Ghost Of Reach

Chapters

Chapter 1: Wishing on a Star
Chapter 2: Stocking up Information and Gold
Chapter 3: And the Quest Begins [Edited]
Chapter 4: A Sworn Encounter
Chapter 5: Campfire Tales
Chapter 6: Guests [Edited]
Chapter 7: Vineville
Chapter 8: This is NOT a Greatsword!
Chapter 9: Havenrock

Chapter 1: Wishing on a Star

I wish a lot, and I have been doing that for a long time. But as of late, I’ve been wishing even more. Dreaming away while the time passes by. I’ve even gone down to writing the details in my notebook. Once clean and rarely used, now filled to the brim with the scribbles of a longing dreams. People say that if you dream and desire something, you can make it a reality. But sometimes, dreams are just too far fetched to become a reality. That I know all to well as that was my case sadly, but unlike those still down by the facts of reality, I tried to find other ways to be happy with what I got. Yet, even as I hike through this dessert with the best kind of people, the nagging, dragging desire still held on. I sighed as I gazing up into the moonless sky, looking into the endless abyss of space.

“Come on Gabe! The show hasn't even started yet!” a voice broke out through the black, regaining my attention. I looked away and up the hill. Up ahead, people that could be called more than just friends, stand awaiting while unpacking and getting ready for the starry night show.

“All right! Just give me a minute!” I yelled back, still not as thrilled about this trip. My friends were going to see ‘once in a lifetime meteor shower’ as Dylan described it. He was a classic science nerd at heart mixed with a love for strange music and anything sci fi. Well, that is, if someone actually got to knowing him. Just by looking at him, one would assume that he was a prime candidate for the olympic soccer team or a top marathon member of the state. Long story short, Dylan look like the pure stereotype of a fully athletic running jock. Which overall just adds pure irony as he doesn't even go on full week workouts or anything like that in the first place.

Anyways, he was one of seven people I called not only friend, but close enough to be family. Yet, even now with all seven of my true friends, I still couldn’t bring my anger to fully subside. This was mostly caused by and directed towards Dylan. Unlike my lazy city ass, the others had joined Dylan on this trip on their own free will. I, on the other hand, was being cheaply blackmailed with my own journal and it’s deeply personal content. Well, if I’m truly honest with myself, I can’t just blame all of my frustrations on him. I mean, being trapped in what could be easily called the midget of minivans for three hours straight does not sound like a engaging experience.

Thank god the least the AC was running. If not, I’d probably be roasted dead and and turned into sweaty human bacon. Added onto my shitty day was the immediate long hiking that can afterwards. Even though the temperature had thankfully dropped to being reasonable with the last of the sunset fading, it was still a struggle for me. I mean hiking up and down with 20 pounds of camping gear on my back is not a walk in the park. Especially frustrating when Noah got us lost and another hour was spent getting back on track. Overall, this trip so far had really dampened my mood. Yet, on the surprising note, I wasn’t that paranoid about my book or it’s content being spilled. Why? Maybe because I trust Dylan to keep his word? Or, on the other hand, it could also be that I'm dehydrated enough to not think straight?

Who knows.

On top of all my griping, I really hope this is worth my time and effort see this ‘meteor shower of a lifetime’ thing. Looking past all of my frustration, I had to admit, the starry sky in the black ink of space was quite a phenomenal sight for me. Though, I could be exaggerating as I’ve only lived in the denser regions of the city for most of my life. Now that I think about it, I never have gone anywhere outside of city limits.

As I continued to ponder, I noted that with whatever spare time I actually had, it was heavily spent in only a few things. First was my obsession with reading. I still remember the summer days of reading nearly a thousand half assed fanfics with only few dozen them actually being book worthy. I stifled a laugh at the memory of entire weekends ‘wasted’ on gaming and shit talking noobs on equally shity internet. Watching the occasional movie I had on the shelf or hanging out with whoever was around. But god knows how much time has been wasted in many wild goose chase to find something that ended up being in my back pocket the whole time.

I was brought back from my thoughts as I my knees nearly gave way. I stumbled a bit, struggling to carry the heavy load on my back. Reaching my lips on the drinking tube, I was meet with the same results like the last 50 times. The integrated camel pack was long dry of heavenly water.

“God, I’m dying, give some damn water...” I prayed silently

Ok, that was pretty weak prayer. But truth be told, I was feeling just as weak. Why the hell am I so weak? Well, I am far from being one of those triple chin McMuffin gobbling man on a high powered scooter. I’m not even remotely overweight at all. Yet I wasn’t ‘weekly gym lifter’ fit either. While I did practically traveled only on foot, I wasn’t doing a marathon the whole way. I mostly walked to and from work, shopping, and traveled where the subway wasn’t really needed or necessary. I did eat considerably healthy compared to everyone else I knew. So going on long hike shouldn't be so hard right?

Dead. Wrong.

Going on an incredibly long and cramp car trip with a even more enduring adventure of trekking in california was not my forte. Especially when it was hiking with 20 pounds of gear in dry air for the past two hours. Oh, and I had been drinking of my camel pack during the car trip like an idiot. This was in all respects, the exact opposite of what was normal for me.

After catching my breath and grabbing my pack from the ground, I began to stand back up and straighten myself. Taking a few deep breaths as I stretched out my sore shoulders, I looked up into the sky once again. This time, I saw something, a twinkling dot in the twilight. But unlike other stars, it was moving ever so slowly across the distant sky. Without even pondering on any second thoughts, I made my wish as if on instinct. Strangely, the light had slowed it’s soaring to a near halt. I did a double take with a quick shake of my head. Unsurprisingly, I began feeling dazed as a slow, lightly pounding headache made itself apparent.

“Might as well have an anvil fall from the sky and kill me with my luck.” I chuckled lightly, my rare dark sense of humor appearing and seeming to subside my headache. I focused my attention back to the shooting star, only to find myself dumbstruck. I watched the light completely halt and make a full U turn, shocking me as I wondered what it was.

“Could it be one of those coseno owning assholes flying a neon painted plane?” Not likely, but possible. Yet the nagging thoughts as to why would someone, spoiled rich or not, be flying all the way out here? Hell, why would they even be flying at night? Besides, the thing look too big for such a small aircraft.

‘Perhaps a misguided commercial airliner?’ No, nothing that big can make sudden U-turn like that without stalling or simply tearing and ripping itself apart from the heavy G forces. And I don’t need a college degree in physics to know that.

“Maybe it's just a large helicopter?” While that was the most logical choice, my somewhat lacking yet basic knowledge on real aircraft was still denying that as the conclusion. If my depth perception isn’t completely skewed, the flying light was still larger than any helicopter I’ve seen. Then the idea of one of those ridiculously large Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters came to mind. But those ideas were quickly snuffed out by the odds of me randomly seeing such military equipment here.

Even if it was the largest helicopter in the United States military, why was it all the way out here? Hell, why was it sticking out like a flying highlighter in the sky? Hell, it was way too high a few minutes ago to even stay flying at that altitude.While still pondering on what the heck was up there, I had glanced over to my friends. Surprisingly, they hadn’t even taken notice of the bright flying phenomenon. Reverting my gaze from my oblivious friends, I continued to stare at what I could call a real UFO.

…

I’m already starting to feel the wave of cringe after saying that.

Goddamnit. Even though I had no other real option or explanation, I felt the literal cringe crawl up my spine for just saying that. As if the light had been drawn by my guesstimating, the glowing-n-flying-highlighter-flashlight-thing had started to rapidly descend towards my direction. I briefly heard my friend yelling something, whether it be at the sight of the meteor shower or that I’m about to be abducted by aliens, I honestly don’t know. I was too busy having a panic attack at the realisation that I couldn’t move. No matter what I did, I couldn't turn nor swaid my gaze from it. As if I was in some sort of trance, the light continued to grow closer, engulfing my vision entirely.

My body was numbing off completely as even my sense of gravity started to feel nonexistent. My vision vanished. The senses of smell, taste, and hearing dimmed. And just about any other kind of feeling was completely dulled away. I couldn’t feel my heart beating, let alone if I was even breathing to begin with. As everything I could consider being alive finally ended, I was left only to dwindle in my thoughts. My mind, memories, and emotions were the last and only things that remained untouched by my supposed captors. With no possibility to even register the passing of time, I knew I was certainly doomed to madness if I continued to… Not live, just simply exist like this… It was all just the perfect description of eternal torment.

I was trapped in a endless hell.

Yet not all was lost. In some unknown amount of time, a gleam of hope showed itself. Like a silver lining in the abyss, I began to actually feel again. Though many of these mental sensations I could not recollect on or remember ever having, I did not reject or resist. I felt something, and it was my only escape out of this hellish void. I gazed on as millions of imagined blazed by and throughout my mind. Yet I noticed that some of these feelings greatly confused my sensual awareness. For cold was burning like an eternal fire while hot infernos were frozen wastelands. As the last bits of my remaining sanity tore itself violently, the feelings consumed me. I was just a moth, hypothesize to a candle flame, I was consumed. Completely enveloped by the burning light with all my other senses returning. But one thing stood out above all of this was the white.

Just so bright…

Eternal Light…

Divine white...

And just as sudden as it took consumed me, it faded away.

My pleasant experience was completely taken away as my hearing returned only to ring and pound like fire alarms. I began to struggle, trying to see and escape the sudden shift of pain in my head. Yet my body that I now felt, wouldn’t move. Luckily, my physical senses were connecting back to my mind at a unnaturally fast pace. I can feel my heart beating back strong as if brought back from the grave with vengeance. My entire body awakening and roaring back to life like a ferrari, I felt my blood burning like battery acid with a venomous hatred I have never known. All of this was just pumping and sparking to life at the speed of a bullet. The godlike power coursing through my veins made me feel unstoppable.

And I completely believed it.

My mental state seemed to have faired no different from my body. I felt my sanity mending back while blending foreign knowledge like some sort of spiritual smoothie. Spiralling around in my head with flashes of memories not of my own. Skills of all kinds for war were adapted as second nature. Years of hard trained combat became instinctual. Many of these memories I’ve never known nor could I ever beforehand. The brutal painting of home to glass, the most graphically illustrated pains never came close to what I felt. No words could describe the horrors I’ve seen. And yet, it does not break me. Rather, it is what made me stronger.

Fighting is my purpose, my sole existence.

Grown in blood, this battlefield is my home.

The art of killing, I have perfected.

So war I wage, no longer tormented and caged.

The reaper I greet, but I never meet.

For Spartans never die.

Just the Enemy...

After finally feeling complete once again, everything blacked out. But like the quick flip of a switch, everything came back again. I felt my brain do a double take as I awoke. Falsely believing that it was just a strangely twisted dream. Definitely earning the title of total batshit crazy Nightmare. Yet it was the most realistic and immersive thing I had ever felt. I could feel a smile creep on my face as I sighed again. I knew my lucid dreaming skill were increasing, but that just felt to real. I twitched my eyes as I felt my senses take hold…

“What the hell did I eat last night? Was the milk expired?” I thought, groaning as I tried to move. I felt constricted, but in every part of my body. Similar to when my leg was in a full cast, but this time, my entire body felt completely cocooned. Anothering thing I noted was the very tight yet strangely comfortable bodysuit I had on.

“The hell?” I nearly mumbled out, straining to move my limbs. I finally opened my eyes, only to see the opposite of what I expected. My calming hopes to see the damaged ceiling of my room were immediately crushed. Instead, there was a slightly blurred, cloud clear sky with a few dark green pine trees obscuring my view. Confused even more, I notice that I had some kind of strange helmet on with a visor slightly blurring my vision. Then, out of nowhere, the glass lite up like a transparent computer screen. A few boxes quickly popped up and slightly dimmed as a wall of text assaulted my eyes.

Full system reboot complete.

Commencing start up diagnostics...

…

Forerunner Adapted Mjolnir PSCU - Stable
Spartan II Augmentations - Fully Operational
Nanosuit 3.0 Bio-Nanosuit Neural Link - Link Complete
Nanosuit 3.0 Neural Nano Network Systems - Linked & Ready for use
Nanosuit 3.0 Armor Exoskeleton Systems - Linked & Ready for use
Nanosuit 3.0 Nano Adaptation Cells - Linked & Ready for use
Nanosuit 3.0 Nano Replicator and Repair Mites - Linked & Ready for use
Nanosuit 3.0 Mjolnir GEN2 Armor Extensions - Armor Connection Linked
Hard Light Energy Defensive Shields - Online
Hard Light Directed Energy Weapons - Online
Emergency Standby Life Support Systems - Online
Tactical Heads Up Display Systems - Online
Motion Sensor C 75M - Online
Virtually Assisted Targeting Systems - Online
Multi-Universal Storage Tacpad - Online
Armor Abilities - Online
_________________________________________________________________________________
Advanced Infiltration Mode - Ready For Use
Go off the grid by engaging this Mode.
The enemy cannot kill what they cannot see.
In fact, they won’t even hear you coming.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Armor Lock - Ready For Use
Become invincible, but immobile.
While you're locked down, anything
Short to a MAC Round can't hurt you.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Hard Light Drop Shield - Ready For Use
A temporary bubble of protection
That heals and shields those fortunate
Enough to be within its sphere of influence.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Hard Light Hologram - Ready For Use
Create a controllable virtual
Doppelganger of yourself to draw
Enemy fire or lure unsuspecting
Opponents out into the open.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Hard Light Shield - Ready For Use
Create a extended shield of
Concentrated energy! Granting
Protection for the caster or another!
_________________________________________________________________________________
Jet Pack - Ready For Use
Fly like a bird.
Target your opponents.
Laugh maniacally.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Overcharged - Ready For Use
Engage this Ability for a burst of
God-like speed & reflexes that’s
Great for quickly taking down
Or escaping sticky situations.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Overshilds - Ready For Use
Amplify energy shield’s strength and
Regeneration by a grand factor of 3!
Just at the hindered cost of speed.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Promethean Teleportation - Ready For Use
A slipspace device that can send
The user across vast distances.
Only in direct line of sight of course.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Promethean Vision - Ready For Use
Use this new visonto see through walls
To track and target all that is hidden.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Regeneration field - Ready For Use
Create a large green bubble that
Recharges the shields and heals all
Who are inside of its warmth.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Thruster Pack - Ready For Use
Provides the user with a quick
Burst of lightning speed and heavy
Hitting power in one direction.
_________________________________________________________________________________
...

