The Oathsworn Read online

  The Oathsworn

  c. Liandra Jake 2019

  In the capital city Sareville there are many Syndicates. These Syndicates protect the cities throughout the country of Karakas. As well as fulfilling everyday jobs for the citizens. Some make all their revenue through providing safe travel between cities or venturing into the large, mostly unknown world. Thanks to a magical energy known as Orenth, a gigantic array of jobs can be preformed. Korvan, the crystallization of this energy through different kinds of materials, is the driving force for all of the world's technological advances.

  These crystals can be fitted to a housing called a Matrix, which bring forth the Orenth sealed within. When exposed to large amounts of Orenth, a person can go through a physiologic change, but their minds remain intact. Their forms can become like that of animals, or the various Monsters that inhabit the world. These Monsters, unlike animals and humans, can directly control the flow of Orenth in their bodies. Due to this, it is believed that Orenth originally gave birth to the Monsters of the world.

  However, a darker form of Orenth can twist the minds and bodies of animals and the like, even machines have no protection from the transformation. Very little of this type of Orenth exists normally, but a badly managed Matrix can gather and hold it the more it is used. Even with the dangers and complications of Monsters, Changed humans, and the ones Possessed by the dark Orenth, the world's population continues to rise at a steady pace, with Korvan and Orenth a significant part of its culture.

  With businesses depending on these technologies, it's only natural for repairs to be needed occasionally and lead to steady income for those skilled in managing Matrixes and Korvan. With this in mind, a young man sets out to start his own repair shop in the capital city. Across from a large park, and set up on the long main street of the city, business was promised to be a sure thing. Sadly however, twenty five years in its existence, a recent depression pushes the shop to the edge.

  Run down and empty, the now middle aged man sets a help wanted sign in his window, with the hopes of finding someone who he thinks can handle the shop better than he could. As he steps behind the counter, a young child knocks at the door. Surprised, the man goes to answer it. He looks down at the young boy. He had a dirty head of grey hair and a deep sadness in his eyes. He speaks a few words and hands the man an envelope. The man reads the letter inside and a look of great sadness arises on his face. He moves aside to let the boy in. The limp help wanted sign falls from the window and onto the dusty floor.

  Eleven years past then, a recent economic boom sends the shop back into great business. The days were hot and long for the now grown up grey-haired boy as the expert Kruxsetter of the shop.

  "Arend! Where's the heating pad?!" The grey-haired shop owner known as Mr. Prickett called to the back room.

  A nineteen year old man walked out of the back room with a large, thick, folded blanket in his arms. A cord dangled over the floor. He had a blue headband on his sweaty forehead and had a thin grey tank top that barely covered his shoulders. The edge of a scar could be seen on the left side of his chest. With a pair of navy blue shorts, with a red stripe down the right side, and a pair of multicolored sneakers, he looked ridiculous.

  "This is your best repair man?" A man in a clean cut suit asked.

  Arend set the blanket down on the counter. He pulled out a small cube from a grey satchel hanging from his side.

  "You'll need this to get it to work." Arend said as dropped in into the man's hand.

  "This is a new Matrix." The man said as he looked it over.

  "No shit." Arend replied with a snort. "The other one is irreparable."

  Mr. Prickett smacked Arend on the back of his head. "Be polite." He said angrily.

  "I'm not going to pay for this." The man said as he dropped the cube on the blanket.

  Arend leaned across the counter on one arm. "That one won't break when you try to put a vibrating Korvan in it." Arend said with a raised eyebrow.

  The man quickly snatched up the blanket and cube, dropping the money on the counter and scurried out the door.

  "Tell your friends!" Arend called as he gathered the money. He pulled out a few bills and handed the rest to Mr. Prickett.

  "I thought it only had a heating Korvan when it came in?" Mr. Prickett asked curiously.

  Arend gave him a sly smile before strutting into the back room. Mr. Prickett looked down at the money and grumbled to himself. He pulled the amount for the parts out and put it in the safe under the counter. The rest he slid into his wallet. Grabbing a brown coat off a rack by the door, he walked out.

  "Watch the store Arend! I'm going out early today!" Mr. Prickett called back into the store.

  "Aye!" Arend cried in reply.

  A screeching sound of metal on stone filled the store as Arend dragged a metal chair to the front room. He set his grey bag on the counter and went back to gather his work for the day. He set down a few odds and ends; a small handheld game, a ten inch T.V, a hair dryer, and a radio from a train. Arend immediately began working on the T.V. Separating the 'meat' from its plastic shell; he ran his fingers through the chaotic wiring.

  "These people really need to buy new stuff after a while." Arend grumbled as he began cutting wires with an L-shaped knife.

  After cutting the wires, he pulled a metal square about an inch thick and the size of the monitor from the bag. From the remaining tangle of wire, Arend pulled a metal cube about the size of his fist. He then pulled out a screwdriver and dismantled the cube. Inside was an iridescent stone set in a shaped frame and surrounded by small circuit boards.

