Of Magic and Machines

by FrostTheWolf

Log 25- The El Trials (Fire)

Author's Note:

This time though for trials, I tried as much as possible to stick with two things. One, the flow of how the raid event was for Perkisas when it was going on... Second, referencing all of Nicko's current skills (including his awakening state, which I thank ElementBrigade for introducing me to this song. It helped with writing it) and the training he learned from Ryu in Swords, Sorcery and shenanigans. I wanted to be able to get through these last three trials quickly, but I need to put some thought into it... because at this rate, I don't know what to do for the next chapter... Maybe I can find a way to combine the last few trials to make things move along more quickly. I am REALLY wanting Nicko to meet several displaced, but Glave's rules state that he can't until these trials are complete so... yeah...

So who plays Borderlands 2 on steam?
(No seriously, a friend of mine on Steam gifted it for me and I have been looking for some people to play co-op with. Been having fun as a Mechromancer... but I think it's better if you smash the system with a few friends. )

Next time: The El Trials (Wind)

Of Magic and Machines- The El Trials (Fire)

---

Another unknown location

Right now, Nicko was really not liking the situation he was thrown into. It was only sometime ago that he had started a series of six challenges from his Displacer Glave to prove to him that he was strong enough to face the demon threat that was coming and now, the Rune Slayer was having himself being chased by Perkisas, a dragon that was not so happy with him deciding to just show up randomly in what he declared as “his domain”. Previously, in other situations, Nicko would’ve had Faith or some kind of partner to join him in the fight. Now, he was on his own… and this was beginning to be a LOT tougher than he originally thought. Especially when he had to dive behind pillars to avoid the dragon’s fire breath.

“Damn, that was WAY too close,” He cursed mentally as the flames around him began to die down, casting Sword Fire at the base of the dragon’s paws in hopes of actually being able to damage him and leaving several Fire Runes around the area in hopes of them damaging Perkisas. For the past five minutes, Nicko’s plan to actually be able to survive this fight involved being able to attack when the dragon had stopped moving, flee when it was trying to pursue him, and duck for cover in order to protect himself from his nasty fire attacks. However, in the back of his mind, he was beginning to reflect on something that Dyntos had happened to tell him back when he was undergoing some similar trials to acquire Ebalon. The god of the forge had mentioned to him that in order to be able to fully use [Variant], one of the abilities from his teacher Ryu, it required [Greed].

Given that Perkisas was known as the Incarnation of Greed, if there was anything that could possibly help him with being able to fully understand his master’s teachings, he would have to find it here… somehow. But that wasn’t his biggest priority… His biggest priority was when Glave told him to do when this trial first started and that was to survive… He did not know how… he did not know how long… just survive. Which, as of right now, seemed to pretty difficult given everything so far. At one point though, Perkisas roared, causing the entire place to shake as he stretched his wings and took off into the sky.

For the moment, Nicko saw a stairwell in front of him and what he thought was supposed to be a way out of here. But seconds before he could reach the door, the Rune Slayer was teleported away to another section of the ruins… where Perkisas himself soon landed right in front of him, gazing down from above him.

“So a little wyrm was sent in order to try and stop me?” The dragon growled, staring down the spellsword. “How pathetic…”

Nicko’s ears twitched and his anger began to rise from that single comment alone. “Oh you are ASKING for it now, you overgrown lizard!!”

“Your insults will only lead to your inevitable demise, you brat!!” Perkisas declared as he swiped a claw in Nicko’s direction and began to lash out at him mercilessly. Casting fireballs to fall down from the sky like meteors as his anger and rage began to boil like a volcano that was about to erupt. “Now taste the fires of hell!!”

All the fireballs were quickly trying to home in on Nicko’s location, causing the spellsword to run, dodge and sometimes maneuver out of the way in order to not get hurt. However, some of the projectiles were too close to almost burning his left arm in the process of dodging out of the way. Unlike his other sets of clothes, which either covered the arms or didn’t, the garbs that the breezies had given him as a gift only covered his right arm and left his other arm exposed. Leading Nicko to try and come up with a different approach against the dragon since going in head first was not going to help him in this situation.

