Volume 1: Wandering with the Wind[]
It was a request from the King. The secret
ancient book passed down through the royal
family was stolen by thieves.
The King wanted it back. The two young men
who were asked of this task looked at each
other.
It might be a big deal that an item that
belonged to the King was stolen.
But if the thief is just a typical thief,
it's not a very hard task to catch them.
"Whaddaya wanna do, Marl?" A young
adventurer named Ravin asked his partner.
The childhood friend with a calm face was
smiling as if seeing what his partner would
say.
A strong breeze blew between them, but
neither of them moved. "We're going, right?"
Ravin asked. Marl looked into the wind.
"It's better to face the storm . . ." He
said and turned around.
"Treasures are always hidden in difficult
places." Ravin laughed.
"Ah, I can smell the storm."
"I wonder what's written on the ancient book
that has been passed down through the royal
family?"
Marl asked Ravin who was walking ahead.
They were on a wild path that strayed
from the main road.
A cavern where thieves lived in was just
ahead.
"I wonder why the thieves wanted it? And
I can't believe that it would be just any
old book if he asks adventurers for help."
The two climbed a steep mountain without
losing their breaths.
The young adventurers walked faster, gleams
of curiosity in their eyes.
They get to the destination cavern before
they even knew it. The two sneaked into
the cavern as if melting into the darkness.
But they didn't quite notice the pair of eyes
watching the two of them . . .
The cold cavern air tossed Ravin's unkempt
hair from side to side.
Through his bangs in front of his face, Ravin
saw light ahead and signaled his partner to
move ahead toward the light, walking quietly.
Volume 2: A Change of Plans[]
"(They're here . . .)"
Ravin sent a signal to his partner behind
him.
When he concentrated, he heard voices of
men from deeper in the cavern.
" . . . All we have to do is to give this
to him. Then we're all done."
"Yeah, that was easy. But I wonder why he
wants an old book like this?"
"Don't you know? This book is . . ."
" . . . . . . . . . . . ."
Suddenly, the voices became inaudible. The
owner's voice was probably whispering for
effect. But that yielded unexpected results.
Crunch . .
"(Oh, no!)"
As Ravin tried to step closer to hear what
was being said, he mistakenly scraped his
feet on the ground.
"Who's there!?"
The men yelled in response. Ravin shrugged,
and signaled to Marl. "Change of plans."
"You didn't have any plans to begin with."
Without hesitation, the two simultaneously
ran to the direction of the voices.
"What the heck!?" The area they jumped into
was smaller than expected. Five men were
drawing their own weapon against the intruders.
They dressed and looked like stereotypical
"thieves."
Ravin and Marl were already moving before
the men understood what was going on.
Volume 3: Interception[]
Running as fast as he can, Ravin yelled at
his partner. "Marl, let's lead them to
somewhere with more room!"
"Okay!" Marl answered with his blonde hair
waving in the wind.
Although they were able to take back the
ancient book, they ended up with the
thieves chasing after them.
They defeated two of the thieves when
they took the book.
Unable to move in the narrow cavern, Ravin
and Marl escaped the three remaining thieves
and ran down the steep mountainside.
Ravin carried the book under his arm as he
cleverly weaved through the trees.
(What is it with this book?) Ravin thought
with the ancient book in his hands. He heard
the voices and footsteps coming after him.
A request from the royal family that was
filled with secrecy. The mysterious "him"
that the thieves were talking about.
Is this a book of such importance?
When the two were just running out of breath,
they broke through the trees into a clearing.
The area was fine to swing a sword or throw a
boomerang. They glanced around their
surroundings as they waited for the pursuers.
"Okay, Marl. Let's take care of 'em." As
Ravin finished his sentence, the excited men
came running into the clearing.
"Finally giving up!?" The three thieves
readied their swords and attacked the two
adventurers. The battle began again.
It wasn't very difficult for the two
adventurers who maintained their
calmness to defeat the excited thieves.
Ravin sheathed his sword. Three men lay at
his feet.
"We're gonna be in trouble if someone finds
us. Let's get outta here." Ravin said,
brushing his hair away.
They were close to the main passage. The two
were about to leave the area quickly.
Suddenly, a dignified voice stopped the two
adventurers. "Stop right there."
Volume 4: Dark Eyes[]
The two turn around, ready for action. Long,
black hair waving in the wind was the first
thing that entered their vision.
"Hand over the book." The calm voice sounded
again. A young girl with black hair turned
her dark eyes to the two adventurers.
Ravin and Marl couldn't hide their surprise.
But, returning her straightforward gaze,
Ravin replied.
"No."
The girl with black hair held out her
pale hand to Ravin without changing her
expression.
The hand was asking for the book to be handed
over.
"That book is too much for you two to handle.
