Prologue

"Gather here, gather here, and listen to my tale! A story of a fair knight and how he was forced to set sail! So sail he did, to the edges of the world, facing many grave dangers, both new and old.", a bard put on his show as people gathered around. Similar scenes repeated all over the town, where the sound of music, cheers and sometimes clashing metal rang in the air. Merchants both big and small peddled their wares, trying to find bigger profit.

The festival was a bubble of joy, commerce and a variety of shows one does not often see.

In the center of the festivities lied a gigantic building, an imposing yet dignified palace, ten times as big as the second largest building in town.

It was in one of the halls of this palace, lined with beautiful marble ranging from the purest white to the darkest black, with details in deep blue and light red, that one could currently witness the main attraction of the festival: The Royal High Knight procession.

Each High Knight wore their personalized armors, showing their respective House Sigil, and in the center of this procession stood a single man, devoid of armor but shoulders straight and a face full of pride, as if the trumpets, harps and drums that were heard outside all came together simply to celebrate his victory.

Eventually the procession reached the Throne Hall, a room large enough to fit over 500 people for whatever ceremony the King wished to perform, and tall enough that it is said it once fit an audience for a dragon. In the end of this hall, sitting on a blinding, jewel encrusted throne made of elderstone, sat the king.

A man with a large build and ferocious eyes, his voice's bellow was enough to reach the far corners of his hall. Despite this he had a aura of composure about him, and if you could meet his gaze you might feel the calculating nature beneath them.

"Step forward, Nokin Dragonsbane!", the king shout, shaking every audience member with his authority.

The proud man exited the procession, and calmly made his way to the front of the throne. Eyes glued on him, he could feel the slightest sting of nervousness in his finest moment. Eventually he made it before the king, feeling the full brunt of his imposing presence. He kneeled in a fluid, practiced movement.

"I, Nokin Dragonsbane, pledge my life to your service, my liege.", the man's voice quivered slightly with anticipation, but managed to maintain his composure.

"I want not your life, but your sword. As one of my High Knights I expect you to serve your country with grace fit of nobility and strength of a beast.", the king replied swiftly, each word transmitting a sense of a deep and meaningful ritual.

The king drew his sword and slowly cut the cheek of the man kneeling before him. Lifting his sword for all to see the small amount of blood in his blade, he then cut the palm of his hand.

"Your blood one with my own, as now is your blade's might, rise no longer a mere man, but a High Knight!", the king spoke these words in a soft, obviously rehearsed lines, but his voice resounded trough the silent hall, filling it with the weight of its meaning.

Cheers rained down in the hall when he finished, as the newly knighted Nokin smiled widely, ignoring the blood trickling down his face. The king addressed him one last time.

"Rise now, Nokin, first of Noble House Dragonsbane, it is your time to stand. Wake up.", the king urged Nokin in a dignified manner.

Nokin got up with a prideful posture. But his face dropped at the king's last words.

"Sir? What did y-"

Darkness enveloped him.

He was alone.

 

Chapter 1

Green.

Nokin removed the leaves that were covering his face, turning his eyes up to the grinning face above him.

"Took you long enough, you sleep like a log, you know?", said the young boy in front of him

"Shut up, I don't want to hear that from an idiot who can't sleep without his favorite blanket.", replied Nokin with a relaxed yawn.

"Whatever. The old lady is looking for you Nook, she seemed angry." The young boy shifted his eyes, seemingly embarrassed.

"She's always angry. Thanks Green, I'll be right there.", he thanked the young boy as he stood up.

Green was one of the older children under the old lady's care, but he was still younger than Nokin by a few years. The boy flashed his grin with a few missing teeth one last time before darting back into the woods while shouting, "Next time teach me how to catch rabbits. You promised!"

"I wonder what Granny wants now, this was supposed to be a free day…", Nokin muttered to himself, upset his dream was interrupted.

Nokin made his way through the forest, treading a path as familiar to him as his own feet. He thought to himself one day he would leave this home and become a great man.

While in the middle of his delusions he arrived to his destination: a clear meadow, with a small creek, and in the middle of the meadow a large wooden cabin, filled with the sound of chores and laughter.

"Then again, I'm not in that much a hurry", he sighed while looking to the place he has called home for the last 15 years of his life. He spotted Green and 4 other children playing by the creek, throwing mud balls at each other, while an older girl stood by them yelling.

"I SAID, stop throwing mud at each other! I JUST cleaned your clothes, will you pl- AH!", the young girl was cut short when she was hit by a stray mud ball in her skirt. The 5 boys stopped playing, and looked in terror at what they knew was the end of them.

"L-look, A-Aster, it was an accident, we swear! We'll clean it all up, won't we?", one of the small boys looked desperately between Aster and his friends.

" This. Is. Unforgivable. You never learn, do you? You're all going to be cleaning the toilets for a month!", the young girl looked furious, but she stopped and smiled when she saw Nokin getting closer, "Oh, hey Nookie, did you catch anything?"

"No, not today, it was supposed to be a free day", Nokin responded while looking at the pitiful young boys in front of him. "You know, why don't you overlook it today? They were just having their fun on our free day after all"

The young boys' faces lit up when faced with their escape from hell.

"No", Aster's response was swift and curt, "Just because they were playing doesn't mean they shouldn't be careful of what they do. Off with all of you now"

The young boys made their way into the house to clean off, their salvation stolen from them, and Aster turned back to Nokin with a swirl and a smile, "Hihi, I remember when you were like that"

Aster was a few seasons younger than Nokin, and one of the few childhood friends he had that were close to his age. Wild brown hair flying everywhere and a kind smile where almost a constant when it came to her, and she took it on herself to take care of others, even when not asked.

"Yes, and you used to scold me just as bad", Nokin replied with a small laugh, "Which reminds me, where is Granny? Green said she wanted a word with me."

"Oh right. She's in the kitchen, she has a surprise~", she said with a wink while shooing him off in the direction of the cabin.

Nokin made his way into the warm, worn out floors of his home.

2: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The smell of herbs and steamed vegetables fill the air. Nokin steps into the worn out kitchen as children run out holding large breads and assorted fruits under their arms.

A woman in her late forties is stirring a pot in front of a large fireplace. Her face is wrinkled and she seems older than her real age, but she still seems very kind, in a stern way.

"Hey Granny, Green said you wanted to see me?", Nokin tentatively calls out the woman.

Her face turns to a scowl when she sees him, "Nokin! I was expecting you hours ago, were you sleeping in the woods again? You're going to catch a cold. No matter, there is something for you in the corner over there. Dagger has his already, so I'd hurry up if I were you", she said as her faced softened and showed a small, tired smile. She pointed to a small pile of cloths in the corner.

"A…gift? What's the occasion?", Nokin said, slightly suspicious, as Granny was not usually one to spend money on anything she considered unnecessary.

He didn't receive an answer, so he grabbed the pile of cloths and unraveled it, revealing its contents: A polished wooden sword! It seemed old and worn out, but it was maintained perfectly, rather than old it felt smooth and comfortable. The balance was not perfect, but better than the stick Nokin found in the forest. He swung it a bit with an open mouth before the old lady told him off.

"Don't go swinging that inside my kitchen, go outside! And close your mouth, you look like an idiot", she said sharply.

The old lady had been reprimanding her children like this for as long as she remembers. She says she inherited this house and lived in it her entire life. Then one day she found a child with a note outside her door. She took care of the child, and soon more children were left to her or found by her abandoned in the forest. She took them all in, often naming them herself, despite her horrible sense. Nokin was the first to receive this treatment, with a rather dark name, [No] and [Kin], fitting a child with no family, but not exactly nice.

The other children were the same, usually being named to something she found in their crib or something they grew attached to. She was a kind woman at heart, and did her best to raise all her small children, despite never bearing any of her own.

"What are you staring at? Dagger is waiting for you outside, he said he was going to set up a practice area for the two of you, despite knowing how lazy you are", the old lady mocked as she sent him out to the back of the house.

Nokin grabbed a slice of buttered bread on his way out, and was happily eating it as he grasped his new sword.

Outside, in the back of the house facing a hill, Nokin could faintly hear the sound of wood bashing on wood in the distance. Setting his target, he walked in the direction of the noise.

Approaching the base of the hill, slightly into the forest, a young man of Nokin's age is swinging away at a small statue made out of logs and sticks, with a badly drawn face carved into it.

"That…is really ugly Dagger, you should give up being an artist", Nokin teased as he approached the training youth.

Dagger was slightly taller than Nokin, with a wider frame and confident posture. He straightened his back and broke into a smile as Nokin walked closer, while wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Well, at least I do something productive with my time, Snoozekin", he laughed loudly while pushing Nokin away.

Nokin took a step back, as he was of a, comparatively, light frame and could never quite match his friend in strength. Even if he had never lost a race to him before.

"So, why did Granny give these to us?", Nokin inquired, presuming his friend received the explanation he didn't.

"Are you serious? She doesn't need to tell us, the Recruitment Festival is this year, and we're old enough to participate now! We're obviously going to train", Dagger said, puffing his chest out and looking into the sky triumphantly.

"Oh yeah! I forgot it's this year. And whoever wins the tournaments gets to join the Peace Watch without paying the conscription fee!", Nokin nodded to himself, remembering the many times he and Dagger watched the tournament, and were envious of the young men who joined the Watch with pride in their face, "So we're both going to enter, uh…?"

"Don't mind the details, first we'll train together in order to make sure one of us wins, and then we just decide in the tournament which one is better", Dagger dismissed Nokin's worries with a wave, clearly not worried about the future, "You worry way too much, let's just have fun with it. One of us has to stay behind and take care of the old bat anyways"

That said he drew a small dagger from his waist, and threw it with a confident flick of his wrist, sticking it in the statue he created, "First one to get it practices his swings first!"

