Manifest War: The Weapons Within

Sarah slowly exhaled and the air pressure around the tip of her bow began to compress and build up. Wind energy started to form on the bow as she pulled the string back further and further. The whole area around them became extremely gusty and warm, as though a storm was about to roll in.

As she gathered as much energy as she could, the bandit leader began to fight back against Carmen’s gravity force, slowly standing up with veins popping out of every area of his body.

“Any day now Sarah! I can’t hold him much longer!!” Carmen yelled, struggling to maintain her power over the almost fully standing muscle head.

Then, with a large huff, Sarah breathed in, holding her breath with great intention. She aimed the glowing bow at the man, causing teal-colored circles to form near her eye like an ethereal scope.

As her prep finished, she released the string and with what could only be described as the force of a railgun, the arrow fired from her bow with tremendous force. The release alone collapsed the ground underneath her while the arrow cut through the air with impressive speed. The piercing sound of the arrow was incredibly loud as it roared toward its target, destroying everything in its path with near zero resistance.

Carmen stopped her ability as she leapt out of the way in just the knick of time, trying her best to not get clipped by this violent attack. The arrow connected with the man and a massive teal-colored explosion occurred, wiping out half of the camp and some of the trees in the surrounding area.

It was as though the very air itself gained a physical form as highly compressed oxygen rapidly swirled around. The ground shook with an unending intensity, feeling like a powerful earthquake that rippled across the terrain.

When the dust settled, Carmen looked up and saw the destruction all around her. The bandit leader was nowhere to be seen, as he was completely blown off the map.

“Such destructive power…. So that’s the strength of a manifest.” Carmen remarked to herself, dumbfounded by what Sarah had just done.

Sarah was now down on one knee, bow in hand, and panting heavily as she was completely out of breath. This one attack took every bit of Sarah’s Core Energy and now she was exhausted. Rivell helped her stand before they walked over to Carmen.

“Are you guys alright?” Carmen asked, getting to her feet as well.

“Yeah, we should be fine now. I think they’re down for the count.” Sarah replied, pointing at the unconscious bandits strewn about the camp.

Sarah changed the subject and asked them why they were there, still not understanding how they found her.

“We were gathering some herbs for someone when we heard the commotion at this camp. Luckily, we came when we did, otherwise you probably wouldn’t be alive anymore.”

“What were you doing here, Sarah?” Rivell curiously asked, flipping the script onto her.

“I was following one of the bandits here. He had some people chained up behind him and after tailing them for a while, they led me here. Figured he might be linked to the disappearance of Mr.Torpe’s grandson… I saw him take the people underground over in that direction.”

Sarah pointed off in the distance towards a clearing in the middle of the camp. They went over to the spot that Sarah mentioned and on the ground was a little wooden door. Carmen opened it and the trio saw a long set of stairs leading down to an underground passage.

“Well… Let’s go shall we?” Sarah said, taking her first few steps down into the dark. As the group made their way down, a foul stench hit them in the face.

“Oof, what's that smell??”

Carmen pinched her nose, trying her best to quell the terrible fragrance.

“I’m not sure, it smells like body odor or something. Let’s keep moving though.” Sarah responded, also taken aback by the sharp smell assaulting their noses.

They rounded the corner of the underground passage and saw a bunch of unkept prison cells. Carmen grabbed a nearby lantern and held it up to the cells, revealing a large amount of people huddled inside them with frightened expressions. Women, men, and children of all ages decorated the dusty floors. There had to of been at least fifty people down here.

“Woah, where did all these people come from?” Rivell asked with great concern.

The group had unknowingly happened upon a camp that was heavily involved with human trafficking. Each of these prisoners were being prepped to be shipped off to various buyers around Resotera. The men and children to become slaves and able bodied women to become prostitutes.

“Those bastards! How could they do this to these people!?” She yelled with great frustration, clenching her first tightly as she saw these innocent people cowering inside of the cells.

