PRESENT DAY: MERCENARY CAMP, TVARYN

Clouds formed in the air. The sky screamed. Thunder and rain started to fall into the mortal realm, as Kenichi and Machi hurried towards the scene.

George and Dynamo suddenly made noise, as their owners passed by, making them stop. "Our horses..." Kenichi muttered.

"Taro's is here too... We should get them out and run from here before we're outnumbered by the mercenaries." Machi suggested and Kenichi nodded.

As Hetza jumped towards Tarozaemon, he enveloped himself in all the debris, making an armor of sorts, that got totally destroyed as soon as Hetza planted a dropkick on his chest. Yes, the armor was destroyed in one hit, but at least absorbed the damage from that attack, letting Tarozaemon to counterattack now.

Tarozaemon smirked as he started to dive head first towards Hetza, but she dodged easily laughing. "That's all you got?! Uh?"

Tarozaemon didn't want to hit her, he was aiming at the ground, where Kenichi, Machi and his horse Rider waited for him. As he got closer to land, he made rock steps to descend to the ground without harming himself. He got on the horse and started galloping away.

Hetza gritted her teeth, using her lightning powers to almost instantly land on the ground. "After them!" She screamed, as tons of mercenaries got on their horses and started to follow them.

"How did you escape?!" Tarozaemon happily asked the other two, as they ran away.

"Machi's the real star here! She figured her SOUL element and got us out!" Kenichi said, laughing at the end, as adrenaline still rushed in his body.

"Kenichi, you also fought well!" She said.

"I just got lucky! Though, I don't know why that mercenary got smashed on the ground..."

Tarozaemon laughed. "Glad to see we're all okay! Let's make a run for it! To the north here is the Royal City of Feliticia! If we arrive there, the guards will protect us!"

"Because we'll be out of the lawless Outlands, got it!" Kenichi said.

"Yes! Glad you're a quick learner kid!"

As they shouted to each other these words of joy, they didn't have the slightest clue that they were being followed by a huge group of mercenaries riding on their horses, including a fearsome opponent: Hetza. "I'll catch you Tarozaemon... I swear on my life..."

PRESENT DAY: XXXXX'X XXXX, TVARYN

An armored figure walks the dark halls of some building. As the torches light their almost black, purple armor, the figure looks to a person that approaches them.

"Milord..." The figure kneels. "Here to report the latest developments."

"Speak." The armored person said, with a deep and calm voice.

"Comrade Ihote is near the Royal City, ready to conquer it. We are also pretty sure the first Rune is there."

"A Rune? Interesting... Would never guess that one would be in Feliticia."

"Should I order Ihote to attack as soon as he gets there?"

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?"

"Sorry, milorde..." The figure bows his head.

"Shouldn't you go back? People will start suspecting you if you take that long to return."

The figure chuckles. "Of course, milorde. I'll be returning then." The figure stands up, turning his back to his master. "As soon as I get there, I'll try and contact you."

The armored man nodded and continued on his way.

PRESENT DAY: XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX, TVARYN

A red haired girl sets her scarlet eyes on the sky, looking at the clouds. Wearing a single white cloth, she seems deep into thought, sitting on the edge of a cliff. "Sa... na... da..." She mouths the syllables of a surname that seems foreign to her, but yet so familiar.

PRESENT DAY: OUTLANDS, TVARYN

As Kenichi, Machi and Tarozaemon gallop away, they finally leave the Silent Hills, entering the regular Outlands.

The mercenaries follow suit with Hetza leading them towards the trio. "Taro!"

"This girl never knew when to quit..." He said, looking back at her.

"We'll be outnumbered if we try to fight them... What now?" Kenichi asked.

At a cliff near there, a figure watched this happening. A tall man with long black hair, red eyes and black bandages covering his mouth. "So you've arrived, uh?"

PRESENT DAY: XXXXX XXXX XX XXXXXXXXX, TVARYN

In a bustling city, a young boy, prolly in his teens, is walking around town. Messy dark brown hair and eyes, wearing a open slim fur coat that showed his arms and abs and some slim dark pants. On his feet, nothing but a simple pair of sandals. In the straw basket he's carrying, he has some weird looking fruit, still wet from when he washed them.

Someone waves at this boy. "Bernardus! You're already up?" An old man says.

"Yeah! The Queen asked for me, so I was thinking of buying her something before visiting."

The old man laughs. "It's impressive how much the Queen depends on you when the Order Knights are away."

"Nah! I'm not that dependable unfortunately!" He laughs. "Well, I'll be going now."

The old man smiles and waves at the young boy, as he slowly leaves towards a castle in the center of the city.

PRESENT DAY: OUTLANDS, TVARYN

As they run away from the mercenaries, Kenichi notices something up ahead. "Guys! I had an idea!"

"Tell us more." Tarozaemon said.

Kenichi pointed forward. "Do you see that narrow path between the huge rock walls?"

"What about it?"

"Look above!" Machi says.

As Tarozaemon looks up the canyon, he sees a huge boulder. "Are you planning to smash them?"

Kenichi frantically moves his hands around. "N-No!" He continues. "If you move the rock without them noticing, maybe we could seal the entrance, making them unable to follow us."

Tarozaemon thinks a bit on the idea, until giving a thumbs-up. "Let's do it then!"

They all nod, as they gallop towards the canyon. Hetza sees this and smirks. "In such a narrow path, I can catch you!" Her eyes shine yellow, as she jumps out of her horse. "「God Mode: Light Running」!" She starts running super fast due to her lighting powers.

Just as the trio passes the entrance of the canyon, Tarozaemon's eyes shine orange, as he moves the giant boulder towards the entrance of the canyon, making the galloping mercenaries unable to continue their pursuit. His whole body flickers orange for just a second, as he looks to his hand. Everything happened according to plan. But suddenly...