Dagger was the second child to be taken into the woman's care. Unlike Nokin, he was loud and always full of energy. He would drag Nokin away with him on his "adventures" while Nokin complained how he was tired. Eventually Nokin himself became infected with his energy and started acting more lively. They were each other's first friends, and did everything together, dreaming of the day they would become knights and fight fearsome monsters.

The two young boys spent the rest of the day training with their new swords, while an inconspicuous young girl watched them from afar.

3: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Nokin reached his room tired and bruised. He groaned as he took off his shirt, slowly washing himself with a wet cloth until most of the dirt was washed away before putting on fresher clothes.

"Stupid Dagger, he has no idea what holding back means", Nokin mumbled.

"Well, working hard is fine, isn't it?", chimed in Aster, leaning on the door frame. "Plus, if you don't do this much there is no way you'll ever win"

"It's fine if I don't win", says Nokin, falling on top of his bed. "Dagger would make a better watchmen, and someone needs to stay behind to take care of things here."

"Don't be like that!", Aster bursts. "You always give up before really trying! There is no point if you're not going to be serious about it. Are you going to waste all that training and Dagger's help?"

Aster stood there with her arms crossed in front of her chest, pouting and stomping her foot. Nokin wasn't sure on how to react, as this behavior was unusual for Aster.

"Aster, I don't really know what to say, why does it matter so much?", Nikon finally managed to blurt out.

"Urgh, you're an idiot! Do whatever you want", she said, storming out of the room.

At her feet she had left a bowl of hot soup and some fresh bread. Nokin took it, wondering how she knew exactly when he would be getting home. He fell asleep soon after finishing his meal, deciding maybe he'd work a little harder tomorrow.

Two months passed and the leaves were starting to fall from the trees. Nokin and Dagger climbed onto an old cart, pulled by an old mule.

"We'll be heading over shortly, so make sure you sell off everything you have before we get there, seeing as you both are the excellent merchants you are", the old lady quipped, "And…I know you're excited over the tournament, but at least try stay out of trouble."

She quickly turned back and headed back into the house. Aster, on the other hand, walked in the direction of the cart with a small basket under her arm.

She neatly climbed up and placed herself next to the boys.

"Uh, Aster, what are you doing?", Dagger asked while holding the reins.

"I'm tagging along. Granny said I could try selling my flowers this year, and I don't trust either of you to do it properly", Aster cheerfully told them, showing off the contents of her basket.

Several colorful flowers filled Nokin's eyes, but a small bundle of purple, slight wild yet dignified flowers especially piqued his interest.

"Those are…asters, aren't they? Figures you'd bring some along. They look really nice, they fit you", he remarked as he settled in his seat.

"Oh…thanks", she answered, looking down into her basket and fixing her hair.

"Yeah, they look great, not sure if you'll sell them though!", Dagger says laughing, despite Aster's glare. "Let's go, we shouldn't waste daylight. Come on Cranky, off you go!"

The mule reluctantly began trudging forward, following an old mountain trail that would lead to its other side.

And like that, chatting along the way, they arrived to the small village hub where the festival was held. Small carts like theirs could be seen everywhere, as people where coming from all around to attend the festivities and sell their wares. There was even a bard, playing a cheerful tune to a group of children and their parents.

"Alright boys, let's set up shop!", Aster exclaimed energetically.

It was her first time coming so early, but Nokin and Dagger have been doing it for years, and they quickly set up a stall to display their products: Fresh vegetables, fruit and meat from the cabin's fields and the forest around it, and also some clothing made by the old lady from sturdy leather and warm furs.

A burly man with a thick mustache called to them with a raspy voice.

"Hey there young'uns! Oh, I see lady Aster is with us today, what a nice surprise", he says while leaning onto the counter

"Hello Alfred, how is your business?", Nokin asks.

"Same as usual, that fool Wheatlug broke a wheel again just last week, so I've been fixing it for him. I swear the man never learns", he rambled in his usual deep, booming rough voice.

Alfred was the village blacksmith, and often depended on the boys to provide him with strong, durable clothing that would protect him in his work. It was widely known that the old lady's clothes were the most durable around.

"So what'll it be Alf? Need a new pair of gloves?", Dagger asked the man, interrupting the man's complaints of the incompetence of several villagers in taking care of their equipment.

"No, not this time, the last ones are holding out fine. Although I am needing a new apron, my apprentice let his fall into the embers and now it's not exactly work safe, to say the least. I also wouldn't mind one of those appetizing apples", the man informed Dagger, that was behind the counter at the moment.

"Sure thing, the old bat figured you might need something like that, I'll go get it for you. That'll be 3 small iron coins for the apron, and the apple is on me.", Dagger said as he retrieved the apron from a wooden box still in the cart and adding a small wink.

"Ha! I knew you were a nice guy under all that boasting and the tough act", Alfred bellowed with laughter, happily picking an apple and taking a big bite out of it "Well, I have work to do, if I'm lucky my workshop won't be burned to the ground when I get back. Bye kids, have fun!"

The boisterous man stormed off, clearing a path wherever he passed.

The 3 spent most of their day selling the goods and securing rooms in the inns for everyone that was coming to the festival later. After closing the stall for the day, Aster went to their room saying she'd make a soup for them to eat later, while the boys went to check themselves into the tournament.

They arrived in a small cleared area of the festival, a plaza devoid of any stalls, with a circle roped off in the center. The ring. They approached a man sitting in a wooden table near the ring. He had a stern face and seemed displeased with the two as they approached.

"Let me guess, you two dream of becoming knights and want to prove your worth in this tournament?", the sour man scoffed.

"Well…yes? We wanted to enter the tournament. Is there a problem?", Nokin asked the man, trying to be polite despite the man's rude remarks

"Problem? You could say that, sure. Let's just say you might as well turn back now, there is no point in you participating.", the man informed them with a sour look on his face

"Now listen here! We are going to enter this tournament and win!", Dagger was unable to contain himself and let out an angry remark, "Why would you think otherwise to begin with?"

"It's rigged", the man said curtly.

"We won't hear anymore insul- I'm sorry, did you say rigged?", Dagger interrupted his rant with a baffled expression

"Yes, rigged. It seems whenever some people enter the tournament, they always come back a couple of days later, either withdrawing or having been deemed…unfit to participate", the man sighs and massages his temples. "Listen, just avoid the headache and give up now, no good will come of it"

Dagger was silent for a second, but then he takes out his trusty dagger from his hip and slams it on the table.

"We don't care. We can handle a little bit of trouble. Sign us up!", He exclaimed, making the tired man jolt up in his chair.

"Hmph, very well. But don't come crying back to me and say I didn't warn you", he says handing over the papers for them to sign."Do you know how to write?"

"Yes, we were taught how to read and write, do not worry", sighed Nokin while trying to calm Dagger down. They each signed their own names on the paper, which they saw had a large number of names crossed out.

It seemed most people would just say their names aloud and let the man write it for them, based on the similar looking handwriting spread through the paper.

Reading and writing wasn't particularly common in the mountain area, but Granny was a strict teacher, and she wouldn't allow any of her children to fall under her definition of an "idiot", even if most of them felt that they probably would never need to read or write anything.

With this, they officially became competitors, and so they decided to train a bit before supper.

The next day Nokin and Dagger were practicing in the edge of town while Aster minded the stall, when they were approached by a group of 3 youths, about their age.

The one in the middle was clearly in charge, carrying himself with a pompous attitude that seemed an exclusive trait of natural born bullies.

"Nice wooden swords, did you carve them yourselves?", he nasally delivers a snide remark , tipping his nose so high you'd think he wishes to pierce the clouds with it.

"Who are you?", Dagger ignores the taunt, seemingly more annoyed by the interruption than anything else.

"Oh, no one really, just some friendly competition in the upcoming tournament. I heard you were participating as well? You may call me Guy", he says, while performing a small bow and a very non-friendly smile.

Everything about him triggered warnings in Nokin's mind, but he decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"I see. Then is there anything we could do for you?", he offers in his friendliest tone.

"Oh yes, indeed there is. Drop out.", he says, dropping his smile and replacing it with a fierce glare.

"You're funny. I like your jokes, here's another one for you: No.", Dagger return his glare, taking a step forward.

Nokin quickly puts a hand in front of Dagger, stopping him from approaching the arrogant youths any further.

"As tempting as your offer is, we'll have to refuse. Good luck in the ring. Let's go Dagger", Nokin says, making no effort to disguise his antagonism.

"Are you sure? My father, you see, is quite…influential. It would be better for all of us if you caved in now rather than later", Guy says, with a tone that leaves no room for other options, a firm belief things will never go against his predictions.

Nokin ignores him and walks back into the village, Dagger following behind him, dismissing the words of the spoiled brat he deemed Guy to be.

A few days later Granny and the rest of the children arrived in a large set of carriages, having taken a ride with the merchants from a few villages over that always make a stop by Granny's house on their way to the festival. They always seemed to have great respect for her, but for what reason Nokin did not know.

With Granny's arrival there were also more materials and stock to sell, so the stall was enlarged. Granny's wares were highly sought out, especially since the festival marked the coming of colder times, and many people depended on Granny for their warmer clothes.

The only reason the oldest were sent ahead was to secure a good place for the stall and make sure everything is set up properly.

Free of stall duty, the two boys were now able to spend their days preparing for the upcoming tournament, which was held in the last two days of the festival.