“They really have no sense of compassion, treating others like cattle...”

Carmen shook her head as she picked up a notebook filled with lists of people. Rivell glanced over her shoulder and grew curious about something written on the documents.

“It says they were to be shipped to Dead Haven tomorrow night. What is Dead Haven?” Rivell questioned, having never heard of it before.

“Not sure, but we need to get these good people out of here before more bandits show up.”

The group quickly worked to free all the prisoners, blowing the locks off of the cells with their skills. As everyone got freed, Carmen guided them to the stairs that lead to the exit up above. Once the last of the prisoners went to the surface, Rivell looked around at all the people standing there with lost expressions.

“We should really get the Cable Village guard out here. They would be able to handle this better, I think.”

Carmen agreed with Rivell and turned her attention over to Sarah. They decided to quickly head to town, informing them of the situation. Rivell stayed behind, tending to people’s injuries if they had any.

Carmen and Sarah arrived at Cable Village in record time and told the guards of the situation, not leaving a single detail out. The guards immediately gathered their troops and mobilized a rescue operation, not wasting any time.

The guards fortunately entered the camp after a short time and all the captured citizens were happy to see them show up, relieved to finally leave this cursed place. They all showed graciousness towards their three saviors, thanking them for their bravery. After accepting all the gratitude and fully debriefing the guards of what happened at the camp, the trio began to gather together.

“Man, that was wild huh? I had no idea you had moves like that Carmen. Looked like a bird out there.” Sarah said with a chuckle, commending Carmen on her impressive show of combat skills.

“Told you I could handle my own. I don’t need to be fully awakened to fight idiots like these.” Carmen quipped back, arms folded with her nose turned up.

Sarah agreed and apologized for underestimating her. As the conversation continued, Sarah looked over and noticed a little boy getting into one of the carriages that the guards brought along. She ran towards it and frantically asked him a question.

“Are you Mr. Torpe’s grandson?!?”

The little boy looked at her with slight confusion before nodding his head yes. With a huge sigh of relief, she began to tear up a bit.

“Awesome. Great! So glad you’re safe!” Sarah said with a tear filled smile.

The carriage set off, heading back to the village with everyone accounted for. Carmen and Rivell comforted Sarah, telling her she did good and accomplished what she said she would. Sarah was very grateful to hear these words, feeling like a huge weight had come off her shoulders. She thanked them and the trio headed back to Cable Village together.

The next morning, Carmen and Rivell checked out of the inn and looked at their map, wondering where to travel next. Stumped on where to go, they heard a familiar voice aimed at them in the tavern.

“How about the Lake of Oth? That’s where I’m headed next.” Sarah offered with a smile.

“It’s kind of far, but I’ve heard that the views out there are among the best in all of Olun. It’s a big tourist location too, so we could probably meet some new people.”

Carmen and Rivell found the location on the map and took a brief moment to think it over. They eventually agreed and Carmen turned her head towards Sarah.

“You sure you want to be slowed down by an unawakened and her healing buddy?” Carmen sarcastically remarked, recalling the words said by Sarah just the other day.

“Hey, I’m sorry about that. Water under the bridge, right? Of course I’d like to travel with you folks!”

Sarah nervously laughed, regretting her prior comments.

The group shared a laugh and started to head out of the inn, making their way towards the Village exit. Just after they dropped off the Grisithia leaves with the elderly lady, Sarah noticed some people walking up to them. It was Mr. Torpe and the little boy that got rescued the previous day.

“I just wanted to thank you for bringing the boy home. I am truly grateful to you!” Mr.Torpe said, beginning to shed some tears through his kind smile.

“Of course! Just doing my job sir. Happy to have been of help.”

Sarah pat Mr. Torpe on the shoulder as she returned his smile.

They said their goodbyes and the group left Cable Village, ready for the next leg of their journey. As they were walking along the path to their next destination, Carmen began to feel a bit curious about something.

