//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Everfree // Story: Rage Unbound // by Bazing //------------------------------// “You ready Alex?” The man said to his old friend. He was wearing full plate armour that was crafted from the body parts of demons, and because of this, the armour provided various magical enchantments that gave an edge in battle, as well as giving him an intimidating look. A pair of horns spiked out of the front of the helmet, along with a set of ‘wings’ spiking out of the shoulder blades. The plate armour is a dirtied silver colour, with gold trims and black cloth as the base. “Of course, it's not like I had much to bring with me in the first place. What about you Jules?” The other man – Alex – responded. He wore no armour but instead wore normal civilian apparel, just a simple blue shirt, black jacket and trackies. Both of the two men were Humans, stuck in a world inhabited by a race of xenophobic equines who call themselves ‘ponies’. “Not yet, just double-checking the map Twilight gave us.” The one named Julian explained. The two were getting ready to travel the world, in hopes of accomplishing three tasks: Firstly, the two planed on training in preparation of the oncoming demon invasion. Secondly, Julian decided that if they were to fight and win the war, they needed allies, so they were to warn the world’s leaders about said demon invasion, and finally, the two of them were searching for a place they could call home for the rest of their lives. No matter how long their lives may be with the demon threat arising. “First, we’ll move west from Ponyville through the Everfree Forest, and into the Griffin Fiefdoms. From there we’ll make our move into their capitol where we can warn the leaders about the demons. Then we’ll make our way north through ‘Caneighda’ to repeat the process. We should be able to skip these countries, since Luna assures me they are a part of an alliance, so aslong as Equestria joins the war, they will to. After that we’ll most likely head east into what looks like the South East Asia equivalent on Equuis.” Julian explained as he put away the map into his bag. Alex looked at Julian with a face that perfectly said, “You're not fucking serious are you?” “Yeah yeah, the names are rip-offs from Earth, but look at the map.” Julian pulled out the map and showed Alex. It looked like Earth but with deformed continents in places they shouldn’t be, with countries and oceans that had weird names. “I always thought that Equuis was an alternate Earth, and this just confirms it. Come on, grab the shit and let’s get out of this hellhole.” The two gathered their supplies and made their way out of the crystal castle. Julian’s POV “Will you two be okay?” Twilight asked us as I flung my bag over my shoulder. “Pfft! I come from a family of nurses, my mum was a chef before becoming a nurse, I know the cuts of meat and where to find them, and I'm a former blue belt in karate. I think I'll be okay, dunno about him though, he'll probably just whine and rely on my mad skills.” Alex said boastfully, probably trying to get a reaction out of me, but I couldn’t let that pass. “Oh fuck you! I'm the one with magic and minions by his side. What do you have? Jack diddily shit!” I retorted, but Alex only laughed. He got exactly the rise out of me that he wanted, but I don’t care; a bit of friendly banter is what I’ve missed for so many years. The two of us said our goodbyes to Twilight and her friends before we made our way through the Everfree. It was a risky decision, but going around would take up time we didn’t have, so going through was the only option. The Everfree is dangerous, but with Alex was now like me; a Nephalem, there is less risk. However, the problem is being that he has neither a weapon to use, nor armour to protect himself with. Aside from that, his powers are still developing, so he’ll have to rely on me a little more than he’d like while we’re in this forest. The plus side is that this’ll be good training for him, both physically, mentally and magically. The two of us, plus my companions, trekked through the forest with minimal problems so far. “The journey through the forest will take a few days at least and a week at the most, so to conserve food and water, we should find a stream to camp at.” Alex knew I had survived in this forest for 5 years by myself, so he trusted my advice. We kept walking through the forest before I decided on sending out my crow companion to scout the area for a river or stream. I also decided on using my bat companion as a guide for us through the forest. He would lead us west so we didn’t get lost. Hours later at dusk, I took Alex out hunting for dinner. I showed him the ins-and-outs of hunting, and he seemed to pick it up well. We tracked a deer for a good few minutes before I gave Alex my bow, and instructed him on how to use it. “First, you have to determine which side you wanna hold the bow on; left or right.” Alex didn't even have to think about it before decided in his right. Of course. I thought to myself, Alex is left handed, I completely forgot. “Then, you’ll have to hold the bow like so,” I pretended that I was holding an invisible bow to show Alex the proper stance. “Now from here, point the bow to the ground and rest the arrow in the little crook there, that’s good. Use your fingers to lightly hold the arrow on the string. Three fingers are typically what I find best, but use however many is comfortable for you, then draw the bow.” I lectured to my brother, but he just looked at me with a bemused expression. “Julian, I have held a bow before. I'm not a complete fuckwit thank you very much.” He said, almost offended. I chuckled at his retort. Alex was