Hembree's Quest

Hembree's Quest

It was a bright day outside, sunlight was beaming down over the expansive Western Forests and Yochi. Tall hardened bark covered stalks of wood cover, and pass, me on all sides with much of the ground covered in overgrown grasses and shrubbery. My feet struck against the forest ground. Beams of sunlight from above the forest canopy filter down into the interior of the forest in beams. My breath comes at paces as I jog through the unmanicured forests in a dark gray two piece microfiber wind suit that was basic athletic wear for me in these winter months. The jacket portion was zipped up to my chest with the white tee shirt worn beneath it partially visible. The sword of light, Goronova, was on my back, set vertically with the tip down encased in its leather sheath. The forest passed me at the speed of my movement as I continued through it in an endurance run.

I had the day off from any of my obligatory duties which included my acting as well as acting as a member of the Hiramoto clan. On this day, I decided to wander out into the forests on my own for my own training. I felt I had been growing much more powerful in the magic of the void and with an advantage over my sensei in martial arts and elemental arts, I felt I could do a bit of training on my own and hopefully come along the same level as she. She did seemingly naturally outclass me in strength and speed, though if I burned enough stamina I could keep up with her. I knew that I needed a way to fight naturally on her level since she seemed to fight at the same level as the demons often did. Transcending my limits as a human was continually a hard thing for me. I wondered if my previous sensei, Ashram, had encountered the same problem.

I emit a light “hup” as I leap over an enlarged root and land back onto the forest flooring, continuing forward. Looking ahead in my jogging, I see a clearing in the woods up ahead. After covering the distance to the clearing, my body bursts from the tree line in an elongated leap, before my feet touch the ground and I continue my running, increasing my speed a little bit. As I run through this clearing, I notice something to my right in passing; there seemed to be a monk sitting on a rock and smoking a pipe. Since this wasn’t something you saw on a daily basis, my jogging abruptly comes to a stop as I subside in my onward momentum and take a few calculated steps to slow my running and come to a stop before I turn around and look to the monk.

With a smile, I greet, “hey, another human out here. Good morning!” The monk, of course, had noticed me and his eyes were on me as I passed, turned and stopped to talk. He looked social enough and was wearing tan and brown monk robes with large prayer beads draped about his shoulders. A straw hat rested upon a seemingly bald head. His hand holds the pipe at his lips before he lowers it and blows away a stream of smoke before counter greeting, “good day. What brings you out here into the forests?” My hands come to the side of my waist as I take a few steps towards him, coming within about fifteen feet or so for the conversation between catching my breath and commenting, “well, I’m just out here training. I like jogging out here better than in the city, it feels less weird for some reason.” The monk seems to find this at least mildly amusing as he smiles and comments, “ah, the spirit of a young warrior I see… training your body is good!” He nods as if asserting the notion within himself and then continues, “you’re in the spring time of your youth. Hold onto it and never let go…” I respond with a light, “heh” before he comments, “you know…” With the opening words, the monk begins a stream of words that did not seem to have an end. It was almost like the time Ashram told me the multiple stories about stuff for me to learn a lesson, only there did not seem to be a lesson encased in the words. I start off with my hands on my waist, but after catching my breath, I end up placing my hands behind my neck as I listen. From there, my posture shifts after a few minutes of listening as my hands lower back down, then I actually attempt to use body language to signal that I should be leaving soon. I ponder even sitting before I realize that he probably didn’t even realize that I was still there. It eventually got to the point where I knew I would have to interrupt the monk’s talking. “Um…” I finally cut short after a while. As if coming out of a trance, he notices me and comments, “oh! So sorry about that. When I finally find someone to talk to I have a tendency to babble.” With a smile and a sweat mark, I assure the monk that it was all right. He concludes, “by the way, my name is Hembree.” I nod and counter, “and I’m Seiki. Nice to meet you.” The monk seemingly agrees and makes the comment, “you know Seiki-kun, you look like you’re up for the challenge…” Interested in this, I inquire with a raised brow, “challenge?” He comments, “I have knowledge of a quest that rewards a great treasure.” Very interested, I lean forwards a bit as I inquire, “treasure?” The monk puffs his pipe once more and nods twice before stating smokily, “only the strong are able to accomplish such a thing… do you wish to know?” Of course, the question did not need to be asked. By this time, I had stars in my eyes; there was a apparently mystical monk telling me he had a treasure quest for strong people. “Hell yea!” I answer him, now having closed the distance between us from fifteen feet to about five. He looks up and grins before commenting, “it’s going to cost you $1,000.” It is then that my eyes cut and I give a sardonic face as I murmur, “a scam?” He laughs and assures, “no no… not a scam, a service fee for the opportunity of a life time.” I frown, “mm hmm…” The monk assures further, “you don’t even have to pay me now. I’ll give you the information for free, what you’re actually paying for is the translation services.” My interest is regained with an “eh” as he continues, “venture to the North Western Archipelago! There you shall find a nameless sage. This sage will have a scroll; defeat him, take the scroll and bring it to me. I will transform it into something special. The sage is the part you will need to be strong for, as he is very skilled.” My eyes brighten a bit as I smile, “ah! So all I need to do is go to the beach and beat up an old guy! All right, I’ll check it out and bring back that scroll, you can count on it.” I ask, “but… are you sure that guy’ll be there.” The monk grins and nods, “yeah… he’ll be there… plus, there’s plenty of time left in the day.” I return, “so just go to the north west archipelago?... where exactly is that?” The monk goes into greater detail explaining just what an archipelago is and what landmarks I would see in order to draw me too it. After he is done, I attempt to remember and run back through all that he’s told me before I was ready to go. Before leaving, I ask, “hey monk?” Looking to me, his eye brows raise inquisitively with an “hmm?” I ask, “you wouldn’t by chance know of a wandering swordsman named Ashram, would you?” The monk thinks for a moment and rubs his chin with his free hand, holding the pipe down and near his lap. Looking back up, he shakes his head in a negative manner stating, “I cannot think of anyone by that name, sorry.” I wave my hand dismissively as I state, “oh, no problem, just through I’d try.” With a bow, I advise Hembree that I would be taking my leave and I thanked him for the information. With that, I murmur a light incantation causing a circle of light to appear beneath me. I am engulfed in the light and from there my body is teleported to the closest area I’ve ever been to the place described by the monk: the northern heights. The monk is left alone on the rock with his pipe as he blinks and then smiles, “ah, a void user. Not bad.”