One day, however, the boys met with a strange encounter. A group of men with covered faces surrounded them during one of their sparring matches. These men wielded wooden swords as well and attacked them. Despite their best efforts, Nokin and Dagger could barely defend themselves, they simply could not handle the numerical advantage, and were in a difficult situation as the attackers mocked and hit them whenever they showed an opening.

Luckily, the blacksmith Alfred happened to be passing by, and his booming voice made the men run into the thick woods, apparently unwilling to cause a scene, lest they be caught and identified. He would later tell them to be more careful, as there had recently been a few problems with unknown bandits.

Several more strange incidents happened during the next few days, as the stall would be smashed to pieces in the morning, and had to be rebuilt, occasionally with the help of passersby who happened to know Granny, or men who tried to threaten Granny, only to have their arms broken, to great surprise of Nokin. For a day some rumors floated around of how Granny's wares were of poor quality and she herself was secretly working the orphans as slaves, but fortunately her good reputation was very firmly rooted in this village over the years.

It was obvious these were not separate events, and Nokin became increasingly agitated and vigilant of his surroundings. Dagger, on the other hand, was ready to hunt down the brat Guy and beat him and his friends to death, but Nokin stopped him, stating it would be best to humiliate him in public during the tournament, if it even was really his fault.

Finally, a large amount of soldiers arrived at the village, displaying their horses and shining equipment. The last days of the festival were about to begin.

4: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Wake up, you damn lazy idiot! I swear, every morning it's the same thing with you."

A tall and muscular youth, clearly irritated and impatient, shook a pile of blankets and assorted cloths on top of a simple wooden frame bed. A shaggy mess of black hair peeked out of the top, soon followed by a pair of drowsy, half closed eyes. Finally, an entire head emerged out of the bedding.

"Just…calm down, ok? I'm up, I'm up.", Nokin lazily yawned, while snuggling deeper into the bed.

"We have to go to the ring, we are going to be late if you don't get up right now", Dagger said, grabbing one of Nokin's feet and dragging him onto the floor.

Nokin's eyes flew open as his body hit the floor. He jumped onto his feet and immediately started running around the room.

"Damn it Dagger, we're going to be late! Why didn't you wake me earlier?", Nokin accused while cleaning his face from the water jug in the corner of the room and searching for clean clothes.

Dagger, on the other hand, held his urges to punch Nokin in the face long enough to go eat breakfast downstairs.

All preparations complete shortly afterwards, the two youths made their way to the ring. The streets, if lively in the earlier days of the festival, were now bursting with activity. Merchants sold inland wares they bought off the soldiers who had arrived earlier, and new bards and performers joined the festivities, arriving in the safety of the soldiers' travels.

The ring, especially, was incredibly crowded, as people gathered to see what village in the neighboring area had the most talented youth this time. Nokin and Dagger forced their way past the crowd into the participant area. Apart from themselves, there were only 5 more competitors.

The 3 bullies, who seemed displeased at the amount of competitors they had, keeping themselves separate from the others and occasionally glancing over with a whisper or a scoff, and 2 other young men who, much like Nokin and Dagger, seemed to be friends and looked tough, especially considering they would have gone through the same harassment they did.

The start of the tournament approaching, the announcer entered the ring and quieted down the crowd while stepping on top of a small box. The sour, sullen man from a few days ago seemed to have taken a new persona, seemingly cheerful and energetic while addressing the mass of people.

"People, people! My dear ladies and gentlemen, it is my extreme pleasure to announce the start of the Recruitment tournament! If it is your first time with us, let me make the rules abundantly clear to all", the man says, raising a single finger in the air in a dramatic motion. "Number one! Each fight is conducted on a one-to-one basis. No teams or external help allowed. That means I don't want to see any fruit or vegetables in the air."

The man points his finger in an accusatory manner all around the crowd, before raising a second finger. "Two! Each fighter will use a single wooden sword, provided by us. No additional or personal weapons are allowed. Use of your fists, and body in general, however, is allowed"

The man raises one last finger before ending his explanation. "And last but not least, three! These are not life or death battles. I don't want to see any attacks directed to the eyes or to a man's pride. The fights end when an opponent is either knocked out, gives up or suffers some sort of serious injury which requires immediate attention. If the injury is deemed to not be an accident, the offender will be disqualified. With that out of the way, let the fights begin!"

The man finishes his speech with a flourish and steps down from the box, which is quietly retrieved by another man. Staff also check each contestant for weapons they had on them, keeping them in storage and giving each of them the wooden sword they would be using in the fights.

The announcer then calls to the ring two contestants. One of the bully henchmen and Dagger are called first.

"Hmph, you must have a death wish coming to this tournament. Either that or you're just stupid and don't know who you're messing with.", the bully says, whose name was Fresh. He speaks with a slight slur, and it is difficult to think of him as anything other than a criminal. His teeth are yellow, eyes bloodshot and he carried a pungent smell as if he not only did not know what a bath was, but actually mistook it as rubbing his body in a mix of dirt and cheap alcohol. Clearly his name was either poorly given or very ironic.

Dagger grinded his teeth, ignoring the taunts until the fight began and he could smash the teeth out of the pretentious oaf's face.

Finally the bell rang. The bully charged forward, swinging his wooden sword downward with great speed and force. Normally one would be caught off guard by the sudden attack, but Dagger had been waiting to destroy him for days on end and was more than ready. He casually caught the swing with a lateral motion of his sword, swatting the opponent's sword to the ground. The bully looked up to Dagger with a surprised expression, before being head-butted squarely in the nose.
He fell to the ground, favoring holding his face with both hands rather than to hold onto his sword. Dagger put a foot to his throat and pointed his sword at the now pitiful bully's face.

"I guess I might be stupid then, sorry for not knowing or recognizing worthless trash like you", Dagger said loud enough that everyone in the audience could hear, then leaning in closer to the bully and whispering to him "If you ever threaten me again, you won't leave with just a broken nose."

Dagger then punched the bully one last time, stopping his squirming and securing an easy victory. The crowd cheered intensely with the show Dagger managed to put together. He exited the ring with a fist held high, clearly enjoying the attention raining down on him.

Guy had a bitter expression, but somehow he still transmitted a sense of absolute confidence.

Staff carried Fresh's body away, preparing the ring for the next match. It seemed there was a small delay between matches to set up wagers that the crowd was allowed to make before each fight.

The next people to be called were one of the two unknown friends and the other bully. The fight was not nearly as showy as Dagger's, but it had its interesting moments. The bully, named Stretch, was lanky and had awkward movements, but it seemed like they had a strange effect, disrupting the rhythm of his opponent, probably a difference in actual fighting experience. He kept taunting during the entire fight, sometimes only loud enough for his opponent to hear.

The other boy, apparently named Christoff, dominated the early portion of the fight, but gradually his movements started to lose their weight and sharpness, much slower than the strikes he started with. His face was pale midway through the fight, and fell down after what looked like a shallow strike.

Stretch made his way back to Guy's side, both of them showing an incredibly disgusting grin that sent shivers down Nokin's spine. It was his turn to fight, his opponent being the last young man, named Roscoe.

With an uneven amount of fighter, it seemed Guy was "randomly" chosen to skip out the initial round of fights, which annoyed Nokin, but he chose to focus on the task at hand.

Both fighters took their stances. Roscoe was of a similar build to Dagger's, but not as tall, and Nokin didn't feel nearly as much pressure from him. Nokin decided to take the initiative, rushing forward while swinging diagonally from his bottom right to the upper left.

However, just as Roscoe was preparing to counter with a quick downward swing aimed at Nokin's arm, he suddenly stopped his own swing, somehow managing to switch the sword to his left hand and changing the trajectory of his run, lowering his body and cutting into Rosco's right side, effectively diving beneath his swing.

Now to the right and slightly behind a completely unprotected, mid-swing Roscoe, Nokin smashed his knee into Roscoe's kidneys while going back up, and using his momentum, Nokin twisted slightly, swinging down with his left hand directly on the right hand of Roscoe, forcing him to drop his weapon.

Roscoe responded quickly, attempting to grapple Nokin into the ground, but he was already 3 steps back.

"Come on, you can pick it back up. For some odd reason there aren't that many competitors in this tournament, we should try to give these people a good show!", Nokin sardonically said, glaring at Guy in the contestant's sidelines.

The snobby youth shot back an icy glare. Nokin became increasingly sure nothing would satisfy him more than to knock the composure off his face.

Roscoe carefully retrieved his sword, with a confused look on his face. Both fighters retook their initial positions as the crowd cheered the sportsmanship that Nokin showed, not to mention the sleight of hand and speed he demonstrated.

This time Nokin had to take the defensive. Not wanting to repeat his mistakes, Roscoe seemed determined to not let Nokin take advantage of his speed. He avoided making any wide or even slightly slow swings, focusing on not letting Nokin run to either side, and forcing him on a frontal brawl with a relentless assault.

Nokin could do nothing but block his attacks, waiting for an opportunity to present itself. He parried blows from left and right, from above and below, until finally an opening was found. Roscoe had done nothing but swing his sword for about 45 seconds without rest, and although he succeeded in denying Nokin the chance to attack, he was starting to get tired. Noticing his blows were losing their sharpness, he prepared himself to end the match with his next blow.

Roscoe made his last mistake, a large overhead attack he hoped would go past Nokin's defense, but Nokin simple stepped to the side while blocking the attack, and then swiftly twisted with his elbow stretched out, hitting Roscoe directly in the jaw, immediately having his opponent pass out.

Applause flooded Nokin for his display of skill while men came to pick up Roscoe and take him to the official infirmary.

However, before he was able to enjoy his victory, the announcer was already announcing the next match. The fight would be between Guy and Nokin.

