Magical Heritage

26:Recruiting.

The group arrived on earth, it was still corrupted, having the huge tree that was in place of the once thriving kingdom. The towers were still active for anyone that would want to ascend, or descend back to earth. "I thought after we killed Oni this thing would disappear," Static said as he looked around. The sun was still out. "Well... That's not how it works. Corrupted energy takes a hella long time to fade, or if there's enough it doesn't fade at all." Emopa said as he looked around as well. It seemed barren. However, there were footsteps in the distance that were steadily getting louder. "No way... Survivors?" A voice called out as the group turned around. There was a man, with somewhat dark skin, a bit of a beard, short black, green eyes, and a bit of an accent too. "Who are you?" Vatel asked as the man laughed a little, he was shirtless and had a tattoo that read Sun Apostle on his chest. "Hugo Sol. I've been in this hellhole for 6 years." He was Hispanic. "Well, we have a question. Would you like to leave this place and join us? Just know the adventures won't be easy and there will be a ton of hardships through and through."

Hugo didn't even take a second to respond "Of course." Emopa seemed surprised but chuckled. "Alright then." The group then made their way to a nearby tower. The roar of the beam shooting into the sky was almost deafening. They had to use the towers since none of them had access to use portals. They all then entered the portal and ended up in a forest. A dense one at that. It was so thick that light barely made its way through the leaves. The crew however felt a little different, since this world was different in terms of the amount of mana that was in the world. Not only that, the composition seemed different as well, there was more oxygen. So their bodies had to change. Vatel, Sorra, Fox, Amy, Ruek, Hugo, and Ulrich became high humans. Emopa became a Undead King, which was an ascended version of Lich, Static became a demon, and Mareth remained a Verger. "Alright... Time to find our next recruits." They all began walking north, however, there was rustling in the trees. Then someone yelled, "DUCK!" Everyone immediately ducked and a bunch of trees were cut clean.

They dodged from the falling trees and saw some sort of beast. It resembled a wolf, but it was way larger than a normal wolf. Not only that it was made out of stone. It let out a roar, but before anyone could attack it, an arrow shot right through its head and an archer fell from the trees. It was a dark elf too. He was pretty tall, about 6'6, and he had long black hair in a ponytail, and gray eyes. "You guys should be careful, we're in spirit territory, earth, and nature spirit to be specific." He said as they all stared. Sorra walked up to him, looking up at him. "Hi! What's your name?" The elf sighed. "Tuku Huoa." Sorra clapped her hands. "Awesome! Wanna join our quad?" Tuku thought for a moment before nodding. "However, I'd have to tell my masters. Come." He signaled the crew to follow them. As they were walking, Static had a question. "So, how's this group gonna work? It's gonna be quite hard with this many people." Emopa then chimed in. "We're all one group but we're each leaders of our divisions, understand?"

Static shook his head. "Okay, so like how I recruited Hugo, he is now the captain of my division and will head to me if he wants anything. Sorra is the leader of her division, but the captain of her division is Tuku." Tuku eventually arrived at a field with a giant tree in the middle, there, two females were sitting on the ground, talking to each other. "Master!" He said to the earth spirit as he ran up to her. "I have finally found a group I can be with... They seem like strong individuals as well." The spirits looked up at him, the earth spirit sighing. "Okay, just be safe, okay?" The nature spirit looked at Static and tilted her head. "I see you've managed to tame a demon..." Static seemed slightly offended but decided to stay quiet. Deciding it wasn't worth it. The earth spirit then spoke up. "You all must be careful y'know. People from the old world weren't prepared enough. Most people only got by on pure strength, speed, durability, and stuff like that. I'll tell you now, however, abilities from here on out start to get more complex, meaning you'll also have to develop complexity."

Ulrich nodded and Tuku waved bye to his master as they continued to walk north. As they walked, they came across some ruins. They looked recently destroyed too. As Static looked around, he saw two figures. One leaning against a pillar and the other standing on top of one. They seemed like twins, nothing looking to be about 17 or 18. "Hey, hey hey! Yami, it looks like a group of mercenaries came to kill us!" The one on the left said as he smiled wickedly. "Oh yeah! Do you think they're strong, Kami?" They both had black hair, medium length. Yami had his in a ponytail and Kami had his out. They were both dark skin with green eyes, however, to set them apart, Yami had a marking on his left wrist, while Kami had a marking that resembled a ritual circle on his right eye. Static, walked forward with a smile. "Don't worry! We're not here to fight! Only here to recruit! Care to be under me? We're gathering numbers." The two looked at each other before laughing. "You hear this guy?! Okay... We'll join, after you defeat us... Both." They stared at the group, grinning.

Emopa closed his eyes and met Oni in his consciousness. The world seemed different like they were standing on clouds, except they were pitch black and it was raining upside down. "Oni... Two things. First, make this version of my blade the sealed version. I want 3 forms to unseal from. The first one is a halberd, the second one is a katana, and the third is a spear. Each time I unseal the abilities will be different, and I can split them apart, so I may use two unsealed weapons at once. This'll work since there are two of you. Make it so I am also able to duplicate said sealed weapons with a maximum quantity of two. Each time I unseal, grant me speed, durability, everything. Regardless of whether my body can handle it or not." Oni then grinned. "What do I get out of this? You have one normal me and I'm the corrupted. So what's in it for us?" Emopa then responded, "I will allow your corrupted energy and mana to flow through me. I know there are multiple systems of power in this existence, but, energy and mana are the only two I know of."

"And?" Oni asked, wanting more out of this deal. "I'll let you influence me, regardless of whether it makes me insane or not. As for the normal Oni, you are to not interfere with him. What you'll get out of this is the ability to utilize most of my magic. While Corrupted Oni will utilize more of my techniques and abilities of my weapons. Do we have a deal?" Corrupted Oni grinned and offered his hand. "Deal." The three of them shook hands and therefore, the bind was made. "Should any of us go against the vow, our souls will be destroyed," Oni said as he chuckled. "I thought you wanted to be a swordsman." Emopa shook his head. "A master of weapons. I've already mastered the katana as far as I know." Oni laughed. "Your swordsmanship is sloppy, don't confuse big attacks and being able to cut anything as swordsmanship, boy." Emopa stayed silent. "What was your second request?" Emopa then sighed. "Those two. How strong are they?" Oni took a look through Emopa's view and chuckled. "They're good... Very good." He said as the two siblings began to walk towards them. "Ready? You all better prove yourselves."