I come out of my teleportation in a pillar of light standing on top of Natsuki’s mansion looking towards the east. It was an insanely large structure that seemed almost like a haunted mansion… or at least that’s how it was when she first moved into it. Still, there was no time for a house call. If I actually went and said hey to Natsuki, I would probably end up lying on my back, very satisfied and sleepy with her lying on my arm. I couldn’t have that just yet as there was adventure to be had! A grin comes onto my face as I survey the run that I had before me. It would be a long run just to get out of the city. After getting out of the city limits, I would have to make it probably twenty miles to the archipelago. It would be a massive run to attempt, but I knew if I normal people could easily run a 6 minute mile, then I should be able to get there within an hour easy. “Heh,” with a grin, I complain, “damn spirits and sensei have it easy being able to fly.” After getting myself mentally prepared for the run and knowing that the distance wouldn’t automatically cross itself, I decide to get started. I crouch slightly as I wonder how much of the distance I could get over with as soon as possible. I would test it out and see how far I could go without running out of stamina; at my level, I could rebuild stamina while jogging, so it wouldn’t be like I would have to come to a standstill. Set and reach, my body lowers slightly and then flickers as I vanish from the rooftop, heading in the direction of northeast at godspeed.

Hembree's Quest I

The sea stood ahead of me with the smell of the ocean in the air lingering in the moderate winds that flowed in from it. The grass beneath my feet was short and green mixed in with the presence of sand as the terrain was shifting from grassy to sandy. My hands are on my knees as my body is bent over with my chest heaving and my lungs attempting to replenish my body with oxygen. My body shifts as I lean up and I place my hands behind my head and continue in taking large breathes as my back arches.

In my journey to this north east coastal region, I found that it was fortunate that I had started out early in the day since the jog to the coast took a little longer than I had expected. Most of the stamina was spent early on in the trip in clearing the city at a running speed where I wouldn’t be noticed by many. This was accomplished with godspeed and my various wind manipulating spells. Overall, there was something about an almost twenty mile jog that seemed to take the wind out of my sails when I had previously thought of it as a challenge, but still I managed it make it to the eastern sea side before noon and without collapsing. After making it to that region of Yochi, I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. I knew that I didn’t want to approach a sage at half power or tired out.

Looking ahead, I am able to see the sea quite clearly from here as well as the archipelago that would be my destination. The good thing about reaching this area was that I could simply warp back to this place now that I had been here once. With that thought process in mind, I wait until my breath is caught and I have a good sense of where I was before lowering my gaze and murmuring lightly. With that, a pillar of light encircles my body and I vanish within it. The light fades and forms in the kitchen of my house in East City. I appear in the light, just in front of the refrigerator before it fades away. “Now,” I say rubbing my hands together now within the safety of my own home, “time to get something to eat.”

