The Tale of the 4 Brothers: Ch4

[Orchids_Mantis]

I couldn't resist posting them...I don't know why, really -probably because I am eager to see if it goes over as well as the previous book (and because it took me FOREVER to write -I'm bad at writing motivational speech lines, as you may have been able to tell).

Anyways, here's another teaser-look into Book 2 of the tale of the 4 Brothers (and the start of Chapter five).

[Orchids_Mantis]

Book 2: He Liu’s Story
Chapter IV: The Ambitions of King Slime



He Liu sat under the falling water from the fountain of Rumen’s square and meditated. A few passing adventurers mocked him –making sly comments about how much he must stink to need to take a shower that badly, or making rude assertions that his hair was green for a reason; a few others asked him why he was doing it, some others –mostly hyper girls- decided it looked like fun so they ran around in the fountain splashing each other as well as passers by, but most did not pay him much heed. He sat under the falling water, feeling the water’s flow, carrying the feeling of the flow into his own body and sensing the different energies flowing within him. “There’s the flow for light,” he thought to himself, “There’s lightning, and darkness. There’s earth and wind…and water.” He continued searching for the last elemental pool. “Where is it? Come on, I know it’s here!” He shouted in his mind. The feeling became distorted, the flows became more distant. “Whoa, easy, Liu,” he said to himself, “Don’t lose focus, don’t get emotional. The element is here, just follow the flows and you will find it.” The feeling grew stronger again, the flows becoming more visible to his mind’s eye. He followed one flow, as he followed it, he past a warm section. “That’s it!” he thought. He switched to a flow which moved in another direction, and felt it growing warm again. He found the channel that led to the pool of fire energy. “That’s them,” he thought, “All seven elements.” He spent some time looking between them, moving from focusing on one elemental circuit to another –training so he’d be able to locate them faster in battle. “Now for the hard part,” he thought as he focused on the fire energy again.

He backed out until he could see the whole of the fire network –the channels and all its pools. Next, continuing to sense the fire, he expanded his mind’s search and allowed the cooling flow of water to enter. He mapped out the network of water’s channels and pools, sometimes running with fire, sometimes running counter. He continued until he saw six of the networks –all but lightning. His head was growing sore, his eyes hurt and his mind felt on the verge of exploding. He tried to calm himself, to breathe deep and slow while focusing just a little more; but the pain was too great, and the training was too exhaustive to his mind.

His view of the fire network began to dim. Panicking, he focused more on fire to bring the sharpness back, causing water and wind to dim instead. Liu focused on fire and wind, then water, but now the other three dimmed. He struggled to keep them in his view, but it was too late at this point, and he knew it. He lost control over sensing the different energy networks; they jumbled together into a tangle of pools and channels indiscernible to his mind. The map he’d drawn faded and zoomed out into a far region of the mind as it faded; and he suddenly became aware of everything physical around him again: back to square one, simply feeling the water flowing down his body. He opened his eyes and looked at the clock tower near the docks; he’d been training his mind to find the elemental pools and channels for almost six hours now –and that was just today. He Liu had been training like this for almost a week. He had gotten good at sensing the networks fast, and great at targeting one or two networks –and even tapping into them for attacks. His ability to effectively use Magic Missile, Ice Bolt and his latest spell, Fire Bolt, had increased dramatically –most mages his level still took a while to use fire and ice, because they had trouble sensing the different elemental channels quickly, whereas Liu was now able to sense all seven of them within seconds (albeit one at a time).

“I suppose this may be a good time for me to take a break,” he said to himself. Behind him, two archer girls and a cleric girl ran through the water laughing and splashing each other. Liu got to his feet and walked out of the fountain and stepped onto the ground. He looked at his soaked robes and waterlogged shoes, “Maybe six hours is a bit long for one go,” he thought. He walked forward, his shoes squishing with each step as his clothes left a watery trail across the stone road; as the wind picked up a bit he felt a sudden chill, and he fervently wished there was a spell he could use to dry off quickly. Lacking such ability, he figured he’d best just decide where he wanted to go next.

Having no quests, and feeling that he was done training for the day, He Liu decided to go visit his brothers for the remainder of the day. He walked to the edge of Rumen, the laughter of the girls in the pool –the initial three having been joined by a few more- growing faint as he walked over toward the woods. It had been two days since he last went to visit his brothers, they would probably be glad to see him -though he did not really bring any interesting tales of difficult fights against powerful enemies.



