"Oi, young man, looking for a neat Artifact stone to use?"
"Selling elite inscriptions for cheap!"
"Artifacts on sale, selling out quickly!"
He was in the market, a place near the ports of Argon City. Many airships were flowing in and out, all of them full of Artifact merchants and inscription sellers. "Such a big place... I'm wondering if there would be any Artifacts on here for me to purchase."
The average pricing here is around 75 gold, overshadowing the 1 gold that his father had given him. "Wow, I feel like I don't belong here." he said, looking around. He saw a young boy purchasing an elite-level Artifact with a pouch of gold. His attire appeared to be noble, making sense for the amount of money he held. He used the Artifact, which had a bright light that followed right after. Then, emerging in the boy's hand was a pistol patterned in crimson velvet. Harold touched the gold coin in his pocket, witnessing how money could get you to great heights. "Man, only if I was more rich..." He glanced over at the inscription seller and was intrigued at the assortment of inscribed items. "Maybe I could just buy a good inscription? Though it probably won't last me long."
Inscriptions are formulas of Rysen that are ingrained onto things. By using this Rysen, the inscriptions are able to manipulate the shape and form of the lingering Rysen in the air, allowing them to produce supernatural effects. Yet, even something like this comes with limits. If one were to push past the limits of their inscription, it would fizzle out. But unlike Artifacts, which require the user's Rysen to function, inscriptions simply need to absorb the Rysen that flows within the air, allowing people to prefer the usage of inscriptions instead of Artifacts.
Harold thought long and hard on his decision. "Man, it's pretty hard to find a good Artifact... I might as well just become an inscription warrior instead of an Artifact wielder. It makes my life much easier." Surveying the rest of the market, something was a sight to behold right in front of him.
Looking right next to the stand was a bin full of random Artifacts. On top of the bin was a piece of cardboard. The cardboard had written out "1 gold per Artifact." on it, crudely put there. Even if these Artifacts didn't appear to be the greatest, it was still worth checking out. "Alright!" Harold shouted gleefully as he walked over there. Coming towards the bin, he was interrupted by a scream near an alleyway. It was an enslaved girl, chained by her neck, being dragged away further into the alleyway. She wailed and swung her arms around in her struggle to break free, only to come to no avail. Her barren legs were scraping against the wooden floor of the dock, leaving splotches of blood in the trail she was dragged in. The people around her ignored her cries for help, acting as if nothing was wrong. "A slave, as per usual..." Harold said, letting out a deep sigh. "Everyone has lost their morals these days."
At the far end of the alleyway, the slave was dragged to a metal door. Many concerns flooded her head as her captors roughly yanked her around.
"I'm hungry..."
"My body hurts..."
"Where is Mama and Papa?"
Her memories were fuzzy, as if her mind constantly rejected them. Just thinking about them hurt her head. "How much do you think she will fetch?" one of the bandits asked. "She's a virgin noble; she would sell for thousands of gold!" the other bandit answered. Their conversation made her anxiety deepen, realizing that her future was going to be a slave for the rest of her life.
"Oi, you goofballs!"
An unrecognizable voice interrupted their conversation. "Eh? Who's that?" one of the bandits asked before getting a frying pan smashed on the back of his head, making him unconscious. Before the other bandit could react, a man swooped in and sent a harsh punch to his face, making him fly back. He wore a white mask around his face and a dirty hood that covered over his upper half. "Are you okay?" The man asked, kneeling to the slave. She nodded, speechless at his sudden entrance. "T-Thank you for saving me..." she said, still unable to fathom what had transpired.
"You're welcome." He said, beginning to unshackle her. His presence felt overwhelming but contained no malice towards her. An unusual feeling of safety but also danger arose from him. Noticing her uncomfortableness, he introduced himself. "My name is Ark. What's your name?"
She hesitated to say at first, but eventually told him her name. "Mina, that's my name." she told him with a face of uncertainty. Why would he want to save her anyway? Her beautiful blonde hair had lost its shine. Not to mention, her clothes weren't the only dirty things. Her entire body was covered in mud and cuts, and her body frame was small and frail due to the malnutrition she had to endure. Back then, people had only been acquainted with her due to her looks and status, but now that she is at the bottom of the barrel, she couldn't see his true intentions.