A voice comes in from the hallway, having come from the bedroom as my mom calls out to me, “Seiki, is that you?” I answer back while opening the refrigerator door and taking out some left over rice, fish and bottled water, “Yeah mom. I’m just dropping in for a snack.” The voice calls back, “are you working today?” I call back while moving to the table, “not today, mom. I’m on this epic quest to defeat a sage for an ancient scroll that’s supposed to be turned into treasure by a monk of questionable origin.” She calls back, “that’s great honey. Can you pick up some milk on your way home?” After setting the food on the table, I move to grab something to eat it with as I call back, “sure, I’ll grab some.” She returns back, “thank you, sweetie. Oh, and we’re almost out of tea too.” I murmur lightly to myself, “you think she’d be more interested about me being on an epic quest…” After grabbing eating utensils, I return to the table to sit down with the leftovers to eat them out of the containers that they had been stored in.

After eating the leftover food and drinking a bottle and a half of water, I put the dishes up in the sink and rub my stomach with a smile, “stamina replenished!” Looking up and towards the hallway that lead to my mother’s room, I call back, “I’m heading out. I’ll clean up the kitchen when I come back!” An “okay” returns as the reply. With that, my gaze lowers a bit as I channel the void’s essence around my body and I begin my chant. A white pillar of light encompasses me and takes me back to the place from where I had come earlier.

The setting changes drastically from the interior of my home to the area near the sea as I return to the previously visited location. The noon time sun lingers in the center of the sky casting down its light over the land with few clouds in the sky. With my gaze out towards the stretch of land that would match the description given by Hembree, I begin walking towards what seemed to be a figure out at its furthest part.

After walking to the end of the archipelago, I come upon a figure with its back to me. It was the form of an elderly man in simple traditional attire and a bald head with a gray beard that seemed to be braided below the chin. Color washes from the scene as the CGI takes over and becomes a bit more cinematic. With his hands clasped behind his back, the ancient male lowers his gaze from the sea to the ground having sensed my arrival. He comments in a strong and resounding voice, “so… you’ve come...” Standing upright, I step forward and lift a fist in an arm pump at a distance of about five meters from the male’s back as I inform, “yes… I have.” The fist opens into a finger as I point towards the male and declare, “And I must have that scroll which you have there in your possession!” The nameless sages shakes his head and chuckles, “what a brash youth you are. I wonder… if you can take it from me… this thing that I have here in my possession that you want there in your possession to have in said possession of having!” He turns and faces me as he bellows, “I am the sage with the power of a hundred warriors… meaning that in hundred warriors, I have the strength of them all and of them all they do not have my strength for their strength is mine and mine alone.” His voice seems seriously stoic as he continues, “You are like an ant before my might… something small and crawling on the ground that I did not notice until I crouched down and looked before saying ‘ah, there is an ant here!’ Yes, that ant is you who is before me now in my presence and gaze, that you are.” There is a silence in the stare down between us. My hair sways in the sea breeze; the sage stands firm with his garments flapping in the breeze. He nods. That gesture nonverbally assures the contract of battle between the two of us and I acknowledge his acceptance of my challenge.

Suddenly, something happens.

The sage’s voice ends up increasing several octaves as he pulls a mini staff from behind his back with a rainbow crystalline heart shaped pendant on the tip. A blush takes to his cheeks as he holds it up as he calls out “magical sage transform -desu!” as he strikes a pose with his rear pushed out and his body bent over slightly with his chest poking out; his free hand performs a thumbs up akin to Dan. Energy forms at the ground and lifts up from beneath him. His body ascends, floating up into the air as the background changes into a shimmering blue matte with sparkles and bubbles of energy circling around his body. His clothing vanishes from his frame as his body spins vertically, or rather the camera spans about him as he is encased within this magical whirl of energy. Forming colorlessly at first, a loin cloth materializes over his lower body and then bursts with energy taking on properties of a red cloth like material. A thin film of energy covers the rest of his body and then bursts in a radiant spectacle of energy solidifying into a marble finish coating his entire body. Stubble of hair forms in an upside down triangle on his chest before bursting into color. He strikes a pose with the final lens flare with one arm curled to the side of his head and the other extended with a flat hand diagonally towards the skies as an explosion occurs in his background with sunrays shining outwards from the horizon.

I fall to the side.