All Systems Nominal

Startup Engaged…
_________________________________________________________________________________

Wincing a bit, my eye adjusted quick enough to read all of the computer text before it fully faded away. Before I could even start making sense of what was going on, my muscles stiffened and constructed as I felt a surge of power and slight pain. My lungs and throat felt choked as I felt of hundreds of commands ordered and a thousand more skill drilled in. After a few agonizing and breathless seconds later, I regained my ability to breath again. As much as I wanted to wake up and forget this nightmare, I couldn’t. The suddenly forced upon knowledge wasn’t gonna leave me, and I knew this. These memories, learned skills, all of it has left a permanent branded mark on my mind. The infinitely time spent in emptiness hell, this nightmarish rebirth, all these moments of pain had undoubtedly scared me. Scratch that, this has completely killed the old me created a new person entirely.

These thoughts were confirmed as I felt calm and collected, even after enduring all of this. It was as if any and all fears have been shredded and replaced by coldly collected hate. A hate I’ve never felt nor ever seen in my life as it lingered at the core of my being. This was not the raging type as I know of, just an ever darker and colder shade of hell bent vengeance. As if my life had been centered around this hatred, the scheming and dreaming to bring death within its wake had embedded itself within my heart. That was not the only thing that had caught my immediate attention as I felt no longer restrained. The screen in my vision flashed to life again and showed multiple images such as a Health and Shield Bar with a Mini map in the lower left hand corner. I ignored these icons and raised my right hand into my field of vision. I was met with a familiar armored hand that made my thoughts go Nascar, yet quickly halt with realization.

“No way.” I spoke out, my voice deeper with a chilling tone. I began testing my fingers, giving them an experimental twirl. I felt the very moment of my body, yet it it seemed I wasn’t using any of my own force. Almost as if they moved on mere thought. Needing to see the rest of myself, I forced myself up surprisingly fact. Instantly taking notice of my newfound strength and greyed out chrome, dull white painted armor on my body. As I observed myself, I found that I was decked out in a mixture of Spartan Armor from Halo Reach. As if on my mental command, a list of my armor configuration loaded up.

Helmet: Mjolnir Mark V
Right Shoulder: Mjolnir Mark V/Kukri
Left Shoulder: Mjolnir Mark V
Chest: Mjolnir Mark V
Wrist: Tactical/Tacpad
Utility: Tactical/Soft Case
Visor Color: Gold
Knee Guards: Mjolnir Mark V
Primary Color: White
Secondary Color: Steel

After having my mind blown for the thousandth time, I began searching through my now apparent implanted memories. I was a fully trained, hyper lethal Spartan II with a huge grudge for anything that isn't human. After moving my limbs and making sure everything was working, I looked around on my HUD, seeing a notification pop up in the top left corner. I mentally commanded it open and my screen was filled with text again.

Multi-Universal Storage Tactical Pad - Online & Ready for use.

Then the blue screen on my left arm blazed to life. I was met with a surprise as the Tactical Tacpad opened up a screen that strongly resembled the PIP-BOY 3000 from Fallout 3. Well, make the PIP-BOY screen purely blue and design much more Sci-Fi. The main screen was showing my entire person. Both vitals and status of my body and armor were clearly displayed. Just by observation alone, it seems I am fully infused with my fanfic made Nanosuit 3.0 with my Halo Reach Spartan attached over it. I also noticed that there was three tab like sections at the top of the screen. STATS, ITEMS, and DATA. Completely intrigued, I slide my finger over to the ITEMS tab and find the screen giving multiple options.

WEAPON STORAGE
ARMOR STORAGE
MEDICAL STORAGE
DEVICE STORAGE
VEHICLE STORAGE
MISC STORAGE

Randomly, I tapped the WEAPON STORAGE, expecting to see what weapons I have. Instead, I was given another menu with UNSC, COVENANT, FORERUNNER, SPECIALS, and MISC. Tapping the first tab again, I then found myself completely shock again. M6G PDWS Magnums, M392 DMR, MA37 Assault Rifle, System 99D Anti-Materiel Sniper Rifle, M90 CAWS Shotgun, M20 SMG, M319 Grenade Launcher, ARC 290 Railgun, M41 Rocket Launcher, Spartan Laser, Firebomb Grenades, and Frag Grenades. After gazing over the UNSC's finest quality of weaponry, I backed out and taped on COVENANT only to be brought a whole new armory. This section seemingly hold all Covenant Weapons. I had Plasma Pistols, Plasma Rifles, Needlers, Brute Maulers, Brute Spikers, Type-1 Energy Swords, Gravity Hammer, Plasma Caster, Plasma Repeater, Storm Rifle, Needle Rifle, Focus Rifle, Concussion Rifle, Brute Shot, Fuel Rod Cannon, Plasma Launcher, Brute Spike Grenades, and finally Plasma Grenades.

After a bit more searching, I found something that brighten my day ever more. For there was no weight limit and no limited capacity! How? It simply stated HAMMERSPACE UNLIMITED . And oh boy, the TACPAD’s armory was indeed massive. The Forerunner Weapons was also stocked fully with weapon and a bunch of grenade types. The next WEAPON STORAGE was labeled SPECIALS as I could only guess what laid in it. To my surprise, it had weapons from other games and some stuff I wasn't expecting. For example, instantly recognised M247H Heavy Machine Gun, and the Plasma Cannon as they were just detachable HMGs. Another one from halo was the M7057 Flamethrower, and the name described it perfectly. But the last two had me thinking for a bit longer.

The MG460 Automatic Grenade Launcher, based on my memory, was mounted on Falcons. The difference? This one was reshaped to be held by a spartan with a ammo backpack. If memory serves me right, this thing could take out wraiths in a few shots! So it was pretty powerful. But the last one had me stuck until I finally recognized the shape of the gun. The fifth weapon from halo was the M68 Asynchronous Linear-Induction Motor that was mounted on Warthogs. It was large Magnetic Accelerator Cannon that shot 25 x 130mm slugs at Mach 40. A mortar shell sized slug traveling at Mach 40! If those words don’t tell people to run, I don’t know what will. In layman's terms, it was a extremely accurate and overpowered semi automatic railgun that can turn a fully armored Zealot into purple dust in one shot. After gawking over my arsenal, I realised that all of these weapons had infinite ammo and the same went with my all of my explosive.

With more tapping of my fingers, I found that I had other important things as well. Such as having 300 UNSC Med Packs, 1000 Stim Packs, 500 Nano Repair Packs, and 2000 Spartan MRE Bars. Another thing I found was that I had over a thousand cans of C-7. For those who don't know, C7 is a very powerful foaming explosive used by the UNSC. The damage? Let’s just say that a few cans worth can not only destroy a fully armored pelican, but vaporize everything in close proximity. Just the normal equipment for any spartan’s day of work. Beside my awesome and vastly massive supply of death, the rest of my armor was freaking badass to every detail. I even had the large, razor sharp Kukri knife on my right shoulder. Well, it was more to being a small machete at this size but hay! It was still freaking cool-

I stopped my fanboying and realized how I was acting. I literally just went through a mind fucking hell and not even five minutes later, I’m squealing like a kid getting his dream toys on christmas… Well, add in the hellscape mindfuck horrors and that should match my situation perfectly. I mean, I’ve turned into a mixed batch of my own overpowered character with a shit ton more badass military equipment on top of that.

Damn, I am so fucking ~~badass~~ nerdy.

After another glamouring look over of my armor and searching through some more of the Tacpad’s abilities, I finally began taking notice of my surroundings. The ground was short brush and bushes with a few batches of wild grass. The sky was greatly shaded by very tall pine trees that also surrounded me.

I was in a forest.

And I probably was on another planet at the rate of my wish granting luck.

Unsurprisingly, I quickly notice that my eyesight was of superhuman quality. Nothing short of supreme excellence for a Spartan. I could see so many specific details on the individual shades of grass that it was almost mind blowing. But then the auditory sensors in my helmet caught the sounds of... Cheering? I shook off some grass from my white armor and began my trek through the woods, the distant cheering being my only guide. As I walked, I soon found the source. In front of me was a grand city matching the likes of rome in its prime. As I zoomed in through my HUD, I instantly noticed how the enhabidence were not Human, Ceph, or Covenant, but of a new type entirely. I saw what I could remember to be… Griffins? The same kind from human mythology, just patrolling the wall, flying around, and standing guard. As I observed, I noticed that these creatures were sentient indeed, but primitive in technology. Well, at least compared to me. Based on the structures they had supposedly built and the equipment they wore, it seems to be that they were in somewhere in the Iron Age. Any form of computer or industrial age tech seemed nonexistent based on my scanning.

Seeing that there was more to be explored. I decided to do the exact opposite of any normal UNSC personnel would. I decided to go down and meet them. Not for research or anything scientific, but just to see what happens. Because fuck it! I’m a Spartan and I don’t give a flying fuck anymore. Causally, I trekked down the valley, making myself noticeable as I walked towards the wall. I soon became noticed by the guards at the huge gate, all looking at me with a mix of bewilderment and confusion. I began to scan the guards once again, gaining more in depth details about them.

All the Griffins wore light bronze plated armor with knee and elbow padding with a somewhat thick red cloth like uniform. While some of the bigger sized griffins had a set of heavy iron armor, all of their weapons were again, thousands of years behind. Some were armed with rather bulky, heavy shot crossbows and others with just a Arab styled Scimitars. The iron plated griffins were armed with a mighty and rather intimidating 14 century Poleaxe. The bronze armored troops also had a round wooden shield that are coated red painted with gold markings. The shields also had a thick band of bronze around the circle shield, making it a blunt weapon if needed.

Beside their stick and stones, I noticed they were rather organized. They did not just randomly advance, but rather stood guard and sent a messenger, supposedly for backup and orders on what to do. As they got reinforcements, they never took their sight off of me, rather keeping their gaze strong with a trained eye. By the looks I saw in their eyes, I knew that these griffins had military training and some real combat experience. As I slowly approached closer to the entrance, I halted at the screeching sound that one of the guards gave.

I stopped, letting them fly down and surround me. There were a dozen or so lightly armored griffins with spears trained at my neck and joints. All of them keeping were keeping a distance with their spears steady as the six others on the wall had aimed their huge crossbows aimed at me. Hmm. It seems that they know either know that I’m a threat or are just taking precautions with the unknown. Either way, their screwed if they mess with me. Then, another flew down, this one seemed to having a more authoritarian status over the griffin troops. He wore a more derivative armor with a iron helmet adorned with a big red mohawk of hair. The guards parted a path for him as he approached me, carefully gazing over my Mjolnir armor, noticing some printed letters and numbers on it.

“What are you?” He asked in english, having a weird accent as I couldn't quite pinpoint. Beside the mind blowing griffin speaking english shit, I stayed leveled headed.

“I am a Spartan.” I replied, looking down at the feathered creature. He looked up at me, both astonished and seemingly intrigued.

“Really? Last time I checked with a scribe, the legendary warriors of Sparta have been extinct for over 500 years.” He said like it was fact, but still gazing at me with a plan brewing in eyes.

“Then these scribes must be bold to make such claims. For all should know that Spartans never dies.” I replied, looking around at the guards, noticing that they were as well intrigued at my claim.

“It seems so. Yet…” He paused, putting his talons on the handle of his sword.

“I think you need to prove it.” He said, drawing his sword quickly and swinging the blade. I stood still as he quickly brought his weapon out. He stopped the slash a mere inch from my armored neck, narrowing his eyes as I didn’t even flinch from his balde.

“Hum, fearless as foretold. Do you really have no fear? Even in the face of death?” asked, lowering his blade, yet not sheathing it.

“Why should a god fear a mortal?” I replied, cocking my head a bit. He seemed to miss my sarcasm as his face turned to anger. His grip tightening on the handle, seemingly ready to attack this time.

“Are you claiming to be a mightier than the God Emperor?” He hissed with a surprising amount of venom laced with his words, his eyes slitting as he look ready to kill me, even though it would be inconceivable for him to accomplish such.

“Never claimed being above such a title. Did I?” I retorted, gaining deadpan stares from the griffins until the leader started to laugh as if I had just told a joke.

“You humor me, stranger. May I know your name?” He asked, finally sheathing his sword.

“I have been known by many names, but you may call me Ghost. For I am the last, hencing the title Ghost Of Reach.” I told, being a somewhat truthful as I mentally begun making a backstory with lore of my fanfic characters.

“I see, but I must ask as to why you are here? What is it you seek here Spartan? A battle for fortune in the newly constructed Arena?” He asked, giving a hand single to the guards to relax from their battle stance. Their weapons on the other hand, stayed at the ready.

“If it grants the winner coin, well… I guess I could humor you to some real combat.” I replied, folding my arms.

“I see and agree! Well, I’ll see to that you get to prove your might fellow warrior. Overwise, enjoy your short stay, Spartan.” He finished, sounding oddly cheerful while hinting at a much darker tone. He took off, flying away and signalling the guards to open the gates. I followed the two guards, analyzing every detail of their armor and of my surroundings. The city was quite grand in scale for its technological age. I could see that this place had seen some wars and has been rebuilt a few times. Yet it was nearly empty as the markets and homes seems to deserted.

“Where are the rest of the citizens of this city?” I asked the guard to my right. He groaned, as if he had been asked this question a million times.

“Most, if not everyone, is at the arena, waiting for their show.” He replied gruffly. I stayed silent for the rest of the trip as I was lead into the city and deep into the underground. Apparently, for being a massive guarded city, it had a guarded underground system of supplies and goods. As we ventured in the torchlit hallways, I was greeted with the downing faces of prisoners, caged and chained, knowing their end was near. I was then put into a armory of sorts, if it could be call that with such crap for weapons. Then the door open the other side of the armory, revealing a variety of creatures, all having a similar trait. I observed them, noting that they were warriors at heart, but slaves in shackles. Then the guard behind me stood and got our attention.

“Grab a weapon and leave with the group when ordered.” He told, letting me grab a old weapon from the rack. I chosen a long and quite hefty iron greatsword with a old wooden handle. I was then joined by the other warriors, each of the grabbing the scraps of armor and weapons.

“Who you?” asked a new creature in a much more gruff and deep voice. He was a bit bigger than the griffins as he stood up to my waist. He was a biped dog with huge fist like claws and was built like a old bull on steroids. His fur was a deep silverlined blue with dull brown blotches and spots as his age seemed to show a bit, yet not hindering his physical capabilities.

“Ghost Of Reach.” I stated, looking over the old sword.

“Good gladiator name, but you strange one.” he said roughly, touching and gazing over my white armor.

“How so?” I asked, getting a feel for my weapon as he laughed.

