Betrayer of the Light: Chapter One

As Natas was leaving Jordan’s house, he saw a piece of paper on sticking under the door. He opened it and saw that it was a note addressed to him. Confused, he read it.

Natas,
We have seen what you were and what you have become. We have watched you slowly distance yourself from the path of the Holy Light. We witnessed the killing of your friend. The act of killing one of your close friends has shut you off from the path of the Holy Light. We have seen many others like you. And all of them have received this exact same message, and they have all accepted. You are invited to join the Guild of Darkness. You may have heard of us, or you may not have. Either way, this is the only chance that you will get to join us. If you want to join, meet us in the lair of the Junior Barlog near the Ant Tunnel. To get there, you will have to go past the many cursed sanctuaries. If you tell anyone about us, or even try to betray us, that will be the last thing you ever do.
– Areus, Leader of the Guild of Darkness

Natas folded the paper back up and stuck it in one of the pockets of his Dark Enigmatic. Then he stepped out of the house and squinted into the brightness of Ellinia. He walked towards the VIP Cab and paid the 10,000 mesos that the driver demanded. After what seemed like ages (2 minutes to be exact), Natas stepped out of the cab and surveyed his surroundings. He quickly walked to the entrance to the Cave of Evil Eye, killing things as he passed. Once he got into the evil eye cave, he quickly teleported down until he got to the entrance of the drake hunting grounds. Natas stepped inside and almost got trampled by a drake not 2 inches from his face. Still, the shock caused him to shoot a flurry of 4 black holy arrows and then immediately teleport past the drake as it collapsed on the ground. After reassuring himself that it was only a drake, he continued to walk towards his destination.
Ten minutes later, he stepped into the very first cursed sanctuary. He saw a piece of paper stuck under a rock. He picked it up and wasn’t surprised to find that it was addressed to him.

Natas,
If you are reading this, then that means you have decided to come and join us. Take care traveling through the sanctuaries, however, because all the monsters in here are completely loyal to our guild and if you were to harm any of them, we would have to harm you.
-Areus, Leader of the Guild of Darkness

Then exercising extreme caution, Natas climbed down and started walking to the Junior Barlog’s lair. He reached it within minutes, but once he got inside, he found that it was empty. A sharp whistling noise suddenly attracted his attention, and he rolled to the side as two ilbi throwing stars flew past him, leaving a thin red line on his neck.

Meanwhile…

Jasmine cursed as she realized that the bandit was going to attempt and take out both balrogs by himself. She quickly drew her Gross Jaegar and shot off four soul arrows in rapid succession. It was her first time using the skill strafe, so only two of her arrows hit the crimson balrogs. Even as she started aiming again, the bandit started attacking. The bandit quickly struck the first balrog six times with each Kandine. However, all of his attacks bounced off of the balrog’s chest and he got sent flying back as the balrog punched him in the stomach. Even as he was flying through the air, someone else joined the fight. Jasmine judged that, based on the Omega Spear that the person was using, this person was a Dragon Knight. The Dragon Knight leapt at both crimson balrogs and stabbed through the first one and into the second one. He did this three times in rapid succession. Then he landed back on the ground and both balrogs collapsed in a heap. Finally, the unlucky bandit, who had taken a hit to the stomach, landed on the snow covered grounds of El Nath. Immediately, both Jasmine and the Dragon Knight rushed towards the figure lying prone on the ground. The Dragon Knight was the first one to speak.

“Shame on you Jasper. You’re always trying to show off to all the girls who just got their third job advancement.”

The bandit, Jasper, groaned as he rose into a sitting position while clutching his stomach. But Jasmine hadn’t heard anything past the word “Jasper”.

“Jasper! Is that you???” shrieked Jasmine

“Hi Jasmine. Didn’t think you recognized me back there. I look a bit different from when we first met in the Henesys Hunting Grounds, eh?” Jasper said while smirking.

“Then that makes you-” Jasmine began as she turned towards the Dragon Knight.

“Yea, I’m Tom. Looks like I learn the fastest out of our old group. I got my advancement about two months ago, already mastered Dragon Buster.” Said the grinning Dragon Knight.

“What happened to Jordan and Natas? They still best friends?” inquired Jasmine.

“Yea…about that. Well, we lost contact with them after your accident. Then Jasper went looking for them a while ago. By the way. Jasper, did you find them?” said Tom, his face darkening at the remembrance of Jasmine’s accident.

“Well…Jordan is dead…and it seems that Natas was the one that killed him.” Said Jasper in a quiet voice.

“What??? Natas is sooooooo dead once I find him!” exclaimed Jasmine.

“We know your mad at him for summoning a Mushmom in your house a week after you got off Maple Island, but he has become very strong. Too strong for you or even Jasper and I together.” Counseled Tom.

“Well, are you two just going to stand there and let Natas get away with this murder?” shouted Jasmine.

“Of course not! What we plan to do, is to gather up some other people to help us. Then we plan on trying to take down Natas.” Explained Tom.

“And how do you plan to do that?” asked Jasmine, becoming curious.

“Since Natas has been getting stronger and stronger, he has become a threat to the entire world. Therefore, people will be willing to help get rid of him.” Said Jasper.

