2007-2010 (Early Game-Big Bang)

February 2010: Dual Blade

(A/N: I don’t have any official dialogue to go by for this storyline, but Saught did a very comprehensive coverage of the original Dual Blade lore in his video, which I’m using as the basis for this section. JMS originally had a completely different storyline for the Dual Blades, which actually involved them and Evan becoming rivals, although their storyline was later changed to match with the KMS version.)

An Explorer on Maple Island received a letter from an anonymous sender, who claimed that their organization had been watching their development, and that they had decided to give them a chance to join. They explained that Kerning City had been under the control of the Dark Lord for generations, and that the current Dark Lord was unfit to lead. They claimed that Lady Syl was the true master of Kerning City, and that the mission of the Dual Blades was to help her take back her rightful place.

The letter also explained that the Dual Blades had been gathering information that would help in the fight against the Dark Lord and his missions. It then tasked the Explorer with infiltrating the Dark Lord's organization and obtaining information about him by becoming one of his thieves. The Explorer then became a thief under the Dark Lord and began working to gain his trust while secretly working for the Dual Blades.

In order to get closer to the Dark Lord, the Dual Blade learned that the Spores were causing him trouble by stealing from the townspeople and pulling pranks on them. In order to gain his trust, the Dual Blade defeated the Spores around Victoria Island, after which they were contacted by Ryden - the man who had recruited them to join the Dual Blades. In the back alleys of Kerning City, Ryden told them that Lady Syl was the only child of the former Dark Lord, and that the Dual Blades were working to help her reclaim her birthright. He explained that the people of Kerning City respected the current Dark Lord, and that the Dual Blades were working to expose his true nature.

In order to hear the people's opinions on the Dark Lord, as well as to find people who might doubt him, the Dual Blade first spoke with Nella, who strongly believed that the Dark Lord was a good man. However, she noted that he always remained in the Jazz Bar, which made her wonder whether he had a secret. She then asked the Dual Blade to speak with JM From tha Streetz about the Spores that had recently popped up. JM told them that according to rumors, the Spores had stolen something that belonged to the Dark Lord, which explained why he was so eager to catch them.

(A/N: The thing with the Spores was never really resolved, nor did they ever explain what it was that they stole from the Dark Lord.)

In order to learn more about the stolen item, the Dual Blade spoke to Mr. Pickall, who revealed to them that the Dark Lord was a title handed down through generations, with the current Dark Lord being the 8th in the line, having been a disciple of the 7th Dark Lord, who had mysteriously disappeared, along with his daughter. The Dual Blade reported back to Ryden, who told them that the Dark Lord had learned about the existence of the Dual Blades. In order to learn what the Dark Lord was planning to do, the Dual Blade met with the thief job instructor at the Construction Site.

(A/N: This is the 2nd job instructor for thieves, who used to exist for a time before he was removed, along with all the other 2nd job instructors. These job instructors weren’t even given names, and after they were removed, the thief instructor’s role in the storyline was given to Eels in the Kerning City subway.)

The Dual Blade spoke with the thief instructor by pretending to have been sent on the Dark Lord's instructions to investigate the Dual Blades. The thief instructor explained that though the Dual Blades kept themselves well-hidden, he had noticed that Ryden was exhibiting suspicious behavior in the alleyways. The Dual Blade then reported back to Ryden, who gave them several falsified maps to bring to the job instructor, who thanked them, believing that the maps led to the Dual Blade hideout.

Soon after, Ryden told the Dual Blade that Lady Syl hadn't been sleeping well because of the Wraiths that haunted her dreams. The Dual Blade elimiated the Wraiths in the subway, though Lady Syl's condition still wasn't improving because of her weakness. In order to help Ryden prepare a traditional Kerning City tonic for her, which was made from Octopus legs boiled for three days and three nights, and mixed with special herbs from Dark Stumps, the Dual Blade collected the necessary ingredients from the monsters.

After helping Ryden prepare the tonic, the Dual Blade was tasked with placing posters around Kerning City, as well as a bomb in the Jazz Bar, which was meant only to serve as a warning that the Dark Lord was to be punished, not to kill anyone. After the bomb detonated and caused an uproar in Kerning City, Ryden was pleased and explained that the entire city was now aware of the Dual Blades.

He then ordered the Dual Blade to recover special seals which had been placed in the monsters of Kerning City, which had been making them behave abnormally, thus erasing all traces of the Dual Blades, after which he asked them to leave the city and await further orders. After the panic in the city died down, Ryden contacted the Dual Blade and told them that they were to meet with Lady Syl herself.

Ryden led the Dual Blade into the Secret Garden, their organization’s headquarters, where they first met with Shiba, who - according to rumors - could destroy anything that he touched. Shiba told the Dual Blade that Lady Syl believed that Jin - the current Dark Lord - had gained his position by assassinating her father, the former Dark Lord.

