area. If not we would be stranded elsewhere," Konnor said after drinking the apple cider. "Whew, that was good." He placed the empty mug down next to him. "We just need to take a bit of detour before we can enter the dungeon. Our usual route gets blocked up by snow every year, so it would be difficult to go through."
"Then which route are you taking us through?" asked Drake.
"Through the goblin's pass."
"Goblin's pass? You're kidding me, right? Isn't that where mob monsters reside?"
Konnor nodded.
"This is what I am talking about. More blood!" Cello stated with glee. He pounded his hands together as if he was ready to punch someone. "Just like old times."
Konnor barked out a laugh. "You're right on that."
"For old times' sake?" Samuel mischievously grinned. If any female saw his face at that moment they would swoon.
"For old times' sake." Both twins chimed in simultaneously.
"Yes. For old times' sake." Drake's lips curled to the widest smile he could muster.
The scene swirled to white and changed colors once more. Zero's eyes were glued to the scene before him.
Isn't this the story of the six heroes I heard so much about in the history of the Fire Continent? The saviors that saved their own respective races? Why would the book of Historia and the O.M. show us this now? When this quest was over, he was determined to look deeper into the mysteries of the Historia and the strange abilities of the O.M.s.
The scene refocused to show the six heroes fighting in the midst of hundreds of goblins. It was midafternoon, and the sunny heat beat down upon the heroes even though the ground was covered in snow. They were ugly goblins that lived in between the mountain passes. Even though they were small and obnoxiously loud, they kept coming nonstop with swords and clubs.
"Kehhaahaah," Cello laughed with glee. "This is more like it!" He swung his giant battle axe with such ferocity that the monsters were sent flying. Konnor covered his back, swinging his battle hammer down on the goblins.
"Is that the best you could do?" Konnor destroyed a goblin with a single stroke. He was in his Viking-like armor that covered him from head to toe.
"Tch. This is nothing." Clicking his tongue, Cello charged forward, ramming into many that blocked the path. In a single stroke he cleared away the goblins like bowling pins.
"You guys make my day." Drake's hawk like helmet covered the majority of his face but didn't hide his tears of happiness. "I say we go full throttle all the way!" He punched a goblin with his knuckled armor. His white feathery armor made him look like an angel but was stained with goblin blood.
"Aww, is little Drakey crying over there? It's alright, your wife will save you." Lulu bounded forward. She smacked aside a goblin with her oak staff that had green orb on the end. "Let me collect your tears for our remembrance of this day."
"No, honey, it's not good enough. We should take a grand prize from the dungeon to commemorate our conquest," Drake sweetly replied. He swung his giant bastard sword that was embedded with a crystal jewel into a group of goblins and cut them in half.
"Get a room," said Lilith, who strummed her guitar-like weapon. It increased the team's ability and spirit for the duration of the song.
"You're just jealous, sis, that you don't have an amazing husband like mine," scoffed Lulu. She casted a light healing spell on Drake, restoring his strength.
"Highly unlikely," Lilith rebutted. Her song drastically changed, creating an area effect of slowing down the swarms of goblins coming at them from the rear. "Behind us!"
Samuel jumped down from the trees with his bow strapped to his back. He'd spent the skirmish picking off goblins that were encroaching upon his comrades from blind spots with his bow and arrows. In his hand was an amethyst dagger that turned silverish-red. He sliced through each one like butter, weaving in and out through the goblin crowd. The goblins staggered for a moment, unbeknownst to them that their throats were slit, and fell to the ground dead.
"Show off," Konnor mumbled under his breath. "You elves make it look so easy."
"That was amazing." Lilith's eyes sparkled. "I wish I could do that," she remarked dreamily. Her eyes were glued to Samuel.
"I'll teach you when we have time," Samuel said. He picked off a couple more around Lilith, protecting her from the swarm.
"We need to move forward quickly. Any longer and it's going to take forever to get through," Drake said. He kicked a goblin down into other goblins that were making their way toward him. "Duck!"
Everyone fell to the ground in a hurry when they heard Drake's voice.
"Sword of the Gallant Knight!" Drake's sword glowed bright yellow, giving him an extra boost of power. "Trinity Wave!"
With a powerful swing of his sword in a 360 degree motion, three waves of magical energy spread outward into three different directions. Each attack sent a crushing wave of powerful energy that defeated half the goblins. The energy wave continued onwards for another twenty feet, killing the ones behind them in one fell swoop and wiping out hundreds of goblins in one go.