Soon after, he unshackled her chains, easing the immense pressure that she felt bound to her neck. Coming to his feet, he gave a gentle breath of relief. "Alright, you're free to go. You can do whatever you want now." he said.
Stuttering, Mina says, "B-But I have nowhere to go."
"I know a place you can stay; just follow me." The man motioned his hand towards the direction he walked in, prompting Mina to straggle behind him. Seeing her walk, he switched his pace, gently guiding her with his arms. "Ease yourself. I'm not going to rush you. " he reassured her. His gentle nature was something unexpected to Mina. For an intimidating man, he is very patient and caring, especially to some weak and useless slave like her. "Why are you helping me...?" Mina asked, not being able to see through his white-blank mask. His intentions could never be deciphered as his face was unreadable.
"I did it because I want to help others." he told her.
His tone sounded casual, as if he wasn't serious at all. Yet, for some reason, he didn't sound lying either. Not being able to decide if she should trust him, she still left him to guide her. "I'm far too gone anyway." she thought, looking at her miserable self.
As they neared the exit of the alleyway, a man blocked their path. "Ah, it seems I've encountered a troublemaker." He asked. A snarky tone he held, having a swallowtail blue coat and a silver badge pinned onto it. He wore a bronze mask that paired alongside his bronze helmet with a silver lining. By this appearance, this man was clearly a man of the law. Something that surprised Ark. "You must be Ark, the annoying vigilante that has been ruining our slave trade. I'll have you know, there's a huge bounty for your capture." he says, swinging his baton around.
Setting the terrified Mina behind a crate beside them, Ark questioned the police officer, aiming his dagger at him. "And who must you be?"
The police officer stopped swinging his baton to answer. "My name is Sirus, and I'm a captain of Argon City's police force. It's my duty to arrest a troublemaker like you who terrorizes the street."
"Ah, arrest me? That's strange. Sending out a police captain to an area like this? Especially to the sounds of a slave runt, which not a single person bats an eye to. You didn't find me by coincidence, that's for sure."
Sirus chuckled, amused at how he caught on so quickly. "Well, smart one, are you? Even then, you're quite screwed."
"And why's that?" Ark asked, still aiming his dagger at him.
"I happen to have quite a powerful Artifact..." Sirus said as a halberd formed within the palms of his hands. It had a wavelike design for its blade and was coated entirely in a dark blue. Bringing the polearm upwards and slamming it down, a huge wave emerges from the floor. This wave plowed through the alleyway, heading straight towards Ark. Seeing the wave coming right at them, Ark immediately covered Mina, who cowered behind the crate.
As the waves submerged them, Sirus stood there, waiting for the water to settle. "Oh, now look at that." Sirus said, watching the aftermath. It was Ark who held Mina tightly as they were sent into the city streets. Citizens from the area ran due to the sudden outburst of water that filled the area.
Before he could stand up, a second wave plowed into both Mina and him, slamming them against the shop behind them. As the shop windows shattered and the water flattened out, Sirus was seen slowly walking towards them. His wet leather boots made squeaking noises against the stone floor with every step, getting louder the closer he got to Ark and Mina.
"You managed to take out so many criminals, yet you falter against the power of a singular Artifact. I'm not even putting all of my Rysen into my attacks."
In a sudden attack, Ark swiped his dagger across Sirus's face, missing by only an inch as Sirus leaned back to avoid the blow. As he came forward again, he swung his halberd at Ark's side, making direct contact with him. Within contact, he felt his halberd collide with metal. Confused at the abrupt stop, he glanced down at the halberd's blade.
Ark had used a sheathed sword under his coat to stop the hit at the last second. Using this window of opportunity, Ark lunged at Sirus, letting go of Mina in the process. As he neared impact with his blade, another wave slammed into Ark by surprise, pushing him back onto his back. "D-Damn, your artifact is annoying." Ark said, standing up. Ark swiped his blade to his side, having a glowing text that radiated from it. Sirus eyed the text imprinted onto Ark's blade. "So it seems he activated an inscription." Rushing into Sirus, he lunged his blade ahead, forcing Sirus to slam down with his halberd. Dodging it, Ark retaliated by activating the inscription ingrained onto his blade, which caused a giant pulse of wind to blast Sirus back.