“You not slave nor here for warrior death. All here will die... Why you here?” He asked. While he was having apparent speech problems, he gave his point clearly enough for me to grasp.

“Honestly, I currently have no money, so I took the offer to get some. But If me and you were to say, survive and win, will both of us get rewarded?” I ask, gaining crude laughter from him.

“Yes! If we win stronger, we get many things. The stronger get many gems and the strongest get chance to free self of our master! But that is big if though!” He said, chuckling a bit as he sighed.

“Say, if you wish to live longer and free, stay close and alert. I can kill whatever awaits us.” I said, encouraging him to stick close to me. While I’m pretty sure didn’t need anyone of these guys to help me in this fight, this dog’s knowledge could be of great use. And I need him alive as the dead don’t talk.

“Will do. Me hope we can win.” He said with a small smile. Then, the guards began squawking orders. The others did as they were told as we went up the stairs in single file. Soon after a flight of stairs, we found ourselves in an open, blood stained arena with a larger hill in the middle. The 30 slave warriors then walked out, the crowd cheering at their arrival. But when I stepped from the shadows, the crowd fell ill with silence and awe. This was probably because they had never seen a fully armored Spartan II.

“Today’s contestants for honor are the Emerald Horde’s finest batch of warriors to date! Accompanying them is a being that has claims of Ancient Sparta itself! Behold, the Ghost of Reach!” The voice sang, gaining upon the crowd’s wonder and bringing oncore for the fight. I joined the rest of this Emerald’s Horde. We then got ready, are weapons drawings and looking for our enemy.

“Release the Beasts!” An order called out, raising an armored gate, letting loose five huge hybrid monsters from greek mythology.

“Manticores?” I asked myself, tightening my grip. Instead of taking formation like the others, I did the absolutely unexpected. I charged at them. Not only did the salved warriors call out for me, but the crowd gasped at my action. The manticores didn’t seem affected by my charge, only taking the opportunity to find their first target. Biggest one, roared and pounced up into the air, ready to dive bomb at me. But before he could even lay a paw on me, I threw my heavy sword like a javelin, hitting my target on point. The raging animal didn’t see it coming as I shish kabobed his head straight through the maw and into the brain. I merely sidestepped out of the way it crashed into the dirt. With the beast hitting the dust, the crowd was going wild at the sight of my skill. But I did not take a moment to gloat as two more were charging as well.

Quickly, I plucked the iron sword and threw it again, this time, spearing one of the manticore straight into his shoulder. With the other one still charging, I could only dodged to the left, barely avoiding the tackle. I quickly turned around, blocking the next wild attack with my fist. To both of our surprise, I was not injured nor moved by the powerful blow. The monster roared in pain as it drew back it’s now broken and now limp arm. I then remembered why this happened. I weighed a bit over a thousand pounds and the lion just punched me like a human against a concrete wall. I probably broke his arm and messed up his entire paw. I did not dwindle on those thoughts as I gave him no time for recovery. So I lunged at him, driving my fist left in between his eyes at godly unnatural speeds. This is when I finally grasped levels of my strength as I punched right through his skull, obliterating the head into splinters of gore. The crowd went wild again as I drew back, letting them see the display of carnage.

I glanced over my shoulder, seeing that the others had formed a protective circle with shields, bashing and stabbing the two huge lions. I then heard a low growl as the downed manticore roared in agony. With the long sword still lodged into his shoulder and collarbone. I walked over to the Manticore, unsheathing my large Kukri. Hearing the sound of my blade, the beast struggled to crawl away as I drew near. It tried to smite me away, only gaining a strike of my hand, breaking some bones. As it roared in pain, I grabbed it by the throat, slicing it open effortlessly. The crimson blood released a river, drenched my armor in red as I looked into it’s dying eyes. The crowd cheered as I lifted the dead lion into the air, showing my enhanced strength. I then merely tossed the body away like a rag, and turned to face the last two. The group shield had been broken, the lions taking advantage as they chomped and swatted away their prey. I walked into the chaos and over the dead without a care, my targets now looking at me with a mix of fear and hunger.

“Down.” I spoke darkly, ordering the lions to do my bidding. They seemed to understand my message, yet hesitant to obey.

“I SAID DOWN!” I yelled out, stomping my foot into the dirt, making my point as they obeyed, falling onto their bellies. The crowd gasped in shock at the sight of my authority over the beasts. I grabbed one of the already dead warriors and tossed it at the Manticores.

“Eat.” I ordered, this time, doing so as I tossed five more dead slaves at them, letting them feast upon them. The crowd quickly grew over their shock and began to gossiping on what was going on. Yet the vibes of shock and awe from the crowd was still strong as ever, even as I walked to the center of the coliseum.

“I have not only beaten them single handedly, but I have tamed these beasts to my will! Are you not entertained!?” I yelled out, looking at the crowd, seeing their faces of shock. That was quickly changed as the sudden roaring of cheers became deafening. Yet they were quickly silenced as the entertainer’s voice came up again.

“What a show! The Ghost of Reach is victorious! Manticores are no match for this Spartan!” The cheering then turned into chanting as the crowd began repeating for an oncor.

“Ghost of Reach! Ghost of Reach! Ghost of Reach!” I could only smile as my name echoed throughout the arena, my name only the beginning of my fame. Soon in time, it would I will be a living legend, a god among mortals, and a power to be reckoned with.

Chapter 2: Stocking up Information and Gold

Once the full crowd the cheering had ended, I was escorted out of the arena and was lead up to a large luxurious room full of fine silk tapestry and food. In the center of the room was a male griffin that looked liked a hybrid of an African Hawk and a African Leopard. From what I could see of his body, he had quite a fair amount of thick scars on him. The griffin was sitting on a pillow like throne that actually looked quite comfy. He adorned a thick pelted cape of what looked like manticore fur. While he didn’t have the classic scar over the damaged eye cliche, he still had the general look of a badass as his dark green eyes scanned over my bloodied armor.

“Guards, bring us some towels. I can’t have my new silk stained with blood.” He said, his voice strained and sounding as scared as his body, yet held strong. The Guards quickly did as he said as they came back with a stack of folded towels. Before I could even interject, the four guards started to quickly clean the blood off me. For a whole minute, they went for every detailed part of my armor till I was clean as I could get. After they were done cleaning all the grime off of my armor, the griffin guards left with the bloody towels with them.

“Now that you're cleaned up, I think introductions are in order.” He spoke up again, rising from his seat.

“I am Legate Wick Huntseeker of the Griffin Empire and current lord of this city.”

“I am Inheritor Gabe C137, Spartan II of the UNSC. But most known as the Ghost of Reach.” I replied, standing straight and and unmoving.

“Well, do you know why you are here?” He asked, observing my body for any hint of movement or expression.

“Negative, I just got here.” Wick gave a low chuckle, grabbing a cup of fizzing purple liquid.

“Well based on what my adviser told me beforehand, you claimed to be a Spartan Warrior. Of course, I nearly threw him out for believing such an absurd claim. But after seeing such a... Savage display of power, I can imagine what kind of havoc you could bring upon an army. In fact, it seems as if those wild manticores were just cannon fodder…” He said, trailing off as he downed his drink.

“Better yet, you have not only impressed the people of this city, but you have impressed me.” He began pouring himself another drink.

“In all the time I’ve trained, I never could imagine myself being a powerful warrior such as yourself. Instead, I chose to hone my skills in outwitting my enemy in combat. That is, of course, what has kept me alive for so long.” Downing the cup dry again, he set it down and taking his seat.

“Even with the odds favoring the enemy tenfold, I have been victorious. But that’s enough about my past glory.” Filling and downing the fizzing drink for a third time, he looked up at me after sighing in relief.

“You on the other hand, are an enigma with power. While my superiors back home would only see you as a great threat, I see only a greater opportunity.” He paused again, this time, taking deep, relaxed breaths as his voice had become less strained.

“An opportunity?” I asked, even though I already had a good idea what his answer is. I’m betting he wants to use me to defeat some kind of savage nation or save a daughter/princess cliche.

“Yes, I see you as possibly the biggest blessing I have been given. I am in need of someone with your set of skills.” I nearly groaned through my mic, waiting for the over used classic ‘kill them, take this, come back, repeat’ quest cliches.

“I need you to take me home.”

…

“Are you serious?”

“Sarcasm is not one of my greatest strengths, so yes, I am serious.” He replied, sounding somewhat annoyed. I just stood there, not sure how to respond.

“I need more information before I can decide on any agreements you have. Exceptionally on one so crudely explained.” I replied, gaining a nod from the scared griffin.

“That is understandable. Since time is not my ally, I’ll just be true with you. I’m… Dying, have been for a quite a while now. My past life as a young warrior has left me many wounds that have scared me deep. My old age can no longer keep up with my wounds, so my time among the living as been dwindling. I’ve been relying on medicine for years now, but I fear even that has now begun to fail me.” The general sighed, taking another drink of purple liquid.

“I know my time will soon come, and Emperor help me if I die here in these savage lands.” He clenched his beak hard, emitting a low growl.

“Ahem, what I request of you is my safe passage home. The lands here are far from Havenrock and are filled with many savages and monsters alike. Many of whom would love to dance in my blood and have my head on a spike.” Wick spoke grimly, finishing the rest of his drink.

“And what can I get for my services?” I asked, intrigued as to what ‘savages and monsters’ could drive him to seek my protection.

“I can pay you in your own weight in gold.” He offered. At that moment, I swear I heard someone in my head scream ‘*Cha-Ching* BINGO!’ at that offer.

“Then it’s a deal.” I said calmly, giving a talon-handshake in our agreement.

“Great, I plan on leaving with my escorts at the break of dawn. So be ready at the front gates before then. The arena has come to a close, so I’ll have my guards bring your payment for today's entertainment.” He said, signaling me off with a wave of is arm. I give a nod and was escorted out by two guards.

“Wait, how much is this worth?”

“Again, your payment is 90 Gold Delcoins.”

“Yeah, I know that. What I want to know is how much it is worth compared to other currencies? I don’t know how much that means if I don’t know how this currency works!” I, yet again, tried explaining. This griffin has been a pain since I received my winnings.

“Then what do you want from me, winny white warrior?” I’m not even gonna comment on that.

“Explain to me, in great detail, on how this Delcoin Currency works.” I said, restraining myself from letting out my frustration on him.

“Fine, I’ll teach you. There are four types of Delcoins. First is the Vulk Delcoins, or commonly called Vulk Coins. These black coins are the commoners currency for buying food and common supplies. Copper Delcoins, or sometimes called Coop Coins as most used to buy some little scrap of land to build a small home. Silver Delcoins are what all traders use in SOAR Territory, mostly used in buying bulks of valuable things such as furs to gems. Gold Delcoins are what house nobles and the higher up rich griffins use to buy homes, land, ships, businesses, excreta.”

“Okay, so how is each compared to each other?” I ask, gaining another groan from the griffin.

“60 or so Vulk Coins are worth 1 Copper Coins. It can vary depending on how old and torn the coin is. Sometimes you need 80 Vulk Coins to get 1 Copper Coin. Anyhow, as of now, 40 Copper Coins are worth 1 Silver Coins. 40 Silver Coins makes 1 Gold Coin. The balance between silver and gold tends to differ per region. And that it.”

“Okay, so I’m being paid 90 gold? Isn’t that like, a lot for just one winner or am I missing something?”

“No, you have indeed earned a great amount of coin. Those Delcoins were for the Emerald Horde Clan, but since you outdid all of them, you took all the rewards. I advised that you should avoid their dragon master, Sire Snider. He has a great distaste for those that have claimed something he values as his own wealth. So don’t cross their path again if you with to keep your gold and fancy armor.” He warned, seeming to be serious for once.

“Well it’s good thing that this armor doesn't come off. I’ll be gone by tomorrow anyhow, though thanks for the tip.” I grabbed my sack of gold activated my TACPAD. After quickly selecting the bag through VATS, it was enveloped in a static like blue hue before being sorted into wherever I keep this stuff. Universal Hammer Space? Yeah, I think that’s what it was called. Or something like 'fick physics, game logic wins'. Anyway, it was quite amusing to see a griffin’s jaw/lower beak drop after seeing a city business worth in gold suddenly vanish.

“If you keep your mouth gaping like that, someone might decide to slip something into it.” And there goes his astonished look to embarrassment.

“Well, I bid you good day.” Leaving the still astonished cashier, I began my long walk to… Nowhere. I mean, all I had to do was look into my Quest List. (Yes, I actually do have a quest section in my TACPAD. Just like the games) And the only thing was to meet General Huntseeker at 6:00 AM tomorrow. So like any experienced fallout player, I knew what I had to do. Just wander around aimlessly until I find some shit to do. And it didn’t take long.

“If you don't even got the damn Delcoins, why are- You know what! Get outta my shop!” A coal covered and ashed smeared griffin yelled, promptly throwing a would be customer out into the street, face first might I add. Deciding to check on the poor griffin, I approached him hearing his grumbling of his luck.

“I should've known he wouldn't take the deal.” As I got a closer look, the griffin looked a bit different. He had the normal plain brown feline coat with a light to shady dark gray fluff of a head. The clay gray feathers had a zigzag pattern of dark green with slight highlight of yellow. Another thing to note was that his wing feathers matched the ones on his head, excpt in in a V shape pattern. Oh and his tail was nearly twice as long compared to normal griffin. If this was a video game, I would guess he was another player or a unique companion/follower. Either way, I sense a quest.

“And what deal could bring out such a reaction?” I questioned out loud, gaining his attention.

“A trade without any coins in it, obviously.” He replied sarcastically, rubbing the dirt off his face. He immediately stopped his dusting and froze in place once his gray blue eyes gazed up at me.

“And pretty please don’t kill me?” I nearly laughed at seeing his scared face with the classic cartoon pinprick sized eyes.

“I don’t have a reason to kill you man.”

“Oh! That’s good, that’s really goooood! Also, I’m a griffon, not a… Man? What’s a man? Or did I mishear you saying pan?” Oh god, not this explanation. I knew it was bound to happen, oh well...

“Have you ever heard of humans?”

“Humans? Hum.. Maybe? Noooo. Never have heard of them- Oh no! Is that another monster I have to worry about?” he asked, looking around as if expecting a monster to pop around the corner. Again, I nearly chuckled at his antics.

“No, we… Aren't monsters at heart or anything like that. But like any sentient species, we are susceptible to diving down to becoming such. Hopefully that answers your question.”