The Dual Blade then spoke with Lady Syl's protégé, Yun, who explained that Jin and Syl had once been close during the time when Jin had served under her father. However, one day, the former Dark Lord had disappeared without a word, and Jin - after going in search of him - had returned with the Dark Lord's personal items and had reported that the Dark Lord had passed away, after which the people of Kerning City had made him the next Dark Lord. Syl had later been told by a passing Explorer that Jin had killed her father, after which she had vowed to get revenge.

The Dual Blade then spoke with Lady Syl, who agreed to teach them the art of dual wielding if they could retrieve a Mirror of Insight, which would only reveal itself to those who were worthy of learning the way of the Dual Blade. After being chosen by the mirror, the Dual Blade was officially promoted to an official Dual Blade by Syl, who sent them to her pet own, Suri, for training.

Soon after they finished training, Shiba contacted the Dual Blade and told them that Lady Syl's investigations had revealed an eye-witness to Jin's crime. The Dual Blade spoke with Mr. Pickall, who revealed that the former Dark Lord had been good friends with the late legendary hero, Tristan, who had once come to Kerning City in order to speak with him. Mr. Pickall suggested that they visit Manji in Perion, who had been a close friend of Tristan.

In Perion, Manji agreed to share what he knew, though he warned that he wasn't sure about all the details. He revealed that he and Tristan had been heading to the Cursed Temple in order to seal Balrog, who had been resurrected. Knowing how important their mission was, they had asked the former Dark Lord to join them.

Though they had been meant to convene before facing Balrog together, Tristan and Manji had been delayed in the Burnt Lands because of the boars. Upon arriving at the temple, however, they had found the Dark Lord dead and a boy, who was covered in blood, holding a sword and standing beside the body. The boy had merely given his name, Jin, before leaving with the Dark Lord's body. He then explained that he and Tristan had gone on to seal Balrog, and that Tristan had gained his legendary reputation for having sacrificed his life to do so.

The Dual Blade reported back to Lady Syl, who became convinced that Jin had murdered her father. Several days later, she called the Dual Blade back to the Secret Garden, where she explained that ever since she had heard Manji's story, she hadn't been able to sleep well, as she had been consumed with thoughts of starting an all-out war with the Dark Lord and making him shed tears of repentance. She then tasked the Dual Blade with securing her father's diary, his last possession, hidden in a secret room inside the Jazz Bar. The Dual Blade infiltrated the room and fought several thief recruits who discovered them before returning back to Lady Syl with the diary.

Syl explained that her father would often write in a cipher that only she could understand. Upon reading the last chapter, however, she grew furious to see that Jin had written in her father's diary and immediately threw it on the ground. The Dual Blade then picked up the diary and read Jin's words on the last pages. They learned that he had followed the former Dark Lord to the Cursed Temple after Syl had seemed worried about his sudden disappearance three days ago.

Inside the temple, he had encountered an evil red-eyed monster that he had defeated in a fierce battle, after which he had been shocked to find that the monster had transformed back into the Dark Lord. The dying Dark Lord had revealed to him that his soul had been trapped within Balrog, and that Jin had freed him. He had then asked Jin to take care of Syl and Kerning City, and to never reveal what had happened to anyone, as he couldn't forgive himself for allowing Balrog to steal his soul. As the former Dark Lord had wished, Jin had decided to seal the diary away, and to never speak of that day.

Several days later, Yun told the Dual Blade that ever since Lady Syl had read the diary, she had sequestered herself in her room and was refusing to eat or come out. She explained that since Syl had been close with Jin, she had long been confused about Jin being the target of her wrath, and that she was facing a crisis about the fact that her vendetta against him had been based on a lie.

As Yun was worried that Syl would lose her will to keep living, she asked the Dual Blade to help give Syl a gift of Yellow Tulips from the Fire Boars. Soon after, Lady Syl called the Dual Blade and told them that she had been thinking a lot about the Dual Blades, and though she wasn't ready to meet with Jin yet, she knew that she had been neglecting her duties as the leader of the Dual Blades. She acknowledged that she had kept the Dual Blades in the shadows for so many years, and that it was now time for them to come out.

Syl sent the Dual Blade to speak with Arec - the thief instructor at the Chief's Residence in El Nath - as her representative. Arec sensed a kinship with the Dual Blade and recognized them as a member of the Dual Blades, a different branch of thieves born out of hate. In order to officially recognize the Dual Blades, Arec had the Dual Blade acknowledge that their hatred had been born out of a misunderstanding. He also had them, the organization's representative, apologize on behalf of the Dual Blades for their actions. He then had the Dual Blade defeat the White Fangs, who were hurting the people of El Nath, after which he gave them a letter to pass along to Lady Syl, acknowledging their official existence.

(A/N: At level 140, Dual Blades can complete the Pink Bean prequests, during which they’ll need to return to the beginning of their adventure in order to recover their memories that Dodo ate. Dual Blades will need to meet with Ryden outside the Secret Garden. Ryden will recall how excited he was to see such a skilled warrior enter the Secret Garden when they had first met, and how he had high hopes for them. He adds that they didn’t let him down, and that they had made him proud of being their teacher.)