A Final Fantasy

Chapter 1: The Unlikely Duo

The sky city of Loftcidia was a marvel of architecture and innovation. Its buildings constructed from a mix of stone, wood, and metal, blending seamlessly with the natural beauty of the sky. The city's layout was a maze of cobbled streets and winding alleys, lined with lantern-lit residences and bustling marketplaces. As the sun set, the city came alive with light, casting a warm glow over the clouds and creating a sense of enchantment. Loftcidia was not just a city; it was a testament to the ingenuity and creativity of its diverse inhabitants, a place where dreams took flight and adventures awaited around every corner.

Reno wandered through one of the many bazaars, peering at all the items and trinkets for sale. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he examined the intricate craftsmanship of each piece sitting upon the vendors' booth. From the shiniest gemstones of dwarven caverns to rare herbs harvested in the outer reaches of the land to sweet delicacies to shiny swords and shields, Reno admired them all. He was a curious soul, always eager to explore the nooks and crannies of the bazaar, not to mention Loftcidia itself. The bazaar was home to the finest merchants in the city, always attracting large amounts of bustling customers every day. There must have been hundreds of characters wandering the bazaar always in search of the best deal!

Reno's tousled, dull red hair and brown eyes gave him a youthful appearance, but his keen intellect and sharp wit set him apart from other city dwellers. As he wandered deeper into the bazaar, his attention was drawn to a big wooden board pinned with small pieces of parchment. Each parchment had a picture of a creature on it, and some were crossed out in bright red ink. Many people were looking up at it and pointing to the parchments.

"The Marksman Board," Reno murmured. He approached it cautiously trying to get a greater look at the pictures of the monsters. There were many, but two caught his eye: one had a gnarly depiction of a wolf with a red tail and another a ragdoll mounted with an eyeless, fanged tomato. Both "bills," as the marksmen called them, did not have red crosses over them. Reno's eyes gazed upon the tomato fiend.

Reno turned to a merchant standing nearby. The merchant, a stout man with a weather-beaten face and a twinkle in his eye was studying one of the bills on the board with great interest in his hands. Reno could not help but overhear the man muttering to himself about the various monsters depicted on the parchments. Curiosity piqued and Reno sidled up beside the merchant and peered at the bill he was examining. It showed the fearsome wolf with a fiery tail, its eyes gleaming with malice. Reno then looked back at the previous bill depicting the tomato and realized that both lacked the telltale red crosses that marked defeated monsters.

From a young age, he had shown a keen interest in the creatures that lurked beyond the city, spending hours reading books and listening to tales of adventures that braved the unknown. His thirst for adventure could not be quenched by a life spent crafting trinkets and baubles, as interesting as they were. He also had an interest in being a marksman himself as it would allow him to raise his own reputation in the city.

"The Rogue Tomato," he read aloud. It looked ferocious yet surprisingly easy to defeat. Despite its ferocious appearance, its simple figure suggests a relatively easy target for a skilled marksman. The fiend could have been no taller than the average goblin. One swoop of a large sword was enough to clean its red head right off. Reno approached the board and ripped off the bill. There was more information on the parchment to be examined than just the depiction of the monster: a petitioner, reward, and location of the mark last seen. Reno read the description carefully.

"Loftcidia!" he exclaimed.

Now, standing with the bill for the Rogue Tomato clutched in his hand, Reno felt a surge of shock. The environment of the bazaar remained unchanged, as perhaps the merchants already knew of the fiend residing in the city. Reno turned the merchant beside him and showed him the bill.