December, 2011

  It was early in the morning as Collin, Helena, and Casper gave a school tour to elementary kids. He had on a fancy bck and white uniform with a gold crest. There were 20 students and each kid looked different, some had wings, scales, cws, antlers, tails, spots, horns, and fangs. Casper was talking about how royal and powerful his family was as the students gazed around the castle. It surprised him that the Xenovia Kingdom hadn't had a Maverick in the st 10 years, but he guessed a lot was going on.

  As they passed guards and maids Collin thought about Travis. Was the punishment good enough, 365 days of nightmares? Helena told him that Travis's dad is a talkshow host and that his mom is on the police force. With that combination it was a good thing Collin let the ginger live.

  "Okay, before lunch who can tell me the names of the 5 Royal Families?" Casper asked as several hands shot up.

  10 minutes ter, Collin was fighting for his life as 3 giant golems with red eyes attacked him inside the castle's training grounds. In the bleachers the kids and teacher were eating their lunch. The ground trembled as one of the golems threw a powerful punch at him. Without uttering a word an orange transparent shield appeared and blocked the strike. At the same time Collin swung his sword in the opposite direction as a shadow smmed into the second golem making it trip.

  He quickly used Dash Ssh to cripple the 3rd golem as the 1st golem ran towards him and growled. Taking a deep breath Collin sheathed his sword and raised his hand, a cloud of dust appeared under the golem's heavy feet as it jogged in pce. With a smile he used his telekinesis to hurl the golem into the sky. For a moment it struggled in mid-air as Collin dropped his hand, everybody watched it fall and hit the ground with a crack. He noticed all the golem's red eyes have turned bck as the crowd cheered.

  "That was so cool!" said a boy.

  A girl spoke next. "I wanna learn magic too and fight!"

  "Excellent!" Casper cpped. "If you have any questions for our Maverick come down and speak."

  Helena flew over first and gave Collin a hug. "You were really cool out there."

  A few minutes ter there was a small crowd around Collin as he answered a bunch of questions. These students were in the 3rd grade and came from poor families. But he didn't like that term and working-css sounded better. All these kids were very curious about the human community and Collin guessed only the rich could visit?

  "Do you have a family?" a girl asked.

  "Yes," he smiled. "I have a mom, dad, two siblings, and a pet Caider."

  A boy asked. "Do you go to school?"

  Collin answered. "Yeah, I'm a senior in highschool and I'm gonna be a famous football pyer someday."

  "I'm good at soccer!" the boy replied.

  "We'll have to py sometime," he gave the kid a high-five. "You guys have Tv here?"

  "Only rich people have that," said a girl with a camera around her neck.

  "Is that a Poroid camera?" Collin asked. The camera was bck and white with a rainbow crystal.

  "Yeah!" the girl grinned. "My dad got it for my birthday st year, he works in the mines and collects gear stones."

  Helena told him about these crystals when they went to The Night Parade. These gear stones power technology like his cellphone. When he tried to use his cellphone without the crystal it randomly turned off and wouldn't turn on.

  "Why don't we all take a group photo?" the teacher suggested.

  After several pictures were taken Collin gave a few autographs and pyed games with the kids. This reminded him of when he pyed kickball with Amari and Axel. Collin wondered how Captain Irving was feeling? When the Captain isn't around Sparky is second-in-command. The elf doesn't bully him anymore, but he does try to challenge him all the time.

  "Okay, kids!" Casper whistled and held a scroll. "I hope you enjoyed the tour. Right now, our Maverick has a mission."

  30 minutes ter, Collin and two guards rode horseback through the kingdom. For this mission they have to collect 15 element stones from a grotto in a forest. The location on the scroll was a vilge in the countryside known as Little Tooth.

  "What do these stones do, exactly?" Collin asked.

  The guard known as Noah spoke. "Element stones can be used for a lot of things. The magic ain't very powerful, but people use those different color geodes for simple tasks like farming or other chores. A water stone can be used to water flowers in a garden and a wind stone can be used to chop firewood."

  "Cool," he yawned and noticed a vilge sign up ahead. After 10 minutes they found the forest...but it was blocked with beware and danger signs. "Seriously?"

  "No idea what's going on," said the second guard who was named Kimberly. "But the situation looks bad."

  "Maybe a monster or a disease?" Noah guessed.

  "We should ask the townsfolk," Collin frowned and crossed his arms.

  They decided to visit a tavern and when they walked inside the barkeeper hollered with joy. "Royal guards, finally! We need your help."

  After listening to the problem Collin and the guards stood infront of the banned forest. There's a wild boar attacking anyone who wonders in. Because of this people can't dig up vegetables, hunt, collect herbs or chop wood. The st people who went into the forest got badly injured. Suddenly, a pop-up window appeared.

  [ Objective: Sughter the boar and give it to the citizens to earn 7 training points ]

  "If we run into the boar let me handle it," Collin sighed. "You two focus on collecting the stones."

  Noah and Kimberly nodded. "Understood, Sir Collin!"

  The forest was quite and beautiful as they searched for the grotto. After 5 minutes Collin saw a cave as something snorted nearby, it was a giant-scruffy boar with red eyes and rge tusks. Without thinking he unleashed a Shadow Wolf Blitz and signaled for the guards to run towards the grotto. The boar's speed was unexpected as he barley dodged the stampede. Collin used his Dash Ssh to put some distance between them, but then he remembers he needs to kill this thing.

  As he swung his sword 3 shadows shot out and crashed into the boar. There was a loud snap as a tree or two fell with a boom. Smaller animals scattered while the boar shook itself like a wet dog. Why didn't the attack work? Collin realized this wasn't a normal boar as the creature stampeded again, this time he was ready and used Dash Ssh to wound it directly. Blood gushed out the cut as the boar snorted and twisted around. At this distance he'll be able to end it quickly and sshed with another Shadow Wolf Blitz. This time Collin saw it as the boar deflected the strike with its tusks. How?

  Since he was caught off guard the boar stampede and from this small gap he couldn't dodge. An orange transparent shield was summoned as the boar's tusks collided into it. Thanks to this little break Collin was able to hatch a pn, he would just have to be faster and more ruthless. When the shield disappeared he used Dash Ssh over and over again...until the boar's snorts turned to wheezes as blood oozed onto the forest floor. The boar's red eyes turned white as it stumbled in a circle and colpsed. Everything was quiet as Collin walked towards the boar to gaze at the tusks, he hasn't read that mythology guidebook in awhile.

  "Sir Collin!" called a voice. "We got the element stones."

  It was Kimberly and Noah. Their uniforms were wet and their faces looked shocked. If it wasn't for the quest he would've just knocked the boar out without any bloodshed. But than again Collin almost got pinned by those tusks, would he have healed if he got stabbed through the stomach? Anyway...he should use his telekinesis to haul this boar into town.

  "We could sell the tusks," Kimberly suddenly spoke. "It will fetch a nice price at the Boon Market."

  "Really, whys that?" Collin looked up.

  Noah expined. "Because this type of boar is special. Its tusks can deflect magic and bcksmiths can craft high quality armor from it."

  After a long trudge through the forest they finally returned to the vilge as the dead boar floated beside them. Both guard were carrying a tusk over their shoulder. Collin was a little tired from using his telekinesis for this long, it requires good concentration. People and little kids were in the square as drops of blood dripped from the boar's body.

  "Attention, citizens!" Collin shouted. "My names Collin, a Maverick of the Xenovia Kingdom and these are royal guards. Please...take this boar and have a bonfire."

  Ding. [ Reward: 7 training points ]