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Chapter 10: The Classes

Everything was dark for a while, and the only thing around me was darkness. Everywhere except one spot where it shines light. In front of me was a giant crystal, it looked to be about five times my size and had the color of light blue-green.

'The powers of the legendary warriors still rest within you.' Said a voice which came from the crystal's direction. Was it telepathy or was it literally talking to me? I asked myself. But the crystal though, had started to crack right before my eyes. Little bits of cracks started to show up everywhere until with one loud clash, it broke off. The crystal right before my eyes had shattered everywhere, but it did not phase me. I looked around as little shards of the crystal's remains had floated around everywhere. Then another light had shined and then the next thing that appeared in front of me was a little pendant, and nine different people that stood there floating in a circle, which we're the warriors that I saw in a different dream before. 'Fighter.' The first one at the very top had some orange hair and a red head band tied to his forehead. He also had on a pair of light armor covering his body and sporting a sword and shield strapped to his back. 'Lancer.' The next one lower on the left side of the fighter seemed about the same age had brown hair and worn some type of helmet and sported a different kind of armor and wielded a spear. 'Warrior.' The guy across from the lancer on the right side of the fighter looked older and wore a green headband that complimented his maroon hair. His body was covered in heavier armor and he wielded a big axe. 'Thief.' The guy below the warrior had green hair and a pair of goggles on his forehead. He wore a white-ish vest and a pair of torn green pants. He wore long brown boots that went up to his knees and wielded twin daggers from both sides of his belt.

'Hunter.' The next warrior was actually a female elf with green hair and green eyes. She wore a green tunic and some kind of plate protecting her torso, and a pair of light brown boots and wielded a bow and quiver. 'Gunner.' The guy across from the hunter had on some western clothing and wielded two twin pistols on his belt. 'Cleric.' The next person was more of a magic user than the rest of them told so far. She wore a pink-ish tunic and had one something that covered her body under the tunic that was navy blue. She sported a circlet on her head which was partially hidden from her blonde hair. To my surprise, she wielded a mace of some kind, which was kind of odd for a magic user to use. 'Mage' The woman underneath the cleric had some blue-ish hair and wore a hat similar to a witch. Her outfit almost made her look like one except that everything was blue instead of black. She wielded a powerful looking staff that look's like the conductor of her spells. 'Grappler.' The last one on the very bottom of the circle had short black hair and red eyes. He wore a martial arts outfit which consisted of a blue jacket of some kind and long black pants. He did not wield a weapon so he seemed to be the kind of guy who could kill a person with his bare hands.

'The pendant is yours now. You are meant to have it.' The crystal's voice said. The pendant in the middle then came up close to me and my hand absently grabbed it against my will. I took a look at it and it had the dragon emblem that I saw from the gold coins when I took it to the bank. Except the dragon was black and the background was orange. It was tied to a powerful rope and the material was different from any that I've ever seen. Around the emblem I saw tiny slots that I wasn't what it was for until I looked back at the warriors which from their hearts, shown tiny crystal shards. They're the same color as the big crystal that broke earlier, I thought. Maybe they are the crystal's shards. The warriors then held out their hands and the crystal shards had moved onward to my direction and each tiny shard filled nine of the thirty slots from within my pendant. Ahh, I gasped and grasped my heart as a light painfully latched onto me and released from my body. From the light then shown a crystal shard different from the others, and the color was completely white. This shard went on to fill the tenth space on the pendant. 'You are the freelancer who must carry it on.'

"Huh?" I asked, but before I could do anything, the warriors dived right at me and the rest turned bright.

My eyes opened quickly and quickly got up in the bed. I looked around and didn't remember what just happened, & I also saw that Kimahri wasn't there.

"Kimahri?" Nothing, but I also noticed that my hand was holding something. I looked at it and saw that it's the pendant that I got from the dream, and the crystal shards we're there too. That was really weird and confusing. "That dream... Was that, really true?" I thought of it for a long while and asked myself. "What is real?" I looked back on the opposite side of the bed where Kimahri laid before and saw a note there. I grabbed the note and opened it up. The message read:

Eric,

Kimahri leave for a while, search for areas free from people. Kimahri find some, follow where notes that Kimahri make take you. In mean time, practice your magic.

love,

Kimahri Ronso

The day that followed was just spent watching TV, showering, and practicing my magic. I've gotten stronger, but I still wished that I had more magic and skills to win any battle. It started to become more than just a game for me, it was real. Few hours later, a note was slid under the door and I didn't notice until twenty minutes later. I grabbed the note and it wrote:

Safe for Eric to come out now,

Kimahri

I was a little nervous from leaving the house but I wanted to get outside for once. I grabbed my stuff together and went outside. The sky was clear and the air is fresh, it's one of the simple pleasures in life. I walked out of the alley and saw the distance before me. The sky was clear blue and there was a field right across the street that looked like was it miles away. I wanted to feel the fresh air for a long time, so I ran across the street and started trekking across the grassy plain. I looked around to see if Kimahri was there too, but there was no sign of him. I laid down and enjoyed the sun while thinking about a few things. The first thing that came into my mind was my video games. I probably would never see them again, and when will I go home? Wait, why did I ask that? I don't want to go home, not by a long shot.... But I do miss my video games. My thoughts went on as I was enjoying the sun and the fields, Kimahri would like it too.

