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PART I: BEFORE THE SEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE
Chapter 10: The Winter Bard
Years ago, a mercenary named Ryude chose to leave his old life behind after growing tired of killing and violence, instead becoming a traveling bard with several of his men. One day, he encountered a girl being attacked by a wild animal and rescued her, though the girl admonished him for interrupting her from capturing it. She explained that she was collecting animals for her Ark in preparation for the end of the world that the Black Mage would bring about.
Soon after, Ryude found that the Lion King’s Castle was in flames. Inside, he found soldiers being transformed into monsters and Hilla speaking with Von Leon, who had taken his revenge on the Anti-Black Mage Coalition for killing his wife, though Von Leon remained unaware that it was the Black Mage’s forces which had brainwashed the coalition into attacking.
Von Leon noticed Ryude and began attacking him, though Ryude was saved by the girl, whom Hilla recognized as Alicia, the Transcendent of Life. Though Hilla was surprised, as the Transcendents of Maple World typically stayed out of mortal affairs, Alicia claimed that he owed her a favor for letting the monster that she was capturing get away.
Upon realizing that the Black Mage and his Commanders really were about to end the world, Ryude decided that he needed to warn the people. He and his men decided to light the Dragon Master’s Tower, a beacon created by the Dragon Master, Freud, in order to signal the end of the world.
On their way there, Ryude helped Alicia capture the remaining animals, causing her to note that some humans seemed capable of keeping their promises. Ryude learned that despite being the mother of all life, Alicia refused to help humans, as they only caused destruction and harm to others. However, Ryude suggested to her that perhaps humans were just children in need of a mother to guide them.
Over the next few days, Ryude and his men gathered the survivors of Von Leon’s attack on El Nath. The surviving soldiers joined Ryude at the tower and faced off against Von Leon’s army while they attempted to light the beacon. Moved by Ryude’s bravery, Alicia changed her stance on humans and shared a portion of her remaining power after creating the Ark, giving Ryude’s sole mage, Hazelle, enough power to light the beacon, which had been created to require five mages in order to activate.
Ryude, Hazelle, and all his men gave their lives to light the beacon, which shone brightly and attracted many people to the tower who realized that the Black Mage was a grave threat to their world. Meanwhile, Alicia brought the animals that she captured to the Tower of Oz, where she intended to preserve them in case the Black Mage wiped out all life.
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