𝓖𝓻𝓲𝓶 𝓒𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓻𝓼

𝟝 - 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕚'𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕟 (𝟙)

   Ferro was proud of himself.

   Not only had he slain a whole squad of bloodthirsty barbarians, he had done so while recovering from his hibernation. Although the world still seemed to be fighting that stupid war, its soldiers were apparently weaker, or he was stronger. And that was good enough for him.

   As he descended toward the nearby city however, the headlines of the newspapers strewn all over the ground kept bothering him. They all read:

"Innocent travelers slaughtered while partying in cave", "Unknown murderer kills 15", or something along those lines. Ferro picked one up and read it. Thank goodness the universal translator chips in his eyes and ears still worked.

   What he saw in the papers chilled him to the bone. The war had apparently ended about a thousand years ago, according to the papers that referenced material from that era, trying to explain why the murder had happened. The "barbarians" that had tried to "kill" him had actually been scared partygoers that he, Ferro, had slaughtered. In cold blood. Ferro felt sick. What had he done? He had to make up for this somehow. He couldn't bring them back to life, and he wasn't going to turn himself in. That wouldn't help the victims and it would prevent him from saving Li'cera. No. That wasn't an option either. 

   What he could do though, was protect the remainder of those families, and provide compensation in other forms.... maybe that would balance out what he had done.... Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ferro knew that would never be enough, and the sins he had committed were irredeemable, but he didn't want to think about it any more.

   Ferro sighed. If he was going give the families money, he needed a job, and as far as the locals were concerned, he hadn't received an education anywhere in Cier. And it wasn't like he was they were going to believe him if he told them he had gotten his education at a prestigious school a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.

   And so began Ferro's search for a job that paid enough to compensate for the damage he had caused. This brought him to a region of Cier known as Raiterra Valley, a land of storms and thunder, rain and lightning. 

   Ferro's boots squelched as he slowly made his way along the dreary streets. The streetlamps flickered and the rain pelted down with an intensity he hadn't known such little drops of water could possess. Ferro's stomach growled loudly. Who knew it would be so hard to get a job on this god forsaken planet? Then a poster caught his eye. The painted eyes of a ferocious looking boar seemed to stare at him. They were going to pay him a large amount of money if he killed one puny mammal. 

   Ferro smirked. This was going to be a breeze. He'd take care of that tomorrow. Right now, he needed somewhere to sleep. After scouring the streets for hours, Ferro only found a single small soggy cardboard box that didn't really stop the rain, but it was better than nothing. Dreaming about the large bounty and the riches that would follow, along with the guilt he would be able to fight off, Ferro fell asleep on the wet streets of Raiterra valley.

   It was still raining when morning came, but now it was but a light drizzle. Ferro walked toward the ominous jungle that was the supposed habitat of the boar. The poster called it Raiterra Forest.

'Such a creative name.' Ferro thought as he let out a small laugh.

   That laugh soon faded as Ferro hacked his way through the dense vegetation. The jungle was disgusting. It smelled, and the insects seemed to be intent on sucking out all his blood and turning him into a shriveled blue raisin or something. He now realized why the bounty had been so large. Creating a transparent aluminum bubble, he floated above the forest floor with relative ease. Sure it used up some of his metal summoning limit but this was a pig he was killing. 

   After a few more hours of searching, Ferro wandered into a small clearing. A clear turquoise pond stretching across its entirety. And smack in the middle of it, was a gigantic boar. Grinning, Ferro stepped out of his bubble and got ready for battle. Ferro was about to crush the boar with a block of iron the size of a trailer truck when he saw a teenage-looking figure underneath it. The hunk of metal unraveled into many separate threads, tying up Ferro's bounty. Brandishing a cleaver,  he walked up to the animal and sliced a few arteries. The boar stopped struggling and went limp. After heaving the boar off of the person, he took a closer look at the young man lying on the ground and stumbled backwards, shocked.

   On his chest was a badge bearing a crest Ferro knew all too well. It was the Crest of the Aspects, the inhabitants of Li'cera.