The scene returns to normal. Getting back up, I rub my back as I wince slightly at the power of the double take that I just took, viewing the sage in his new form. The sage, now with a hardened body of glistening stone, slams his fist into his hand thrice causing a thumping sound with each connect and then takes a fighting stance with both hands up with open palms facing his own body as he beckons, “coy!” Composing myself, I take my stance with my right side towards the sage with my feet at about shoulders with and my arms up. Energy dispels from my body and pushes out displacing sand and debris as my artifact is activated. Tribal markings stretch and manifest on the right side of my face. My back leg lowers a bit as I coil and build up tension for a quick movement before my body pushes forwards and vanishes. A trail of dust forms in the wake of my bee line. The sage’s large armored arms cross in front of its chest as my fist pushes out for it, blocking the punch. A shockwave is emitted from the contact and the firm block. My body spins as my leg is brought around and over the head of the sage who ducks and leans down to the side. Coming around still, my other leg thrusts out at stomach level before my body pivots the other way and my other leg extends around and out into a flying roundhouse. The sage steps back from the first kick and blocks the other, countering me in the air with a punch. I guard the punch while in the kick but its force sends my aerial body back and away from the sage. Flipping once to correct my trajectory, I land in the sands on my feet but in a crouched position before I look back up. I rush the sage once more. Reaching him, I punch out, to which he redirects and punch. My forearm pushes that out of the way as I step forwards and thrust my shoulder into his chest. He parries the shoulder thrust by bracing his chest and stepping up with an “hph!” My body is pushed back a bit, but I redirect my momentum and continue forward and extend a high kick. The head level kick is blocked and pushed to the side and he counters with a punch, and then steps forwards with an elbow strike. My foot lowers and in stepping back, I push down the punch and guard against the elbow strike, locking up that arm and grabbing for his shoulder. Too slick to grapple, his smooth finished stone body pulls back, eluding my grasp. Stepping forwards, I emit a “kai!” as a bubble of force pushes out from my body in an exertion, breaking the guard of the sage as I hop forwards with a jump kick to the center of his chest accompanied with a “woooo!” causing him to stumble back and reset his stance. As I land from the attack with my side is to him, bouncing on the balls of my feet in my stance after the landing. I murmur “phoenix strike of garhalla!” and my right hand thrusts out sending a rush of flames from my palm and towards the recovering sage from a short distance of about five feet. A large torso height horizontal pillar of flames rams through the sage, engulfing him in orange and red flames. The sage, seemingly unaffected by this, steps back, but rushes through the flames to my position and strikes me in the side of my face, breaking my technique and sending my body flying back over the sandy ground. The sage clasps his hands together and slams his palms on the ground causing a wall of earth to rise up to the height and width of twenty feet in the path of my flight a few feet behind me in my flight route. My body strikes the wall of earth, back first and stretches out as I grimace a bit on impact. The sage makes another press to the ground, causing a ripple in the sand and the wall of earth that I had been slammed into falls forwards, crashing into the ground in front and sandwiching me with the earth. The slam is solid and dust presses out on both sides of the slammed earth wall. After the technique, the sage stands and crosses his arms as he rubs his chin, stroking the braided beard and looking over to his work as the dust settles. A growling murmur comes first and then there is an explosion of force as I exert my strength around me. The earth wall is broken and blasted out in all directions off of my body as I clear the pressure and sand that was covering and holding me down. Slowly, I stand to my feet, dirtied and bruised. I take a stumbling step forward and stop; I run the back of my fist against the cheek that was hit before I spit to the side with traces of blood in my saliva. “Nice punch,” I comment, taking this sage to be a true warrior to be reckoned with. I had always thought of myself as a master of the martial arts, but this guy here seemed strong with magic to match my own. The sage remains silent as if observing me while he continues to rub his chin looking to me. Energy flows around me in channeling as I press my hands to the ground, “trail of the red rush, flames of the phoenix!” Molten fire rips up from the ground and rushes towards the sage. The jagged fiery path splits into two trails and circles around the sage before lifting up to tower in the air above him and then crashes down. Performing a quick hand seal and lifting his hands, the sage animates the earth below him to lift up and create a barrier dome of protection around his body and overhead as the flames crash down and over him. There is an explosion of dust before another hand seal is performed by the sage and a swirl of wind energy pushes in all directions clearing the area. The sage performs an additional hand seal and steps forwards as a large wave of water builds from the ocean behind him, towering over his position. The size of the wave catches me off guard as it looked like it was almost the height of a building you would find in the city Metro. The cliff of water begins to lurch forwards and crashes down; it seems to part for him, but slams down on and around the area that I was positioned in. The massive wall would be hard to escape; I cross my arms in front of me and attempt to guard in the horizontal aquatic avalanche, but the strong current of the water lifts me up and carries me back. I feel my body pulled and tugged beneath the waters and drug around in all directions. I slide onto the ground with the weight and pressure of the water pressing down and around as it shifts over me. Enduring the breathless assault for about a minute, the water eventually subsides and I find myself much like a half drowned rat, sprawling on the sand of the beach violently coughing and attempting to catch my breath. On my belly, my arm presses against the sand attempting to hold my chest and upper body off of the ground. The tribal markings of my artifact activation fade and I revert to normal. My hair is wet and matted over my face with trails of water flowing down from it. The taste of the salt water from the sea was unpleasantly in my mouth. Looking up as I attempt to clear my lungs, I see the sage walking towards me. He lowers slightly with something in his hand. “Good fight,” he comments claiming victory before I notice that the thing in his hand was a scroll. “Huh?” I would answer, confused. Composing myself after a few more coughs, I reach up and take the scroll asking, “Is it really okay if I have this?” The sage smiles and nods his head before his form shifts and he reverts into normal. My hand pulls the scroll back to my body. The sage reaches down a hand to which I meet with my free hand and he helps me up. Being pulled, I get to my feet, releasing the sage’s hand and look to the scroll in my hand. I immediately bow at the waist and speak, “thank you for the training and this scroll.” The sage seems amused at my gesture and lays his hand on the top of my head. He comments, “you have much potential. Seek out a forest nin by the name of Shayde. I believe there is much he can teach you.” I confirm, “you are too kind, sifu. I will search him out.” I found myself in luck; due to his actions and attitude, this sage had my utmost respect. I feel the weight of the sage’s hand removed from the back of my head and I lean up to look him in the eye. As I look up, I see that the sage was no longer before me. I look around and in all directions, but I do not see or sense him anywhere. “Heh,” standing upright, I grin and comment in a low murmur, “thanks sensei! I’ll definitely be back to spar with you again someday.” I look down at the scroll in my hand. The primary objective had been completed, so I figured that now would be a good time to return to Hembree and finish out this little quest. “Right,” I say as I prepare myself to teleport back to the western forests. I give a breath of exhalation and lower my gaze before I perform a small chant that causes a pillar of light to rise and encase my body in similar fashion before my body vanishes from that place to return to Hembree with the scroll.