He was more exhausted than he realized. He only talked for an hour with his brothers before becoming tired. His fatigue seemed to increase exponentially by the minute after that; he barely made it to his bed before he collapsed –asleep literally before he hit the mattress. He slept for over ten hours; it was midday before he returned to Rumen’s square. As he came within view of the fountain, he saw a large mob of people surrounding the town chief, Rumenous, shouting angrily. He Liu looked around, noticing for the first time that several of the buildings in Rumen –including the clock tower- seemed to have been damaged. He walked a little farther, then stopped to talk to a fighter that was browsing the nearby vendors. “What happened here?” He Liu asked the fighter, “Why are all these buildings damaged?” The fighter girl looked up, “You really don’t know?” He Liu shook his head, “I left yesterday around noon to go see my brothers some distance from here. I just got now got back.” “You are very lucky, then,” the girl answered, “Rumen was attacked again yesterday.” She paused for a moment, “It started off like the last attack, waves of Slime and Mushroom came down the forest path and were met by adventurers from Rumen. Like last time, reinforcements from Elderine arrived to assist; but apparently this had been anticipated. Waves of stronger enemies –Warrior Boars, Brave Honeying, even Gold and Silver Slimes came and pushed back the reinforcements.”

He Liu’s eyes widened as she talked. It was unbelievable that Rumen would be attacked again –even more unbelievable was the thought that adventurers from Elderine would be overrun. The fighter girl continued, “The enemy army entered the city and began attacking the buildings, and any enemy that could get past the fighters from Rumen attacked the townsfolk –fortunately Ruby, Zach and James were assisting in the evacuation behind Rumen’s forces, they were able to assist villagers that were attacked. They had pushed all the way up to Smith James’ shop before more reinforcements arrived –apparently no one in Elderine believed that the first set of reinforcements had been overpowered at first; one of the adventurers from the defeated party had to go to Elderine himself to recruit more help.” The fighter girl shook her head, “The people of Rumen are all angry at the town chief because of the attacks –even though there was little he could do about them. Now they’re all down there yelling at him, demanding he do something about it.” He Liu was uncertain of what to say. This news was incredible, “Maybe I should go talk to Rumenous after this,” he thought. Regaining his composure, he thanked the girl for telling him and moved back towards the square. The mob was still there, still shouting at Rumenous, so Liu decided to wait until the mob died down to talk to him.



It was another few hours before the town chief was able to calm down the last of the mob and send them away. He Liu looked up as the last two people walked off –obviously discontent, but still calmer than they had been. “Rumenous,” He Liu tried to get his attention, “What’s wrong?” “Huh? Oh, it’s you, He Liu,” the town chief answered, “We were attacked again by minions of the King Slime.” “King Slime? What’s that?” He Liu asked. “King Slime is a powerful slime that lives atop a large mountain –which he declared his kingdom some time ago,” Rumenous explained, “It seems that he’s decided his mountain is no longer an ideal place for his capital, and he has set his sights on Rumen. He has begun to raise an army to push out the inhabitants of Rumen, and over the last few weeks, he has been sending waves of his army out to judge the power of our defenses, as well as the strength of his army.” Rumenous looked up, as though thinking, “After that last attack, he’s probably more than prepared to finish his preparations and launch an attack to crush Rumen before help can arrive.” “Why don’t we just ask for guards or adventurers from Sand Hill or Uruga to be stationed here?” He Liu asked. “All the towns are under threat from monsters, He Liu,” Rumenous answered sadly, “Sand Hill is under-defended as it is; their main defense is the corridor that the monsters have to push through to get into the resting area –which makes it easier to defend with fewer people. Uruga is constantly threatened by orc armies, so no guards or adventurers would volunteer to station themselves here, as that would severely weaken the defenses of that town.” “What about Elderine, then?” Rumenous gave a light chuckle, “Elderine has a large wall around it for a reason, young mage…not simply because it looks pretty,” came the reply, “No. Rumen’s hope lies in the adventurers of Rumen itself. If we wait here for the King Slime’s army to attack, we are finished; the last battle proved that.”