"Excuse me? Why do I have to fight twice in a row? Just have the other fight first!", Nokin complained, addressing a still energetic, but subtly more nervous announcer.

"Nothing can be done about it, I don't have the authority to change the schedule", the announcer excused himself while going back out of the ring.

Guy slowly made his way into the center of the ring, taunting Nokin audibly as he did so.

"What? You should be happy, you'll have an excuse when you lose to me now. You can just say you were tired. How lucky", he mocked, in his annoyingly characteristic nasally fashion. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you, I'd hate to get your blood in my clothes anyway"

Nokin showed no expression in his face. He had made his decision: He would absolutely devastate this poor excuse of a human being to a bloody pulp. There was just simply something about him that disgusted Nokin to the very core.

Nokin was able to regain his breath in the short while the crowd took to make their bets, despite them being rushed by the book keepers this time around.

They both took their stances, but as soon as the fight began Guy kicked up a cloud of dirt into Nokin's face. He was barely able to see, much less avoid, the stab Guy aimed at his throat. Guy had positioned himself him a sideways stance, one arm stretched out towards Nokin and his other hand behind his back. It seemed uncomfortable at first, but Nokin quickly realized it left him with much less effective areas to target, and made his opponent's reach be about equal to his own, despite Nokin being a bit taller.

After having his first attack dodged, Guy simply let out a pretentious laugh. "Not bad for a mountain yokel. I, however, have had proper instruction and training. Give up now, mongrel."

Nokin charged, swinging his sword laterally at Guy's head. The attack is easily blocked, however, Nokin's true intention was a kick aimed at his opponents legs. The sweep failed to knock Guy to the ground, but it destabilized his balance and tore apart his stance. Despite his so called "proper instruction", he was not accustomed to fights which involve improvisation and disturbing the opponents rhythm, at least not to the extend his cronies seemed capable. Nokin takes the opportunity to hit Guy in the side, smashing his sword into the opponent's ribs.

Guy winced, but retaliated with an attack aimed at Nokin's head, which he easily blocked. Guy then pulled his other arm over Nokin's head, pulling their heads close to each other.

"Look to the alley just to your left behind me, don't say anything, don't do anything that I don't tell you to do", Guy whispered menacingly.

Nokin glanced in the direction and saw a crying young woman with her mouth covered and a knife to her throat by a hooded man. Her wild brown hair further obscured the face of her capturer. Aster!

"…what do you want?", he quickly whispered back, both wrestling each other trying to gain the upper hand of the close encounter.

"Put on a show. Don't just give up, pretend to try reeeeal hard and let me beat you bloody", the conniving brat said, before breaking free of the stalemate he induced.

Nokin was in a state of shock, not sure of what to do. No one could see his friend, as they were all paying attention to the match, and the hooded man knew how to pick an inconspicuous place. He considered yelling out to Dagger, but he was sure they wouldn't hesitate to slit her throat out of pure spite.

He had no choice but to lower his guard, simply pretending to try and block Guy's strikes. Time and time again Nokin felt the heavy blows hit his face, arms, legs, ribs and even his back, both from Guy's sword and his fists, who attacked relentlessly, always with a smug, sadistic smile on his face. Blood trickled down Nokin's face, interfering with his vision, and his legs began to give out under him, until finally he fell on his knees, Guy standing triumphantly above him.

"Don't worry, I'll end it for you soon, you should have given up when I gave you the chance", Guy boastfully said, so that the whole audience could hear.

While Guy made his small speech and tried to rile up the crowd, Nokin saw from the corner of his eye a smooth, almost gliding figure sneaking up behind the hooded criminal. Nokin was unable to see many details about him, given his condition, but the man suddenly grabbed the criminal from behind, twisting his arm in a way Nokin did not think was possible, then proceeding to slamming the criminal face first into the wall and then the ground. Aster released, she immediately cried out as loud as she could.

"Nooookie! Get up! Get UP you IDIOT! I'll n-never forgive you if you l-lose!", she barely managed to say cohesively, tears and a running nose taking the large majority of her face. She then proceeded to fall on her knees and start shaking uncontrollably.

Guy stopped his show and looked back at Nokin, who had managed to get on his feet and pick up his sword the moment he saw Aster was safe. Guy barely had enough time to lose his smile and show surprise before being knocked out.

5: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Nokin spent an entire minute beating Guy before the tournament staff was able to stop him. When Dagger understood what happened shortly after Aster shouted, he proceeded to also beat the bully called Stretch until he was no longer recognizable. It took two minutes for the staff to be able to stop Dagger, and only because they were taking Nokin to the infirmary.

They were both about to be disqualified from the tournament, but someone stepped in to their defense. It turned out the man that saved Aster was actually the Second-In-Command of the Watchmen regiment that came to the village, named Raizer. After arriving in town he had heard strange accounts about multiple crimes directed at those participating in the tournament, many having quit the tournament altogether. He was able to track the crimes to one of the well-known bandit leaders in the region who, after being arrested, admitted he was under the employment of a local small-time noble, which just so happened to be the father of Guy.

It seemed Guy was the third son of the noble, and was given the mission by his father to become a person of influence inside the Watch, in order to further his father's goals. The reason the tournament was so important to them was the prestige associated with joining the Watch trough personal merit rather than paying a fee. The noble thought his son would have an easier time gaining leverage if he entered with a reputation of strength, as small as it might be.

However, there was no physical evidence linking the noble to the bandit, and Raizer was unable to arrest the noble. As such he decided to scout out the tournament himself. There was nothing particularly strange going on, but he was suspicious of Christoff's fight, thinking it was odd that he got tired so quickly despite being seemingly very athletic.

After he woke up in the infirmary, a crying Christoff admitted that he saw his own grandmother being held hostage, much in the same way Aster would be in Nokin's fight with Guy, and was forced to throw the match.

The grandmother was found safe and sound in an alleyway and taken to her home. She identified her captor as wearing a dark brown hood, with dirty blond hair underneath, although she saw no other features.

Raizer kept a watchful eye, trying to find the culprit in the area around the ring, but he must have either gone somewhere else or blended with the crowd. However, after he saw Nokin start being completely beaten by one of the primary suspects, despite the skill he demonstrated earlier in the fight, Raizer was sure the hooded man must have taken another victim.

He searched the alleyways around the ring, especially those with good visibility to the ring itself but hidden from most passersby. Eventually he found a man fitting the description given to him, a man with a dark brown cloak, and holding a young girl. He wasted no time and immediately neutralized the threat. By the time he was done restraining the criminal the young girl had run down into the street and started yelling something to the boy fighting. Next thing he knew, the boy was up and making a mess of the noble brat's face.

"Gonna have a hard time goin' to a ball looking like that", the old soldier said to himself. "Still, that other kid has real guts, gettin' up after takin' a beating like that, and givin' a beatin' of his own. Hm…"

He then had his men take the hooded man, which did have dirty blond hair, further fitting the description, away with the rest of the criminals, and was lucky enough to find a written note on his clothes telling him to obey the child's, Guy's, orders as if they came from the boss himself, his father.

With that he managed to prove the corruption in the tournament, also arresting the noble, and was able to keep them from disqualifying Nokin and Dagger, who he vigorously defended were the true victims, despite the violent beatings they administered to the bullies.

In the end the tournament was put on a small hold for the two to rest and to treat Nokin's injuries before the match between the two remaining youths the very next day, marking the tournament's final.

Nokin rested for the rest of the day, Aster and granny tending to his wounds, while Dagger filled out a detailed report of what had happened to them in the days prior the tournament, giving the watchmen that escorted them to the inn every piece of information he could recall.

A day passed, and once again a crowd had formed around the makeshift ring.

Finally, Nokin and Dagger faced each other, as they had many times before in their sparring matches.

"Listen Nook, even if you still feel hurt from yesterday, I'm not going to hold back. Are you fine with that?", Dagger said while taking his characteristic low stance, which somehow made him seem bigger, as if his whole body was being hunched over you.

"Like I would accept you doing anything else. Come on, let's just do this. You worry way too much", Nook dismissed Dagger's worries with a wave and a wry smile, before assuming his own stance, knees slightly bended and ready to jump at any moment. However, he now also turned his body a bit sideways, a trick he seemed to pick up in his previous fight.

And like that the bell rang.

Knowing Nokin's tendencies, Dagger decided to take the initiative, with a massive sideways swing. It would usually be easy to counter, but Dagger had learned his lesson after being hit by Nokin countless times before being able to get a hit in. He used his entire weight to power his attack, using the momentum from his run, twisting his legs and torso and finally using the power from his arms to effectively swing his sword with his entire body. The resulting attack was large, but also extremely fast and powerful.

Nokin was able to block it, but it had such power his arm was blown away and he barely had enough time to jump out of the way of the swing. Before he was able to get his arm back where it should be and launch a counter-attack, Dagger had already finished his motion and was back in a defensive position. Nokin's swing was easily blocked, and a left punch was sent flying in the direction of Nokin's face.

Nokin ducked in time, the punch grazing the back of his head, causing a mild sting. However, this allowed Nokin to get in closer to Dagger, so he jumped forward, using his momentum to slam into Dagger's chest with his shoulder. Dagger was sent back two steps, and before he could get his bearings Nokin had disappeared from his view.

Nokin had sidestepped and dived low to perform a sweep at Dagger's legs without him noticing. However, Dagger was used to this particular trick and had develop a strong sense of balance, so rather than falling he gave a small jump, twisting in midair and landing back with a solid foothold. And before Nokin could get back up, Dagger swung down, hitting Nokin in his right leg. Nokin rolled away from Dagger and got back up, but he could tell he would probably not be able to do any explosive jumps anymore.