A pillar of light forms, once more, in the western forest at the place where I had first run into Hembree in my morning jogging. On arrival I notice the rock that the monk had been on, but I do not immediately see or sense Hembree anywhere. With a sigh I frown, “crap…” wondering if I had been gone too long for him to wait. I complain, “I don’t have his cell number or anything…” I figured I would have to look for him now.

Hembree's Quest II

After performing a quest and finding a mystical scroll, it took a day or so of looking for me to find Hembree again. As it would turn out, I ended up running into him in the same place that I had originally found him while back-tracking and attempting to find his spiritual signature in the western forests. Much like before, he was sitting on a rock and smoking a pipe.

Having come out and into the clearing from the forests, I get a visual of the monk and casually make my way over to him as he watches me approach. With an interested look, he greets, “can I help you.” I pause for a moment, wondering if he forgot me that quick. I reach into my back pocket and pull out the rolled scroll that I kept in my possession that I had received from the sage. The monk’s face lightens as he seemingly remembers me and comments, “ah, so you were able to convince him. Very good.” He holds out his hand and comments, “money.” Remembering the price that he stated earlier and the reason for it, I comment, “oh!” as I hold the scroll under my chin and reach back for my wallet. Taking it out, I retrieve the $1,000 needed before putting the wallet back in my pocket. Since the price was pretty steep, I hoped that this treasure was worth it; I was basically handing over a full weeks pay. I grab the scroll from where I was holding it under my chin and hold in the same hand with the money as I offer it over to the monk. Reaching out, he takes it, stashes the money in his clothing and then unwraps the scroll and looks over it. He holds the scroll with one hand and makes a hand seal with the other. He emits a “kai!” and a puff of smoke explodes on the scroll. The smoke clears and the monk hands the scroll back over to me. Receiving it, I murmur, “That’s it? S1,000 to make it smoke?” Taking the scroll and looking at it, I notice that it had been converted into a map. The monk comments, “X marks the spot. Go there and you’ll find your treasure.” Looking down at the scroll, I nod and say, “Simple enough.” Looking up I ask, “if I need to see you about anything, what’s the best way to contact you?” Hembree answers, “I normally come here to smoke during the day when I travel this route, but I live in these woods not too far from here.” Lifting a hand, he points towards the west and comments, “just that way about a half a mile, you should come across my house.” I nod and comment, “okay cool! Thanks a lot, I’ll go and check out this treasure.” With a nod and a wave he comments, “good luck.” I give an arm pump and a nod before looking down at the map, then off to the left. “Okay,” I murmur, “that way.” With that, I start walking back towards the woods.

I find myself wandering for some time following the landmarks on the map and comparing them to the world around me. As it turned out, I wasn’t too bad with a map. Eventually I come upon the spot that marked an X on the map. Looking around the immediate area, I didn’t notice anything that set it out from the rest of the forest. As I slowly walk around the area, the scroll begins to pulse and radiate a light energy. It seemed to increase in pulse as I moved to a certain portion of the area. After getting to the ‘right spot’ the scroll holds a constant glow and something happens where a red X vanishes from the map and then seemed to form by itself on the ground. My face brightens as I comment, “well that’s convenient!” Rolling up the scroll, I slide it into my back pocket as I look down and wondered what I would use to dig. “Hmm…” emits in my pondering. Reaching up, I take the hilt of my sword with the full intent to use it as a shovel. For my thoughts, I receive a loud, “don’t even think about it” from the sentient Goronova. Pausing in my movements, I emit a light “heh” before my hand releases the sword after its verbal rejection. “Crap…” I murmur. With no other recourse I teleport home appearing around the garage and shed. Looking around for a couple moments, I eventually find what I was looking for, a gardening shovel, used in the garden my mother used to maintain. With that in hand, I nod and proceed in the process of teleporting back to the place where I had been. After getting back there, I confirm that the red X was still on the ground and waiting for me and with that I start digging.