[Orchids_Mantis]

Book 2: He Liu’s Story
Chapter IV: The Ambitions of King Slime


“So what will we do, then?” He Liu asked. “I’ve been talking with Zach, Julia, James and Ruby. We all agree that a pre-emptive attack on King Slime’s army, if strong enough, might change King Slime’s mind –perhaps even topple the King Slime itself.” He Liu looked up in surprise, “An attack? Are you certain?” “No, we aren’t,” Rumenous answered, “But in terms of strategy, it makes sense. All the King Slime’s preparation has been for an offensive at Rumen. A defensive in his own territory is not likely to be expected now –we’re supposed to be licking our wounds and making our own defensive plans. He thinks that our adventurers are weak, he thinks he can come in here and take over our town. He thinks all we can do is run. He thinks his land is invincible; but it is in his land that we will fight next.” Rumenous’ eyes and expression both darkened visibly, “And it is in there that we will show him what happens to Slimes when they attack us.” Rumenous looked down at He Liu, “I have another meeting now.” He began to walk away, then stopped and turned back. “He Liu,” he called. Liu looked over, “Hm?” “When our preparations are complete, can we call on you to be part of the invasion?” He Liu looked around at the buildings, at the scars and char marks on their walls and holes in the roofs. He looked back at Rumenous and curled up his arm, holding his fist out in front of him, “You bet!” Rumenous nodded, then turned and walked away.

Unsure of what to do next, He Liu decided to go to the hunting grounds in the Forest of Mist. On his way out of the town, he saw the extent of the damage that had been done to the town. After ascending the stairs to the upper section of town, each building had claw or sword marks gouges into the walls, most windows were broken. Char marks and arrows lined the streets and appeared on walls –a remnant from battles between the archers, mages and enemies. Smith James’ shop was in shreds, as was Master Zach’s house. The closer to the town entrance he got, the greater the extent of the damage to the town. At Julia’s house, He Liu noticed dark stains in the stone road –where drops of blood from wounded had hit. As he continued walking, the stains became more frequent, and larger. From the somber faced on the people that were cleaning and repairing the area, and the sad looks from James and Ruby, He Liu had a feeling that there weren’t as many people in Rumen today as there had been before the fighting yesterday.

He passed by Robin, who was standing in the same little spot he always stood in, smiling and humming a tune. He Liu was a bit puzzled at his behavior, and walked over to him. “Robin,” He Liu stated as he approached, “Why are you so happy? Rumen is in ruins, most of the upper level damaged or destroyed! Even the tree you usually stand near is gone!” Robin looked over at him, but held his smile, “I am smiling because I know that everything will be alright.” He Liu looked at the man as though he were crazy. “No damage has been done that cannot be undone. It is true my tree was burned down in the fighting,” Robin stated looking at the dirt and ash where his tree used to stand, “But that is alright. It is a tree, it will grow back in time –this particular tree will come back rather quickly as well –its seed germinates in fires.” He Liu couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was Robin’s main concern really the tree he used to stand under? “I see that you do not understand my meaning, young one,” Robin said eying the mage, “Being a mage, I had thought you would be one of the last ones to allow your emotions to get the better of you. Then again, you are young…and the young are always quick to draw their own conclusions –wanting to live life as fast as they can.” Robin laughed a bit at this comment. “Okay,” He Liu furrowed his brows, “Now I am confused.”

“Rumen has not always been here, you know,” Robin stated. “Well obviously,” He Liu retorted, “I mean, after all, someone had to build….” His eyes opened up a bit wider and Robin’s smile grew. “Someone had to build it,” Robin finished for him. “The damage done to the town, like the damage to my tree, is something that can be overcome easily, if you are willing to put a little effort into it. Rumen will rebuild, and be just as beautiful as before –just like my tree will.” “But what about the people that died yesterday?” He Liu asked, “That isn’t something that can be fixed like a broken window.” Robin eyed him carefully, “Who said anyone died?” He Liu started, then thought for a moment, “Well…everyone is so sad…and from what I heard, the attack yesterday was huge…and…and there are fewer people around here today.” Robin frowned a bit, “There were no deaths in the fighting yesterday, He Liu. Most people are sad because they allow things that are in fact, rather insignificant to have a significant impact on their emotions. Others, such as James and Zach, are sad because after the attack yesterday, many people left Rumen. Several inhabitants, whom no one wanted to see leave; as well as many adventurers who lost their drive to fight after almost dying in the battle have gone. This is something for trainers like Zach and James to be sad over.”