Power you cannot control will destroy you.
Hand over the book."
Ravin was taken aback by the girl's ambience,
but he managed to ask.
"Who . . . are you? And what is it about this
book?" The girl narrowed her black eyes.
"There are many things in this world that
you don't need to know about. . . It's
okay. I'll come for the book another day."
The girl walked past the two and started
walking toward the passage. Ravin and Marl
exchanged glances.
At that moment, the girl disappeared.
Ravin threw a questioning look at Marl.
Marl just cocked his head to the side.
"What was that?" The wind carried Ravin's
mutter to his partner's ears.
'I'll come for the book another day.'
The 'another day' the girl mentioned was
actually not another day, but the same day.
Volume 5: A Chorus of Insects[]
The two were lodging at the Capital that
evening. They still had not returned
the book they took from the thieves.
Under normal circumstances, they would have
returned the book to the rightful owner.
But they were concerned about the strange
encounter earlier that day. What was the
importance of this book?
Who was that young girl? If they were to
return the book, they would never be able to
get the answers.
Later in the evening, Ravin turned to the bed
next to his. "Marl, are you asleep?" Summer
insects sang their songs outside the window.
After a while, Marl replied. "Nah . . ."
(There is no way I could sleep.) each of them
told themselves.
They were worn out physically, but their
curiosity completely blew away any poassibility
of sleep.
The two lay there for a while, without saying
a thing, waiting for time to pass.
When Ravin was replaying the events during
the day in his mind . . .
"She's here." Marl whispered.
The songs of the insects had stopped.
The next moment, the window was blown away
with a large sound. The two jumped to their
feet, as if they were expecting this.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
The girl from earlier that day appeared in
front of the two adventurers who were poised
for action.
"You were expecting me?" The girl threw a
sharp knife at Ravin without even waiting for
a reply.
Ravin reached for the sword next to him and
with a sharp metallic sound, the knife fell
to the ground.
When Marl was beginning to cast his spell
to assist Ravin . . .
" . . .!?"
A sharp pain shot through Marl's back and
his face contorted in pain.
Marl gasped. The intense pain forced grunt
from his throat. There was a sorcerer dressed
in black standing in the doorway.
Ravin lit the lamp nearby.
"Marl!" The girl that was facing Ravin
suddenly yelled at the Sorcerer.
"Doruk!? This is MY job!"
Volume 6: Foregone Dreams[]
Panting, Ravin and Marl were running through
the nighttime road. Ravin held a book firmly.
They were able to take advantage of a
chance to escape the inn at the same time.
The timing and teamwork between the two
was the result and advantage of working
for so long together.
But the enemy easily caught up and cast a
flame spell from behind Ravin.
Ravin jumped away immediately, but the
Sorcerer was expecting that.
He cast another spell while Ravin was in the
air. This time he cast a lightning spell.
Pain shot through Ravin's body.
Ravin fell tumbled on the ground. "Ravin!"
Marl ran to Ravin's side.
"R, run . . ." Ravin gasped, and lost
consciousness.
Ravin thought that he heard Marl say to him,
"I'll protect you." Ravin was watching a
dream from long ago.
There was a time when Ravin got drenched
with water while playing with Marl.
Ravin was freezing because the water
absorbed all of Ravin's body heat.
To make things worse, the wind was blowing
without any mercy. ( . . . It's cold. I wanna
go home . . .) Ravin thought.
Suddenly, he came to his senses. "Huh?" he
opened his eyes. (It's cold . . . When did
I fall asleep?) he thought.
He could almost hear his childhood friend
telling him that he'd catch a cold if he
slept like this.
He was still drifting in between dream and
reality and tried to wipe his body dry.
Then, he felt the slippery sensation.
He opened his eyes. He saw himself laying in
a pool of blood.
His back hurt, but he realized it wasn't his
blood. He stopped breathing.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
"Marl . . .! Marl!! Where are you!?" He
called the name of his lifelong friend.
(If this is not my blood . . . if this is
not my blood . . . then . . ..!!)
"Aaaaaaarggghh!!"
Ravin's scream sounded in the night, and the
wind carried it through the town.
Volume 7: The Girl[]
When he awakened, he was in an inn room.
(Where am I? Why am I laying in a bed?)
"I . . ." When he was about to ask himself
a nearby door opened.
"Are you awake? I did the best I could to
patch you up." A girl walked into the room.
Her eyes were as cool and deep as a lake at
night. Her eyes were filled with tenderness
as she looked at Ravin.
"I am Rudy." The black haired girl said
softly. "The men whom you fought during
the day aren't just common thieves.
They are a part of a malicious group that is
aiming at destroying this country."
Rudy spoke softly, standing next to the bed.