Eventually in my digging I come across something hard. Stopping, I allow the shovel to fall to the side before crouching I wipe off the top of what appears to be a stone, revealing a seal tag on it. Curiously, I pull up the seal tag to read it, removing it from the stone. There is a puff of smoke that comes from the stone that catches me off guard and causes me to fall back on my rear. After wincing, I look up and notice a floating spirit in the form of a sparrow. “Eh?” I say looking towards the bird. Catching me off guard, it speaks to me in the voice of James Earl Jones stating, “thank you for releasing me. I am Tomo-kun, and I am now in your debt!” For a moment I’m caught off guard. I comment, “Tomo… kun?...” As it would seem, I had made a new friend that would stick to me like glue and love me long time.

I wanted a refund.

Up to this point, I had come across a mystic monk by the name of Hembree who sold me the dream of a treasure for the high price of one thousand dollars. This was like a weekly wage for me, so I expected something of great value. What I ended up getting was a pet spirit bird that spoke in an incredibly deep voice. After attacking the thing for several minutes, I had come to the conclusion that it didn’t have any offensive or defensive capabilities. That didn’t help me out in the least; if I wanted a pet spirit creature I could grab one from the forest and attempt to tame it somehow.

I find myself walking through the forest in the direction of Hembree’s stone. The sun was bright high above with only a few colorless clouds drifting in the blue pre noon sky. I would be wearing a pair of relaxed fit jeans and a tee shirt covered by a gray hoodie and a pair of sneakers on my feet. The sword of light, Goronova, would rest on my back vertically pointing down in its protective sheath covering. It was the next day, since of course, the monk wasn’t there when I had come back from the treasure hunt; I only hoped that I would be able to find him today. The spirit bird, slightly traumatized from our first meeting, still seemed to be lingering around me. Though I attacked it several times, it assured me that it was with me until the end of my existence. Apparently, so a spirit, the lifespan of a human isn’t as long as one would think.

I come out and into the clearing where Hembree’s stone is revealed with the monk sitting on it. On arrival, the small spirit bird that had been drifting in flight behind my right shoulder perks up and speaks out in his resounding stone. “Hembree! So it was you who sent my current master to free me!” the bird exclaims. Hembree turns and looks in our direction, not really recognizing me, but recognizing the bird. “Tomo-kun!” he smiles as he stands from his stone to greet us as we make our way to him. Looking to me, he comments, “oh, you’re that boy from before…” An incredulous blank look is on my face as I ask, “oy… just how many people do you have running around and doing quests for you that you can’t remember me?...” Ignoring me, Hembree speaks to Tomo-kun, “this human’s not too shabby. I think he’ll make a good master for you.” Remembering why I had come here, I interrupt, “hey! You can have this thing. I want my money back. I don’t need a spirit following me around… want me to get locked up by Division 12?” Hembree blinks, “Division 12?” I continue, “anyways, I don’t want any pets. Can I just have my money back?” Hembree mockingly gasps and comments, “Tomo-kun is no ordinary spirit! He has the power of the void!” I growl, “so do I! Plus I attacked him and he couldn’t even defend or counter attack.” Hembree smiles and assures, “no, he has the power to create an alternate realm. He’s able to store large volumes of equipment…. Seemingly limitless, so you will never have to carry anything on your personage ever again. Think of him as a mobile locker. He can also appear and disappear on command.” I pause and think; so I could get rid of him… that wasn’t too bad. “But…” I begin, “I don’t have anything to stash like that…” The monk comments, “You city dwellers have vehicles. Wouldn’t it be impressive to summon one of those out of an alternate void realm?” My eyes widen slightly as I think about how cool that would be. I wondered if I could even go into the alternate realm too… there was a chance that I could get stuck in there, so it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but still a cool thought.

