Chapter 2: Friends
Neocro found herself hunched under a tree, surrounded by hills. The sun shined bright. She slowly got up and climbed to the top if the highest hill. She gasped and looked around her. She saw Flarine in the distance. She put herself down and started to think about what she was going to do now. She didn't dare to go back to that guild house, although she really liked to see Rick again so he could help her. He helped her so much the day before, maybe he didn't want to help her anymore. Neocro started to walk to the town. Everywhere in the hills were Aibatts hidden. They flew around making funny sounds. Neocro smiled a little. When she finally reached town she felt hungry. Neocro took the bag with money she got from Rick and walked to the food seller. It was a little girl with cute, pink clothes. She handed her over some money and got some bread in return. Then she counted how much she had left. "Should be enough..." murmured Neocro. She walked to the main square, to the weapon crafters. Neocro looked around in the store and chose the best yoyo she could buy with the money she had left.
Neocro walked through Flaris looking for monsters she could kill. She sighted, she didn't know what monster wouldn't be too strong for her. Neocro walked on a hill and looked around. Many angry looking wolves stared to her. Neocro grabbed her wooden yoyos and looked around again. No one else was around. She turned her yoyos around and swung them to a wolf. The wolf died immediately. Neocro shocked. She looked the to the yoyos she was holding. Normal wooden yoyos. Where did she get so much strength from? Neocro ran to another wolf and swung her yoyos again. The wolf died after the yoyos hit him just once. "I guess this means I need to find stronger monsters." murmured Neocro. She walked away and tried to find the bridge that crossed the big, deep river of Flaris. A penguin was standing near the bridge. He had a hat on his head with a bell. The bell rang all the time. "New to Madrigal? Visit your friendly neighborhood Buff Pang!" Neocro walked curiously to the penguin. "Hi there." said Neocro. The bell stopped ringing. "Hello there! I'm granting buffs to adventures who haven't completed their second job change yet. Come see me anytime if you ever find yourself in need of a boost to your stats." Neocro hesitated. "Can you give me... buffs too?" "No!" said the penguin. "Why not?" asked Neocro. "Enjoy your stay in Madrigal!" said the penguin and the bell started to ring again. Neocro sighted and ran over the bridge. Walking flowers with sharp teeth awaited her. Neocro grabbed her yoyos, turned them around and swung them to the flowers. One hit, two hits, dead. "This won't do either." She continued walking north. She killed a cat she passed and arrived with big, gray monsters. Their arms were weapons. Neocro hesitated but swinger her yoyo's again. It took Neocro 3 hits to kill one. Neocro threw her yoyos angrily on the ground. She didn't get it, she was way too strong for this things. She had to go to place where stronger monsters were, but she didn't know where or how she could get there. Neocro put herself on the ground and stared around. She closed her eyes.
"You're welcome!" the Ringmaster smiled. The vagrant ran away happy with his just obtained buffs and started to attack the big, gray monsters. "Neocro." said the Ringmaster. "Where are you now?" Neocro appeared out of nowhere. "Never far from you Sam! I'm always by your side!" They laughed.
"Hey. You." Neocro shocked and opened her eyes. A small girl with blond hair, wearing a brown vagrant dress and holding a small wooden sword was bending over her. "Oh... Hello." said Neocro. The girl smiled. "You must be bored if you can just fall asleep here surrounded by monsters." "I guess." said Neocro. "Let's make a deal!" Neocro looked surprised. "If you stay with me today, I'll give you some money!" Neocro hesitated. "How do you mean, stay with you?" "I can use some company when I try to reach level 15. All you have to do is follow me around and talk with me." "That is just weird." said Neocro. "I'm Jess!" said the girl. She grabbed the hand of Neocro and pulled her with her. "Let's go!"
Neocro followed Jess from Aibatts to Bangs, the gray big monsters. Jess talked all the time. Neocro listened and learned more and more about Madrigal again. The day passed by and Neocro had to admit that this day was rather fun. She didn't have a chance to figure out what monsters she had to kill to get stronger, but she didn't mind. There were plenty of days to figure that out. Neocro sad at Bangs and stared to the sky, she thought about the dream she had earlier today. Was it a dream, or was it something real? "I'm done." said Jess. Neocro looked up. Jess worked hard today. Neocro smiled. "What are you going to do now?" Jess walked to Neocro. "I decided to become a magician. So we'll have to go to Saint Morning." "Saint Morning..." Another name that seemed familiar. "How do we get there?" Jess grabbed an item out of her bag and handed it over to Neocro. "By using a Blink wing. I'll see you there!" They both disappeared.