Sensing his weakness, Dagger jumped in for the kill. One strike, two strikes, three strikes. One after another Nokin was assaulted from all sides by Dagger's blows. However, unlike Roscoe's, each of Dagger's attacks would usually be enough to blow away Nokin's defense, that is if he weren't able to divert most of the force away instead of taking it head on, and Dagger also had an ungodly amount of stamina, ever since he was a child it seemed like his energy never ran out, which gave him yet another advantage when compared to Roscoe.

And so Nokin swatted attacks left and right, his arm becoming numb from sustaining the constant impact of Dagger's attacks, and unable to run away in any form due to his injured leg.

Eventually Nokin managed to launch an attack, aiming at what he knew was Dagger's weakness: His solar plexus. Not that Nokin particularly knew what a solar plexus actually was or that it was named that way, he had simply noticed that whenever he hit that spot in particular even Dagger would lose his breath and drop his guard for a moment. So when he got a window of opportunity he aimed a thrust at that spot, and managed to hit it cleanly. Dagger winced and staggered, so Nokin immediately followed with a strike aimed at his head. However, Dagger recovered quickly, and not having to waste time bringing his arm back from a thrust he also quickly aimed a strike at Nokin's head, which was unprotected due to his own full frontal attack.

The attacks hit at what seemed to be the same time. Nokin knew Dagger's blow would hurt more than his, so he had to strike even if only a fraction of a second earlier to knock Dagger out and take most of the force out of his blow, negating his manipulation of his entire body weight.

Nokin saw blood trickle down Dagger's face and, after what seemed an eternity afterwards, saw him very quickly fall away from him.

"I can't believe it. I won?", Nokin thought to himself.

His head then finally hit the ground as Dagger watched from above, with the clouds lazily drifting behind him.

Nokin's vision went dark.

"Just…a bit too slow, uh? That is one tough head", he thought before his consciousness completely faded away.

6: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Nokin woke up back in his room at the inn. Aster was sitting next to him, making a small crown out of some of her flowers.

"Hey…how long have you been there?", Nokin managed to say despite a splitting headache.

"Nookie! Oh, I'm glad you're awake, you've been out for a long while, I told you to take it easy! Your injuries weren't even properly healed, and you both go and make a mess of each other, and then obviously it's up to me to take care of both of you. Oh, you make me so mad, I can't believe you're so irresponsible, you-", Aster started ranting for a full five minutes. Nokin tuned out shortly after the first minute, simply letting Aster vent her frustrations.

Eventually she stopped pacing around the room and finding different ways of expressing how Nokin and Dagger were irresponsible, and meekly asked Nokin. "So…are you feeling alright?"

"Apart from my headache? Yeah, I'm fine", Nokin sighed, leaning further back into his pillow. "Where is everyone else?"

"Dagger is getting ready for his trip and saying goodbye to everyone. Granny also said she had some business to take care of, but she didn't say what it was", Aster answered, sitting back in her chair and looking out the window. "You've…been out for almost a day, you know? It's morning right now."

Nokin groaned. "Too bad, guess I missed the closing bonfire of the festival. Did you have fun?"

"I stayed here.", she said softly, almost a whisper.

"I'm…really sorry Aster, I know you look forward to it", Nokin said, embarrassed that he had kept his friend from a fun night, just to take care of him.

They stayed there for a while, in a slightly awkward silence, before the door opened abruptly and Green rushed in.

"You're awake! Good, come on, everyone's having breakfast", the young boy urged Nokin, pulling him downstairs, where all the children were waiting for him.

"Nook! That was a great fight!"

"Yeah, I can't believe the two of you are so strong."

"Do you remember when Nook ran past the first guy like whoosh and then he jumped up and hit his ribs like bam!"

The children circled around him, excitedly talking about his fights and how cool both him and Dagger looked. Despite the noise not really helping with his headache, he certainly felt a little happier eating his breakfast with all his little brothers and sisters, that were so full of energy.

Even the atmosphere between him and Aster seemed to lighten up.

By the time they finished eating the old lady had returned from whatever she went out to do.

"Good, I see all of you are ready. Chop chop, there is no time to waste", she immediately orders the children.

"Where are we going granny?", a small girl with short auburn hair asked.

"Dagger is getting ready to leave with the Watch to Rockport, so we have to give him a proper farewell, don't we?", Granny said, fixing the small girl's dress, who smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

They all made their way to the main exit of the village, which connected with the most well maintained road leading to the more "civilized" portions of the kingdom.

Nokin and everyone else lived in one of the southernmost areas of the kingdom, where the population was not very dense, and trade was not as active as in other places. They specialized in livestock, selling both pelts and meat, and also some fish specific to the southern coastline, in exchange for grains, cloth and other necessities from the inland.

The biggest town in the southern regions was one of the coastal towns, Rockport, named after the mountains that predominated near its landscape. They would mediate the trade between the mountain areas to their south, the inland areas to the east, and transported goods to and from the richer northern territories by sea, the only way to make trade, due to a giant ravine splitting the kingdom in three. This was also the town where the Peace Watch had its training facilities and headquarters of the region, Dagger's destination.

Dagger was already wearing a watchmen's uniform when everyone arrived to see him off. A simple outfit, mostly studded leather with some small areas protected by metal, namely the forearm and shoulders, complemented with a light chain-mail beneath their clothes. Some children cried and others simply hugged him one last time before saying their goodbyes. When Nokin's turn came, they exchanged brief words.

"You almost had me Nokin, it was a great fight. I'll leave them to you, ok?", Dagger said, showing a small, slightly sad smile.

"No, you won it cleanly, and of course I won't let anything bad happen", Nokin answered, returning the smile.

They exchanged a small hug before separating with an awkward cough. A slightly older soldier came to Dagger, telling him he had to go join the winners of the adjacent regions' festivals so they could all set off.

Dagger said goodbye to everyone, and turned back to join the other, but suddenly turned back again to face Nokin.

"I almost forgot. Here, catch!", Dagger said, throwing a small object in the air.

Nokin caught it reflexively, and saw it was Dagger's prized dagger he never went anywhere without.

"Dagger, I can't accept this, take it with you", Nokin said, extending the dagger back to him, sheathed in its plain leather scabbard Dagger made himself.

"I'm serious, I want you to protect everyone using that. Don't let me down Snoozekin", Dagger dismissed Nokin's complaints firmly, and made his way into the group of young men waiting for him, wearing identical sets of armor.

And just like that, the festival was over. Nokin and everyone else began making their way back home when suddenly a lean, but tough looking man with grizzled hair and beard approached Nokin and stopped him. His eyes were also gray and had an odd feeling to them, as if they could read a person's worth to their very soul. The look of someone experienced in the world, in ways both good and bad.

"Hey kid. Nokin, right? That Dagger kid said that was your name.", the old soldier said, gesturing Nokin to walk with him to a quieter place.

"Yeah, I'm Nokin. And you are...the soldier who saved Aster, aren't you?", Nokin said, not sure since he was not able to see him properly during the tournament, but agreeing to follow the man.

"That's me alright. Listen, this isn't usually how we do things, but I have to say this: You looked really good in that ring. Your form needs work and you're reckless, but you've got potential. If you ever manage to scrounge up the coin, I'd suggest you enter the Watch. And if you do, tell them Raizer wants to see you.", the old man said, patting Nokin in the back before heading back to his troops.

With that Nokin returned to Granny and the others, and they all made their way back home, which for the first time had one less person than when they left it.

The next couple of weeks were uneventful. Nokin would spend an hour or two practicing on the wooden statue Dagger had made for both of them, practicing not only with the sword as he had before, but experimenting with the use of the sword in his right hand and the dagger in his left at the same time, with moderate success.

Then he would head to the creek to wash the sweat away before heading into the forest to catch some fresh meat for the old lady's stews. Occasionally some of the younger children would follow him, wanting to learn how he made his rabbit traps or what kind of roots and berries were edible.

Eventually he would always end up just wandering through the woods, each time exploring further and further, to the point where, after years of doing so, he already had extensive knowledge of the entire area in as far as two days walk away from the cabin. He would sometimes leave for several days even, hunting larger animals whose tracks he would find. He had a shabby bow the blacksmith Alfred had once given him, saying his son lost interest in it, and that he would probably use it better.

Nokin was terrible with the bow. Maybe terrible was too harsh, but he definitely had no particular talent for it. The most he could do was lure his targets, usually small elks who strayed from the herd, with a mix of wild flowers he would find in the woods and some tree bark that usually fit their appetite. He also used some fragrant spices he takes from the old lady's pantry, whose smells turned out effective in luring the animals. Then, when they were distracted and staying still, he was able to shoot them from a moderate distance, and if they didn't die quickly, he had no choice but to pursue his target until it collapsed from exhaustion and blood loss.

Aster was significantly better with the bow, but she lacked both the will and the stamina to suffer through a day long trip in wild territory. She would sometimes entertain herself with shooting the bow, trying to hit pieces of fruit she set up far away, mostly so she could mock the two older boys in how she was better than them with at least one weapon.

It was in one such journey that Nokin was currently in, taking a small nap under a big tree's midday shadow, enjoying the cool breeze and trying to distract himself from the fact he had been in this particular trip for three days with little success at finding the animal whose tracks he had followed, found, tried to shoot and scared away when he missed his shot.

He had considered turning back and giving up, but the tracks led him to the eastern part of the forest he hadn't explored yet, and as such he decided to take the opportunity given to him and take it easy for a while. He had been following a small river down a valley since the day before, hoping to catch an unaware animal quenching its thirst, and also avoiding worrying about his own thirst in the foreseeable future.

