Galloping though the broken streets of the southern Vakshir, Lucian's dark horse slowed it's pace as it approached a stone built cottage.
It looked a bit odd as it was the only building in the southern part that had stone slabs for walls and wooden planks to support it's rusty zinc, although a bit small it was enough for a family of four to live in comfortably.
He dismounted the steed and hung it's reigns on an iron pole before walking to the house, he knocked but realized no one was home so he let himself in.
Removing his dusty sandals at the doorstep he went in, it was dimly lit needless he could clearly see, he took of his trench coat and collapsed on a chair.
He wasn't exhausted no, he was demoralized, for some reason a melancholic aura hung above him, thoughts of what was about to come tore through his soul.
* Sigh *, he raised his face to look at the ceiling, ' It's just anxiety of work ' he said to himself getting up, ever since he was fifteen he was tossed the burden of providing for a family.
It wasn't due to obligation or formal agreement but due to sacrifice, the sacrifice he made himself carry, a sacrifice that wasn't even supposed to be his, a sacrifice he owed to people that weren't even related to him.
During his younger days when he was forced to train and isolate himself from everything a child his age supposed to have, until he was driven, driven by the killings force that haunted children, Curiosity.
Escaping the tall walls that imprisoned him he ran into the outside world, a world he wasn't prepared for, in the process he stumbled upon beings which nearly rid him of his life.
That when Myra appeared.
Lying on his soon to be dead spot with all sort of calamities rushing over him she arrived, like the angel of mercy she arrived and saved him for certain death.
She gave him a second chance at life despite being not a year older than him.
When he escaped from his prison he was thrown into the streets to survive, things became hard for him and he had to sort for refuge with Myra's incomplete family.
A family now evolved into his own.
Everything was going smoothly for them until Myra's mother succumbed to a grievous plague and sadly passed away.
Lucian now armed with they way's of the streets and the ways of survival, carried the burden of taking care of Myra and her little brother Vincent.
They didn't leave it all for him though but he carried most of the problems money could solve on his seventeen year old mind.
Anyway he couldn't complain, fate always chose it's favorites, returning home was just to grab his equipment and he out for the dungeon raid, stretching his stiff limbs he got up.
He walked over to a cabinet that stood over the parlor's wall, moving it with relative ease he tapped on a lose row of planks on the wooden floor and careful pulled the long planks out of the floor reveling a deep dark space.
He tied a long string to the cabinet and tied it on his index finger, climbing into the space which covered him entirely he reached out for the row of planks and covered the false floor.
This was were the string came to play, gently dragging it caused the cabinet to revert to it's original position, with that Lucian had entered his secret lair.
He turned around scrutinizing the area as if checking if anyone had been here, but it was in the position he left it previously so he carried on his business.
Although it was as dark as hell, yet he saw clearly, as it turns out it was his arsenal and held a good amount of various weapons mostly blades, brutal heavy weaponry and projectile shooting weapons.
This was just a little raid so he walked up to a one and a half meter long obsidian coloured blade, it was leaned on the wall with it's scabbard besides it just like every other weapon, except those that were hung to the wall.
He sheathed the obsidian coloured blade and strapped it to his back and shoulder, with that he walked closer to the wall which he kept no weapon and felt it's rough surface till he spotted a false brick.
Gently pressing it slowly opened the stone wall which lead to a passage of water and he jogged through it until he arrived at an open field.
" Ahh, Now your late " Gabriel said waiting for his arrival by sharpening his blade, Dalek also stood by covered by a strange metallic armour, it didn't cover his head and stuck closely to the boy's skin acting like a second skin.
It even covered his joints but didn't limit his movement in the slightest, " Where are your horses " Lucian asked, " It's trek able " Gabriel said walking into the settlement.
His cohort shrugged and followed him, walking in the streets was something that Lucian despised, the citizens of this settlements were quite the gossips.
They were quite a troublesome bunch so Lucian preferred running through rooftops, but that was when he goes for his collector business.
Walking around in swords expelled the fact that you were a hunter, a raider, a templar, a rebel or a bad person, since they had been on raiding missions before they were well known.
But Lucian had quite a bad reputation that he'd rather not talk about so he was receiving some stares he ignored, but this continued until he could hear their mumblings.
He bared through all that until they arrived at an old recently abandoned farmhouse, " Okay, Lead us to that vile dungeon " Dalek said flexing his shinning armour.
" Well it isn't your regular portal dungeon, it's a border bridge " Lucian explained, Gabriel glanced at him in shock, he hadn't explained that the portal was right infront of them but Lucian already knew.
" Am just a close observer " Lucian said noticing the intence gaze.
At the background of the farm house was a grassy field, if close inspection was exacted one would notice ripples traveling through the atmosphere as if a force field.
" A fuckin Border Bridge, bomboclaat, that could take years to clear, that's another frickin realm were talking about " Dalek panicked, but his mates looked calm and chill as if it was no biggie.
*********
[ Name : Lucian Azen Zane ]
[ Race : Personified Tribrid ]
[ Form : Embodied Immortal ]
[ Transformation : None ]
[ Status : Growing Aspirant ]
[ Embodiments : Trinity Visional { Light, Darkness, Shadow } ]
[ Techniques : Primordial Enhancement, Energy Turbulence, Photographic Memory, Eidetic Kinesthesia ]
********
' Still no improvement huh ' Lucian thought to himself staring at the holographic screen directly in his view, This was the ' Demo System ', a lower version of the main system.
A holographic screen that haunted him for years, giving him very little insight on what he truly was, he needed answers but to get that he would have to get stronger.
" Forward We Raid, Mission Kill and Plunder every valuable thing and finally, Kill the dungeon boss or would I say the Border boss " Gabriel said unsheathing his blade.
Noticing the calmness of his comrades Dalek surged forward, " Anyone who kills highest gets most of the loot and a free lunch on the house " he shouted crossing the border with inhumane bravery.
Gabriel and Lucian looking at each other, lighting crackled around Gabriel's feet and light blessed Lucian's, with a nood they both disappeared into the Dungeon.
And into a Nightmare.