The next thing that went on in my mind was my brother Ryan. Where was he? Is he okay? What would have happened if he disappeared anyway? Again, these questions we're boring into my skull and the sense is troubling. The last thing that went into my mind then was about the dream I had last night, and about the warriors. I looked at the pendant of mine and saw the crystal shards and the emblem within. What does all of this mean, what could all of this be? Does Kimahri know about this? Could this be about my powers, and what do they mean by Freelancer who must carry it on?

However, in the middle of my thinking, I heard a loud gunshot. I got back up quickly surprised and wondered what was going on. After about ten seconds, I heard another gunshot, actually three gunshots, and people screaming. That had gotten me frightened, and I didn't know what to do at this situation. Should I stay or should I go? I asked myself as I hesitated in a nervous motion. But I remembered one sure promise, that when in doubt, Kimahri can come save me. And getting discovered won't matter at this time anymore. So I went out of the field and back on the street to see what was going on. I saw the manner and out of sheer adrenaline backed into the corner. I looked back and saw a group of people backed into a corner completely scared as hell and I saw three guys with blue jackets on and torn up blue jeans. I couldn't see their faces because it was covered by some black thing that I couldn't really figure out what it was, but there were holes where their eyes and mouths were shown. Two of them appeared to be wielding eight-round magnums while the third was holding an AK-47 which he was aiming right at the poor defenseless civilians.

"Nobody move!" The guy with the AK-47 shouted. "Try anything and we'll kill you all!" The group then panicked again, and one guy said.

"We got you what you want, what more do you want from us?"

"Shut up!" He shouted and aimed his gun again, creating another wave of panic from the civilians. "You are to give us everything you own! Including your money, food, and luxuries! You got it! Now Hop to it! And if any cops show up, you're dead!" What are these people thinking? I thought, they're nuts, and those people are in trouble. They got to be saved and those criminals MUST be stopped, but how? One of the guys with the magnums had made a quick glance from the back and shouted.

"Sir! We've been spotted!" Then things started to get really scary, and I hoped that I didn't get discovered.

"WHAT?!" The leader shouted, and the guy who looked pointed at my direction.

"Over there!" Then they all saw me from the wall.

"Uh-Oh!" Was my response and ran out of there like hell! It was just as I feared!

"Oh, that little jackass!" He loaded his AK-47 and told the other two. "Kill them all! Not a word of information about us is to be said from anyone, take the truck afterwords while I kill that evesdroping kid. I'll meet you there!"

"But why sir?"

"Because that kid could call the cops on us! We can't take chances, and I'm NOT going to jail, EVER!" He then ran off without saying a word. The two that stayed grabbed their magnums, aimed at the people and prepared to shoot. Only to stop before pulling the trigger after hearing some kind of roar.

"What the-?" One of them asked, and they heard another roar. This time it was louder and coming from above and they looked up, only to find themselves pounced by something that was big and blue. They got up quickly and panicked at the sight of Kimahri as he grabbed out his spear. The criminals tried to grab their magnums and shoot but we're too slow and Kimahri knocked them out of their hands with his spear. The Ronso moved up to the guy on the right and tripped one of his legs with his own, and swiftly kicked him in the chest and the head, sending him flying through the horizon. The guy on the left screamed in complete panic and ran away. Kimahri looked back at the group of people who just sat there in complete shock at the corner. Not a word was said or a movement was made from either of them and the Ronso jumped out of sight.

I was running for my life and did not know what I was thinking back there. My thoughts went ary and I couldn't beathe or think properly. The only thing coherent that I could think of was: I just had to get involved now did I? All I did was evesdrop on this situation and I find myself at the mercy of a madman with a rifle. The only disadvantage of the Keyblade though was range, and I certainly had none. I looked back and yelped at the sight of the man behind with his Assault rifle in hand. OH SHIT!