“Hmm…” I return as I turn and look to Tomo-kun who smiles and waves at me before I turn back around to the smiling Hembree. “It feels like I’m being duped,” I admit, “but okay, that’s fine for now. I’ll see how useful he is.” Tomo-kun comments, “he’s a fighter, maybe he could use that?” I turn to the bird and inquire, “that?” Hembree answers, “ah, that? But that’s dangerous to get…” Turning to Hembree I inquire interested, “dangerous?” Tomo-kun comments, “but he’s strong. He might be able to overcome the trials of that quest.” Almost squealing, I turn back to Tomo-kun and ask, “quest trials?!” Hembree holds out his hand and orders, “Seiki-kun!” I answer, “hai!” He speaks, “give me your map!” I fetch it out of my back pocket and hand it over to him. He takes the map and holds it with one hand and performs a hand seal with the other. “Ha!” he emits as a puff of smoke explodes over the scroll. He hands the scroll back to me and comments, “you will need to memorize the chant: Iway avehay away ovelylay unchbay ofway oconutscay andway erethay eythay ogay andingstay inway away owray.” I listen to it and blink. “Pig latin?...” I inquire. Hembree continues, “repeat it back to me….” I blink; that was way to long to remember the first go around. “Um…” I inquire, “can you say it again?” Tomo-kun bellows, “Iway avehay away ovelylay unchbay ofway oconutscay andway erethay eythay ogay andingstay inway away owray.” I look to Tomo-kun and ask, “why do I need to memorize it if you know it?!” I look between him and Hembree expecting a deep answer. I receive, “oh… that’s right… good, now you have that understood.” In a double take I fall to the right before pulling myself back up. “Wait… is that something about coconuts?” I ask while rubbing my back. Ignoring this, Hembree points and speaks, “onward to the next location on the map! Trials and tribulations await!” Straightening up, I salute and answer, “hai, sifu!” before turning and walking in that direction with my attention diverted to the quest at hand. I would perform this quest with all my might and come out victorious!”

As I walk away I look down at the map to see where the X was. “Oh shit…” I murmur lightly seeing the destination. It was on the complete opposite side of the city. My footsteps come to a halt within the woods. Reading the map, I murmur, “It’s close to the Cove, so if I warp there I should be able to get there pretty quickly.” Tomo-kun nods in agreement behind me as he looks at the map from over my shoulder. With that, I roll the map up and place it into my back pocket. I channel my energy and chant causing a pillar of light to engulf me completely. As the light fades, the sparrow and myself find ourselves deposited at the water’s edge of the cove with the familiar smell of the ocean coming in from the east. The sparrow remains at my side as he flaps passively following my movements. My gaze shifts towards the west where I figured I would have to continue from here. My hand reaches into m my pocket as I pull out the map and look over it. My gaze shifts in the direction I have to go before I comment, “yosh!” and my form flickers and vanishes as I cover 50 feet quickly and begin rushing over the ground using my ability to manipulate the wind to hover over in my dash.

As I near the location on the map, I pull it from my pocket as I continue to dash over the grassy lands, seeking around the area for the right place. The map starts to pulse slowly with a radiating light as I get nearer to the place I needed to be. I slow down as the map speeds up in its flashing before it takes on a constant glow and I come to a stop. I look down as the map shines with the X vanishing on it and appearing on the ground beneath me. Looking down, I wonder, “I guess it’s time to dig again…” I am corrected by the bird spirit as Tomo-kun bellows, “actually, now is the time that you must chant.” I pause and turn to him asking, “Why is your voice so deep? You’re tiny.” The bird comments, “I’m big where it counts.” I frown, “you’re…. a bird… and you’re a spirit….” Tomo-kun’s face takes on a black shadow as he raises his head and inquires, “Would you like to see it.” With a blank expression I answer, “No thank you. Please repeat the chant so that I can chant it.” Together, with the sparrow leading and me speaking afterwards, we chant, “Iway avehay away ovelylay unchbay ofway oconutscay andway erethay eythay ogay andingstay inway away owray.” At the end of the chant, the ground begins shift and then splits beneath me. Quickly I leap back and away from the fissure that continues to grow until it reveals what seemed to be an entrance to an underground level. “That is the entrance,” Tomo-kun informs. Looking down into it, I murmur, “hmmm… so my trial is waiting for me down there.” Performing an arm pump and holding my bicep with my free hand, I chirp, “yosh! Let’s go!” With that, I take a jogging step forwards and leap down into the diagonally descending area, vanishing from ground level view into the hole.

The interior of the cavern was earthy with brown and sooty walls surrounding me on both sides and above with a clearing of about fifteen or so feet on all sides. Coming into the interior of the cavern I immediately notice how dark it was; the light from the entrance wouldn’t stretch far enough to guide me along my way. I pause for a moment in the encroaching darkness before I realize a solution. My hand reaches behind my back and comes to the hilt of Goronova, the sword of light. I lower my gaze and close my eyes as I ask, “will you please come out?” There is a pause for a moment as nothing really happens before a sigh could be heard and a brilliant burst of light illuminates the interior of the cove. Glowing radiantly in a white dress, the female humanoid spiritual form of my sword manifests herself. Looking up to me, she pulls hair from the side of her face to behind her ear as she says, “ah, I see why you called me.” Rubbing the back of my neck I chuckle lightly, “well… what else could I have done…?” She comments in a flat tone, “fire spell.” I wince, “but that would drain me out… plus you haven’t been out this whole time.” She crosses her arms and turns her head away from me as she comments, “hmph, so this is the reason why I finally get screen time. Why not have Natsuki or Akera bring a flashlight.” I frown in a concerned manner, “what do they have to do with any of this?...” Speaking up in the voice of Darth Vader, the sparrow comments, “master… perhaps you would wish to continue… for future reference, I would suggest allowing me to store a light source for you.” I look to the bird for a moment and then back to Goronova’s form. “He’s right… sorry if I did something wrong. Can we go?” With a “hmph” she begins to lead the way, walking forward and bringing light to the passage.