"The book you had is the Forbidden Book that
was sealed by the royal family long ago.
That book contains the procedures on how to
control monsters." Rudy took a deep breath
and looked at Ravin.
"They . . . they're planning on conquering
the country using those powers. They are a
very powerful organization.
That Sorcerer is only a part of the
organization. The leader is someone else."
"What happened to Marl?" Ravin mumbled in the
middle of her explanation.
Noting the shake in Ravin's voice, Rudy
sadly, but firmly shook her head. That was
Rudy's kindness toward Ravin.
There are truths that people must overcome at
times. (I need to overcome this, too.)
Rudy thought to herself.
"He . . . he died protecting me . . ." Ravin
realized. His best friend appeared in his mind
as he closed his eyes.
Ravin shook his shoulders.
"You're . . . you're not a part of them?"
The black haired girl laughed weakly to
Ravin's question.
" . . . Yes, I was. But not anymore. I
wanted to build peace using that book.
"But I was being tricked and taken advantage
of . . ." She didn't change her expression,
but her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I have to go. If they can control the
monsters, this country . . . no, this world
will be destroyed!!"
Rudy spoke as if she was telling herself.
"I can still make it in time. As long as
Doruk hasn't handed over the book to
the organization yet."
"Wait a sec." Ravin grasped Rudy's wrist.
Her wrist was so thin that Ravin's hand
wrapped fully around it.
"You don't plan on going alone, do you?"
Volume 8: The Sorcerer[]
The Sorcerer was inside the cavern where Ravin
was able to reach under Rudy's directions.
The man whom Rudy called Doruk looked at
Ravin through sunken eyes. He had the book
that he just acquired in his hands.
"If you want to die so much, I'll be glad to
help you . . ."
Ravin gripped his sword stronger, looking at
the murderer of his best friend.
The sound of a blade slicing through the air
and the sound of a spell filled the cavern.
It seemed as though it was going to be a
drawn-out battle. But there was too much of a
difference in power.
The Sorcerer took Ravin's back right away.
(No!!) Ravin thought, and then he heard a
dull sound.
Dark red fluid, so dark that it looked black,
dripped to the ground. And the drops continued.
"Rudy . . ." Ravin whispered.
"You . . . You betrayed us . . .!" His hair
and beard stood in anger and veins popped up
on his fist.
Doruk stared at the knife in his back
angrily.
"I didn't betray . . . I was always
wishing for peace. My actions were true to my
belief!"
Rudy said, as if she were convincing
herself. Ravin swung his sword without
hesitation. And the battle was over.
"Argh . . . aag . . ." Doruk gasped weakly as
he kneeled in front of Ravin.
"If you're going to continue your defiance
. . . I'll have . . . to act accordingly
. . ."
Doruk gave an unpleasant smile, even though
his face contorted in pain. "Your . . . your
partner . . . your friend . . ."
Doruk said, spreading blood all around.
Ravin's heart raced in his chest. An image of
his blonde friend appeared in his mind.
Volume 9: Finding Hope in a Storm[]
Ravin ran up to the Sorcerer.
(Maybe . . .?) Hope and desperation
intersected in his heart.
"I'll . . . I'll kill him . . . kill him
. . ." Blood welled up from Doruk's
mouth before he finished his sentence.
That was the end of the Sorcerer.
(He said that he was going to kill Marl . . .
then . . . is he alive?)
Ravin looked up to the ceiling as he wiped
the blood from his sword. "Marl . . ." Ravin
whispered as he started walking.
" . . . You're going, aren't you?" Rudy asked
Ravin who had his back to her. Ravin stopped
walking.
It wasn't a guarantee that Marl was still
alive. It could be something made up by
the Sorcerer.
Even if he were alive, it didn't necessarily
mean that he could be saved. But . . .
Ravin made a decision. "I'm going to go look for Marl.
As long as he is alive, I'll go to
the end of the world to find him."
As long as he has the Book, the organization
would come to Ravin. Then perhaps he could
find out if Marl was alive or not.
He wasn't afraid of having a large
organization as his enemy.
But why was it that the hand that clutched
the book was shaking?
Rudy no longer repeated phrases and stood
behind Ravin.
A pleasant wind blew against the two of
them, as if to push them forward. "It's
better to face the storm . . ."
Marl's voice rang in Ravin's mind.
"The treasures are always hidden in difficult
places." Ravin laughed.
(You're right, Marl. Hope is always hidden
in the storm, right?)
"Where will we be going?" Rudy asked.
Ravin pointed into the wind.
"Where the wind blows to."
Where they were heading was undoubtedly
towards a storm.
But they can't give up. Ravin started walking
with footsteps of confidence. He was only
looking at the hope that lay beyond the storm.
Quick Ravin "The End"
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