  Arend popped the stone out with the tip of his L-tool and while he eyed the stone and circuit boards, pulled a small monitor attached to a three inch metal ring by eight differently colored wires. Arend placed the stone in the ring and detached several of the wires. He turned it on and scanned the stone.

  "Point O' three impurity, two percent variance in decrystallization… Hmmm…" Arend said, tapping the monitor."Not bad for ten years old." Arend continued with a pleased look. "Must be in the wiring."

  Upon further investigation in the jumble of cut wires, Arend found the problem. A section of wires were fused together and what looked like soda stains on the corresponding spot on the shell.

  "Of course." Arend grumbled to himself as he clipped he wires and cut out the fried circuits.

  There was a quiet jingle at the door as someone opened it. Arend didn't look up.

  "Repair forms are next to the register on the counter. Feel free to look around. Any questions will have to wait." Arend said as he cut the cube apart and laid it out on the metal square.

  He soldered the pieces in place and set to work rewiring what he needed to. Arend could hear footsteps going down the counter and back again. Detaching the T.V screen from its tubes, Arend set to work turning it into a casual scratch of pen on paper could be heard as Arend set an array of smaller cubes and stones around in the empty spaces of the flat square of metal.

  Arend soldered the wires in a neat spiral from the newly set objects and the center stone. Grafting the monitor to the plate of metal, Arend plugged it into an outlet under the counter. The screen flickered to life and all that could be heard and seen was static. Turning the stones on the plate, Arend managed to get the fuzzy outline of a news reporter.

  "Ah!" Arend exclaimed quietly. "I almost forgot the antenna."

  Peering into the empty shell, Arend located a black metal bar about six inches long and attached it to the top of the Franken T.V. Instantly, the image cleared up. Bundling up the excess wire, Arend tossed it into a red bin by the doorway to the back room. He tossed anything else he could use into a large trash can next to the red bin.

  Everything else was thrown in a long bin at Aren
d' feet. He set the Franken T.V on a desk behind the register. Arend was about to start on the radio when he remembered he had a customer. Looking across the counter, Arend found a man about his age digging through a giant crate of Korvan they had in the middle of the store. He was rather short, somewhere around five feet based on the crate. From what Arend could see, he didn't have much muscle mass, but he didn't seem weak as he dug furiously into the crate.

  His black hair covered most of his face as he leaned over the crate. Level with his chin, it grew in an odd crossing pattern at the back. A pair of colorful headphones was hung on his neck. He had a pair of dark blue, almost black jeans with rectangular strips cut out and hemmed across the length of both legs. His boots ranged from blue at the toe, to a charcoal black at the heel. His jacket was a black that matched his hair with a red lightning bolt spiraling around his right sleeve.

  The back of the jacket was three inches longer than the front. A short chain of metal rings hung from his left pocket.

  "What cha' lookin' for?" Arend asked as he slid over the counter.

  He glanced over at Arend. He was wearing a pair of blue sunglasses. He pulled off his head phones and held them out as he walked forward.

  "I need these repaired." He spoke clearly and with a voice that Arend found pleasing to hear.

  "What's wrong with it?" Arend asked as he looked it over.

  "They were tampered with and no longer work properly." He replied.

  "That's a little vague." Arend said as he turned back to the counter. No cords were attached to the sides, but one side was heavier than the other.

  "I've got some other things I've got to finish first, I'll call you when I've finished." Arend said as he set the headphones next to the other things on the counter.

  "I need them now." He said as he held out the folded form he filled out earlier. Opening it, Arend' jaw dropped.

  "Three hundred!?" Arend exclaimed. The only thing filled out was the price, five times the normal.

  The man pulled out a wad of cash. "It's important." He said as he held out the money.

  Arend held up a hand. "Not until I'm done. Store policy." Arend said as he vaulted over the counter and set to work fixing the headphones. "So who are you anyway? Your voice sounds familiar." Arend asked as he quickly took the case apart with a screw driver.

  "Hunter Wasteland." He replied.

  "Ah, thought so. The name's Arend, Arend Myshcell." Arend replied as he pulled a small metal disk from the headphones.

  Three stones sat in an equilateral triangle, with a fourth crudely welded in the center. "The fuck!?" Arend exclaimed. "Who the hell did this?" He demanded.

  "Vladd. He likes to 'fix' peoples things for them." Hunter replied.

  Arend grabbed his L-tool. "You'll have to introduce me to this Vladd. We'll have some things to discuss." Arend said with a devilish grin. He popped the center stone out and placed it on the counter.

  "As long as you don't have trouble with Changed, I will." Hunter replied with a small smile.

  Arend stopped, before switching tools and changing to a passive face. Hunter noticed this change and went silent. Grinding the plate smooth, Arend put it back in the headphones.

  "Can I tell you something?" Arend asked as he slowly screwed the headphones back together.