“Oh, that’s good. Good news is always good! With all the talk of those Tribal Diamond Dogs raiding about, I was hoping so sure that it couldn’t get any worse! I know I am right. Right? I mean, some of the local nighttime wildlife is scary enough for Theek.”

“Your name is Theek?”

“Yup! Theek the Entertainer! Even if no one wants me to entertain, I shall keep the title!” He said, trying to keep a cheery smile through his depression filled statement. Though one thing he said had me intrigued.

“Okay then. But what did you mean by ‘Tribal Diamond Dogs’? Are these dogs organised in attacking or just bark at whatever gets in their territory” I asked.

“Both actually!” Why am I not surprised?

“Care to elaborate?” I asked, starting to get annoyed by his playful tone.

“Oh, I sure will! From what I know, the local dogos haven’t been too happy with the Empire. I mean, they did ‘liberate’ this land from that crazy Sworn Cult a long time ago. I guess it’s when said lands aren't ‘rightfully returned’ that disagreement became so tense. Ya know, fancy-wancy politics.”

“What is this Sworn Cult? Is that what they are called?”

“Ummm… I believe they just called themselves ‘The Sworn’ from what I know. Yet I’ve never figured out what they are sworn to! Why title your group with only an adjective and nothing else? Not a very definitive name. As of what they are? I think they are, err… Rather they were a group monks. Or something close to that? Actually, I don’t know if their kind worship gods or not. Do Gargoyles have a deity?” Theek trailed off, rambling off questioning himself. This did not meet well with me.

“Theek.”

“Oh, sorry about that! I tend to get off track when I start to question something. I mean, I don’t do that too often, do I? How would I know when I do get off track? Could I even understand that when I don’t? What if this entire subject is a paradox in of itself?”

“Theek.”

“Okay! I’m back on topic! Please don’t kill me!” Theek wined, dramatically throwing up his arms in a begging posture.

“From what I’ve been told, they went all Koo-Koo in the head by some dark magics. And not the shadowy sneak n’ sneaky type either. Way back when I entertained the old Captain, he would sometimes get these horrible reports of troops found gutted and tortured along with a few of them being burned on a sacrificial pole. Those damn messages completely ruined my act! And I could never cheer him back up after being informed. Stupid messengers...” Theek grumbled off track once again. I think I’m starting to understand why no one wants Theek to entertain. I bet can’t keep a joke straight.

“Overall, in my opinion, they are just a group of dark doomy gloom guys that ruin my show.”

“Last question. Did you say that they were Gargoyles, like the kind that is made of stone?” I asked, kinda intrigued with the idea of dark worshipers made of stone. How would they even move? Oh god, it better not be some Weeping Angel shit. If so, fuck that I’m out.

“What? No. Gargoyles are not golems silly, they are completely normal looking!” Thank god. I can sleep knowing that doctor who shit isn’t gonna kill me.

“Well, thanks for the info, Theek.” I gave a curt nod and began to walk away, only to be blocked by Theek jumping in front of me.

“Wait! Don’t leave Theek!”

“Why? Is there something else?” Theek look down at his Talons nervously.

“Weeeeell... It so happens that I may know of a long lost treasure! Yeah, that totally it!” My bullshit detector has spiked, but I think I’ll humored him.

“And? Why does that have anything to do with me?”

“Um, oh! Because I know of the legend! Yeah, about a lost shiny crown! And you need me to find it.” He said, bringing his tone from uncertain con artist to playful pet dog. How does that even work? I don’t even know.

“O’ Really?”

“You bet so! And I also bet that I’m the only one to figure out the old riddle too!” And he doesn't get my sarcasm. Great.

“You know a, quote on quote, legend of a shiny crown that comes with a riddle to find said crown? You have got to be ficking kidding me.” I’m already frustrated with this fairy tale crap. I’m a sci-fi nerd for Picard’s sake! *Facepalm* I don’t belong in a fantasy world of talking mythological creature people…

“Theek not kidding this time! Please listen, Theek swear!” Is he really begging on his knees? God, this guy is pathetic.

“Theek, I no idiot. Why are you so desperate for my attention?”

“Theek- Um, I don’t want to be alone. I-I have no friends, no family, or home here. And you are the only one that has actually talked to me in the last four days…” Scratch pathetic, he’s just desperately depressed. Kinda reminds me of myself, before those ficking aliens…

“So… you seek my company Theek?”

“A companionship, yes, I desire so. I’ll go wherever you’ll go.” He said with hope bringing him back up.

“Well…” I began to ponder on if I should take him with me. Sure, he’s gonna be a nuisance for short awhile. Hopefully. Though I am in need a native, someone who can read their languages and or possibly teach it to me. Especially someone who has traveled and can be a guide...

“I got four questions. Can you read and write?”

“I can read perfectly clear! That’s one of my main jobs as an entertainer. I had to read the those old story books and messages to the Captain. Oh, I better not get off track! I can read both Gryphus Hieroglyphic and Modern Griffin. Crazy for a griffin like me, right? I can also read Celestial Era Equestrian off talon as well… Anything else is just coughing furballs for me. Writing? I can do that and write letters like a professional! Even though I’m not allowed to tell anyone this, but my good ol’ captain actually had poor handwriting. So I both read him and wrote all his military and honorary leader letters! Can’t be taken seriously with measly diamond dog handwriting. But to put my skills simply, I can write like a general, but nothing close to those fancy scribe books.”

“I’m betting you mean something like calligraphy? Don’t worry, I’m in no need of that. I don’t plan on writing a zealously holy sealed codex for mankind.” I joked. He obviously didn’t get it, and that’s a good thing. It would be very strange if he understood that reference. I would be very wary of his and I may have had to go full Inquisitor on his ass if so. Can’t risk it with the tainting powers of chaos lurking about…

“Okay, third. Do you know how to properly manage and use money?”

“What…” He stated, seemingly caught off guard and left breathless.

“Can you manage my money?” My simplified question seems to have an even worse effect on him as he dazed out like he just got his fix. Did I just hear someone scream ‘JACKPOT’? Seriously, where did that one come from?

“You want ME to be your… Your banker?!” He asked, as if he was being blessed in heaven by a golden god. Nope. I am not allowing that.

“More of a accountant of how much there is and an adviser when making deals. Also help manage the usage of said money to get betters deals and make sure I’m not getting ripped off. Also, it is MY wealth, hard earned or not. And you won’t hold a dime of it.” I stated load and clearly, forcing the point close to heart. Literally, my armored index finger was pointing hard into his feather fluffed chest.

“Wouldn’t expect it any other way, griffin or not!”

“And last question. Are you able to translate and navigate both naval and land maps?”

“I guess?” Theek sounded so unsure that I’m not sure that I’m sure. Wut?

“I’ll take that as a no.” My response seemed to have that magical effect of literally deflating his attitude and tone.

“Well... Seeing as that your the only one not totally terrified of me… Added the fact that you have some greatly useful skills. And that your the only griffin that I’ve met with the ability to be entertaining. I consider you hired.”

“Huh! Really?!”

“Yes, meet at the main city gate around 5:40 A.M. tomorrow. I’m leaving with General Huntseeker to complete his quest. Until then, I recommend that you pack anything for a long road trip. I’ll see you latter.” With that, he rushed off, gleaming with joy. Suddenly, my attention was drawn to a notification to the top left of my HUD.

Achievement Unlocked: Companionship
Gain a friendly and willing follower. No longer walk a lonely road.
20 Multiverse Tokens earned.

Wait... What was that last part?

Chapter 3: And the Quest Begins [Edited]

Author's Note

I need to clarify some things here with you readers.
This story is in an Alternate World, as the tag suggest. But don't worry, we'll see Equestria, eventually. Also, this story is not an Anthro, sorry for having the wrong tag. So Griffins are normal, like this.

Same is said with the ponies and and other races, sorry for the confusion.

On another note, with how the story categorising system works, I cannot add label of Comedy on this story. Since the story is an ADVENTURE and has some DARK tones, I can only have the either the COMEDY or RANDOM. And since my sense of humor and skills at comedy are "horrible" I'll have to stick with good old blue Randomness.

And lastly, I would like to know if the new story art is any better than the last? I personally like it much better, thus it was changed. Finally, what do ya think of this adorable thing? I'm thinking of making this guy as a side character for Spartan Gabe. Maybe you guys could possibly give this future Companion a name. No punny/pony names or names with strong Gs or that like. G is for Griffin after all. Maybe something kinda bug related like fireflies or something of that.

On another note, what do you think Gabe's notifications mean? Let my know what you guys and gals think in the comments below! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 3: And the Quest Begins [Edited]

Achievement Unlocked: Companionship
Gain a friendly and willing follower. No longer walk a lonely road.
20 Multiverse Tokens earned.

Wait... What was that last part?

827 Seconds Later

Once BRAIN.SYS finally reloaded back online, I decided to not care and or ever wonder about what “20 Multiverse Tokens” meant. Because my brain cannot deal with anymore of this world shattering shit. So said subject will be ficked with another day when I have more clarity in my mind. Before that time comes, I must find a place comfy shady place to sleep. Tavern? I don’t want to get ripped off with my gold wasted. Hotel? I bet that they aren’t even invented yet, including room service as well. So where was I going to sleep? Outside?

Yes, yes I was. Because I’m in an imagined set of power armor that derivatives from 3 different video games. After the arena I looked over my gear and I can confidently say that nothing short of god levels of power can really hurt me. Let alone taking any actual damage without my armor waking me up. Plus, I’m in an airtight Nanosuit, so no bugs, dirt, sounds or smells can bother me! Finally, I am impervious to all nuances that comes with camping! Truly, I am invincible!

…

Man, I am getting carried away again, but who could blame me? All this power, I could only dream of existing in my once-thought impossible fantasies. Now as of today, I have truly come to the conclusion; I have all of it. The power I now wield, strengths that only existed in fiction such as my super human abilities. Or even the greatest power of them all, knowledge, knowledge on many vast subjects. On top of all of this possessing the honed skills of a Hyper Lethal Vector defiantly gave me many advantages as well. And best of all, I can clearly recite each and every detail.

The longed for dreams, unbounded freedoms, the single wish, all of it has unfolded upon my very eyes.

Yet… I feel… Held back? By regret? Or is it shame?

I just realized something that should have been obvious to me by now, yet has seemingly eluded me from the start. I had left it all. Life, family, friends home, even my own humanity to a degree. And all that I have been blessed with, in turn gave up all on what I had previously made? Sure, it wasn't much. Lived life without a father, and raised by only a mother. Being the only child, I was my only friend. I never played outside, always alone in my books. Though I never got friends until becoming an adult. At least I got nearly average grades in high school. But after that, not much has truly happened to me. I’ve rented the same very small apartment and continued to work hard to make living in a grocery store with the offhand second job from time to time.

I had left my friends behind, and literally everyone on earth, to this unknown world. I don’t even know if there are any humans in this world.

Now as I ponder on all of this, I’m starting to feel… Cold? I feel Cold… And alone? I’m feeling very alone with a cold sore in my heart…

As I reconciled back and forth through all of this, I search for a good place to rest in what felt like an autopilot mode for my body. Once I found a secluded dark corner, I mentally powered down the armor only to realize that I can’t move. Why is this important? Because I’m stuck standing up in a default mannequin pose. Well, I might as well fall asleep, it’s not like I’m uncomfortable, if anything, this CryFibril tight suit feels perfect as a second skin. Glancing at my dimly lit Clock on my HUD, I noted that it was currently, 8:47 PM.

“Well, goodnight lucky fool.” I monologue out loud, soon mentally relaxing myself to sleep.

“It ain't even six in the morning and I’ve been robbed, chopped, and shot up on the block.”

“How? Bow-wow? I don’t even know foe.”

“At least that’s what I think, while being six feet in the deep.”

“Because I’ve been left coughing, resting dead and alive inside of dis Coffin.”

“By my mixtape, suck this, and get raped!”

Man, I am such white trash at this. Beside my inner homie wanting out, I actually knew little as of what was going on. Well, it was actually more to as of what I don’t understand. Yet what I do know is that I am held inside of some box. A thick wooden crate is to be more precise actually. I’ve been stolen, or rather they THINK they stole my armor. How did they come to that conclusion? Apparently, the place I had chosen to sleep was right next to the ‘secret’ brothel. How did this relate to anything?

Well, apparently the thieves reasoned that I got out of my armor and left it here. Why? Because they THINK I got hella laid with bitches and was spending all my money on hardcore drugs in said establishment. Because what else would a Gladiator do after stealing the show and winning a high bounty worth in gold? That’s their words, not mine and obviously NOT what I did. It is what these Dummkopfs actually assumed and concluded to in their group talk right next to me.

The amount of times I had to stop myself from face palming is damn to high.

At least, that is what I could make of the audio recordings my armor made. I’m starting to wonder if I have a lesser level AI on me or not by that fact alone. Besides all of that and to make things even better, they actually struggled hard putting me in this crate and moving me. And not the simple kind either, more on the levels of Dumb and Dumber type of struggle. So, who the hell are these assholes on full retard? So far, I’ve counted up to three lowly griffin minions, one hungry Diamond Dogo, and finally the grand griffin mastermind, otherwise ironically known as BOSS.

“Griff, I wonder. How does that Ghost guy even move in this armor? It literally ways a ton!” Said the griffin minion known as Tinny the talkative. No joke, real title.

“More like half a ton if the carriage weight limit is anything to say about it.” Said the guy who has been dubbed ‘Egghead’.

“Shut it Egghead.” Said the most uncreative name for a griffin. Seriously, who were his parents?

“That’s not my name.” The nerd replied.

“Your right, it’s what you are! HAHA!” Griff mocked like an uncreative child.

“Enough Griff. The Egghead has a point, you know. We went through the first two carriages like butter in an oven trying to tow it. Good thing we have Egghead with us or we wouldn’t have gotten the right carriage. Having big brains with us helps weather you like to admit it or not.” The “Boss” defended, gaining what sounded like resentment from Griff.

“How much you wanna guess boss?” A Gruff voice presumably belonging to a Diamond Dog.

“Guess on what, dog?” The Boss confirming my statement.

“How much we’re gonna make off on fancy metal? The now rightfully dubbed Gruff replied

“You mean selling it here? On the border of Empire territory? Not even enough from what we can make from it.” Boss stated.

“Were taking a long journey back to the Capital. Trust me, the rich royals at Heaven Rock will be bidding gold in the amounts of the armor’s weight just to have it.” the Boss concluded to his fellow would be thieves.

“Fancy metal won’t fit griffins. Why buy?” Gruff questioned.