He Liu looked back at the town as Robin continued to speak, “But you, young mage, have no such reasons to be sad. Rumen, the town you saw yesterday, will be back on its feet and its people will be cheerful again soon enough.” The old man leaned down, drawing He Liu’s attention back to him. Robin put a hand next to his mouth and whispered, “Especially once you take our little message back to the Slime King.” “What?” He Liu stammered, “But that’s…how’d you know about…” “Shh!” Robin shushed him and continued to whisper, “I know because I am one of the ones in the council with Rumenous. One of the other reasons I am this happy is because I know that the Slime King will have his hands too full soon to be attacking us again.” With that, Robin winked and straightened up, “Now then, I suggest you go and train a bit, He Liu. Not too hard, though, I have a feeling that Rumenous will be calling for you shortly.” He Liu smiled and waved at Robin as he made his way down the forest path. “I guess the old fossil knows and listens to more than he lets on,” he said to himself, “I’ll have to watch what I say around him from now on.”


Robin was right, he had barely even gotten to the Forest of Mist and started fighting when a courier appeared, asking him to return to the town square. The courier gave him a return scroll, which He Liu quickly employed. Appearing back at the square, He Liu looked around and saw a dozen other adventurers gathered around the fountain, other adventurers scrolling to town themselves every few seconds. Standing along the walls of the nearby buildings, Zach, Ruby and Julia watched the proceedings, looking at the crowd of adventurers assembled, at Rumenous, and at each other. Over eighteen adventurers were there, members from each class were present –mages, archers, clerics and fighters. They all talked amongst themselves, wondering what exactly was being planned, making assumptions of what they were about to do. Rumenous stood on the wall of the fountain so everyone could see him. “Adventurers!” he announced; the talking died down to feint whispers and everyone present looked at him. “King Slime has assembled another army to attack Rumen.” The whispers grew as Rumenous paused to prepare his next part of the statement, “Our scouts have confirmed, that the army is primarily made up of Warrior Boars, Iron Slimes, Gold Slimes, Silver Slimes and Prince Slimes.” The whispers died down again –this was an army that the adventurers of Rumen would undoubtedly not be able to stop. “Our scouts have also confirmed,” he continued, “That the army is now on the move –advancing upon Rumen.”

The town square erupted into shouts and yells. Rumenous put up his hands to quiet them, but nothing he did could calm the mob. “SHUT UP!” a loud bellow came from behind. The shouts instantly died out as everyone turned to see a very angry Ruby, hand on her sword’s grip, glaring at the mob. “Shut up and listen,” she said loudly, “We did not call you here to argue, we called you here to listen to what we have to say. So SHUT UP AND LISTEN!” “Thank you, Ruby,” came Rumenous’ voice from the fountain. The adventurers turned again to look as Rumenous continued, “This is the perfect time to launch our counterattack. If we were to attack before his army moved, there would be no way for you to win; we had to wait until the bulk of the King Slime’s forces were gone before we could attack him. I have sent requests to Elderine for reinforcements, but we should not require them. Once the attack is underway, King Slime should panic and send for his forces to return to protect him.”

The crowd was silent, but anticipation emanated from each one present. “Ordinarily, a mission to a place as far as the Slime King’s mountain would not be condoned, as your adventurer gear would not be able to teleport you back to town should you be severely wounded; but, with help from Julia, Ruby and Robin, we have created a brace which increases the effective range of your gear. The increase is only temporary, however. It will last for thirty two minutes. After that, the enchantment fades and your gear will no longer transport you back to Rumen. This is why we have created the additional enchantment, that after thirty minutes, you will automatically be teleported back to Rumen. It doesn’t matter if you are on the brink of victory, or the brink of defeat; in thirty minutes, you will come back here.” Rumenous pause and looked around. All the adventurers were watching him intently. He pumped his fist in the air, “Today we take this war to King Slime! Now, soldiers of Rumen! Fighters! Clerics! Archers! Mages! Go and send King Slime our message! Let him know if he wants to fight Rumen, Rumen will fight back!”

[Orchids_Mantis]

Book 2: He Liu’s Story
Chapter IV: The Ambitions of King Slime



The town square erupted into cheers and yells from the adventurers as Rumen stepped down from the podium. The shouts continued as they lined up to receive their brace from Zach, Ruby or Julia. He Liu stepped into the line –he did not cheer, but he definitely felt the anxiety and desire to strike that the other adventurers felt. He waited his turn, until he was beckoned forward by Julia. She reached into her bag and pulled out the brace, fastening it around his waist. “The extended range enchantment will begin once it senses the effects of teleportation magic being cast,” she explained, “So from now until the attack begins, do not use a teleportation scroll, or you will cause the teleportation increase –and its timer- to begin.” He Liu nodded, and Julia motioned for him to move into the group that had their braces. “What about the teleportation scroll, Julia?” he asked. She looked at him as though confused, “Hm? I just told you not to use one,” “No, no,” he shook his head, “I mean, where’s the scroll to get to the Slime King’s mountain?” “Ooooh!” Julia smiled, “Sorry, but you’re not using scrolls this time; the transportation enchantment for both directions is in your brace. We’re using a joint-magic spell to activate the teleportation magic in the brace, which will then trigger the extended range return spell.” “Oh,” he nodded, “I see.” Julia smiled and sent him to stand in the group of adventurers that had already obtained their braces.