“Hey Sarah, sorry if this is a bad question, but… Why do you hate nobility and royals so much?” She asked softly, not wanting to rile her up.

Sarah was a little caught off guard by the question, but after a brief silence she started to tell them a lengthy story about her past.

Sarah Lichen was the daughter of a poor commoner family in the Empire of Arista. Arista was just south of Volaire and was a vile nation that fed on the weak and less fortunate. The Empress of Arista ruled with an iron fist and had done very little for her lower class citizens, seeing them as not worth her time.

If you weren't of a high status or had incredible ability, you were nothing more than the dirt on the ground to her. Sarah’s father and mother would do odd jobs throughout the Empire just to make ends meet, barely affording basic commodities.

As commoners, they didn’t have the luxuries of most people in Arista. Instead, they were heavily taxed and looked down upon, especially since no one in their family had abilities significant enough for anyone to notice. Sarah however, was the first in her family to show potential with her skills and have a strong resonance with the Core of Alaira.

She had made it her mission to become a Vesta and make a name for herself with the strength she had. Doing so could grant her enough notoriety and money to get her family out of the Arista slums and into a more comfortable living situation. After seeing the abuse her family endured by all the nobles there, she despised them with every fiber of her being.

“If they don’t care about us or want to help, why should I care about them? While they look down from their big expensive castles, drinking their wine and laughing, we're down here suffering and struggling. I want nothing to do with them.” Sarah said, beginning to feel annoyed by the retelling of her story. Carmen cautiously nodded her head.

“Yeah… I can see why your hatred runs so deep. No family should have to go through that.”

“Yup, my family has gone through enough. If those privileged bastards wont assist us, I’ll just have to do it myself... But hey, at least us common folk have each other’s back right?” Sarah responded with a smile.

Carmen awkwardly smiled back and began to feel uneasy, knowing that she was the furthest thing from a commoner. Carmen was hoping that the conversation would switch up, but Sarah posed a few questions to her and Rivell.

“So what about you guys? Where are you all from?” She asked, patiently awaiting an answer.

Rivell told her about his time in Siestro and what the culture was like out there, word vomiting his experiences like it would be the last conversation he ever had.

“Ah, I see…. That. Was a lot. Uh, what about you Carmen?” Sarah said, stopping Rivell’s long story about Siestian culture.

“Umm. I’m from Volaire and my family owns a sheep shop. Nothing too, uh, special.” Carmen hesitantly responded, not going into too much detail.

“Got any siblings? I’ve got a little brother.” Sarah asked.

“Uhhh, ahem, yeah. I’ve got a few older sisters.”

Sweat slowly trickled down Carmen’s face as she didn’t want to accidentally reveal too much information.

“Oh nice! I bet they’re strong too, considering your abilities in a fight.”

“Yep... Pretty strong.. They can definitely hold their own. Hey, uh can we talk about something else now?”

Carmen's nervousness reached incredible heights, knowing that she was withholding the fact that three of her sisters were stupidly strong.

"Why're you so nervous all of a sudden?? I'm just making conversation, ya weirdo."

Sarah chuckled as she noticed the bead of sweat drip from Carmen's forehead. Carmen continued to laugh nervously, not giving much of an answer. As Sarah glanced over, she noticed a glint of light shine from Carmen.

“Oh Cool, is that necklace you have on a gift from one of them? I noticed you’ve been wearing it since that day in the tavern.” She questioned, taking interest in the little silver cube dangling from Carmen’s neck.

“What, this? Yeah, I got it as a birthday gift from them. I try to keep it as close as possible...”

Carmen admired it briefly before tucking it underneath her shirt, not revealing its true purpose. Thanks to this necklace, her travel companions still had no idea of her true identity.

The conversation eventually flowed to other topics and before they knew it, night time was creeping up on them. They set up camp and began to rest, regaining strength for the next day as the stars shined upon them.