tense, but it was understandable; from my knowledge, Alex had never shot a bow before, at least not at a living target. “Relax, tension will make it harder. Keep your bow arm straight from your shoulder, while the hand holding the arrow should be next to your face. Keep calm, breathe slow, eye your target, aim, and release when ready.” After a few seconds of concentrating, Alex took a deep breath in and released. The arrow hit, but not enough for a kill, as the deer ran off with an arrow stuck in its thigh. “Fucking find me in the alps... Sorry man.” Alex said with disappointment as handed me back my bow. “Dude that was way better than I expected, for your first time in a long time, you did an excellent job. Think how you want, it was almost a kill shot.” I praised Alex for his quick learning. “Cheers mate, but I still didn’t get it. I guess not holding a bow since you were seven really shows...” He was still a bit upset he didn’t get it exactly right the, apparently not, first time, but that’s expected. “Don’t worry about it man, with a little practice and some training with your magic, you’ll be able to hit targets from up to ten times the distance.” “Let's just hope it's sooner rather than later because of these demons.” “Please don't remind me... Come on, let's go get that deer, this time for sure.” I said, reloading another arrow, ready to kill the deer. The wolf lead on, following the deer’s’ blood trail. The days passed as we continued on through the Everfree. We had a few run-ins with the dangerous local wildlife; a few manticores, a weird rock-crocodile, a chicken-snake that’s apparently called a cockatrice, and a zebra shaman who makes potions and shit. She was nice, unlike those ponies. We talked with her a while, and after explaining out mission, we asked if we could come back and pick her up before we left for Zebrica. She wanted to visit her home, so we agreed. As a result from killing a bunch of manticores, we had plenty of food for the journey. I found out during my survival period, that the meat of the creatures here seemed to have some magical property that allowed them to stay fresh for about a week. The bigger the creature, the longer they stayed fresh. Manticore meat lasted about a week and a half, and with Alex's cooking skills, it wasn't hard for him to come up with different dishes each night. Unlike me, who can’t cook for shit. I usually just cook it till it’s medium-rare then eat it, not bothering with any fancy kind of food. Alex and I also got some physical training in. We had a few practice fights with sticks we found to help train us in CQC, which ended with both of us sore and bruised, Alex a bit more than me I thought reluctantly. Honestly, Alex's kicks are going to leave bruises for months, that would be if I didn’t have accelerated healing of course. So far the biggest issue we’ve faced is trying to find ways to train Alex to use his Nephalem magic efficiently. “I suppose all we can do for now is have you practicing with the bow and ‘sword’. As for the magic… I’m not sure.” I trailed off as we continued on. “How can we practice magic, especially since I don't know fully what I can do?” Alex asked. “At this point healing wounds is the best and safest option.” I responded, still not sure on that course of action. “And after that?” Alex asked, still unsure as to how he’ll practice with his magic. “We’ll have to wait and see. From what I’ve gathered over the years, Nephalem magic seems to ‘grow’ as the wielder does, so you’ll both have to wait for it to mature properly, whilst simultaneously practicing with it to help it grow stronger. We could try experimenting with spells a bit later one, when we’re confident in our abilities.” I explained. I stopped walking to face Alex. He stopped and stared at me confusedly as I drew an arrow, and stabbed it right through the palm of my left hand. “What the fuck are you doing you fucking crazy fuckbag!” He exclaimed as I held out my hand to him, blood beginning to drip and soak into the ground. “This hurts like a motherfucker Alex, so hurry up and heal it for me.” I said with a pained voice, the burning sensation caused me to wince as hot blood continued to pour from the wound. “You fucking kidding me Jules?!” Alex shouted in my face, apparently not happy that I had purposely injured myself just to try and get his magic to work. “Do it Alex, just focus. Put your hand on the wound and concentrate.” Alex relented as his fury died down. Despite being a bit pissed off, he still did as I instructed, “You need to feel it deep down inside you, you need to feel the need – the desire – to heal this hand. Concentrate on that feeling, and push it out. Scream it out if you have to. This magic is centred around willpower and emotions; the stronger your will, and the stronger your feelings, the stronger your magic will be.” I could see Alex’s face contort in concentration as he tried to heal my wounded hand, “focus, feel it, you have to want it for it to work.” I could feel my hand slowly heal. This wasn’t however, as a result of my regenerative magic, as I forcefully held that back. No, Alex was making progress, his magic was working. The burning sensation in my hand disappeared as it healed while Alex had his eyes shut, whispering 'come on ya bastard'. I looked at Alex with pride, knowing that he was making quick progress. His magic was still underdeveloped, but with enough training he’ll someday unlock the full potential that the Nephalem have, but that day will not come for a while, as not even I have reached that point yet. I just pray – despite being atheist – that we’re both ready for when the time comes, for when we’ll need to rely on our magic and each other, the most...