“Yeah, he gots a point. Why would they buy something like armor if it doesn't fit them?” Griff replied.

“Really Griff? Really Griff? I thought you were smarter to understand my plan. It is actually simple. We will tell the locals it is one of the long lost treasures left undiscovered from time. They are a religious flock, they will eat out of our talons once they see the how detailed and strange looking this armor really is. I am willing to be bet 10 solid silver that there will be a small fight over ‘who should rightly own it’ after the bidding!” The four followers laughed with their boss.

Oh sieg heil no! I ain't being sold off as some relic! I’ll burn their feather off for that!

Deciding to make myself known, I punched my fist through the wood, startling the wannabe thieves. Barging out of the crate like the kool aid man, I managed to get off on the ground and onto my feet rather quickly. I felt the carriage come to a screeching halt as the reinforced axle of the carriage cried out in protest at the sudden movement and distribution of weight. A many things quickly happened once I had visual of my surroundings. First thing was noticing the utter shock and horrified expressions that the crew had. Next was my surroundings; in the same forest and on dirt road. The time? It was either very early morning or very late night based on the darkened sky. Only things giving visibility was the starry night. And lastly realized what had truly horrified the group stiff.

My fist.

Apparently, when I busted out of the crate, I busted my right fist into one of the griffins. Said fist was specifically elbow deep in said griffin’s anus, completely graphic and disturbing as it sounds. Comparative to my size, it looked like he was no more than a puppet with a death shocked expression. Oh did I mention that it was very gruesome? Because it was. As the ripped and torn organs quickly leaked gore down the rest of my arm. Overall, the entire scene made me look like a real life horror film monster. And honestly I was more startled to these turn of events then horrified or shocked as I should be. I am definitely no longer normal.

“This… This is some Mortal Kombat shit. Disgusting.” I flinched, pulling my fist out of the corpse, scraping the entangled entrails and mushed guts off my armored forearm. My mind tempted to turn demented on these fools, I turned my head and I look directly at the still fear frozen.

“Who’s next?” And the banshee’s symphony begun. The unmanly pitched screams were definitely real as they scrambled and scattered into the wilderness. Not headless chicken kind of panic, but the absolutely terrified type if the looks on their faces said anything about it. Deciding that I had my amusement with them, I let them go screeching and focused back on the task at hand. I ripped some of the cloth that made up the cart’s canopy, I cleaned off my armored hands and arm. As I finished scraping and cleaning the fine details, the metal carriage sized cart finally gave out under my weight. Specifically the axle bent and snapped, rendering the cart completely useless. Stepping off from the back, I realized something.

If all five of the dumbasses ran, then who was pulling the cart?

Abiding to my curiosity, I walked around to find who was pulling this damned thing. And to my surprise, they were… Donkeys? Hun, I guess I was suspecting something more strange or… Magical perhaps?

“We beg, please don’t hurt us! We are just slaves, we do as we told. Please don’t fist us!” One of the two Donkeys pleaded, bowing down.

Slavery, why would I expect anything better from a technology primitive world?

“Worry not, I bring no harm upon you. Though, I have woken up... Misplaced as it seems. You two know the way back to the city? I have an appointment and job with the local lord of said city.” I spoke heroically, trying my best as to not seem threatening to these mules. Obviously, I was going to struggle with making that concept after leaving a dead mess of a griffin.

“The city is 3 to 4 miles straight back down the road.” The other, less fearful mule replied.

“Much obliged, and now as of what to do with you two…” As I approached them, I drew my heavy duty Kukri from it’s seath. Predictably, they flinched and closed their eyes, as if expecting to be slaughtered. This only deepened my frown under my helmet. Making quick ease with cutting the straps, I undid the burdening harness and continued with doing the same for the other.

“What?” The less fearful one muttered, opening his eyes to find his bonds shredded and no longer burdened with the slave harness. Once his friend finally came to realize that he wasn't meeting his end, he too looked shocked, gazing at my actions.

“I bid thee farewell. And heed my advice, if you start running now, you’ll be long gone before those griffin return. If they ever that is.” I nodded and pointed said road, their eyes following my direction.

“Overwise, good luck.” And with that, I took off back down the hill and sprinted. Quickly gaining speed I found that the trees were quickly passed by and the road below my feet now a blur.

Holy shit! How fast am I going?!

My HUD brought me up the answer with a notification. Wait… 35 MILES?!

Oh shit, I forgot how ficking superhuman spartans are in the lore. I wonder...

MAXIMUM SPEED ACTIVATED

“OH MY BLACK JEWISH GOD I’M A BLAZING WHITE LAMBORGHINI!!!”

I cranked my speed from a steady superhuman 35 miles an hour to an outrageous fast 175 miles an hour in 5 seconds. I remembered that I made the Nanosuit 3.0 ‘Maximum Dives’ increases everything by a factor of five. I was literally skipping my way to said city, except every step was a mighty blow to the ground, accelerating my body beyond human levels. To put it in much simpler terms, I was going roughly ¼ the speed of sound, while weighing a total of 1,000 pounds…

While I was relishing over the grand momentum I’ve reached, I forgot that I soon need to show down, right now. Panicking, I latched onto a nearby tree, only to completely rip it apart and strafed through the wilderness like a stray cannon ball. In mere split second, I mentally activated my overshields, Maximum Armor, and locked up my armor. Time sped back up for as I continued crashing through tree trunks like twigs. Eventually, my pinball body smashing came to an end with my armor holding up. Well, first of all, my four overshields are completely broken and took a lot of the damage. The Nanosuit did hold up and kept my armor intact. To my own amazement, nothing was broken or dislocated! I was only suffering large bruising both externally and internally after clearing through a football field’s worth of trees. My body began to regenerate and heal my wounds while my body was locked in a fetal position.

“I definitely overdid that. Never will I Sanic. Never again.” I groaned as the internal bruising were lessened and healed, soon allowing me to unlock all of the joints in my armor. I’m just glad I didn’t completely tear my achilles tendon after that stunt... Wait, didn’t the Chief do that once? While letting those thoughts wander off, I got on my feet while shaking off all the pine, wood, and dirt I had accumulated. But once I glanced at my surrounding, I saw that I was around 20 meters from the General’s carriage and armored escorts.

“Oh, hi. Am I late?” I asked, kind of surprised that I ended up this close to them. Of course, I was meant with their still shocked silence. I nearly cringed after hearing few of the trees behind me give way and collapse. Thankfully, Theek broke the awkward silence.

“Wow. How are you that fast? Did you use magic?”

“No magic needed, I’m fast as fuk boi.”

“What happened?” Lord Huntseeker asked, emerging out of his carriage. The look he wore was of worried, concern, and shock. I stepped out of the mini crater and up to him, while continually dusting myself off.

“Few things, actually.” I replied, giving a small bow to the scar baring griffin.

“First off, a band of idiots decided to steal my armor and sell it off somewhere, unknowing of that I was just asleep in it. So I dealt with their foolishness by paying them in full with terror. Second, I found out that slavery is a thing in these lands, should have seen this before honestly. And lastly, since out time of meeting was nearly due, I decided to run as fast as I could. Obviously you can see what happened.”

“So you tripped?” He asked. I lowered and leaned in closer, whispering my answer.

“No, I stepped on a Lego.” His facial expression was the definition of ‘unamused’ as a face with a beak can get.

“Well, since you’re somehow not crippled for life, you are still fit for protecting me? Right?”

“Yes, I can still kick ass.” I replied a bit more seriously.

“Good, we have a long way to Heaven Rock.*Cough-ack*” Starting to hack like a cat, he quickly grabbed a pocket flask and downed its content.

“Let go, I don’t have any wasted time!” And with that we were off, and the notification rang on my HUD, signifying the start my quest.

Quest Added: A Rock on Heaven
Mission: Escort General Huntseeker to Heaven Rock
Mission Reward: 1000 Gold Del
~M~ Rewards: 300 Multiverse Tokens, 1 Weapon Upgrades, 1 Armor Upgrades, Forerunner Kit Mk1

“Oh boy, another one. What the hell does all of this even mean? It’s not like this is all a game…”

Chapter 4: A Sworn Encounter

Quest Added: A Rock on Heaven
Mission: Escort General Huntseeker to Heaven Rock
Mission Reward: 1000 Gold Del
~M~ Rewards: 300 Multiverse Tokens, 1 Weapon Upgrades, 1 Armor Upgrades, Forerunner Kit Mk1

I’ve cracked the case! I now know the forbidden knowledge! After an hour of literally checking and deducting the information on my TACPAD, I think I have a full understanding of what is truly going on here. I’m now bound by one of the greatest and possibly flawed things in the world.

Game Logic.

That means one of two things to me. One, I am either in a world that has video game mechanics bound to physics itself. Or, I’m not in said universe, but a virtual one, an equivalent to this would be a video game based version of The Matrix. And honestly, both options terrified me. Either I’m in full control in a seemingly gifted wacky universe or I’m not. If not, then it is all just a game monetized and watched over by the alien overlords that captured me. Though the problem with that is as of why they would make my dreams come true?

Either way, how did I come to this conclusion you beautiful alien assholes? Well, the integrated progression system made it kinda obvious. Apparently, the military stockpile worth of weapons was held behind a Paywall. The first type of currency were these things called Credits, granted customization, repair, and purchasing some equipment. The second currency type were these Multiverse Tokens or known simply represented as “ ~M~ ”.

These coins unlocked nearly all of the Equipment such as guns, vehicles, medical, food, and armor upgrades. An example would be when I selected the M6G (or more commonly known as the Magnum), it opened the option to buy it for 20 ~M~ currency. With one unintentional tap later, I now have the M6G Magnum Personal Defence Weapon System with eight rounds magazines. While it was not bottomless clip, at least I have unlimited amount of reloads. So I thank alien goodness that I don’t have to worry about managing my ammo.

As I examined my gun, I instantly recognized that it looked like the Magnum, particularly the gun model from Halo Reach. With the yellow stripe and glow sights, everything matched. Ejecting the mag, I found that the Pistol was chambered in it’s standard 12.7x40mm M225 SAP-HE (Semi-Armor-Piercing High-Explosive) rounds. Inserting the mag back in, I cocked one in the chamber with the strangely satisfying sound of gun’s action. Heh, I guess I am really a gun nut now.

“What is that thing?” Bringing my vision away from the glorious Magnum, my gazed met upon Theek, who seemed just as interested as I was with it. He was currently staring at it while pecking off and eating pieces of an apple.

“This is the M6G Personal Defence Weapon Systems, or just called the Magnum for short. Small, yet powerful pistol for hitting headshots and making quick work with Grunts.”

“Oh… That’s great, but what is it?” I stared at Theek for a moment before snatching the apple out of his talons.

“Hay! I was eating that!” Tossing the apple up, I skillfully quickdraw the Magnum and fired off a shot, obliteration the apple. The entire caravan stopped, covering their ears from the sudden explosion sound.

“This is a compact ranged weapon that has very fast, explosive projectiles that detonates upon impact. See what’s left of that apple? That is what it does to whatever this round hits. Simple enough?” Theek just dumbly nods in amazement.

“You didn’t have to kill my snack.” Theek mumbled under his breath, unaware that I heard him clearly. The guards now figured that the show was over and we continued onwards. Before I fired off that shot, the whole trip had been overall, uneventful. It’s 8:39 AM now and the sun if fully shining over the forest landscape. As we ventured further into wilderness, I think I was the first to noticed that the songs of wildlife fell silent.

“It’s quiet… Too quiet…” Thanks generic griffin guard number 3.

“Don’t worry too much. Most wildlife are usually scared of by sudden, loud noises.” I assured, though that didn’t top their paranoia.

“The wildlife is not what I’m worried about. It’s what lurks nearby when the forest grows silent.” Oh great he thinks we're gonna get ambushed. I mean, who would want to attack us? Oh wait…

“I see. If the sworn are smart, they'll probably strike first by arrow fire in the front and attack from us behind. I suggest we keep a diamond formation around the carriage.” Then outta nowhere, a dozen or so vials are smashed at our feet.

“Or they could just gas us back to world war one. Though I recommend using smoke, it not only confuses and limits vision, but it also splits up and stuns the enemy. While using chemical toxins on the enemy is a very effective tactic, it could just as easily bite you back. In my opinion, using chemical weapons is a very sharp, double edged sword, it can easily strike both ways if not careful. Am I right Theek... Theek?” While I monologue outloud to myself, everyone, including Theek, was knocked out. Thanks to my HUD, I was reassured that they were alive by their status being incapacitated.

“Knockout gas. Clever, but only works well if you know your enemy can’t defend against it. Sadly for you, I am immune to your attack.” I was immediately met with a wine bottle thrown to my face, but thanks to my spartan reflexes, I caught it. Yet somehow, the bottle exploded like a grenade, gushing out whatever chemicals that were crammed in it. After few awkward moments of nothing happening, I left to shaking my head in disappointment.

“Did you not listen to me? That stuff won’t work. Maybe we can settle this like real men?” My suggestion seemed to work this time as bipedal dogs draped in tribal attire emerged from their cover, confusion all over their short bulldog snouts.

“What are you?” One of them asked, though they were not the leader.

“My name is Gabe C137. I am the ghost of the ultimate warrior, a legendary slayer of the Halos, and last spartan of Reach. I assume you are tribal warriors of the Sworn? Answer me.” I announced, smiling at how I dreamed of these kind of moments in the past.

“Uh, yeah, that us-” A smaller, more younger looking dog said, before being smacked my his lager elder.

“You idiot! Your not supposed to answer!” The elder hushly yelled, scolding the smaller one.

“But the white knight already knows!”

“Only because you just told him!”

“You two! Shut up!” A third dog yelled in, leaving his hiding spot behind the large brush. This dog was more physically built, yet had a hilariously smaller head. Though the morningstar he wielded was not something I want to be hit with.

“I show dis fool who he messin’ with.” Now charging, he raised his spiked mace over head with deadly intent. I stood still, waiting till the last moment before taking action. Quickly Holstering my magnum magnetically to my thigh, I drew my Kukri and moved like the world around me was in slow motion. In the span of a second, the dog was disarmed and choking on the blood of his slit open throat.

“All too easy.” My remark brought jaws to drop, shocking the dogs with the sensation with fear.

“Who is next?” I needed say no more as the dogs straight up ran, not even bothering with a ‘get you next time’ remark or anything. Not even a scream, just grouped panic mentality.