Neocro looked surprised around. "What a beautiful city." said Neocro. "And you didn't see everything yet!" said Jess. "But that's for later, let's go to the magician trainer." Neocro followed Jess through the streets of Saint Morning. They crosses a small bridge and arrived on a square. It was surrounded by houses, there was a big statue in the middle and there was a path to the top of a high hill. Jess ran to a few people that were standing at one of the houses. Neocro walked slowly to the statue. Her heart beat really fast. It was a statue that displayed 11 people. There were 9 people sitting, two standing. She stared to each of the faces from the people. A Ranger, 3 Knights, 2 Ringmasters, a Billposter, Blade, Psykeeper, Elementor and a Yoyo Jester. Neocro stared and stared. Who are, or were they? Jess walked to Neocro. "You'd better congratulate me." Neocro didn't reply. "Whoa, what's wrong with you?" "Who are these people?" Jess sighted. "I don't really know, this statue has been here since forever. I heard it has something to do with true heroes." Jess laughed. "True heroes... I wonder if they really existed." "True heroes..." murmured Neocro. Jess pushed Neocro. "Stop staring, just congratulate me!" Neocro blushed and looked to Jess. "I'm so sorry. Congratulations Jess." Jess smiled. "Here is your reward." She handed over a bag. "You don't have to do this!" said Neocro. "I don't care, keep it. Save it for later or something. I think everyone can use some money." "Thanks..." said Neocro. Jess yawned. "I'm getting out of here, getting some rest. Thanks for today!" she disappeared between the houses. Neocro walked to a bench at the side of the square and continued staring to the statue.
A boy crosses the square. He saw the girl sitting on the bench staring to the statue. "Hi you!" said the boy. Neocro looked up. Was that Rick? "Haa, I knew it! You're that girl from yesterday evening." It wasn't Rick, it was someone else. "From yesterday evening? Did we meet?" The boy laughed. He was wearing a sailor suit with cat ears. "You came to our guild house with Rick and left spectacular." Neocro felt ashamed. "No one is angry, you can always come back." "I don't know..." said Neocro. The boy stared to the statue. "Why are you sitting here alone anyway?" Neocro lifted her shoulders. "The statue seems familiar. The people look familiar. I want to know who they are. A friend..." was Jess a friend of her now? "A friend told me they were true heroes." Sean nodded. "That's what I heard too, but it's something from a long time ago! Such heroes don't exist anymore." Neocro stared to the ground. She felt sad, for some reason. The boy looked worried to the girl. "Hi, uhm. I don't know if you want but... I'm going up there to order some tickets for Traseia. If you want you can come with me." Neocro smiled and got up from the bench. "I'll go with you. Can I know your name?" "I'm sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Sean! I'm a friend of Rick, also a member of the same guild. You are... Neocro? Right?" Neocro nodded. Sean smiled. "Let's go!" They walked together to the path that lead to the top of the big hill. It was a rather long path. When they came to the top Neocro saw cranes and loads of ships. "What is this?" asked Neocro. "This is the station." said Sean. "The ships here leave to Azria and Traseia." Neocro her heart made a jump. Azria? Sean walked to a woman at a small office. Sean ordered some tickets to Traseia. Neocro looked to a ship that was filled with people. A strong looking man was standing at the entrance of the ship and looked around. "Ship to Azria is about to leave! One minute to go!" Neocro looked shocked. Azria, Azria, Azria. It was a name she remembered, she wanted go to there. Suddenly she started to run and jumped on the ship. Sean looked shocked and ran after her. "What are you doing!" screamed Sean. He jumped after Neocro on the ship. Neocro looked around on the ship. People were staring to her. The strong man walked to Neocro and Sean. "Do you guys have tickets?" "Tickets?" asked Neocro. The strong man smiled. "No tickets, no way you'll get to Azria. He took Sean in one hand, Neocro in another hand and threw them out the ship. "Oh shit!" said Sean. "Use your board Neocro!" Neocro panicked. "Board? What board?" Sean didn't know what to say. "Your freaking flying board!" "I..-I don't have that!" screamed Neocro. The ground under them came closer. Sean swore. Two wings popped out of his back. He grabbed Neocro. "Close your eyes!" Neocro closed her eyes. They would crash on the ground, they'd die... Neocro opened her eyes when she felt ground at her feet. No crash. She just landed slowly. Sean sighted relieved. The wings disappeared.
