The Mechanical Era

The sun shined down on a great forest resting on the earth. Waking around the dense forest was a ferocious sanglier; a great black boar with large sharp tusks with purple oozing out of its eyes. It was tall as a human and was rare as gold. On its forehead resided a rather large purple mana crystal it used to reinforce its power.

From the corner, the sanglier heard something move to his left. As it turned around to check, an arrow pierced through its skull and came out on the other end. Losing consciousness, it fell on the grass floor.

From the trees emerged a group of knights, clad in thin steel armor. 2 were holding a spear, one holding a bow, and the other staff used to heal people. Their faces They approach the carcass to examine the demon.

One kneeled down and opened their' helmet, revealing a black-haired man with a goatee on his face. His hazel brown eyes scanned the demon to see if there was any remaining life force left in them.

"This one's dead. Purple crystal is intact," he said in his masculine voice.

"I will bring the bag then." another knight holding the spear replied. There was more of a feminine voice. While the other knight walked back, the ones remaining opened their helmets protecting their face.

The one holding a staff appeared to be a woman, with short auburn blond hair with cocoa-brown eyes. The one with a bow turned out to be a man, with the same blond hair as the girl, along with her eyes.

"That was a good shot brother," she told the man with a bow on his back. He was reaching for his leather bottle near his belt.

"Thank you sister," he said before he started to drink. The man holding the spear carefully started cutting the demon's forehead to acquire the large crystal it held. He slowly pulled out and removed any demon flesh attached to it.

Then, with a magical water spell, he washed the crystal to cleanse the demonic red blood it had on it. The crystal itself looked near circular with many edges that shined in the sunlight. Meanwhile, the other knight carried over the brown bag filled to the brim with mana crystals.

She places the leather bag down and opens it up. Various colors of a crystal can be seen. Mainly green, blue, yellow, and the rarest of all, violet. The man places the crystal in the bag, and the woman closes it up.

"Well. It is full. We should dump this bag in the cart." she asked.

"How many have we got so far Lola?" the brother asked the female knight holding the bag.

"I counted about 56 mana crystals. Considering our other trips, I think it should be enough for today." Lola replied. She then turned her head to the man with the beard.

"What do you think Trey?" she asked

"We can probably get two hundred more if we continue," Trey replied back.

"We already got about 5 other bags on the cart. I don't think her majesty requires that many more crystals," she said.

"You are not thinking about the other cities, Sarah. Her majesty needs to arm them with the crystals as well."

"Won't they have their knights search for crystals as well?" Sarah asked. The man was a bit stunned by her question, thinking it through.

"I guess you are right about that. But still. The more crystals we get, the higher our payout." he argued back. Sarah turned to her brother, wanting assistance.

"Brother, do something!" she said. Trey smiled.

"What do you think Roger? You want to cash out, or do you want to keep on going and even get more practice with your new bow?" he asked.

"Though that does sound good..." he muttered.

"Roger!" the sister proclaimed.

"... I DID promise my children I will be back in the afternoon. Any more and I don't think I can make it," he said.

"Well Trey, it looks like it's 3 against 1. Do you want to stay here alone, or are you coming back with us?" Lola asked Trey, who had disappointment washed on his face for everyone to see.

"You all agree to go back?" he asked the trio. They nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alright then. Let's go. I don't want to fight those beasts alone."

...

A man wearing a green tunic, brown pants with no shoes, and a haybale hat sat in front of the cart, with the leaches of the horses in his hands. He had short brown hair, combed using water hand the palm of his hand.

He had his hands on the back of his head while his legs spread on the rest of the seat for the driver. His hat was placed so that the sun was blocked from his face. On the cart, were dozens of brown leather bags filled to the brim with mana crystals.

"Hey get up." a masculine voice said as a hand tapped his shoulder. His eyelids flew open, revealing ocean-blue eyes underneath. He got his legs off the bench and looked at the knight.

"Howdy Knight Tray! How did it go?" he asked.

"You tell me you sleepy bastard." he pointed to the 6 brown bags in the middle of the cart covered by the sun thanks to the cart's beige soft top. Around it sat the other knights, who sat on the wooden seats at the edge of the cart.

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom "I see you had some good catches. Well, we should be on our way now!" he said.

"Yes, we should." Tray replied. He went back and hopped on the back seat where the shade was while the man sat out in the sun. Soon, the man got the horses to stop drinking the water, and go down a dirt road back to the capital.

While on the way, the man had a quenching thirst for knowledge. He was curious as to why the knights have been sent out here to collect a large number of mana stones. After gathering a bit of courage, he asked the question.

"Say? I have been wondering..." he turned his head around to speak. The knights at this point have taken off their helmets along with the chainmail inside.

"You should keep it to yourself." Lola interrupted with an intimidating look.

"But I just wanted..."

"Her majesty requested we stay silent upon the matters of why we were sent here. Now shut up and keep your eyes on the road." Lola interrupted.

"Ah. I see. Sorry about that folks." he replied. Sarah and Roger, feeling sympathetic, leaned in to give him something to work with.

"It's for some new parts for the armor," Roger said. The man smiled at his response.

"Thank you, Knight Roger," he said.

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