After all, he was up against something that could easily be around the size of Canterlot. Maybe more depending. But his focus was not on that and instead on trying to hold his ground while Perkisas was trying to smother him with a vicious breath of burning flames. The Rune Slayer put his blade up in attempt to guard himself, but the metal of his sword became extremely hot, burning his hands and causing him to drop it on the ground. Leaving him defenseless… but still doing his best to not budge as the flames around him began to burn brighter.

“Pitiful creature!! Do you think you can stand against my flames!?” Perkisas roared to the heavens, not letting up in his ferocity. “Many have tried and all have failed!! You will die like the rest of them!!!” As the dragon continued to breathe it’s fire, what Perkisas did not notice what was channeling around the spellsword as blood red magic was soon unleashed from Nicko. The Rune Slayer’s way of the sword ability had activated, taking form in the Spirit of Destruction that was flowing through him.

“Oh really now?” Nicko smirked, gritting his teeth as he held onto his blade again, pointing it at the dragon. “Your arrogance and overconfidence will lead to your downfall, Perkisas. I will make sure of that.” The dragon lashed out at the Rune Slayer, but Nicko was able to dodge it effortlessly as he countered the attack with one of his own. Where he was able to land a solid hit… and also break off a piece of Perkisas’ right horn as it fell to the ground.

However, breaking their horn was like breaking a bone. One, it was painful. Two, all it did was make Perkisas incredibly pissed. “YOU LITTLE WRETCH!! How dare you strike me!!” It roared, snapping at the Rune Slayer with it’s jaws and just barely missing it’s clothes. Nicko’s response was an explosive fist full of magic straight into the dragon's maw, which upon impact had done significant damage to the dragons face… and angered it even more. With it’s claws only putting mere scratches on the Spellsword, the incarnation of greed planned a different approach as it spread its mighty wings and took off into the darkened sky above his head.

“Damn it… How the hell am I suppose to get him down?!” He questioned himself, looking around desperately for anything that could possibly help him in this instance right now. The castle did not have any cannons or any heavy explosive artillery that he could use, but upon further inspection, he did find something of use as Perkisas was trying to pelt him with fireballs. But in the midst of all this chaos, Nicko was still able to use his magic and runes to arm and prepare a Ballista on the far left corner of the wall. Even though he never had dealt with this kind of weapon before, he was able to aim it by guiding it with his magic… and ultimately fire the oversized bow by hitting it with his blade.

The bolt that was put on the gigantic crossbow almost sent Nicko skidding backwards a few feet, but as it flew in the air, it’s target was unaware of what was coming as it was struck in the wing and impaled itself deeply into the dragon’s wing. “Kuahh! It can't be...!!” The Dragon roared, crashing through the complex that it was originally on… and causing the floor underneath Nicko to crumble away… faster than he could be able to get up and moving.

“Oh Sh-!”

---

Somewhere in the dragon lands, a dragon lord that went by the name Ember was trying to reflect upon some of the important times in Equestrian History that the dragons had to overcome. From what she could remember off of the top of her head, there was the migration, trying to find a home to call their own and the Gauntlet of Fire to determine the next dragon lord… However, there was one thing that had put every one of those events in motion.

Because at one time, the dragons that lived here once had a home. A kingdom to call their own. However, it was soon stolen from them by a selfish dragon whose greed was unlike anything any other dragon had come across. It was the only dragon that was able to single handedly defeat her father in battle and as a consequence of his defeat, every dragon that had once lived in the castle of Zin Dovah were cast out. He was feared throughout the land and his roar could stretch out for miles.

But there was something about today that did not feel right to her… She was unsure what it was, but something within her felt as if today, something was going to change-.

“Kuahh! It can't be...!!”

Immediately after she heard that, Ember was on her claws, grabbing her scepter and racing outside. Wanting to see what was happening as she heard a loud and thunderous clash echo in the distance. When she was finally outside, she now saw something that she could not even comprehend or believe.