Just before the boulder hits the ground, Hetza slides under it, with her speed, quickly catching up to the trio. "Tarooooo!"

"Taro! What now?!" Machi looks at Hetza, terrified.

"Just wait for it..." Tarozaemon said, very calmly.

As Hetza was about to grab the tail of Tarozaemon's horse, she suddenly flickers yellow, just before falling to the ground.

"What happened to her?" Kenichi asks, as he sees Hetza on the floor.

"SOUL isn't unlimited. Your body needs time to rest so it can collect more SOUL. Me and Hetza already fought at the camp, so we spent already some SOUL. She also used SOUL to move her entire body faster to catch up to us." Tarozaemon explained.

"But how did you know she was almost out?" Machi asks.

"Well, I went out when I used a bunch of SOUL to move that boulder. Me and Hetza have basically the same SOUL count and we had fought. I just calculated the SOUL she used to get here running would be more or less the same than that I used in the boulder."

"So in a way it was luck?" Kenichi asked.

"Not luck. Calculations. In a fight, it's very important to be aware on how much SOUL you have and, more importantly, your opponent. As soon as one's SOUL runs out, the other has the upper hand."

"Now that you say that..." Kenichi looks at his right hand, pondering on his SOUL. He didn't knew his own count nor how to check it. Even more, he didn't even know his element yet and that made using SOUL all the more difficult. "I need to figure this stuff out as soon as I can."

PRESENT DAY: XXXXX'X XXXXXX XXXXXXXX, TVARYN

An anthropomorphic turtle is seen near a map. Smirking sadistically, they sink a knife on a place labeled as the Royal City of Feliticia. "Soon... Soon this city will know my power!" He says, laughing.

Suddenly, interrupting his laughing fit, an agitated anthropomorphic lizard enters his premises. "Bo-Boss!"

"What?!" He asks, angry that he got interrupted on his moment.

"Three horses are approaching Feliticia! What do we do?! Our lord did mention two, but they're three?!"

The turtle sighed. "Calm down for f..." He sighed again, rubbing his forehead. "Notify our lord about this extra person, but before that, tell him to assess the situation."

The lizard nervously salutes, just before dashing out of his boss's premises.

Now that the turtle was alone, he looked through a huge glass wall, admiring the Royal City, as he grinned. "You'll fear the name Ihote soon...!"

PRESENT DAY: ROYAL CASTLE OF FELITICIA, TVARYN

Inside the castle, Bernardus enters the throne room, kneeling before the Queen.

"You can stand up." Said the chocolate-skinned black jaguar Tvaryan. "It's good to see you well, Bernardus."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"I already told you that you can call me by my name. You and my daughter used to be friends after all."

"I know, but I can't disrespect you in such a manner. Oh! I brought you some gifts!" He said, showing her the basket full of Tvaryan fruits.

"You say such formal things and then act so informal."

"Oh...! I'm sorry, Your Highness!"

She laughs. "I'm not saying that it's a bad thing." She said, leaving her throne to take the basket.

Bernardus chuckles, embarrassingly, as he gives her the basket.

"Also... I have a task for you, Bernardus."

"I was actually about to ask about your intentions as to why you summoned me here."

"Well, our scouts noticed three horses galloping our way. I suspect one of them to be someone familiar, but I'm gonna send you to greet our visitors and welcome them to our city. Make sure to give them a tour around tomorrow, as the sun is already setting."

Bernardus nods. "Of course. Anything else, Your Highness?"

"No. You can go now. Unless you wanna share some of the fruits you brought?"

"I'm good, thank you. I feel honored, but I must go," He bows, but then looks at her eyes. "Maldiva."

She laughs. "Yes."

PRESENT DAY: XXXXX'X XXXX, TVARYN

As a portal opens, a bird lands on one of the fingers of the armored man. As he takes out the paper on its leg, he unwraps it and starts to read it.

"So three horses, uh? Who are they?" He pondered as he placed one of his hands on the arm of his throne. Taking some paper, ink and a feather, the man wrote a letter that he wrapped around the bird's leg, letting it fly through the portal again. As the portal closes, he gets up. Stretching his hand, some necklaces appear floating above his hand. Each necklace had a different colored gem with also different shapes. One of these necklaces was Machi's mother's necklace. "Kitagawa's next..."

PRESENT DAY: ROYAL CITY OF FELTICIA, TVARYN

As the trio arrived, they got off their horses. A young boy was waiting for them. "Tarozaemon! What's up?!"

"Bernardus. Good to see you're still alive."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Tarozaemon chuckles. "Did the Queen send you?"

"Yes. Let me show you to the inn. You can also leave your horses there. I'll show your friends around tomorrow. Oh, yeah, right...!" He turns to Kenichi and Machi. "My name's Bernardus Ervhuk! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Kenichi and she's Machi."

"Hi!" She waves.

Bernardus chuckles. "Follow me."

Bernardus leaves them at an inn and Tarozaemon gets them a room each, paying for the three of them.

As Kenichi lays on his bed, he looks at the ceiling. "A whole day as passed in Tvaryn... Did a day also passed on Earth? Or does this game's time function differently from real life? Well... No need to worry about that for now. I'll sleep on it and tomorrow I'll search for more clues about my mother. Goodnight, Tarozaemon. Goodnight, Machi. Goodnight... mother."

PRESENT DAY: XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX, TVARYN

The same scarlet haired girl is still sitting in a mountain's cliff. As her eyes leave the stars to set in the city below her, she simply says: "He's arrived."

END OF DOCUMENT VI

END OF ARC I - NEW WORLD