"Get back here!" He shouted and fired without warning. The bullets barely missed me by a margin, but I'm really concentrating on my legs being in one peice. It was obvious that civilians around me we're panicing and running for their lives.When the firing ceased, I grabbed the Keyblade from my back, but couldn't prepare as I couldn't run anymore from being tired. The gun was fired again and I saw that it was close to hitting me. I held the Keyblade from sheer instinct and it spawned a magical aura which deflected the bullets that would have killed me. Huh? Was my thought. How could I do that? I didn't call any spells or anything, the Keyblade did it on it's own. Maybe that's why Sora could guard easily in the Kingdom Hearts games. I looked back at the gun man who only looked puzzled and was about to say something when his accomplice called out to him from a distance. He showed up speeding up to him in a white eighteen wheeler with no designs on the side. It was just plain white.

"We gotta bail! Too many witnesses!" He shouted.

"What?!" He was speechless but shortly uttered. "W-well, didn't you kill those people."

"Well, that's kind of the problem sir. Before we could finish them off, some guy easily stopped us. He was big, blue, and had some kind of spear. He even kicked the other guy to death."

"Huh?" When he said big and blue and with a spear, I figured that it was Kimahri. But why would he show up at all? He's already at risk. The guy looked back at me and just decided. "You got lucky kid!" He grunted and jumped on the side of the truck as he took off. I remembered that if they get away, they'll just terrorize people again, and that was what I hate from people most of all.

"Oh no you don't!" I wouldn't let them get away and jumped onto the back of the truck just barely. I was hanging on to the giant metal bars that we're the openers for the giant doors. When I got all of my senses again, I slowly climbed up and with the repeated slipping and sliding down, it was not easy to reach the top. When I did reach the top, it took a quick peak at it only to duck to avoid the gunshot from the guy who was obviously waiting for me at the top.

"Persistant, aren't we?" He asked. I got up and asked.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "And at this extremity?" He fired a warning shot on my left which hit the corner of the truck.

"Well, since you're gonna be dead anyway, I might as well tell you?" I tensed up from hearing the "dead" part, but I listened. "You know about the presidential election, right?" I nodded.

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with it?!"

"Well, it's because of those democrats like Obama getting in the way of our plans! If he wins, we can't do anything we want in this country! We can continue to do anything and get away with it when John McCain's doing the work. It'll be like Bush back then!" Is this guy a terrorist or something? I asked myself.

"But... Why?... Can't you see that you're interferance is part of the problems with this country?" His reply started with a hmph.

"Who cares about your problems?!" That got me angry right there. "Anyway, we tried sending one of our men to kill that democratic bastard trying to bring "change" into this country, but was caught just before the right moment! But we'll do anything we will to stop anyone from getting in our way. Even getting rid of you after you evesdropped!" I then jumped to the top of the moving truck with the Keyblade ready in my hand.

"The world doesn't revolve around you! And I'll make sure that's true, even if it costs me my life!" Ryan, Kimahri, forgive me. I started to rush at him and side-stepped across trying to avoid his firing. His assault riffle ran out of ammo but quickly switched to one of his tiny black pistols. He shot his first shot and it accurately hit me in the shin. I screamed and knelt down in a great deal of pain, I saw that my left leg was bleeding and grasped at the dark red bullet wound with my left hand, and the Keyblade was still strong on my right hand's grip. I looked up at the guy who now has the upper hand, and aimed his pistol right at me.

"All right kid, it's over!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I shouted and tensed up completely, reasizing that it was all over. He fired his bullet at the final moment, but, when the bullet hit, a large yellow light glowed and shocked the criminal completely.

"Wha-wha-WHAAAAAAAAAA-?... What is this?!" He shouted scared out of hell. "Is this some kind of hocus pocus shit?!" Huh? I opened my eyes and realized that I didn't feel any pain. I looked down at my self and saw a yellow-ish glow coming from my new pendant and shortly faded. I looked at the rest of myself and almost didn't recognize myself. Then was that I became even more confused. I got up and saw that the clothes that I was wearing had completely changed.

I saw myself in a pair of brown light armor with gold lining around it, and a gold crescent around the collar. My shorts we're replaced with light tan pants which is of a much lighter material, but feels more protective yet flexible at the same time. My shoes had changed into steel toed boots, which the leg area was brown with gold lining at the top in a similar fashion to the armor. The feet area was the steel part with the grayish color to boot. The toe area however was brown like the rest of the armor, but was made out of a more metallic material. My hands we're still holding something, so I checked and I saw that it was no longer my Keyblade I was holding. But instead, I was wielding a three and a half foot short sword with a hand guard that protected my knuckles. I also saw that the light tan material that covered my lower half, has also covered my arms and hands. My lower arm area was covered in large bracelets that were brown with gold lining just like the rest of the armor. I looked at my left arm and saw that it had sported a big orange metal shield, with a couple red lines drawn on the top area and a gold lining and dot at the middle.