That same dragon, the one that took away their home, was toppling from the sky and crashing through the main tower of the city. A sight that she had never thought she would be able to see before in all of her life. Now it was happening right in front of her eyes.

“Ember, what the hell is going on!?” A rather loud voice boomed, causing her to turn around and see the figure that was her father approach the entrance to her cave. “Whatever just happened right now is making all the younglings scared like when the elders told them the story of Perkisas-.” The name of the incarnation of greed itself caused Ember to slowly turn around and have her father Torch see the same thing she was seeing. The one thing that caused him to be just as shocked as every other dragon that was in the dragonlands, who lived long enough to remember the legend of the Incarnation Greed.

“Something… or someone had challenged Perkisas… and he just crashed through the main tower of the city…” Ember told her father, who turned to almost every other dragon that was behind them as she firmly gripped the Bloodstone Scepter that she wielded. “Attention everyone! I need any dragon that is able to assist me right now… Someone or something has crippled the monster named Perkisas and I’m forming a squad to find out who that is. You may stay if you wish, but if any dragon who is willing to lend their assistance, meet me outside the cave as soon as possible!!”

---

Before Nicko could be able to run or even get off of the floor, the Rune Slayer’s weight caused him to fall into the pit that contained all of the dragon’s treasure as he took a hard landing on a pile of gold coins, having him sink underneath the loot as he had to salvage himself out of the pile and look up, only to see the dragon that had also crashed down with him. He originally thought that he had defeated Perkisas… until he remembered something regarding this fight.

In the original Elsword, the raid in it’s entirety was split into three phases. Phase one was what he personally called the Climb, since that phase involved a lot of upward climbing and staying on your feet in order to be able to fight and now get destroyed by the dragon. Phase two was known in game as Fallen Dignity, but what he called the Run due to the large amount of running away from Perkisas. That was the phase that Glave had dropped him in… Now there was one last test.

Phase three… The Nightmare.

“You think YOU CAN DESTROY ME!?!” The dragon roared as it rose off of the floor and stood over the Rune Slayer now. “You are a FOOL for thinking that I could be so easily defeated!!”

“Uhh… To be fair, I never actually thought tha-. WOAH!!” Nicko reacted, moving out of the way just in time to dodge an attack that almost hit his head. “What the HELL is your problem!?” Despite the rhetorical question, the Rune Slayer still got an answer in response as a black cloud began to alter his vision and change everything around him. This was where the Nightmare phase of the trial had begun… and Perkisas himself was in a new form to go with it.

The mad dragon now had a human like form as Nicko readied himself for what came shortly afterwards, hearing a maddening cackle from him as well. “Welcome... This is the final trial given to you by I, the Great Perkisas... Try... And struggle out of your own nightmares!!”

“Well, here goes nothing!” Nicko thought to himself, preparing his blade and casting Critical Sword in preparation for what was going to happen next. In the Nightmare phase, Perkisas not only had a human like form, but multiple new abilities unlike his dragon counterpart. Including a series of Nightmare flames that definitely hurt like hell if you were to get caught in the pillars that spawned from the floor. High mobility classes like Code: Battle Seraph’s and anything that Add could be would take this as child's play, but it wasn’t the same for Nicko because his abilities weren’t focused on movement at all. Instead, they were focused primarily on combat. So when the dragon hybrid began to cast them, Nicko had to do all that he could to move out of the way or his clothes would burn to shreds.

But that was only one trick that his opponent had up his barely even existent sleeves. There were several others that Nicko knew were going to be a pain in the ass to deal with. His melee attacks, known in game as Phantom Edge, could break someone’s guard if they were unlucky enough to get caught in the attack. He could teleport with Shadow Force and deal damage to anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby him when it happens, but Perkisas mostly uses this to set up Royal Javelin, which can cripple someone if they get struck by the javelins he fires and preventing them from fully moving on their own.