“Damn, I guess they aren’t that savage. Well, I’ll give no mercy next time.”As I monologue to myself, I began cleaning my ridiculously sharp blade on some nearby brush, only ending up cutting said brush.

“Damn, I’m way too edgy.” Looking back at the still knocked out group, I let out a long sighed. The realisation that I have to wait until the poison wears off of them. Great.

“Why have we stopped?” Turning my head, the question was from the General himself. Stepping out of his carriage, he stood awake and seemingly unaffected from the previous gas attack.

“The Sworn ambushed, planning to capture us with some bottled knockout gas. Thankfully, my helmet filters out any harmful chemicals, so their plans failed.” Letting out a grunt, Huntseeker stretched his wings while looking down at the diamond dog corpse. Catching his wordless question, I answered.

“Their brute leader challenged me, and the rest ran shortly after his defeat.”

“I see, good work Spartan. Now we must get my guards awake and moving… NO MORE NAPPING YOU HATCHLINGS! NOW GET UP AND WORK LIKE REAL SOLDIERS!” The general’s commanding call seemed to work like magic, the guards hastily getting back into position like all life depended on it. Even Theek stirred from his nap, though much more slowly.

“Come, let’s get a move on! The Sworn will only be scared off for a little while before they come back in full.” The general quickly made a Beeline to the carriage’s back trunk, snatching up a bottle to sooth his strained throat.

“Ah-haa… Now let get a moving. Time is not my ally.”

“Understood.” Sheathing my large knife, I unholstered my Magnum and followed suit with the group, with Theek quickly lagging behind.

“Hay! Wait for me!”

Chapter 5: Campfire Tales

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6: Guests [Edited]

Theek is a thankful griffon, and a really happy one when sleeping. For this is something he greatly enjoyed doing his entire life. Though his time wandering through these foreign lands has made such luxuries difficult, sometimes impossible for the tropical griffon. Ever since being dropped off at some shady port, his adventure of traveling has been a constant. From lockpicking for rogue pirates to serving as a translator for a Legion Centurion, he had been having the time of his life. Yet Theek had to admit the path chosen has been a hard one follow, nevering knowing what the next turn will hold. But with his lucky streak of good fortune and odd jobs are as he would put it, ‘quite thrilling’!

Exploring these new lands and living on the edge in frontier has been over all, an exhilarating experience. And his boldness in facing life has only grown tenfold with the latest gig. For a powerful warrior, one with strength found only in myth, has granted him of all griffons companionship. Not only to adventure with, but to finance his wealth! The whole deal was something of a dream come true; simple management, record keeping, advising, and best of all, adventuring with him! Speaking of dreams, one of them were of the white Spartan defeating a mighty red dragon. The Beast’s large head chopped, body splayed dead, and a glowing cave with a large horde to share.

Many more of his fantasies were of becoming wealthy enough to never worry, only exploring and finding the next greatest thrill. Those wonderful wishes, dreams now seeming so real, crumbled under the midst of awakening to reality. The reality of himself in the cold night while sleeping on nothing but a tattered traveling mat. Letting his vision and senses readjust, the thought of smacking out whoever disturbed him seemed like a great idea. That is, until he managed to realize that it was the Spartan who was awakening him, a creature who impaled manticores with ease.

“Mmmmm... Oof. Yes I’m up! What do you need?” Theek grumbled, doing his best to keep his tone friendly.

“It’s your turn for nightwatch.”

“What? No, why are you- I’m not even a guard!” Theek’s dreaded emotions shot out with his sour reaction, though he couldn’t tell if his complaining would ever get across to the self proclaimed Spartan. The tropical griffon couldn’t tell what Gabe’s reactions were, all thanks to the strange armor that covered up everything.

“Doesn’t matter. They need their rest so to be alert in fighting off the enemy. You’ve had over four hours of sleep, I just need a few hours then I’ll awake to take your place.” Not even given a chance to refute, the Spartan layed down on the ground, assumingly falling asleep right then and there. Theek clenched his beak, holding in his grumbling as he stretched his limbs.

“Buurrr! So cold.” Trying to keep himself quiet, he slowly made his way over to the darken remains of the campfire.

“Err. Where is the wood?” Turning back, the griffon hustled himself to move. After making a suitable pile of branches, Theek grabbed a small wooden tube, twisted, and pulled it into two halves. One holding the solid chunk of flint with the other held the Steel Scratcher. After a few failed attempts later, he had finally got the fire lit.

“Finally!” Cheering himself, he huddled close to the dim flames, blowing on them gently as they glow. The gray griffon stared off, his thoughts flickering with the growing flames.

“How did Gabe make those gold coins disappear anyway? Magic obviously, but how?” His vision spacing off, Theek’s pondering eventually came to a halt as he finally raised his gaze up from the fire, immediately noticed the time shift.

“How long have I stared off this time, an hour?” The griffon questioned, responding to himself with a smile. It was a soft smile, as if a longtime friend had been the one to ask him so. Theek knew that he was never good with keeping track of time, but he supposed he only need to guesstimate like the rest. Gauging his eyes up at the sky, he noted that heavens had softened up with the stars fading bit, not enough to single the soon time of a sunrise, but enough to say that it was very early in the morning.

“Maybe he shrunk the coins? If so, they had to have gone somewhere, right? Maybe there in the bag on his leg.” With his pondering leading to no valid answers, he went to his morning routine; preening his wings. Cleaning the good and flinging the defected feathers into fueling the flames, Theek went to check the fortifications the Spartan had made.

“Huh, he actually moved a boulder.” Jumping up with the thrust of his strong wings, he took to the sky, circling the camp from above. His watchful yet distracted gaze eventually picked up upon a twinkle of a shine, a reflection of something metal. Diving down to investigate, he zoomed in to find a black coin.

“Aw sweet! A vulk! That means I’m one coin richer! Now that adds up to… 31? After I get paid, then I’ll have- Wait, how much am I getting paid? Oh no! Am I even getting paid?!” Panicking like a headless chicken, Theek began to hyperventilate.

“Oh no! I broke rule number 3! Always make sure your getting paid!” His dire state of mind was interpreted by the sound of breaking branches rapidly approaching. Grabbing the hilt of his straight sword, Theek drew out metal shine of the symmetrical blade. From what Theek knew, the weapon was known as a Tai Chi from far off lands of Mongponya, or someplace near there. Theek braced himself, taking defencive stance and faced whatever would charge at him. The dark forests of Nevermore held many monsters both large and small… But he did not expect this.

“Get outta my way you ass!”

“Watch your language birdbrain!”

“Hay! I can see the treeline!”

Charging out from the forest, an exhausted group of Avians, Dogs, and Donkeys collapsed upon reaching the edge of the forest.

“Where did you all come from?!” Theek’s demand fell on deaf ears as the collected group laid, completely winded from their running. He counted 4 colorful griffons, 5 average diamond dogs, 2 donkeys, and a… Skywolf?

“We mean no harm! We just escaped from the Sworn! Can you shelter us?” The young skywolf pleaded, her voice smooth yet vibrant with an overlapping alien echo. Theek stared into her eyes bewildered, for they were a blackened like that of an insectoid with a dimly lit glossed shine. She was truly unique, yet so beautiful...

“Will you help us?” She asked again, physically shaking the long tailed griffon from his stupor. Realizing how close their faces were, and how absolutely cute she was, Theek blushed profusely.

“Ahhhh! Sure?!”

“Great!” Taking the advantage, she rushed past him to the entrance with the rest following her lead. While the Avains simply flew over the fortifications, the Diamond Dogs worked to moving the boulder so to allow the Donkeys entrance. Shaking himself out of his stupor again, Theek made his way back to the camp.

“Wait! Did you say Sworn?!”

Awakening to the sounds of an alarm, I instantly became alert of my surroundings. Checking my HUD, Attention drawn to my HUD, my radar detected a mass number of targets blipped up on my rader. Some were flying over while others were breaking through! number targets making way to the entrance.

“Goddamnit Theek.”

“Wake up, we have bogies approaching the entrance!” Getting the rest to rise up with me, I went ahead to greet the intruders, if needed with deadly force. With magnum raise and ready, I turned the corner to find… Colorful griffons?

“Hay! What are you doing here!” The group all turned to gawk at me.

The lead griffon has deep crimson feathers with brown body adorned with black tiger stripes. His wings were large and muscular with his feathers mainly red with gray outlines and tips. He has big beak, golden eyes and overall looked a bit aged. The second one looked oddly similar, only with red replaced with orange and looked young with a bit of chub. Also, the orange one looked terrified. The third one has deep navy blue/metallic feathers with grayed spotted white coat. Another thing about his appearance was that he was more lean with smaller beak and pale blue eyes that are… Crossed?

“Hay, you got any food here, we’re starved!” The new griffon approached; a bright cyan with white outlines feathers his eyes. His coat shaded a black gray as his wings were a combo of cyan with black and white strips. His eyes were a bright red with his beak being normal sized.

“You didn’t answer my question.” I enforced with me shoving the barrel end of my magnum in his face. He on the other end seemed only confused.

“NO! Please don’t punch Tucker in the butthole!”

Wut the ficken?

Turning my gaze to the blue one, (eyes still crossed) What gave him that idea?

“Oh-OH! I sorry! I don’t bow chicka wow wow that way!” The cyan griffon quickly backed up with his feathers rustled.

“Wait a ficking minute! Your with those guys that put me in a create!” I exclaimed, pointing to the now nervously laughing navy blue griffin.

“It was tucker!”

“Hay! Don’t you dare put me in with your whole boxing fetish!”

What? No! That is not what I meant!

“What the pluck is going on?” The orange one asked with nervous confusion.

“It may be inconceivable, but I think the blues really are gayer than Donut.” The red one gruffly whispered back loudly, baffled at the display of events.

Wait… That voice, no ficking way that is a coincidence…

“And you, my scanner recognizes you!” I lied, though if he is who I think he is, someone about to get it. I aimed my magnum back at the Orange one, who was now sweating bullets.

“Griff! How could you! *Sniff* I knew you were a lazy disappointment, but now your siding your fantasies with the blues!” the red one exclaimed, shocked and betrayed while Griff looked ready to accept death.

Damn this is too good to be true...

“I didn’t even think you had developed that kind of brain power Tinny…” Tucker mumbled, staring at the confused navy blue griffon.

Wait, what? Isn’t his name Ca-

“I am… Strong. I can lift him and put my-”

“Nope! I’m gonna stop ya right there, I don’t even want to know.” Tucker gagged, shifting his wings.

Oh my god, this is not what I wanted!

“What in Tartarus is going on here!” With our attention drawn, the yell was pinpointed to the winged wolf. The guards also were sharing the same expression of bewilderment along with the rest of the new arrivals. Quickly taking action, I answered.

“I think there is a great misunderstanding between me, these griffons, and the rest of you. First to clear things up, Griff and Tinny were part of a group that failed to steal my armor, only ended up kidnapping me.” I did my best to keep calm, while I directed the attention to the perpetrators.

“In accidental retaliation, I may have punched through a create and into another griffon. This overall ended with them fleeing into the wilderness and me making my way back to work.” The words and nods of understanding approved from the group.

“You are the one who killed my favorite soldier!” The red one, otherwise known as Sarge buffly tried to tone down his cry.

“So wait, you two didn’t actually do ga-” The firing of the mighty magnum aimed near Tucker’s feet instantly shut him up.

“Now, back to my question, why are you here?” It took them a moment to regain their composure as the shock of hearing a firearm goes off for the first time does that apparently.

“We escape from a large Sworn encampment. While they were sacrificing some of us in one of their rituals, we made a break for it, though not all of us went the same way… Though the few of us managed to get here, hopefully the others managed to get the same fate.” The wolf told, ears cowering at the sight of the gun, I hope I didn’t hurt her too bad.

“I see. We better get ready when the Sworn gets to us.”

“But we escape! And flee we should! We still can!” One of the diamond dogs pleaded. Before the others could do the same, the Legate made his appearance.

“The Spartan is right, the Sworn will easily follow your tracks, so we must get ready for the incoming battle.”

“Um, can we get some food before we fight?” Both Griff and Tucker’s statement was met with a hearty laugh from the scared griffon.

“Of course, no one can fight on an empty stomach!”

And thus, we began the preparations for breakfast.

“And then, he commanded the beast down, and they did as he said so!” Theek told, his reciting of my time in the arena being much more dramatic than necessary. I was currently sitting over by the carriage as I could still hear everything that was going on. Even though Theek was dragging the story out, our guests seemed to be eating it up as much as Griff was feasting for himself.

“What happened next!?” Tinny childishly asked.

“Well, the crowd went on chanting his title, ‘Ghost of the Reach’ they cheered!”

“Isn’t it kinda weird that Theek is promoting for Spartan’s achievements?” Griff commented between his large bites of cooked meat.

“When did you start paying attention to such things? With how much you have been eating, I started to think you were pregnant.” Tucker teased the chubby griffon.

“That quite the statement coming from the griffon who got infected with and gave birth to a alien parasite.” Tucker’s eyes widened as he dragged the orange griffon to the parked carriage. I immediately cloaked before they noticed that I was there.

“Keep your beak shut! Who the hell told you about that?!” Tucker demanded, threateningly point at the griffon. Before he could defend himself, I answered.

“It was Tinny.”

“TINNY!” Tucker raged out, now chasing the already fleeing griffon. With Tucker gone and Griff confused, I leaned in behind him and said.

“Hey lil momma let me whisper in your ear.”

“EEEEEEEAAAAHHAA!!!” Oh my god the unmanly scream was too real. Decloaking myself, I let out a laugh.

“Ha! Got em! Dead memes are scary aren't they?”

“Your a plucking asshole, you know that?”

“Don’t like jokes?” His deadass stare gave his answer.

“Not even dad jokes?” His sigh of frustration didn’t help my case.

“You killed my best friend you know.” Slightly recoiling back, I responded.

“Wait, who?”

“His name was Simmons, and you punched him to death in the ass.”

I don ficked up!

“I- Um, I really didn’t intend on doing that...” Oh god I messed up big time.

“Well, you did, and now the Sworn are playing with my best friend’s corpse.” Walking off, Griff rejoined with the rest of his buddies, leaving me befuddled.

What the fick! What the fick! What the fick! I come to a whole new world and accidentally kill off one my favorite characters!

Taking a moment to get my composure, I breathed in and out slowly, calming down my mind.

Okay, I’ll figure out how to make amends later. Walking over and taking a seat by Tinny, I see him happily tearing into bits of fish jerky. Yeah, I’m not sure how that would taste.

“So, Tinny. How did you come to know these guys?