The waiting was the most annoying part. Standing there, looking at the other adventurers going up one at a time to take their brace, lingering doubts that had somehow been repressed by Rumenous’ speech and the cheers of the other adventurers made their way back into He Liu’s mind. “The King Slime’s armies almost decimated Rumen last time,” he thought, “They overwhelmed adventurers from Elderine. Even if it is a smaller army than they dealt with last time, how are we supposed to win? What if the army is larger than they thought?” He was not the only one having doubts, he noticed; many other adventurers, even fighters and clerics –the most durable adventurers- had worried expressions on their faces. A few archers and mages, he noticed, looked downright afraid of what was to come.

The waiting was finally finished. The last of the adventurers grabbed his belt and walked over to the assembly of adventurers –which was much quieter now. After the last of them gathered, Ruby, Zach and Julia moved around the gathering of adventurers, taking up spots at even intervals around the circle. Rumenous strode forward toward the quiet mass of adventurers pausing in front; everyone turned to look at him. “Masters Zach, Ruby and Julia,” he began, “together will initiate the teleportation spell which will send you to King Slime’s mountain.” He Liu looked around, Zach was setting up a series of objects that looked like stones in front of him; Ruby and Julia were doing the same. Rumenous continued talking, “Once this process is initiated, you will find yourself in combat.” It seemed impossible a moment ago, but the square grew even quieter as he spoke those words. “You young adventurers are the last hope of Rumen,” he looked around the circle, “This army, this counterattack, it is our last stand. If we try to defend against this last army, we will lose, the town will be leveled and everyone that cannot escape will be killed. Make no mistake this is what the King Slime wants.”

He paused again, then shouted loudly, “Is this something you will allow to happen? Will you let this town be destroyed? Will you let those who vested their trust in you, those who rely on your protection…will you let them be killed by his armies?” A deafening roar came from the crowd. Only a score were present but what was heard was the shout of an army one thousand strong as the adventurers present yelled “no” again and again. The masters began chanting, the stones around them glowing dimly. “Keep this in mind as you enter his domain,” he yelled, “If you give up, if you turn back; that is exactly what you will be allowing!” Another shout raged from the crowd, the stones in front of the masters glowed with greater intensity, the area underneath the adventurers beginning to glow as well. “Army of Rumen,” Rumenous shouted with a salute and a fearsome grin, “Give King Slime our regards.” The crowd roared again as the glow grew brighter, surrounding them and outshining the sun in the sky until the bright yellow glow of the spell was all they could see. The glow dimmed and the group of adventurers found themselves on a rocky surface at the base of a large mountain.

[Orchids_Mantis]

Book 2: He Liu’s Story
Chapter V: The King Slime Counterattack



The adventurers looked around, there was a cliff behind them, and a dirt path ahead of them, a few Fire Mushroom in the pathway. The Fire Mushroom seemed surprised, and backed away a bit. The adventurers at first were not sure what to do. Suddenly one of the fighters raised her sword into the air giving a tremendous yell, “For Rumen!” The fighters all drew their swords and charged at the Fire Slimes, the archers, mages and clerics followed suite, drawing their weapons, charging in and giving a great battle cry of their own. The seven fighters of the group made quick work of the three Fire Slimes –they fell so fast only the fastest of archers were able to get a shot in. They shouted and cheered at this first small victory. “If the rest are this easy,” said a nearby archer, “we won’t be here more than a few minutes.” “That’s not likely," a nearby fighter said, pointing with his sword. They followed his gaze, charging toward them were a dozen enemies, made up of Iron Slime, Brave Honeying and imps. "This just got a lot harder," He Liu said as he looked at the approaching mob. The rest of the adventurers also quieted at the sight of the encroaching enemy. Again the female fighter let out a yell and charged forward, joined quickly by the rest of the small army. The two sides rushed toward each other, the fighters raising their shields and archers drawing arrows as the minions of the King Slime drew near.