The javelin was only one of two projectiles that Perkisas as a boss could cast. The other was Avarice Orb, which if hit, could do the same exact thing that Nicko would normally do to his opponents with his passive ability called Magic Chain and decrease their magical defense. However, Avarice Orb to Nicko was also seen as a flaming windmill of death. Magical Defense is an important trait for Rune Slayers to have if they want to stay alive. Take it away and they become a chew toy for a dragon like Perkisas.

The stronger abilities that Perkisas had though were saved for later in the fight. So for someone like Nicko, what he needed to do was simple. Stay away from Royal Javelin, attack after Phantom Edge since he would be wide open, keep away from the Nightmare Flames and use every ounce of strength and magic he had to fight back against Perkisas. Originally, this sounded impossible… but then again, he needed to pass these trials Glave had set up for him as quickly as he can to prepare himself for what was coming.

Originally, it seemed that everything was going the way Nicko would’ve hoped… However, he had a feeling that something about this whole fight was off. Like Perkisas was trying to lure him into a false sense of security. That was when he noticed his opponent disappear in a cloud of black smoke, appearing at the other end of the room. He expected for him to be launching his Javelins… but instead was greeted by a blazing blue orb of death going towards his face. “Oh SH-!!”

Immediately, he barreled out of the way like Amy was yelling in his head to dodge. But a small bit of the explosion from the orb caught his free arm, burning it a little as he gritted his teeth in order to overcome the pain. Which was a lot harder than it seemed because of the lingering after effects of the ability. It made it harder for Nicko to concentrate when he tried to brush off the pain and focus on fighting Perkisas.

However, the longer the fight went on… the harder it was for him to try and gain the upper hand. The methods used by this Perkisas were not the same as the one that Nicko had faced before in Elsword. But instead, it was using it’s abilities in ways that he didn’t think was possible. It was like it had it’s own level of intelligence to do anything it could to counter what the Rune Slayer had in store. Nevertheless, Nicko was persistent in his attempts to stop him as he watched Perkisas put a hand to his face, laugh menacingly, and teleport to his throne in the back of the room.

“Try to entertain me with your resistance…” The dragon mocked, snapping his fingers and summoning two things. One, a bunch of shadow like clones that looked too similar to the clones in the Temple of Trials. Two, what Nicko’s primary target was in that moment… a Nightmare Crystal. In the original Perkisas raid, destroying a nightmare crystal would take the player out of the nightmare realm and back into the present, while also providing them a chance to attack Perkisas while he was down. The catch though was that it needed to be destroyed within a 60 second time limit. Which meant that Nicko needed to pull out all the stops right now if he needed to get out.

However, the problem was that the shadow like clones were a little more specific this time around and when he looked closer, he just groaned to himself. “Aww come on, why do they have to be of Amy and everyone else?” He sighed, trying to make his way over. However, they were coming at him way too fast. Something that he originally thought was impossible. The doppelgangers were swarming him now as he tried to cast Wind Blade to clear a path, but only was partially successful.

Ten seconds have passed by this time and he was doing all that he could in order to fight. Even going as far as to activate his hyperactive skill, Shining Rune Buster, to clear out all the doppelgangers. But that didn’t last so long. Everytime he destroyed one, two more soon came afterwards. Time was beginning to fade as his chances of getting out of the nightmare now we’re really slim, the spellsword now dropping to one of his knees and trying to hold himself up. But it was in this moment that something was coming back to him now.

Something from his teacher, Ryu. Something that he learned from him, which now carried over to how he would fight now. Something inside of him began to awaken as he held onto his sword with two hands, swung it above his head, and released all the energy that was concealed within him. In Elsword, there was a mechanic in the game called the Awakening system that allowed the player to store charges and release them at a certain time for added strength and power. In fact, the mechanic was primary for any player who played as an Add centered character if they wanted to use their Nasod Armor. However, there was something with Nicko’s this time around that was different and when he released it, Perkisas himself even flinched.

“What the hell-?” While looking at the warrior, the dragon could now see the silhouette of a light blue haired man with weird clothes, a katana, and the same look that the Rune Slayer had on his face now. Leaving him stunned as the dragon saw Nicko perform three skills in rapid succession, with the leftover magic of the first two skills increasing the power of the final one.