After traveling down the passage for some time, there seemed to be something up ahead much like another portion of the underground passage. Reaching that area Goronova, Tomo-kun and I come out into a large room. The walls were similar to the rest of the passage way, nothing special, simply earthy walls covering all sides. Still, there was a feel to this area as if there had been some sort of interior decorating done with what was available. It had the feel of a lair to it. After entering, the doors immediately close behind us and the room illuminates with candles lining the walls. Alerted by the shutting off of our exit, I look around only to find that we were surrounded. “Look sharp!” Goronova says as she is alert as well. The sparrow, Tomo-kun, speaks, “they’re on this side as well.” There is a pause for that moment where it takes me to process the enemy around us before I realize that the enemy happened to be in the form of nude women who all happened to be hot. “What the…” I murmur as my hand immediately rises up to my nose. Goronova sighs and rolls her eyes, “Your only weakness, or something like that, right…?” Suddenly, Goronova’s spirit form is dispelled and she is forced back into her sword. “Goronova!” I call out reaching back for the hilt of my blade to connect with it. Tomo-kun cowardly takes this moment to vanish and I am left alone. I didn’t know how to respond to this enemy that circled me on all sides. First of all, I had never seen so many nude ladies in one place at one time. The count had to be in the dozens. I take a cautious step back; it was against my nature as a man to strike a woman opponent too harshly. On top of that, there seemed to be something that was stopping me from attacking. Their charm had already begun to work its way over my body, rendering me unable to launch an attack. There was a mixture of anxiousness and fear in me.

The women moved almost as a mass. Toned bodies, full breast, and luscious lips are visually unavoidable as I seemed to stumble across the most unlikely of circumstances. In the seemingly sea of women who were slowly approaching me, one seems to stand out from the crowd, a brunette beauty with long black hair and a seemingly perfect body. She had a firm and flat stomach with nice sized and plump breast and hips. Her tilted gaze of bedroom eyes immediately gives me the feeling that I was an inexperienced virgin standing before an Amazon warrior of many battles. “You…” her words linger as I answer cautiously, “hai?...” She steps ahead of the others and approaches me, coming into my circle of personal space in a sultry manner. She coaxes, “don’t worry, this is not a battle… we need your help…” My body leans back slightly as her body comes within close proximity of mine. I continue thinking ‘Natsuki… Natsuki… Natsuki…’ in my mind while verbally asking, “help?” It is explained to me that these succubae were unable to leave this area due to an ancient curse and it had been three hundred years since a man had ventured this far to find them. Her hand comes to my chest but then starts to slide down as she leans over me and says, “that’s why… we need your… ‘help…’” Among my thoughts were ‘this many women? I can’t do that… I’ll die!’ Her hand makes it to my crouch and a soft blush comes to my face as she assures, “don’t worry… you’ll live.” One of the nude ladies approaches from the side holding a pendant. I look towards her and then another approaches to the other side. One approaches from the rear and pulls the sword and sheath from my body. “Hey… that’s my…” I begin to protest before I realize that my hoodie was being pulled off. “Wait a moment… hey…” I protect in a futile manner before the pendant is lowered over my head and hangs from my neck, the charm resting on my chest. Looking around, I was completely surrounded and the women were no longer at a distance from my body. I feel my pants being undone and my shirt is pulled up and over my head.

For the next 7 days, time seems to freeze for me as I find myself stuck in a loop of lust where I had to perform time after time on all of the succubae in that room. It was a mind altering experience that was unparalleled to anything that happened between Natsuki and myself in bed. I was used to her body, but here I found myself seeking and distributing pleasure amidst perfect and fully developed women. Simply the aura in the room was enough to coax a climax. It was surprising to myself that I was actually able to accomplish such a thing, as half of the time found me on my back allowing them to control the flow of things, but the power of the pendant seemed to have something to do with my extended vitality. The last one is finished off as she drapes down over my body, laying her head on my chest. My hand rests in her hair as I look around seeing the dozens of nude bodies sprawled on and around me. “Hotaka would never believe this…” I murmur lightly to myself before drifting off to sleep.

I wake up the next day where I am allowed to dress. I am given my things back and in a show of appreciation, the succubae allow me to keep the pendant they had used with me. I am held to a promise to return in a month and with that, I take my leave of that place to return home. I knew that my mom would probably be worried about me, but if her little boy was already a man, I felt that I had to be ten men by now. After making it out of the room, I skip actually walking out of the passage way to the entrance. Instead I perform a familiar incantation and my body vanishes from that place as I teleport away to home.