  "What, may I ask?" Hunter asked.

  Arend looked up. "First of all, don't let Vladd touch these again. Second, I am utterly terrified of the Changed."

  Hunter nodded. "I see."

  "The thing is, I lost my parents due to a monster attack, I was eight at the time and I watched in terror as my parents were viciously mauled and turned into possessed. My fear of Possessed stems from this as well. Shortly afterwards I was stabbed through the heart. Some passerby from a Guild rescued me and I ended up with an artificial heart." Arend said, stabbing his chest with his thumb. "From then on I've been terrified of it becoming Possessed and bursting from my chest, or Changing and it becoming defunct. Ha!" Arend laughed suddenly. "I only met you a few minutes ago and I've told you my life story." Arend as he finished screwing the headphones back together.

  He handed them back to Hunter. "Let me know if they work." Arend said as Hunter slipped them on.

  He turned them on and stood with his eyes closed as he listened. He nodded at Arend.

  "You're better than I thought." Hunter said as he paid Arend.

  "It wasn't that hard really." Arend tossed the Korvan he removed to Hunter. He caught it and looked at it in his palm.

  Barely a centimeter wide and a dark yellow, it wiggled slightly as Hunter shifted his weight. "That little bugger is an equalizer. It increases the volume of the quiet parts and decreased the volume of the loud parts. Especially turns your music into a crappy monotone." Arend explained as he put the cash in his bag and went back to work.

  "You're really just going to sit here and work?" Hunter asked, still listening to his music.

  "Yeah, why not?" Arend asked, tool in hand.

  "A Battle Tournament will be starting this afternoon. The Battle Bar down the street from here is having an event with all food and drinks half off." Hunter explained.

  "I lost interest in those tournaments a long time ago." Arend replied as he returned to his work. "Besides, my uncle doesn't want me betting on anything."

  "Why is that?" Hunter asked.

  "Because I would clean the place out." Arend replied with a sly smile.

  "Prove it." Hunter said, returning the smile.

  Arend set down what he was working on. "You're not going to let this drop are you?" Arend asked, standing up. "I guess I'll have to take a day off sooner or later. Could you wait outside? I need to lock up." Arend said as he organized what was still on the counter.

  Hunter nodded and stepped out the door. Hunter leaned against the store window, his foot up on the lip of the frame. His hands in his pockets, he waited until Arend came out. No longer wearing his headband; Arend had his bag at his waist. Locking the door, he slid the key into his bag.

  "Let's go then." Arend said as he started down the street.

  As they walked, Hunter attracted people's gaze, and Arend made them frown. "What's with these people?" Arend asked.

  "Have you ever considered buying different clothes?" Hunter replied.

  "I rarely leave the shop; after a bad run in with a fire breathing vacuum, I don't wear what I don't have to." Arend replied.

  Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Fire breathing vacuum?" He asked.

  Arend laughed. "You'll be surprised what people bring in and try to get fixed. What we deal with is property not covered by a warranty, or refurbishment." Arend explained.

  "But a fire breathing vacuum?" Hunter asked, hung up on the idea.

  "That one was from the police. Some pyromaniac of a kid combined a propane tank, a vacuum, a few fire Korvan, and a few feet of piping into a makeshift flamethrower. Oddly enough, he was able to suck up and store the fire. That was until it exploded as I was working on it." Arend explained.

  Arend patted the bag at his side. "I got a pair of inferno Korvan, and the credit for the discovery that Korvan can absorb their element directly, out of it. Firefighters use that idea to help save people."

  "Inferno Korvan? I thought you said Fire?" Hunter asked.

  "I did, the four Fire Korvan fused in the explosion to the two I have now. They're too unstable to sell to anyone so I've been keeping them for an emergency." Arend said.

  "Shouldn't a blast like that kill you?" Hunter asked.

  Arend tapped his chest. "My heart had a built in emergency force field. A relic from the Great Wars."

  "Ah. Axis right?" Hunter asked.

  "Yep. My clothes weren't as lucky though. They were still burning when the field went down." Arend replied.

  The corner of the street could be seen. Across the road a large blue brick building was quaking as the roar of a large crowd erupted from it.

  "Let's go then. Don't want to keep my friends waiting." Hunter said as he hurried across
the empty street.

  Arend followed close behind. Pushing the door open, they entered the bar. Chairs and tables rocked on raised floors to either side. The bar was straight ahead from the door. The bartender was leaning against the counter with a bored look. A third floor was built above it and went to the unseen back wall. A sign read "Guild members only" across the top.

  Hunter walked past the bar and went to a staircase that leads to the third floor. "Are you sure it's okay for me to come up here?"Arend asked.

  "Don't worry. I know the owner and I'm sure they'll let you in." Hunter replied.

  A large man in dark jeans and a black tee shirt blocked the way onto the floor. A similar man blocked the other staircase.

  "Hey Hunter, who do you think will win the cup?" he asked as he stepped out of Hunter's way.