Skill number one, Rising Slash. Skill number two, Sword Wave. The final skill, Splash Explosion, with it’s target being the crystal itself as the force of the rune’s detonation caused the crystal to break and shatter on impact. Freeing the Rune Slayer from the nightmare the dragon conjured.

---

In the abandoned halls of the once glorious city of Zin Dovah, Ember and one other dragon named Mina were slowly approaching the lair of the feared dragon that was Perkisas. When Ember had originally asked for any dragon to lend their assistance, most of them feared for their safety and the safety of their family and kin. Only Mina, a young dragoness who lived in a place called Dragontown and had been helping Ember after Spike introduced her to the dragon lord,was brave enough to join her and the two of them were trying to find answers for what Ember had just seen. As they went down the main hall, both of them began to notice bits, jewels, gold coins, and many treasures scattered throughout the room. Tempting as it may be to take one with them, both dragons did not let that distract them. They had come for answers after all, not priceless antiques.

Something though soon caught Mina’s attention as she tried to point out her findings to Ember. “Look, over there!” Ember turned to look in the direction where the dragoness’ claw was pointing to see exactly what she saw earlier… and could not believe she was seeing now.

Perkisas… The mighty incarnation of greed himself, covered in wounds, scars and his right horn was broken along with a ballista bolt in his right wing. Rendering the wing useless and making the dragon unable to fly. It was in a comatose like state, but all his wounds and everything were fresh. “That’s Perkisas for sure… I remember his description from the old stories… But who or what exactly was able to wound him?”

“What do you mean, Miss Ember?” The other dragoness asked.

“My father told me that when the dragons originally tried to defend themselves from him, they were not able to land a single scratch on him.” The Dragon Lord explained, looking down at the Bloodstone Scepter that was in her possession. “If that was so… then what could possibly land that many blows against him?” Her question was soon answered as a shadow like portal opened up, spitting out what she saw as a red haired human as it stood to his feet. Sword in hand and his power flowing around him. Ember was unsure about who it was, but could tell from the blade alone and the fact that some of the scratches and blood on the blade meant that he was the one who was able to harm this beast.

The human looked calm, but soon had to jump back as the dragon roared from it’s previous state, letting out a massive plume of flames that caused both Mina and Ember in their current locations to jump for cover. Followed by the massive beast giving out a menacing laughter. “PFFTHAHAHAHA!!! As I expected… You couldn’t pass the trial!!”

That… puzzled Ember. “Wait, what trial? What is he talking about-?”

“This is the END!!!!!!!” The dragon declared, drawing back to release a powerful breath of fire as it lashed forward, exhaling those flames towards the human. However, she didn’t see him run… but instead get down to his knees and somehow… vanish.

---

Immediately after Nicko was released from the nightmare, he knew exactly what was to come next. Perkisas would try to lash out with one last attack, but Glave would come in and pull him out of there. But… given that this was a trial, he seriously doubted that his displacer would come to rescue him at the last minute. So, he had to think of a plan B and quickly before Perkisas would come at him one last time. He stepped back a little, giving himself positioning as he looked back at the dragon that soon towered over him. Awake from its short slumber.

“PFFTHAHAHAHA!!! As I expected… You couldn’t pass the trial!!” Perkisas roared as it moved it’s head back and prepared to unleash it’s flames towards him. “This is the END!!!!!!!”

“Not today…” The Rune Slayer grinned, placing his hand on the floor as he looked back at the dragon. “I got a surprise for you.”

When he was in Ryu’s world as his student, the Kaiser taught him two very important lessons. One was about innovation, while the other was about chaining things in sequence. Innovation was so he could use his runes for more than just offensive capabilities, while chaining things in sequence (or otherwise known as [Chain]) resulted in the remaining power from one ability transferring over to the next, allowing it to happen two times so that by the third ability, it would be enhanced by the first two. Now though, Nicko was taking it one step further… and combining both of those teachings.

