Calm Before The Storm

Lora wakes up on a hospital bed. She is bandaged up from all the injuries she sustained in the Dungeon. Lance is by her side, soundly asleep on a bench with his arms folded like a guard keeping watch.

The doctor was at the room at the moment and sees that Lora is awake, he walks up to her with a smile and tells her. "You're finally awake, your friend over there will be ecstatic. He was really worried about you, and he's been here for days".

Lora is shocked by the doctors words and looks at Lance, surprised by his actions. "Really? He did that for me, why?" She asks in confusion.

The doctor chuckles, "I heard that he carried you out of that Dungeon himself, even with all his injuries he never abandoned you. He must really care about you".The doctor said with a smile before he leaves the room.

 Lance eventually wakes up and sees Lora, he jumps to his feet to ask about her well being. "I'm fine" Lora replied...." I didn't want to wake you since you were sleeping", Lora tells him happily.

Lance is full of excitement and can't contain himself, he rushes out of the room, promising to bring back food to boost her strength. After he left Lora thinks about him, not only did he rescue her but he also managed to retrieve the Crystal, which guaranteed they passed the exam.

But Lora doesn't understand something, even though they were both buried under the debris, Lance didn't have a scratch on him, his body looked so flawlessly that one would think he hadn't been hurt a day in his life.

Even though her injuries were healed, Lora still felt sore and ached in some places, but Lance moved like he was never hurt, which shouldn't be possible after what they went through. What secrets could he be hiding, and who was laughing in the Dungeon.

*******

 The Elite Mages are the heroes who are in charge of protecting the Heart Kingdom. Their strength is legendary, striking fear into the hearts of evil doers. Whenever there is a crises, you can count on the Elite Mages to stop it. But currently all those Mages were away on special missions, when they returned they were to select candidates to train into New Mages.

But with the absence of Elite Mages, the criminal element of the kingdom are able to be a bit bolder. Two hooded men move silently through the streets, smuggling an illegal item in their bag.

Even though the Mages weren't around, Knights could still arrest them, but the pair know the routine of the Knights, and are able to evade them. They enter an old house in the Common Domain, before removing their hoods, and approaching a man who is fixing a large mechanical suit of armor.

" Hey Barbatos! We've got the Soul Gem you wanted", One of the men said as they handed over a large glowing gemstone. Barbatos takes the Soul Gem and stares at with glee.

"I know this wasn't easy for you to obtain, but it will be worth all of your troubles. You'll see", Barbatos said with a crazed smile, as he places the Soul Gem into the Mech Suit.

They all wait for a moment for something to happen, but it never does. The men look disappointed, hoping for a light show, and then they demand payment from Barbatos.

But he simply places his hand on the suit, and speaks the words, "Soul Steal!".... The two men scream as their souls are ripped out of their bodies and fly into the suit. They then collapse to the ground dead, and the suit begins to hum loudly, a sign that it was ready, to be piloted.

Next: The Soultaker's Rampage.