“Hum? Oh, well there were more of them. There was Church... He really didn’t like me. There was the pink princess that was yelled at for donuts. Oh yeah, the Doctor was always there, but he never helped. And lastly there was yellow Sister, she was nice, but very confusing. She told me once that there was a magical plant called cannabis, and it alone can solve all your problems. Can you get me some?” Yep, these guys are definitely the characters from Red Vs Blue. Wait, did I hear that last part right?

“Okay, first off Cabo- Ugg, why are you called Tinny again?”

“Well, um… I like to play with tin cans?”

“I think I’ll just call you Caboose, it is much easier that way.”

“Well… I do like trains.” Then out of the blue, the roar of a giant horn blares out of the forest with wildlife fleeing and birds scattering.

“OH-SHIT-WHY-DID-YOU-SAY-THAT!”

“Spartan! The Sworn are charging at the gate!” Guard number 1 yelled out, joining his brethren in the defence.

“Oh thank god, it could have been so much worse.” Unholstering my Magnum, I charged with jetpack blazing over the gate. Once making the superhero landing, I unleashed the fire power of my gun. Spartan time kicked in as I nailed each round on obliterating a head. Dropping the mag and quick on the reload, eight more sent exploding off. By the time I emptied the third mag, the hoard of tribal diamond dogs had nearly reached the makeshift wall. Reloading the mag, I draw my Kukri from its sheath, let out a battlecry.

“COME GET SOME!!!” Drawing some more attention, I began hacking into skulls and landing more exploding headshots.

Legate Wick Huntseeker

As I predicted, the Sworn came charging in full like the savages they are. My guards taking their spots on top of the rocky wall, with round shield, gladius, and training, they held it well. Surprisingly, some of our uninvited guests decided to hold ground as well. The Red and Orange griffons in particular had joined my soldiers as they had armed themselves with the unused spears. While the Cyan one flew above with his slingshot, the navy blue griffon managed to grab bricks and successfully slug or drop them on the Sworn.

But in all of their combined efforts, none of them compared close to white clad killing machine known as Gabe. Acting as the spearhead of the counter attack, he had already killed over twenty before the rest reached to the wall. As I hover over the battlefield, I can only marvel at the shere killing efficacy this self proclaimed spartan held. With the strength to nail manticores to the wall and the lightning speeds of a devil, the savages couldn’t keep nor hold up upon his wrath. However, the ones that managed to hit did nothing to impair him and met a quick bloody end.

I am a griffon of many good and bad, and I’ve seen battles to it’s gruesome core. But never have I seen something so terrifying, so efficient at killing. It’s almost godlike how quickly this creature slays it’s foe, as if it was bred for the slaughter of war. As I try to keep surveillance over the battle, I am always drawn to the ever growing number of fresh corpses that litter the entire right side of the hill. His tactics have changed up at this point, now relying solely on his fists to completely kill his opponents. Dare I say it only takes him one punch to kill a damn dog.

After 5 minutes of the battle, the savages had learned their lesson and high tailed it back into the forest. Seems all it took to change mind was having the entire right side flowing in their blood. All of us standing strong with the once white Gabe now drenched in the blood of an entire company. Now I know for certain my wise judgment was clear, this creature- no, this Spartan cannot be left roaming other lands alive. He is too dangerous to become an outside factor or another one of those self proclaimed heroes.

He must be swayed to serve the Empire, or fall under its might.

Chapter 7: Vineville

Dear make believe diary, today is an interesting day. To start it off, I awoke early to scared guests, who were fleeing from Sworn savages. After confirming that they were friendly, I soon learned that the griffons of the group were identical to the characters in Red Vs Blue. While some things were off about them, they still acted like their halo counter parts. Oh and apparently I indirectly killed Simmons back during the boxing incident has revealed some more things about my new body.

Now that is it? Well, while I still feel some forms of regret, I struggle to fully regret any of my actions. Yeah, I wish Simmons was alive, but everything feels... Justified in a way. It’s hard to explain on make believe paper, it feels that all of my actions were always right? Or that I am not wrong for killing him? It was all accidental..?

Whatever the case may be, it justs puts another part of my humanity put into question. Great.

And after that bloody fight, or if it could be called a fight, ended up as an obvious victory. Everyone including Theek survived, and all of them tread on eggshells around me. Though it makes perfect sense with the mass amount of corpses total up by yours truly. As of who was left, well the dogs and donkeys fled as soon as the battle started. The RVB team on the other hand helped and held the line with the guards. That was good of them, though after the battle they packed what few things they had and got the hell outta dodge.

Again, I can not blame them.

Now that left me with taking care of the corpses. Of course, the Legate said it wasn’t necessary, but I insisted on doing it. Now, how am I going to get rid of 60 plus corpses with least amount of effort? Well let me answer that with another question; what do you use to vaporise and explode everything within a large radius of badassery?

“Trust me Legate, C-7 foaming explosive is the best thing since… Well, I let it speak for itself.” The Legate and his Guards are very curious and equally worried about what I’m about to do. All of said corpses were piled deep in the forest with few ‘ceremonial’ gifts I left behind for them.

“But safety first before fun! Since we don’t have any safety equipment for you guys, I’m gonna ask everybody to turn away eyes closed and bellies on the floor.” And of course they looked at me like I’m a madman, except for Theek. For he’s a good boy. It seems that he’s taking my warnings to heart, which means he's gonna be good a following orders in the future.

“Suit yourself! Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Alright! Firing in 10.”

“9”

“8”

“7”

“6”

“5”

“4”

“3”

“2”

“Couldn’t we have just buried-”

“1!”

First, there was a flash off from the west. In the distance as the foaming explosive ignited, vaporising all around it at temperatures near equivalent to an early 20th century nuclear bomb. Quickly following up with the flash came a torrent of winds. Near the camp, tree branches and leaves bend or tear from the wave. Immediately following the pressure wave was the earth shaking, followed with the collapsing one of the old walls. The griffons had fallen not from the sudden blast, but from awe inspiring shock. Once all the them got their bearings and rid themselves of the slight ringing in their ear holes, there still stood the Spartan, motionless and completely unaffected by the explosive force.

“Well, that was fun. Since you guys already packed up, I’m ready to go.”

“Why are you guys acting so weird?” Now that was a question I was wanting to be answered. Yet their answer of silence spoke louder then any of the words they could say. Even after taking care of the many bodies in firy glory, none of them dared to look at me. Why did they see in me, to be so afraid?

Am I a monster? If so, by which definition am I such? For merely killing them? No, rather for how I killed them? How effective I am perhaps? Admittingly, I am a killing machine, but not just for the sake of slaughtering. I defended the Legate, his men, and our guests. So if I did my job, so why am I questioning my motives?

Hazzah! Maybe they are in awe of the power that I wield? That must be it! Who wouldn’t be amazed by my arsenal of death? It is after all natural for the weak to fear me, the strong- Wait, when did I get so egotistical?

“Gabe?” Looking down to my left, I see the gray griffin looking at me worriedly.

“Yes Theek?”

“Um, why did you have to explode everything?”

“I just wanted to have some fun, though don’t worry so hard. Watching the world burn is not my cup of tea, for I’ve seen that sight far too many times…” Theek quietly replied with a “oh” and fell back with the rest of the group. Oh yeah, since all of them are weary of me, I’ve decided to take the lead. So far, no forks in the road so no corrections needed on my part. At least, no one has come to correct my direction.

As the walk progressed, so did the time. Before I knew it, it was already past noon and the heat was really setting in. Well it was sucking only for them, because this nanosuit regulates temperature! But then, right along the road I see the stain of blood. I quickly raise my fist and halt the group, then quickly kneeling down I examined the blood.

“Fresh, no... A little bit at room temperature.”

“What is the hold up Spartan?” Guard 3 asks.

“Found somewhat fresh blood, looks like it follows from the forest and down the road.”

“And, what does that mean?”

“It could be from one of the survivors from earlier, or…”

“Or what?”

“Is there a settlement near by? I think it’s most likely the blood of a hunter’s catch.”

“I’ll check!” With a few large flaps of his wings, Theek took off high and began checking the area. Two minutes later, the gray green griffon returned to me.

“Find anything Theek?”

“Yeah, there is a village a bit far from here.”

“You sure it is a village?”

“Yeah, they have a few big buildings, but the rest are just thatched wooden homes.” Behind us, the carriage doors open.

“We must be at one of settlements in the Vinelands region. That must put us about another day until we reach the Empire’s border.”

“I thought this was the Empire’s land.” I questioned.

“It is, but 3/5 of the Empire’s territories are just wildlands. Once we pass the towers and reach into the plains we will be in much safer civilized land.”

“I see, then let’s continue on.”

Once we had finally reach the outskirt village, it pretty matched up with Theek’s description. Pass the crop fences and the two defense towers, the village was exactly what I thought it would look like. Peasant houses closer to earlier medieval eras litter the landscape. The roads and walkways made of older very worn stones and only had a few directions in which ways they went. The few “bigger” buildings were more or less full two story buildings with one outlier being a medieval equivalent of a large hotel made out of stone and logs. That building also had an equivalent of a tavern built into the side with a storage house connected on the opposite side. Thus making it one large facility. That is, in there own terms of what is big. Diverting from the group, I turn back and tap Theek’s shoulder.

“Hay, I’m gonna see if this place has a weaponsmith, you wanna join?”

“Ah! Sure?” Now with Theek following closely behind, I began searching.

Now, where would a man settle to make his weapons? It’s likely not going to be the center of town, too much disturbance. So perhaps the outskirts of town? As I make my random way, I began picking up the sound of hammering, particularly the hammering of metal. Bingo. Making another turn, I see there down two blocks away, stood a diamond dog matted black and hammering away. Making way there was easy, as the streets were sparse with life. Maybe because of my imposing figure, or maybe people here have things to do. Probably both.

“Greetings, are you the blacksmith of this forge?” The dog took a moment to give any hint of acknowledgment, as all of his focus was on his craft. When he finally turned his gaze up at me, he huffed, surprise gleaming in his small eyes.

“Another strange one? No, I am just Apprentice. The Boss is resting, what do you want?” He turned his attention back onto his work. Said thing was a small triangular like block of hot metal with a crude loop at the end.

“I was hoping to see if this town had any weaponry they could possibly sell me? Particularly I’m looking into getting a longsword, one with a hefty blade and at least good durability.”

“Want greatsword? Huh! Not many want such heavy weapon, but you not any kind of weak. Me only make axes and nails. Though… Boss gots a masterpiece weapon, but it will cost more than a silver.”

“Well, let’s hope I meet that price range then.” Theek was giving me ‘are you serious’ look. I would respond with a ‘just go with it’ if I didn’t have a helmet obscuring my entire face.

“So what gave away that I’m Strong?” My sarcasm seemed to be ineffective, or rather flew over his head.

“Your footsteps heavy and scary like the dragons. Must be even stronger to lift and move them. The stones you touch nearly break under the each step.” True to his word, I have been making sure I don’t accidentally break anything under both my strength and weight. I mean, I do weigh a bit other a thousand pounds in this suit of armor.

“It seems you are very attuned to the area around you, even when focusing on your passion. I respect that.” He seemed to form a smile on his soot covered snout.

“You are very kind giant.”

“Well, since your boss is resting, I’ll swing by in a few hours or check in tomorrow to see if I can judge this masterpiece myself.”

“Aye.” Breaking off from the conversation, the dog resumed his hammering and I made way retracing our steps. Well, with a Heads Up Display directing me it was as they say, a piece of cake. Theek on the other hand seemed concerned.

“Gabe, do you not understand how valuable a masterpiece is?”

“I would guess it means of the highest detail and quality. What, do you think I don’t have enough?”

“No, ten or more Gold Del will get you a masterpiece weapon, but weapons like that are usually… Kept within the family? My tribe have a staff called Sanguine Rose, that can summon an unkillable monster for a day. It is sacred to protecting the tribe and would never be traded, even if offered a thousand gold for it.”

“So you're saying it’s gonna take more than just gold to getting it? Ah, I see your point, especially so if it was a family heirloom. Damn.”

“When we reach the capital, I’m sure there is to be some iron weapons for sale!” Theeks enthusiasm still gets me to chuckle.

“Always stay positive Theek, always stay positive. Except with diseases, try not to be positive there.” Finally making way to the tavern, I make my entrance with style. And by style, I just opened the door and stood for a moment, taking in the atmosphere of the bar.

It wasn’t anything special. In the back of the building, a bar table with shelves full of wooden Kegs and barrels supposedly storing beer on the sides. This place had two large rectangular tables which fitted six seats each by the support beams in the center of the room. There are four small round tables which held two stools each on the right side of the wall. There is a wooden bench by the door with hooking above holding pieces of clothing to dry.

To the left, a wooden board hangs on by chains from one of the support beams in the ceiling. It has various pieces of parchment nailed to it. Some look like bounties while others larger papers hold listings of something important. lastly there were the people, more specifically Griffons either staring at me or enjoying their meals. And by the looks of the residents, I just made myself look like a walking cliche.

“Is Legate Huntseeker here?” I ask, hoping to break the awkward silence.

“You that Warrior right? By gods you are tall- Oh don’t worry boys he’s just another Legion merc, back to minding your drinks!” The bartender rushed out, waving his talons and ushering for us to join. Theek and I definitely followed suit.

“Don’t mind the weary looks traveler, most of these fair folks haven't seen your kind, but here we try not to judge. In my house all who obey the rules are welcomed here, come sit.” He made a gesture with his hands, point to the papers nailed wall.

“Thank you for the warmer welcome, though I have to decline. I don’t want to pay for broken furniture.”

“Ah, don’t worry! I have something just for large people like you.” Entering the back door and turning a corner, the Griffon came back with another griffon lifting a large rounded stone almost as large as Theek.

“Here, this won’t break on ya.” The stone itself was solid, but that didn’t stop me from sitting gently. Besides that, it was perfect for me to sit on.

“Thanks.”

“Ah, now, is there anything the two of you would like?” Theek looked at me with his yellow eyes like a puppy.

“Don’t worry buddy, I’ll pay for it.”

“Okay! I would like half a loaf of bread with butter, 4 scrambled eggs with a cooked potato and a bottle of any kind of wine you have.”

“And what do you want warrior?”

“I won’t be ordering anything, I have my own meal.”

“Hum, suit yourself. As long as your eating and buying, you can stay. Okay, the wine will cost you 5 Volks per bottle, the Eggs for 6 Volk. Bread and roasted potato will be 7 Volks. That totals up to 18 Volks, do we have a deal?”