His first move was to use Splash Explosion below his feet, letting the force of the skill propel him high up into the air and allowing him a bird’s eye view over the dragon. Next, he used the same skill again, propelling him forward to place himself on a ledge behind Perkisas, giving him leverage in order to prepare for one final attack. However, he did not need to use a skill for this… he needed speed. He could tell that Perkisas had quick reaction time and that his previous attacks before were too easy for him to predict, so using a skill to have him move faster each time would mean that using it a third time on top of what he had used before… would mean that he would be moving faster than the dragon could react.

There was no time for screw ups… he had to do this. He channeled the skill, releasing it just as Perkisas turned around. But before the dragon could react, Nicko’s blade had already struck the final blow as he landed on the ground and confidently placed Ebalon on his back. The deed was done… and he prevailed.

“Heh… Not so tough now are you?”

All the dragon did was cripple in massive pain as his fire began to die out, growling in defiance as Perkisas’ body began to disintegrate. “...That I would be defeated by a mere human....!!” It was then that it recognized Nicko’s will and strength as it began to fall forward. “I see…” That was when it caught him by surprise. Somehow, it was able to fully launch itself into the air, even with a crippled wing, and charge to the ground after reaching the sky. “Listen worthy one… Try and withstand my final attack…!” For a moment, it had Nicko think that it was trying to do one last thing to harm him with his guard down… but instead, as it landed into the ground and the fire that spawned from it began to rise, the Rune Slayer did not see a corpse of a dragon when the flames died down. Instead, it saw a mighty greatsword shoved into the ground like it was Excaliber.

It was then though that Nicko actually noticed at the corner of his eye, someone else in the room. It was Glave and he was throwing his two cubes that were in his hands up and catching them when they came down. “I’d never thought I see the final moment of Perkisas… Sleep in peace Red King… Although I doubt that peace would be very long…” With it, Glave chuckled to himself, looking at Nicko as he walked up to the blade. “Tempting as this may be though… You won’t be needing a blade like this.”

“What do you mean?” Nicko asked, folding his arms.

“I said that you won’t be needing the blade… However,” He pointed out, the flames from the sword itself rising from the weapon as the metal shell fell to the ground. “Sometimes, it depends on what’s on the inside that counts. The blade is nothing without the power that remains from Perkisas, which can be easily put into your sword now… If I may, of course.”

Nicko had no words to answer Glave, but instead took out Ebalon and held it in front of him, letting the Displacer enchant the weapon as it’s physical form began to change on the outside. The silver metal on the blade was now an onyx black with a single red line tracing down the weapon and the swordguard now took on the form of two dragonwings. The bottom half of the weapon also changed too, the grip of the weapon being a fiery red and comfortable around Nicko’s hands.

“Now… before we continue… you might want to explain what happened to your… guests.” The Spellsword raised an eyebrow at that, but upon turning around, he could see exactly what his displacer meant as Glave disappeared. Now Nicko was looking at two dragonesses, one which held a scepter and was taller than the second one. But both of them had the same exact question for him.

“Who are you?”

The question was simple itself, but Nicko was unsure of how exactly he should answer. When meeting someone for the first time, his autism can affect how he interacts with someone new for the first time. He had originally thought that he would get over it and have it not bother him anymore, but what was going on now proved otherwise. Nevertheless, he had to respond. “I… would ask you the same thing honestly… If you tell me your names, I promise I will tell you mine.”

Both dragons looked at one another, conversing amongst themselves for a moment before responding to the Rune Slayer. “Very well… My name is Ember. I’m the Dragon lord here in the Dragon lands and also the leader of my kind.” The first one replied, followed by the second one coming up a little closer.

“I’m Mina! It’s a pleasure to meet you mister… Whoever you are.” She giggled, extending a claw for him to shake as Nicko put out his own hand in response.

“Well, my name is Nicko and it is a pleasure to meet the two of you… I have a couple of questions though,” He mentioned as he looked at Ember and Mina. “First… what are the Dragon lands… Second, what exactly brought you here?”