He got up from his nap, picked up his trusty, crude rucksack sewn by the old lady and set back off in his way.

A few hours later, Nokin heard a peculiar noise coming from the north, and he decided to investigate. As he got closer, he noticed that the sound was actually of a human being. He made his way through the thick foliage, to find a convulsing man in front of some shrubbery, which Nokin identified as very poisonous.

Nokin rushed to the man's side, his mouth foaming at the edges, and his eyes wide open in an unnerving way. The man, who looked like he was either in his late 20s or early 30s, grasped Nokin's shirt desperately and tried to say something when their eyes met, but with no success. He put a hand inside his own shirt, and took out a small pendant, with a blood red center. It seemed awfully important to the man, as he made a gigantic effort to speak while shaking it in front of Nokin.

The pendant seemed to have a soft glow, although Nokin was unsure whether it came from the pendant or was simply reflecting the light. It was made of a smooth, light and very odd metal Nokin couldn't identify, with intricate patterns and designs etched onto it. The gem in the middle, despite its strong, vibrant color, was slightly translucent. Nokin felt compelled to look into it, as if it had a great depth, with secrets hidden deep within its heart.

Nokin grasped the pendant in his hand, trying to understand what the man meant while desperately trying to think of a way he could save his life. When his hand touched the pendant, however, he suddenly felt it beating in the palm of his hand, the vibration shaking him to his very soul, the metal warm to the touch.

Nokin wanted to let go, but he was unable to do so. He started feeling his blood heating, almost as if it was boiling beneath his skin, the air around his hand was wavering and distorting, and suddenly strong light started emanating from within his hand, coming from the pendant. Nokin felt a wave of fatigue crash down on him, as if he had done nothing but run without rest for a day straight, while being beaten with a stick every five steps.

A brief moment after, the man beneath Nokin slowly stopped convulsing, and his eyes regained some clarity. Finally he was able to speak, albeit in a very weak, coarse voice.

"You…just how did you?..." The man seemed as baffled as Nokin at what had just happened, but then tears began swelling in his eyes. "It doesn't matter, you have to listen to me very carefully. Take this pendant to the Ashbed inn in Rockport. Give it the owner and tell him 'The altar has shifted" and tell him of what you felt just now, when the light shone. Tell him, but no one else. Promise me."

The man seemed to struggle with every word, and glared intensely at Nokin, demanding an answer with his eye's pressure alone.

"I don't really understand, but don't worry, if it's that important I will help you", Nokin says, oddly compelled by the man's words, as if they carried a weight that could not be denied by anyone.

The mysterious man sighed, the tension leaving his body as he slipped unconscious, the deep fire leaving his eyes as they slowly closed.

It took Nokin 4 days to drag the man back to the wooden cabin. He did not wake up during the entire trip.

7: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

There was quite a ruckus when Nokin arrived in the meadow where the wooden cabin he called home was located, carrying not meat to be eaten by everyone, but an unconscious man.

Even Granny, who is unfazed by most things, had a shocked face when she saw the man's face for the first time. She put him in one of the still empty guest rooms in the upper floor of the cabin, where he could rest peacefully until he woke up.

After the initial surprise died down, Granny sat down with Nokin so he could explain what had happened in detail.

He told the story, starting at when he found the man convulsing in the woods. He hesitated over telling Granny about the strange light and what he had felt, but he couldn't find any way to explain how the man did not die, so he choose to be honest.

The old lady heard the entire story without saying a word, but her face turned dark and she seemed uncomfortable in her seat after Nokin described the pendant's effect on him and the unknown man.

"Clearly the pendant is some sort of magical item. It might be dangerous, but we have no way of knowing for sure, seeing as the owner can't exactly tell us right now", Granny said to herself. "I've decided. You will do as the man asks and deliver that pendant, if only so that we can get rid of it. With some luck the man you're delivering it to will be his family and will come get him."

"Magic? You can't be serious.", Nokin said astonished, not believing the usually serious Granny would tell a joke in such a serious situation.

"It might not be common, but it certainly exists Nokin. It manifests itself in many mysterious and unnatural ways. Here we do not have much contact with it, and I'm glad for it. People have no business meddling with that sort of thing. Luckily there are not many who can use it. Most who say they can are liars, who use petty tricks to deceive you.", the old lady explained to the doubtful youth. "The point remains, you must go and deliver the pendant in Rockport".

"But Granny, I can't just leave everyone here alone. And if it's so dangerous, why don't we just throw it away?", Nokin asks, not expecting Granny's reaction in the slightest.

"We don't know what effects it might have, we can't take any risks. And don't worry, we can take care of ourselves just fine.", the old lady shortly explains. "This actually comes in handy, I was needing some way to deliver something to Dagger, and I wasn't sure how I would do it"

"Something for Dagger? What is it?", Nokin asks, receiving consecutive surprises from the woman before him.

"A sword. The swords they give fresh recruits are terrible, so I asked Alfred to make one for both of you when the festival ended. If you're going to Rockport I can have it delivered without paying someone else to do it.", she explained, a small greedy glint visible in her eyes.

"But listen Nokin, don't tell anyone else about that weird magic, it's best to stay as far away from that sort of thing as possible. Do you understand? Magic is not something a sane persons gets himself into. The more powerful it is the higher the price you pay will be. Remember that well.", Granny warns in a grave and serious manner. Nokin gulps and makes a mental note to never forget his caretaker's advice.

The next day Nokin made preparations to set out very early in the morning, saying his farewells to everyone as the sun just barely made its way into the sky.

Aster gave him a tight hug, before seeing him off. "Goodbye Nookie, come back safe alright?"

"I will, don't worry, I'm more worried about you. I'm leaving you the bow, just in case, but absolutely do not get in any trouble while I'm gone.", Nokin says to his childhood friend, worry clear in his eyes.

"I wouldn't worry, trouble seems to like chasing you much more than it likes chasing me", Aster joked, showing Nokin her bright smile one last time before they parted way.

And with that Nokin began his journey.

With nothing but the clothes on his back, a rucksack with a thick blanket and some dried food, plus the dagger that was given to him by Dagger, Nokin casually made his way to the village where he had experienced the biggest thrills of his life so far.

Once there, he found the streets eerily quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of the festival. He greeted some of the people he was more acquainted to, making his way to the other edge of the town, where a large, but short, building had a steady stream of black smoke rising from a wide chimney.

Nokin entered the blacksmith's workshop, where a strong, burly man was currently pouring the red hot contents of a small pot into a circular mold. As per usual, it seemed Alfred was busy repairing wagon wheels from one of the many villagers who broke them in bumpy mountain trails.

The blacksmith noticed Nokin approaching him, but didn't interrupt his own work, waiting until every bit of molten metal had been poured into the mold and settled correctly, and making sure no air pockets had been made. Once he was done he turned back to greet the visiting youth.

"Nokin! Glad to see you, how's your head?", the cheerful blacksmith said, strongly slapping Nokin in the shoulder a few times.

"Better, thank you. Granny said you would be expecting me.", Nokin told the man, who was now stomping his way to his work table, where he left the long metal tongs, which he had used to hold up the pot, and also a large set of gloves.

"Indeed she did. I was surprised when she asked me to make a pair of swords. She really knows her stuff. Most people just come in and say they want a sword, but not her.", he started rambling, while making his way into the far back of the building, where a large rack held up a large amount of tools, metal frames, miscellaneous items like door knobs or tea pots, and a small amount of weapons and armor pieces. "No, she described, in detail, two very different swords she thought would fit each of you best. And she gave some really good instructions too. Weight, length, balance, the kind of handle and grip guard it should have. I was honestly impressed."

Reaching the rack, he picked up two swords, and just like he said, they couldn't be more different from each other.

One was a broadsword, clearly intended to be held with both hands. It had a large grip guard that covered the entire hand, almost shaped like a basket of some sort. Nokin struggled with holding it, so Alfred gave him a simple leather strap he used to wear it in his back. While being too heavy for Nokin, it would probably be about right for Dagger, especially considering his training with the Watch would just build his muscles up even more. Alfred said it was a masterpiece of his, because the way it was balanced let the user not only dole out heavily destructive wide swings, but manage to move it effectively in close quarters, to block the enemy's attacks and push him back into a more advantageous position, or even perform strikes with the pommel if there was need for it.

The other was a much shorter sword, about the size of Nokin's arm, and instead of having a large, very protective hand guard like the other sword, the sword's hilt was almost shaped like a cross, except it's two arms curved in the direction of the blade, making two small hooks on each side Nokin thought he could most likely use to catch and pull an opponent's weapon, and a small circular guard that curved down, offering minimal protection to the hand. The handle was simple, and felt comfortable in either of his hands. Compared to its bulky counterpart, Nokin's blade seemed thin and fragile, but Nokin could tell the sword was made robustly and would probably not break easily. The tip of Nokin's blade was considerably more pointed and more appropriate for stabbing than Dagger's, but both had equally sharp edges along both sides.

This time, Nokin had no problem holding the weapon, and was amazed at how natural it felt to him as he swung it a few times. He finally understood the soldiers who said they knew when they had found their swords when it became an extension of their arm. Nokin had felt his wooden sword had good balance, but it was nothing compared to this.

"Alfred, I don't know what to say, it is absolutely amazing", Nokin praised the blacksmith, who was smiling at Nokin's happy expression.

"No need to say a thing, I was paid very good coin to make them, and I received quality instructions", the man deflected the praise, despite the grin he was unable to hide. "Now, I saw you fight in the tournament, but I want to make sure you know how to handle a real blade, this isn't a toy anymore."