“Then lets get going!” shouted Jasmine, galvanizing both Jasper and Tom into action.

By the time Jasper and Tom had started walking, Jasmine had already sprinted to a mage wearing a Zakum Helmet. “Can you hel-” that’s as far as Jasmine got before the mage whacked her on the head with his staff and declined, saying that he was going to go participate the tournament that was being held in Aquarium. As Jasmine shook her head, Jasper and Tom walked up to her smirking.

“Why?” Jasmine asked no one in particular before Tom handed her a pamphlet.

Come Join Our Annual Tournament!
Participants may either team up with friends or go solo!
The max number of people in a team is 6 people.
Each team or participant will have to fight waves of monsters in the Aquarium Arena.
Applications are accepted no later than 12 midnight on Thursday November 15.
All applications are to be turned in at the tournament office in Aquarium.
The tournament itself will take place on the following Saturday and Sunday.
Winner(s) will each receive a weapon of their choice and 5 million mesos!
Contact the tournament office for questions regarding this tournament.
-Areus, Head of the Tournament Office

“Are you implying that we can find someone here?” asked Jasmine.

“Not only that, but we can also use the new weapons seeing that Jasper has been using those two Kandines of his for about a month now,” Said Tom “and the money would be nice.”

“Hey! My Kandines are better then your lame Omega Spear! I got six 10% scrolls to work on each of them!” proclaimed Jasper.

“Well if we are to join the tournament, then you two have to stop bickering like little children and start moving.” Interjected a mildly annoyed Jasmine.

As Jasper turned to look at Jasmine, he realized that something was different about her. “Jasmine? What’s wrong with your eyes? Didn’t they use to be sky blue or something?” inquired Jasper.

“Yea…about that…now I’m blind…which is partially why I missed when I shot at the barlog earlier.” Explained Jasmine.

“That and the fact that you are to inexperienced to be trying to kill a crimson barlog, let alone two at a time.” Lectured Tom.

“That too…” Jasmine trailed off as she thought about the events that occurred that day.

“Alright, so today is Wednesday and the applications are due on Friday…Hey! Should we get more people to join our team, since we have space for three more people?” asked Jasper

“Sure, but not right now. I’m dead tired and I don’t feel like running around anymore. Saving you two from those two crimson barlogs drained all my energy. Lets go check in at the inn.” Suggested Tom.

An hour later, the three of them entered their room and found that it only had one bed, a couch, and a table. Jasmine quickly called the bed and Tom called the couch.

“Come on!” whined Jasper, “I’m always stuck on the ground!”

“Uh guys? That might be the least of our worries. Look at this.” Said Jasmine as she held up a black piece of paper with blood-red writing on it.

You have one hour to leave this place. You have been warned.
-The Guild of Darkness

“Well someone obviously doesn’t want us here, but I don’t care and I say that we just take turns keeping watch.” Suggested Tom.

“Fine by me,” said Jasper, “and seeing that I’m the one on the floor, I might as well take the first shift.”

“Night.” Said both Tom and Jasmine.

Unknown to the trio, a shadow crouched on a tree outside their window. It chuckled as it realized that the Guild of Darkness would be able to kill tonight. It ran off, disappearing into the shadows as it went to gather the Guild of Darkness’ Elimination Team, a team that had eliminated all opposition of the Guild with startling efficiency.

One hour later, Jasper was beginning to dose off as he listened to the night-time noises around him. The whisper of the wind going through the trees, the sounds of the animals outside in the wilderness of El Nath, the sound of the tree branches tapping on their door- Wait. That’s not a tree. Someone is trying to break in. thought Jasper as he drew his twin Kandines. He slowly moved across the room to wake up Tom and Jasmine, careful to not make any noise that would alert the intruder.

“Jasmine. Get your Gross Jaegar, someone is trying to break in.” whispered Jasper.

“Huh?” replied Jasmine still half-asleep until the full meaning of what he had said hit her. She quickly reached next to the bed and grabbed her Gross Jaegar.

Her movements woke up Tom who immediately grabbed his Omega Spear even though he still didn’t know what was going on. The he heard the tapping at the door and realized what was happening. He looked at Jasper and pointed to above the door. Jasper understood and started to silently climb up until he was directly above the door. Next, Tom pointed at Jasmine then behind the bed. Jasmine almost walked into the bed as she walked to her position. Once she got behind the bed, she dropped to one knee and rested her Gross Jaegar on the bed, aimed at the door. Last one in place was Tom, who stood directly next to the door. He glanced at everyone then silently counted to three on his fingers so that everyone could see. On three, he reached across and pulled open the door. Shadowy figures rushed into the room as Jasmine shot a piercing iron arrow at them.

Author’s Note: I am starting to accept character applications from anyone who wishes to be in the story. The format must be as follows:
Name:
Class:
Approximately what level:
Gender:
Age:
Personality:
Weapon(s):
Armor(s):
Likes:
Dislikes:
Disabilities:

Example:

Name: Jasmine
Class: Sniper
Approximately what level: 70
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Personality:
Weapon(s): Gross Jaegar
Armor(s):
Likes:
Dislikes: The fact that she is blind
Disabilities: Blind

I would appreciate it if you could just post the application under the comments by this Friday, as I want to try and get another chapter up by Monday.