Did the shield deflect the bullet for me? I asked myself, still shocked that I was saved by something that I still have no idea what it was. I also noticed that a red head band was tied to my forehead and was flapping in the distance. I remembered that it was in the same style as one of the warriors from my dream. But what does this mean? Is this what they meant? I keep asking myself, but I was still confused. I looked back at the criminal and saw that he was more than shocked, but completely freaked out. The bullet wound hasn't affected me much now so I could stand.

"Wha-What the hell is going on here?!" He asked and grabbed his pistol and aimed at me again. I noticed that he was shaking at his movement, probably out of fear. I remembered that he tried to kill me and terrorized people, so I had to take this chance to fight back.

"I have no idea!" Then I rushed at him again, at about the same speed as I was in my previous clothing, which was odd since I could actually move in something as heavy enough for me as this. The madman had fired again, bullets flying everywhere. Most of them I missed, and others had been deflected by my strong heavy boots and armor. The last few he fired, I instinctively held up the shield, which blocked the bullets with relative ease.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I howled a battle cry and rushed towards him with the shield held in front of me, so it block the rest of the gunfire. We finally met face to face, and I hit him in the chin with the shield, sending him flying upwards and fell on his back with a thud. He grasped his face which muffled his pain, and I waited for him to get back up. I finally saw that I could use a shield this heavy with no straining at all. I also wondered if I have any sword skills, but it was worth a try. He finally got back up after about a minute, and we realized that we're still on top of the speeding truck. The criminal looked at me extremely pissed and his lower jaw was bleeding from the shield blow I gave him. He shouted and rushed at me with his fists. But before he could punch me, I got my sword and slashed his chest diagonally, hard. He pulled back and grasped at his chest, shouting in pain as he was bleeding very quickly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He looked at me terrified as I walked up to him and kicked him in the face, sending him flying and hitting the windshield in the truck. The criminal who was driving felt terrified that his windshield was shattered by something and abruptly stopped the truck. He set it in park and got out quickly, and was now terrified because he saw that his boss was dead. He screamed even louder and ran away with his arms flailing up in the air. Before he got far though, I heard a roar and saw something fly at him and stabbed him in the head. I recognized that it was a spear, in fact Kimahri's because it was the familiar Spirit Lance that I knew all too well. I saw the Ronso jump from behind the trunk and into the third guy's corpse and grabbed his spear off of it.

"Kimahri!" I called out to him and I jumped off of the truck, and met up with him. He saw me with the new duds until another yellowish light glowed around me only to stop after a couple of seconds. I looked at myself and saw that I was in my previous clothing again, and the Keyblade was in my hands again.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I don't really know how exactly to explain this, but it started in a near death situation." I then explained to him about the battle and my magical change of outfits and the ability of my Keyblade changing into a Sword and Shield which I could use easily then, which normally would have been too heavy for me. I also explained about the gun bullet wound I got and saw that, it looked like it has almost healed completely. Kimahri then grabbed something from his accessories and pulled out a blue bottle which I knew was a potion. He handed to me and gestured me to drink it. I grabbed the bottle and gulped it down. I always wondered what a potion tasted like, and it tasted ok, but it felt like some cold medicine. Kimahri grabbed my leg and surprised me for a little bit. He saw that the bullet was completely gone and left me un-scared, but it still looked like it got scraped a little. The Ronso took care of the wound and started licking it, his tongue felt like sandpaper to my legs and after a few licks, it stopped bleeding.

I figured that he would take care of this without magic.

"Better?" He asked.

"Yeah." Then we heard something in the distance behind us, and it sounded like police sirens we're coming towards the scene.

"We'd better go, now." We got our stuff and ran away quickly. Out into the distant fields away from civilization. I looked back as I ran and wondered to myself. What was that that happened. It felt like I was a sword wielding person and it didn't feel like myself. I looked like that fighter from my dream even. Wait, I was using his power. It became mine, was I a freelancer that carried it on? Could this be, what they meant, what the crystal meant? This all sounds like Final Fantasy's job system.

Phew, well, I did it. This marks a major checkpoint into the story. Chapter 11 is coming soon and I'll start writing it next week. I got the time now, and the ideas ready for the next chapters. As long as it's still memorized, they will come. Hope you enjoyed it.

End of Chapter Results:

Eric Lewis

Human

Class: Fighter (Rank 1: 1/10)

Lv. 4

Exp: 307

Next Lv: 154

HP: 243/468

SP: 32/32

G: 0 ($2319.04)