Nokin was led outside, where Alfred stared showing him some basic forms. Nokin was used to fighting without worrying about his defense too much, favoring speed and aggression to surprise his opponent. However, he was quickly shown how the lightest of attacks could prove fatal when fighting with real weapons, especially without owning decent protective equipment. With some of the forms he was taught, however, he learned the best ways to hold his sword that would allow him to parry attacks cleanly and with less risk. Alfred also showed him a trick to somewhat predict an opponent's next move based on how he positioned his shoulders and feet.

Alfred finally allowed Nokin to go on his way, after instructing him on how to take care of his sword, cleaning and sharpening it to make sure its edge wouldn't grow dull and the metal would not rust, and how to properly oil the scabbard so the sword wouldn't become stuck, happy with the youth's quick learning.

Nokin thanked the boisterous man one last time before taking his first step outside the village and onto the road that would take him to his destination, his already beloved sword at his hip, and Dagger's securely strapped to his back.

Nokin felt nervous, thinking of what could lie ahead of him. He marched down the beaten road, a sense of purpose in his every step, chest puffed out and eyes set on the horizon. This lasted about thirty minutes before he realized it was not much different from his excursions into the wood, with the exception that the path now was much easier to use and follow.

After two hours he started becoming bored, his expectations crushed. The forest was thinning around him, and soon he would leave them, entering the open plains he would follow west until he arrived near the shore, and from there back south until the city. He could have tried cutting straight through the mountains west to reach the city, but with the open plains and well treated roads the long way around was actually faster by quite a bit, not to mention safer.

He reached the plains, just as the sun was a bit past its peak. He remembered when he made this journey once with Granny, when there was only him, Dagger and Aster. The four of them had gone to Rockport for some reason he couldn't remember, and they were amazed at how big the city was, where every day was like a festival, with merchants spread about, peddling their wares, and street performers playing songs or doing tricks for some coin.

Nokin remembered there being a large rock further down the path where travelers would often stop to rest. He had decided to eat his lunch in that spot, just like he did once in the past. He could already see it, a small speck in the distance, so he quickened his pace, feeling hungry after the impromptu exercise Alfred had given him earlier in the morning.

As he approached he could tell out three figures near the large landmark. He took them for travelers at first, but as he got closer he could tell two of them were threatening the third.

The two men both seemed quite brutish, the type with large muscles but not much going inside the head. One had a shaved bald head, with a large scar that went from his left ear to his shoulder, and was the one that seemed to be doing the talking. His partner, on the other hand, remained silent as he held the third man up against the rock by the collar of his shirt. He was quite tall, a full two, and maybe even three heads taller than Nokin, with messy black hair that covered his eyes.

The third man, pitifully dangling his legs above the ground, was much shorter than Nokin first thought, seeing as though he was currently separated from the ground. He seemed very calm considering his current state of affairs, and was trying to reason with his assailers.

They didn't seem to notice Nokin walk up to them, and he was able to listen to their conversation.

"Now, let's not be rash, I'm sure we can find a solution we can all be happy with. One that doesn't involve beating me, perhaps? This face is how I make a living you know.", The dangling man calmly said, giving the silent man a friendly pat on one of his arms. The bald man punches him in the gut, forcing the dangling man to spit out a small amount of blood.

"Listen to me. Yer not listening right. This is our turf. You want to go through here? You pay us our toll. Now you said ya didn' have any coin, and that's just fine, it happens sometimes. We graciously accepted to take your clothes, but wouldn'ya know it? There were 5 whole silver coins! Right there in yer boots.", the bald man said, in a superficially very friendly tone that was actually extremely menacing, even hearing it from the sidelines."Now, bein' poor, I have no problem with, but I hate, I hate, bein' lied to. Do you understand?!"

He punched the man again, this time in the face, then grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head up to hear him answer.

"Yes. Perfectly. I really do, but you have to understand my position here. I am a poor traveling bard, and those are the entirety of my savings, please have mercy on my poor soul, I can see it in your eyes, you are a kind and strong soul! Let me go now and I swear on my dear mother's grave one day I will return the favor.", the bard said, tears swelling up in his eyes, grasping the bald bandit's hands with his own.

He was punched two more times, at which point the bard noticed Nokin watching them from behind the bandits.

"You! Young man! I can sense great justice from you! Won't you save me from these criminal brutes?!", the bard immediately pleaded loudly, making the bandits turn over to look at Nokin.

"Hey brat! This don't concern you! Go about yer business, yer lucky today since I'm taking care of this damned fool, so you don' even have to pay any toll.", the bald bandit spat out before turning his attention back to the bard, alongside his mute companion.

Nokin dropped his rucksack and Daggers sword, pulling his own out of its scabbard.

"You're bandits, aren't you? I happen to have a problem with bandits, so I think I'll stay here for a bit.", Nokin threw at the strong, menacing men that both seemed extremely dangerous in their own rights.

"What the hell did you just say to me?", the bald bandit turned his entire body towards Nokin, and saw him with a sword in hand. "Jug. Keep that fool bleeding, it seems this brat thinks he be people, lookin' fer a fight"

Jug, the silent bandit, grunts and lifts the bard higher, tightening his grip.

The bald bandit, on the other hand, drew his sword, a short curved blade with a single edge. Nokin recalled it being described in one of Granny's books as something pirates would usually have, but perhaps it was actually something popular with all sorts of criminals.

The bandit spun his sword in his hand, slowly walking around Nokin in a relaxed, almost predatory circle. It was the first time Nokin had experienced blood-lust, and it felt like having icy spears pierce him in the heart, making him feel anxious and his sweat turn cold.

Suddenly the bandit yelled, surprising Nokin who was already nervous, making him wince and lose focus, guarding against an attack that didn't happen. Taking advantage of this mistake, the bandit jumped in, with intention to chop off the arm Nokin was using to hold his sword.

Nokin was luckily able to pull his sword back enough to block the attack, that hit the circular hilt guard. But at the same time the bandit's sword was blocked, his fist made its way deep into Nokin's gut, leaving him breathless and hunched over. A knee was then slammed into his face, and Nokin was sent flying backwards. He was able to stay on his feet and regain his bearings in time to see the bandit swinging his sword, aimed at his head. He let himself fall down backwards, rolling away from the attack and getting back up. His head still reeling, he was able to retake his stance again and face the bandit, who seemed displeased the fight was dragging on.

Nokin decided it was dangerous to let the man take the initiative, so he ran to the bandit, feinting a swing to his arm, but turning it into a downward diagonal swing aimed at his legs while diving down. The bandit was surprised, but managed to lift the targeted leg off the ground and twist his body to avoid the attack. Nokin had seen this coming however, counting on the bandit's combat experience to act in a way similar to what Dagger had done in the tournament. Nokin, with his back hunched down from his swing, threw his entire body upwards towards the bandit, who had only one foot in the ground and was in a very unstable position.

Nokin's tricked worked, and the bandit fell on the ground. Nokin pointed his sword at the bandit's face, who was now looking up to Nokin.

"Hey, hey! I surrender! Ok?", the bandit pleaded, dropping his sword to the ground and turning his palms facing up.

"Fine. Tell your friend to release the bard.", Nokin demanded to the bandit.

Nokin relaxed, happy to win his first real fight, when suddenly the bandit pulled down on his arm while kicking his legs at the same time, throwing him heavily onto the ground and mounting him. The bandit immediately threw Nokin's blade away and grabbed his own from the ground beside him.

"Lesson number one kiddo. A fight ain't really over until one of you is dead or knocked out. And trust me, after this yer not going home with just a black out.", the bald man said, grinning and gripping his sword, pointing it down down.

Nokin tried to grab the bandit's sword arm, but the bandit stopped him with his remaining arm. Nokin struggled to break free, but then he remembered the gift his friend had left him. He drew the small dagger with his free hand, under the weight of the man's knee, only managing to stab it into the man's leg.

"Aaargh! You little shit!", the man screamed in pain, but without letting go of neither Nokin or his own sword. He shifted his weight to cover both of Nokin's arms and used his now free hand to remove the dagger and also throw it away, "I'm gonna kill you slowly, you hear me? You will suffer through every remaining second of your pitiful life!"

Nokin struggled in vain as the man slowly raised his sword with both hands, preparing to stab him repeatedly.

Suddenly, a thin, rope-like object wrapped itself around the bandit's weapon, yanking it out of his hands and spinning it through the air, landing harmlessly in the floor. The strange object then flew back, hitting the bandit in the face with a crisp, distinctive cracking noise.

The bandit fell down in extreme pain as the object hit him repeatedly with blinding speed, filling the air with its deafening sound as lines of blood appeared all over the bandit's body, who shortly after passed out from the pain.

Free from the weight, Nokin was able to lift himself up a bit and see the source of the attacks. The bard was casually fixing his clothes, holding the object Nokin failed to identify: a long strip of what seemed leather, thick at the base, where the bard was holding it, getting progressively thinner as it reached the tip.

Nokin felt something was missing, until he noticed the tall and silent bandit named Jug laying next to the giant stone, face first in the ground. He had no visible blood lines like his partner, but his hair seemed somehow…singed?

"Hey there, young one? Are you alright? I cannot thank you enough for the distraction you caused. Fighting both of them head-on would be risky, even for me.", the bard said matter-of-factly in an exotic sounding accent, offering his hand to help Nokin stand up. "That said, I would have handled it. Probably."

"If you had it so under control, why thank me? Also, the blood you spat out looked very real to me.", Nokin irritably said, not appreciating his efforts being deemed unnecessary by the bard who was in clear distress.