“The Dragon lands are our home… However, our home use to be the place we are in now,” Ember sighed. “Many years ago, the dragon lord at the time named Brisingr wanted to have peace with the neighboring kingdoms. However, one thing that he did not know was that there was something lurking underneath this very kingdom that disagreed with his views… and thought that dragonkind itself had gone soft. The being you faced, Perkisas, sent every dragon running in fear and as time passed, the dragon stole every one of the cherished treasures that the dragons held so dear… all except this.”

Nicko then noticed the dragoness motion her head towards the Scepter she was holding as the dragon continued to speak. “Over time though, the story of Perkisas began to fade with time… Now only used as a story to frighten hatchlings… But we still remember. The reason the dragons have migrated and wandered endlessly was because our original home was stolen from us… Now thanks to you, slayer of greed, our kind can finally come home.” He had to admit, being called that was amusing to him. But it wasn’t a title that he would want to be called consecutively.

“I… never knew that this was originally your home… But I’m glad that your kind can finally return here on your own.” He said, adjusting his shoulders as he stretched his fingers and let some mana go through his fingers. This though, surprised the two dragons that were there, even if they saw him use his abilities before.

“Thank you… Say, would you happen to be some kind of Spellcaster, mister Nicko?” The younger dragoness then asked, her curiosity beaming from her as he looked back at her.

“You could say that. However, my job class has me go by a different title,” He explained to them as he held out a small rune in his hand before having it disappear a few seconds later. “I’m a Rune Slayer. Think of it as warrior that knows both sorcery and swordsmanship.”

“Hmm… That sounds familiar… I remember Spike mentioning that in a story he was telling me…” Mina said, scratching her chin before looking back at Ember and having herself be lost in thought. However, it was Nicko who first replied on that topic.

“Wait… you know Spike?”

“Why yes… he is a dear friend of ours along with his equine companions,” Ember replied back since Mina was still in thought. “Do you happen to know them?”

“Yeah, they’re good friends with both my brother and I along with the rest of my friends and family.” The Rune Slayer replied. Now was what he saw as a good chance for him to take some time to tell them the entire story all the way up until now. Ironically, when he was finished, it turned out that Mina was thinking of the same thing… well, all the way up to Nicko’s stone imprisonment. Like with Anson telling the story to Faith, it appeared that Spike had told the story to several other friends in Equestria and the “Tale of the Twins” as it was called had gotten very popular amongst children and young adults.

“Well, that explains all of that…” Ember spoke up, personally unsure whether or not to believe some of the things that the spellsword had said. “Now… what are you going to do now?”

“Now?” He asked, pondering the question in his own head. “Well, I still have to do a couple of things… But there is one thing I would like to ask of you, Lord Ember,” When he said Ember’s title, the spellsword now was trying his best to be formal as he got down on one of his knees. “I would like for you to help Twilight and Spike… and the Princesses back in Equestria. The entire world is on the verge of a crisis like nopony… or no dragon for that matter has seen before. I believe that if we have any chance at all in being able to fight it, then all the races and species of the world, no matter their affiliations, need to stand together. The demons that lurk in the shadows are coming… planning to bring back their forgotten leader… and he wants to take over all of Equus for his own bidding… and we can’t let that happen.” He then took something out of his pocket. An insignia with a rune inscribed on it as he gave it to Ember. “If you show this to Twilight, then she will know that I sent you to her. Help them anyway you can… please.”

Ember took a while to think this over in her mind, but she only had one possible answer. “Very well… I will see how we can lend a claw the best way possible.” With it, Nicko nodded her head, walking away as he disappeared within a small burst of flames.

The Rune Slayer had conquered three trials… He had proven to overcome the wrath of nature, the swift rapids of water and the furious flames of fire… but he still had to finish the other three.

And unfortunately for him… Time was running out.

---

End Log 25

Comments

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Damn, Niko went all badass on that dragon!

[FrostTheWolf]

7373007 You know it... He's not the old Rune Slayer from before