“Is that price is agreeable, Theek?”

“Yes, is a very reasonable price. Gabe, I think I will pay this and you owe me when we reach the Capital.”

“You sure?” Theek looked up at me, surprised and then narrowed his eyes and contorted his face, as if trying to give me a message.

“Yeah, I don’t think you should be trading your few silver for just a meal. You are getting paid when we reach the capital right? You’ll just add 18 to my share.” For a moment, I hesitated not understanding his meaning, until I remembered the values of each coin. A dozen or more gold coins could buy off this entire establishment, so it best if no one knows that I packed with gold. I nodded understandingly and Theek followed out to grabbing his pouch and handed the 18 coins over.

“See these 4 of coins? Too poor in quality. I need 2 more volks to be sufficient payment.” For a moment, I was about to object as it seemed that we were being ripped off. But glancing down at the these “poor” coins, I see that the 4 of them are indeed chipped with one of them being cracked and other a bit bent.

“That’s reasonable, here you go sir.” Theek handed two more and the Bartender swiped them all into a wooden box, supposedly being the cash register.

“Did ya hear that order chef? Half cut bread with butter, four eggs scrambled and baked potato! And tell that mopping hatchling to fetch a bottle of some blackvine for these two!” The Chef replied back the order and began cooking up the meal. Shortly after a small griffin, most likely in his younger teens, came up flying with a large bulbous bottle in hand.

“Here you go sirs!”

“Thank you kindly!” Theek snatched the bottle and took a slurping sip.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything Warrior?”

“I don’t drink.”

“Now come-ooooon! Just another annnnd I-I’ll owe ya two-fold.”

“Theek, stop, this isn’t what I pay you for.”

“I haven’t been paaaaid man, but I will get ya baaack I-ah promise! Give your fellow griffon a BREAK huh!”

“I’m not a griffon, and I am your boss, you do know that right?”

“Your NOT my boss, MY BOSS is great! And no bossing milk drinker gonna change my drinking habits again!”

“You finished that bottle like thirty minutes ago, there is no way you can be this drunk on that alone.”

“You may be surprised, but that entire bottle was meant for four griffons.” The bartender budded in, taking a dirty tray of mugs back into the kitchen.

“How strong is this wine, is this even wine?”

“Ah, I-ah, I don’t have a strong wife, b-because no-no one would want meeee~”

“Wasn’t talking to you drunk mood.” The bartender can back with a mug for Theek to drink, and thankfully it was full of water.

“Oh yes, Blackvine Wine is solely unique to this area. Made from the Blackvine Bell berries, some bitter yellow roots, and a few other normal ingredients makes quite the concaction. Think of it as a perfect matching of something akin to honeybrew mead and bitter sweet wine with the potent knockout power of vodka.”

“Wait, you have russians names here?”

“Russians? Uh, never heard anyone use that term before. If your referring to the pony vodka, most of those snow ponies just call themselves ponies. I... Hah, I remember now! If I recall correctly there is a place where there are ponies said to be made of crystal! But those are just old legends from long far past the celestial sea…”

“Interesting, so there are creatures made of inorganic material? Might want to see what those things look like.”

“Well, don’t you think calling them creatures is a bit… Uh…Demeaning?”

“Demeaning? Oh, I see, so these ponies are also sentence creatures in this world?”

“Uh, yeah, how have you never met one of them? The next Kingdom over in the east is Prance and it is full of those herbivores.”

“Well, the only beings I have met that can talk back to me are the Diamond Dogs, Griffons, and Donkeys. Are there others besides these Ponies?”

“Wow, you really haven’t traveled far or maybe you’ve just been unlucky? Well, besides what most folk will say, Dragons can be quite intelligent. Though that dragon I met claimed he was an Argonian, or something like that. Yet at the same time he also said he held to title of Dragonborn. He was quite a strange fellow, asked a lot of questions.”

“Wait! Do you mean to tell me that there are others here?”

“Others? What do you mean-”

“Get off me you weeping welp!” A large well built griffon yelled, as he slammed Theek into the floor. The gray green feathered griffon let out a yelp and began to cry on the floor.

“Why does everyone I meet end up throwing me aw-aw-way ay ay!”

“You shut that sorry-feathered beak before I break it in ya hatchling.” Quickly maneuvering and making way, I gained the attention of the offender.

“Hello there, I’m sorry that my companion is causing you trouble. I hope you can forgive his drunken state and we’ll go our separate ways.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I’ll forgive you both if you hand over your silver I overheard you two talking about.” He grinned evilly, resting his hand on his hilt, ready to draw his sword.

“Are you serious threatening me? Look, pal, I don’t want to cause any problems nor do I want to end up destroying your little ego you got going. So would you kindly back off and we’ll be out of your way.”

[Speech Check failed]

“Oh bugger.”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Great, now the rest of his group has joined him. So now there is a total of six dead fools… I probably shouldn’t kill them, well, let’s give them a final warning.

“You do know that challenging me is complete suicide, right? Take a second and look at me, I’ve fought manticores head on and strangled them with my bare hands.”

“GET HI-” One solid punch to the neck, and the big leader down for the count. He gasped for air as I had just completely bruised his trachea. The other five didn’t get a chance to draw as I clobbered a head into the floorboards, followed with a knockout bitchslap to another. The third guy got a skyrocketing uppercut into the ceiling and hit the ground hard. The fourth guy jumped onto me, but was quickly ripped off and thrashed into the wall. The last guy though, he backed off, kneeling and screaming for mercy.

“Oh gods, I swear I wasn’t going with their plans!” Deciding to keep my karma good, he was spared and rightfully thrown out with the rest of his gang. Turning back and heading inside, I see the tavern having a whole new vibe in the air. I could almost read it the metaphorical sign above me saying 'not to be mess with' and everyone seemed to understand it.

“Wow, none of my furniture is broken this time. Consider me impressed Warrior!”

“The name is Gabe, but you can call me a Spartan if you so wish it.”

“Well done then Spartan. Please don’t have your friend cause any more trouble while your in town. Oh hay, why don't you grab him and you two can sleep in room 3.” Picking up the drunkenly grumbled griffon, I followed and made way into my new quarters. The room itself had two normal his beds, well those beds had no mattress, just a blanket over wooden boards with a straw pillow. There was a small wood furnace in between the two beds and was currently out cold.

Setting Theek onto the left bed and giving him extra blankets from the right bed, his mumbling soon turned to light snoring. And for me? I slept on the floor again, but I don’t mind. My armor was like a second skin, always the perfect temperature and comfort. But before I sleep, I needed to eat. With a flick of the wrist, my TAC-PAD lights up and displays my status.

“Bodily energy is low, recommend SREB? What the hell?” Selecting yes, a large bar materialized in my hand.

“Spartan Ration Energy Bar, huh. Okay, let’s see the warning label. SREB is strictly for UNSC SPARTAN personnel ONLY! Do not eat or feed to non Spartan personal and if consumed by civilian or non Spartan military personnel, contact nearest medical personnel for assistance. May cause stomach swelling, hyperactive sensitivity, digestive organ failure, vomiting, contractions, cardiac arrest, and possible death. Nutrition: SUSTENANCE DURATION lasts 48 hours. Do not consume any more SREBs or food until a SAFE DURATION of 12 HOURS. before consuming more."

“Well, since it’s made for Spartans, there shouldn’t be any problems, right?

Chapter 8: This is NOT a Greatsword!

Author's Note

Hay guys, here’s a quick chapter since you've been asking so nicely. I don’t know why I wrote most of this chapter in third person, which it shouldn’t be. But since it’s over a thousand words and sums up nicely, I’ll make it a chapter. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on making shorter chapters, but only for this special occasion. Make sure to like, comment, and tell me what you think of Gabe’s new weapon! Also, questions and criticism is also welcomed.

Chapter 8: This is NOT a Greatsword!

Today, Theek is not a happy griffon. First sign of a bad day was the delirious hammering of a hangover. Barely remembering the prior events of last night, hell he didn’t remember what town he was in. Second, was his bruises and sore body that kept reminding him that yesterday was not a relaxing day. Bless the Gods that he actually did get any restful sleep, and in a real bed at that! Third, he was awoken with his head soaked via bucket of water. Who would be so cruel enough to do such? His newest employer of coarse, known name only as Gabe.

“You got really hammered last night, you know that?”

“I guess I got in trouble as well?”

“Oh yeah, big time. I had to take out the trash and tuck you in myself just to get you to shut up.”

“Oh, sorry bout that… I had no idea that one drink could bring such troubles. The stuff in Equestria never ever gave me such a headache.” Theek groaned, wiping water off of his feathers

“Equestria… Why do I feel like I’ve heard that name before…” The spartan muttered.

“If you had one of those fancy ship maps, I could show you were it is.” Theeks words seem to not get through him as Gabe just stare off for a good minute. At least, that was Theek thought the armored giant was doing.

“Well, why did you wake me up?”

“Oh, yes, sorry, I was looking back on something. Well, I am going to see that masterpiece weapon, and it would be best if I not let you out of my sight.”

“How caring of you.” Theek stated unamused with a grumpy pout while following Gabe into the lobby area of the building.

“Hay! Let the Legate know I’m heading out to see the Smith.” Gabe called out to the boy bringing in water. Not waiting for a reply, the two continued out and followed the street, taking the same path as last time. Gabe nudged the drowsy griffon, getting his attention.

“Lovely weather we're having eh?”

“Are you serious?” Gabe shrugged.

“You know Theek, I do actually care about you. I don’t want you getting killed.”

“Because without me you’re gonna end up spending everything in your purse?”

“Not just that, the fact that I can’t read any of the languages here makes you essential.”

“So I’m right. I’m just a tool?”

“Your wrong. First, tools don’t get paid. Second, tools don’t make me smile at their antics. You are much more than a tool, for you are my first companion in this world! Besides, I need you for a lot more things.

“Ha. Ha. But yeah, I guess you're right. I will admit, it has been fun so far.” Arriving at the smithing shop, there the diamond dog was fueling the furnace of the smelter.

“Good morning mighty warrior and his friend, the master is ready for you.” Gabe headed inside with Teek following closely behind. Entering the building, the inside could be easily split into three parts. The workplace to the right, kitchen/dining area to the left, and presumably the living/sleeping area above. There was also a ladder leading down into a basement, presumably holding supplies and extra storage space.

“Welcome to Warmaiden's. Now don't let the name worry you, we got plenty o' metal for fightin' griffons-” The muscular griffon halted his speech and movement upon seeing the titanic form of the Spartan.

"You definitely look like someone who knows how to wield a weapon. Well, you've come to the right place." Gabe nodded his head in respect.

“Too you as well.” The griffon smiled, dusting off his workspace table of dust and shavings.

“You on the other hand had one too many ah pint and had half a life beaten out of you.” The weaponsmith commented, shaking his head.

“Looks like you need a weapon. Something big, perhaps? An axe maybe? Or a greatsword?”

“I was thinking maybe checking out that masterpiece weapon I’ve heard you have.”

“Oh, did the dog tell you about that? Well, he should have told you that it comes with a big price. How much gold you have?”

“Well, does 10 Gold Del sound like a worthy enough price?”

“No, she is a blade made of divine metal that tears armor and trees in seconds. 50 Gold.”

“50 freaking gold?! That is over half of what I have, no way that is worth the price! Okay, time to bargain with Dormammu.”

“Do you honestly think one weapon is worth more than a fully equipped and armored battalion? 25 Gold.” The Spartan bluffed, hoping he made a good estimate.

“The weapon has hacked and sawed half the trees in this area, helped in building a good amount of these houses and the construction of Vineville Inn. It is a tool that has helped the founding of this town. 40 gold.” The spartan shook his head.

“That is still a heavy price, I promise that every gold coin I have is in perfect condition. 30 Gold, what do yeah say?”

“You should know that the blade never dulls thus never needs sharpening and rarely needs maintaining. 35 Gold, that’s my final offer Warrior.”

“Well then... I consider it fair enough. Here, let me get my money.” Reaching his hand into his medic bag on his thigh, he summoned the gold coin and placed it onto the table. Gabe repeated this process with the Weaponsmith examining each and every single piece with a surprisingly modern looking magnifying glass.

“Hum, Adrianne! You have a better eyesight than me don’t you? Come, can you check these coins for me?” A darker female griffin came down the stairs, glanced at Gabe for a moment before joining the side of her husband.

“Oh dear! Where did you get all this gold? Wait, are you actually selling the Macua?” Adrianne asked, closely examining the gold pieces like delicious candy.

“Is that the name of the blade?” Theek asked.

“Oh it’s not really a blade so to say…”

“Wait what? I thought I was buying a longsword?” Gabe protested, gaining a shocked look from Adrienne.

“Ulfberth! Are you trying to sell the Macua without letting him even seeing it?” She bantered her husband, who deflated into embarrassment.

“Sorry my lovebird, I’ll get it.” Heading downstairs, the two customers waited patiently while Adrianne examined every piece of gold.

“How did you such fine gold- you what, never mind. I shouldn’t be asking about one’s wealth. I apologize.” Ulfberth then came back up the ladder lifting up and dragging large wooden box. Setting it on the floor, he quickly undid the latches and opened the box.

“I present the Macua!”

“This… This is NOT a greatsword!”

“Are you disappointed?”

“Are you kidding me? A Chainsword is even better! I may not be the best character build to wield one, but how could I decline to owning one? Yes, yes! This will suit my purposes as a perfect balance of badassery and savagery!” Taking the Chainsword by the handle, he found that the weapon does have quite the heft, but nothing that a Spartan can’t handle. Surprisingly the wooden handle holds the weight and feels stronger than cast iron.

“Is the handle possibly made of Wroshyr?” The Spartan asked quietly, running his hand across the metal case and engine.

“Well, I’m glad that the blade has finally found a worthy owner. But do you know how to properly wield it?” Adrianne asked. The spartan unseenly smiled as the Chainsword connected on with the magnetic locks on his back.

“I’m sure I know some basic tactics with a chainsaw blade. No hacking or stabbing. With these saw bits meant for flesh, cutting armor is going to be a chore, so run the blade across the weak points and let it saw through is the best solution. Blocking another’s blade should be on the protective case and not on the saw blade. I know what I’m doing.” The Spartan lied, as he was bullshiting his way to victory.

[Speech-check successful]

“Well, that settles it. Come, help me get this gold to the safe.” And thus, the Spartan and the Entertainer walked away with a freaking chainsword.

Chapter 9: Havenrock

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