He maintained tremendous balance to keep his footing, even managing to scrape the ground with his leather boots. Meanwhile, in his focus on keeping his foothold, Ark took the chance to strike, swooping into slam his blade against Sirus's face. Annoyed at the sticky situation, Sirus smacked his lips. "Annoying brats these days..." he swiftly pulled out his revolver and pulled the trigger, shooting it with raw precision. Even when it was sudden, Ark had ducked instinctively, managing to avoid the bullet fired upon him. Ark figured the fight was over, seeing how close they were. One strike into the abdomen, and he can call himself the winner. Yet, Ark could still feel a sense of danger underneath Sirus's mask, as if he was grinning.
Leaping backward, Sirus dropped his gun, activating the inscription that was set on it. "Game over." Sirus stated underneath his mask as the inscription finally set off, releasing a huge explosion of Rysen in front of Ark.
Boom!
In the aftermath of the explosion was Ark, who let out heavy breaths of relief. As the inscription on his sword faded out, he let out a big sigh of relief. "If I hadn't used my inscription to make a wind barrier last second, I would've been killed by that..." he glanced up at Sirus, who walked toward him menacingly.
"Time to stop playing around." Sirus said as he immediately went to slam his halberd onto Ark. Using both hands, he blocked the blow using the flat side of his blade. However, this was a grave error because it allowed for the halberd to go through his blade and slash him.
As Ark's chest gets cut, he falls to his back. The bleeding intensified as he tried to cover his wound with his palms. "Hurts, doesn't it? Your little game of being a vigilante has caused this to happen. Your delusions are the downfall of your life." Before Sirus could take out his handcuffs from his waist, he felt something grab his leg. Looking down, it was Mina. "Police officer, p-please stop it..."
Her actions had called for immediate execution in the eyes of Sirus. It was inexcusable. "Human filth should never touch me!" Sirus kicked Mina in the face. Blood oozed from her nose, and her teeth were battered in. Mina let out a harsh groan in pain as she hit the floor. Writhing in pain, she curled up in a ball. Tears streamed down her face, and pathetic cries filled the air as Mina was unable to contain herself. She felt useless and pathetic; her life fell into shambles in one singular incident. All she missed was the loving maids in her mansion, her kind mother comforting her, and her father giving her big hugs every morning.
"S-Stop, please..." Mina pleaded with a whimper in her voice. Sirus did not care, however. Slaves were trash, failed creations of god who did not fulfill their purpose in life. People say the lifestyle is forced, but others simply refer to it as the will of god. God had given up on them, therefore, their life was set to be a slave. That is the harsh reality people have come to when it comes to slaves.
Before Sirus could finish off Mina with his halberd, an unexpected figure appeared in front of Ark. Ark sat up to look at the tall, imposing figure. It took off its cloak, revealing its form to be a clockwork. Sirus aimed his halberd at the clockwork, warning it. "You, state your purpose of being here. I've strictly forbidden this section of the city of the police force to Ark's arrest. You shouldn't have any orders to be here." Thinking it was a clockwork error sent by the police, Sirus was patient with it. But, he soon came to realize, that wasn't the case.
The clockwork spoke with a twist; his voice had life to it as if it were a real person speaking. "I've finally found you. You must be what Madam Eleina was talking about. You must be her son, Harold." The clockwork said, kneeling to Ark. Underneath Ark's mask lay Harold's face with a shocked expression. "E-Eleina is my mother's name... what's this clockwork talking about?"
Harold was the mysterious man who held the identity of "Ark". He didn't expect anyone to recognize him, especially under his secretive alias. So for this clockwork to suddenly appear, saying his name and mentioning his mother, was the biggest surprise he could ever encounter.
"I've observed you for a while from a far distance, and my time has run low. In short, your mother told me to give you this." The clockwork handed him an Artifact stone. This Artifact stone was something he had never seen before—a vibrant, warm glow, etched with golden patterns that swirled around the stone. "Your mother spent ages looking for that just to give it to you. Please, make good use of that." Harold was speechless. He couldn't believe such a precious gift was given to him.
"One last thing before I deactivate for good. Your mother is still alive. She is out there, far, far away. She wanted you to know that." the clockwork said before deactivating.
"M-My mother... is alive?"