"It is the intentions that count, and you were very brave, please don't think I am not thankful. As for the blood, well, I certainly hope it looks real, otherwise what would be the point?", the bard energetically said, with flourish and emotion spurting out in every word. In the end he spat out some more blood, and winked to Nokin. "Deception, my boy, is a powerful weapon. Much more powerful than the sword in some cases."

Nokin was completely dumbfounded. He had thought the man weak, defenseless even, vomiting blood and acting submissive after just a few punches. However, not only did he not vomit with those punches, it seemed he somehow took no damage at all.

"Wait, what is the point of acting weak? Why not just beat them?", Nokin asked, more confused than he ever felt in his life.

"That man, he said 'Lesson number one' somewhere in the middle of all…that, did he not?", the bard said, vaguely pointing in the direction of the bloodied criminal without turning his gaze. "Well, here is lesson number two: those who underestimate you will not take you seriously, and someone who doesn't fight seriously is asking to be beaten. Wait, those were actually two lessons, weren't they? Never mind, those were lessons two and three then. Never underestimate anyone, and never fight half-heartedly."

The bard nodded to himself in an exaggerated fashion. In fact, it seemed everything he did was in an exaggerated fashion, but in a way that was oddly natural and fit him, a certain sense of dignity that was both comical and dramatic.

"That…and I may have taken the opportunity of them searching my clothes, and finding a few stray coins, to steal them blind.", he mischievously added, jingling a small coin bag that Nokin had no idea as to where it came from or when it appeared in his hands.

"…right. Thank you for the advice.", Nokin said, quickly walking away from the bard, disappointed he would not be having his meal near the landmark from his memories, but eager to get away from the whole bizarre situation, quietly picking up his belongings along the way.

"Hey, wait! Please, where are you going?", the bard said as he quickly went after Nokin. "Don't you want to at least know my name? Or how I managed my spectacular and daring escape?!"

Nokin stopped and looked back, seeing the bard with one hand on his chest and the other behind his back, with a small, friendly smile on his face. He bowed slightly in a graceful manner, in stark contrast to his worn, almost rustic traveling clothes and cloak.

"I am Zaleal Altare, lover of art and artist of love.", he said, with a deep, dramatic, and supposedly seductive voice, although the only reaction it got from Nokin was mild nausea. "As a traveling bard, talented minstrel, astute troubadour and much more, I am also quite knowledgeable of many things. As thanks for your splendorous assistance, you may ask me any questions you desire"

The bard seemed incapable of going through a sentence without an abundance of unnecessary colorful descriptions and theatrical flourishes. However, Nokin was curious as to what it was that the bard did to not only escape, but defeat the two very tough bandits, and if he was half the bard he claimed to be, he should know about current news from the area, as well as knowledge of History and lore surpassed only by scholars and some of the more erudite nobles.

Zaleal, as he had called himself, was shorter than Nokin, and seemed quite skinny, although in closer inspection his muscles were quite toned despite their reduced size. He exuded a sense of grace and aloofness, almost like a cat. His skin was slightly darker than even the skin of the woodcutters or farmers that spent all day in the sun that Nokin knew. A slightly brown, olive colored skin Nokin had never seen before.

"Is that so? Ok then, I have some questions. First, what weapon were you using? I've never seen anything like it", Nokin asked, thinking back to the fast, cutting piece of leather that flew over his head, even yanking a sword out of a man's hand.

"This is a weapon common in my home country. It is called a whip, and can be very deadly in the right hands. In the wrong hands, it is mostly a danger to the wielder rather than anyone else", Zaleal laughed, patting the weapon which was now curled up in small circles and hanging from his hip.

"And how exactly did you escape from the quiet one's grip?", Nokin continued, increasingly interested in the man's odd mannerisms.

"Ha, Zaleal is a master of many arts, you see? I cannot bring myself to learn a skill without knowing I have reached the highest level possible in it! There is, however, one exception.", Zaleal boasted, immediately following with a dramatic pause, while straightening his back and sorrowfully looking into the distance. "Yes, there is one art that eludes Zaleal's raw talent, but he is happy to have at least the smallest skill in it. I used…magic!"

He finishes with a particularly dramatic flourish.

"Look, if you wanted to keep it a secret, don't offer to answer any question.", Nokin angrily told the bard, reminding himself of the old lady's words of warning about those who claim to use magic.

"I'm sorry? I don't understand, I just told you. Here, let Zaleal demonstrate."

Zaleal took a black powder from one of his pockets and threw it up to the sky, where it erupted in flames.

"So? I've seen performers do that trick in festivals before", Nokin scoffed, now sure the man was a farce.

"Yes, but they usually need a source of fire. A torch or a candle, yes? My source was magical energy. My magic may be weak, and does not do much on its own, but I can make a small fire, enough to trigger the combustion of the powder, see?" Zaleal asked, seeming a bit confused about Nokin's reaction, and starting a small fire on the tip of his fingers. Small, but clearly visible. "Do you…not know of how magic works, by chance?"

The bard said it as if it were some basic information everyone was aware of, but Nokin couldn't help but leave his mouth wide open, incapable of thinking about anything else.

Did Granny lie to him? She didn't have any reason to, maybe she just didn't know herself. No one in the mountain region where they lived knew anything about it, it was very likely anyone there who did claim they were magicians were lying about it. But to think Granny, of all people, was wrong about any subject simply made no sense to Nokin. Granny had always been the smartest and most well informed person he knew, he didn't know a single person that was capable of answering a question that the wise old woman wasn't able to. When Granny said magic was not fit for humans hands and showed unease at the sight of the pendant, Nokin simply accepted it as the truth.

But the evidence was right before his eyes, there was no candle or any burning material in the bard's hand, and he didn't see any spark or anything that could have started the fire. Before him was undeniable proof that magic not only existed, but could be controlled by human hands, something not even the incident with the pendant was able to convince him of.

"I…I don't, not in the slightest. I am very sorry for not believing you, please continue with your story.", Nokin managed to answer with some difficulty, still trying to cope with his discovery.

"Yes, well, while the brute was distracted with your fight I took some of the powder from my pocket, much like I showed you, and blew it in his face. If you check his face you can confirm that he now has no eyebrows. Then again, with his hair covering half his face I can't guarantee he ever had eyebrows", Zaleal mused. "I then used some more magic to make him fall into a deep sleep. Magic that alters human emotions or perceptions are very difficult to use, except when your target is already in a vulnerable state, namely fear, surprise or tiredness. To name a few."

"I see, and you then used your whip to attack the bald one. But how did you manage to grab his weapon?", Nokin asked, returning, somewhat, to his normal behavior.

"Also a form of magic. A practical use of the element of wind allows me precise control of my whip, granting me the ability to attack very quickly and accurately, with deep cuts or practically blunt damage, depending on my mood, and even be able to pick up and manipulate far away objects.", Zaleal boasted. From his reaction this would seem to be the strongest his use of magic got.

"Magic seems so powerful…and you say you are a novice at it?", Nokin said, frightened by this new and mysterious power.

"Zaleal is a novice at nothing! But I admit that my skills in the arcane arts are…not as diverse and powerful as other's", the man said, his pride evidently hurt by Nokin's choice of words.

"I see, I'm sorry if I offended you.", Nokin apologized. "Well, thank you, this was very informative. However, I really need to be going, I have a long way ahead of me."

Nokin said goodbye to the bizarre man and turned to face the crossroads that the giant stone marked. He identifies the road leading to Rockport and began walking in its direction.

Nokin walked for not even a minute before noticing a set of footsteps behind him. Sure enough, the bard was cheerfully walking behind him, with a pleasant smile on his lips.

"Are you going to follow me?", Nokin tiredly asks.

"Follow? No, Zaleal simply travels where the wind takes him, and the wind takes me in this direction. Is that troublesome for you?", Zaleal asks, with a cocked eyebrow and wide smile, showing off his crooked, yet unusually well-fitting teeth.

"…no, I suppose not. I am headed for Rockport, if you're going in that direction we could travel together. If you want…?", Nokin offered a bit reluctantly.

"Excellent, it is decided! Let the spirits of travel favor us both!", Zaleal laughed, heartily slapping Nokin's back and whistling a merry tune. "Oh! That reminds, I am starving, but I do not currently have any food. Now that we are friends, why don't we celebrate with a meal, yes?"

Nokin sighed, foreseeing a troublesome trip. But he didn't harbour any bad feelings towards Zaleal. If anything, he was somewhat glad to have some company, and he was eager to know more about the magic he was shown. Nokin began to feel the excitement and sense of adventure return to him, not believing how fast his journey went from uneventful to…whatever Zaleal was.

In the end, they choose a quiet spot near a river and had their meal together.

8: Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Nokin and Zaleal walked quietly down the road. Well, Nokin was quiet at least. Zaleal walked while singing a song about an overprotective innkeeper and his daughter with skin white as snow, eyes blue like the ocean and hair both the color of the sun and matching its brightness.

Zaleal was very fond of the song, describing it as "ribald, bawdy, pleasantly salacious and with a subtle tinge of risqué". Nokin didn't know what more than half those words meant, but his ears and cheeks became bright red as Zaleal sung the latter parts of the song.

When he was done, he glanced over to Nokin, a thoughtful expression perfectly shown in his face.

"You know, dear friend, I do believe you have yet to tell me your name", the expressive man stated.

Nokin suddenly realized he had indeed forgotten to introduce himself with all the commotion. Granny would have smacked him in the head if she were to find out he displayed such rude manners.

"I'm terribly sorry, my name is Nokin, a pleasure to meet you.", Nokin introduced himself.

"Nokin. An excellent name, I shall commit it to memory!", Zaleal exclaimed, dramatically closing his eyes and pressing a finger to each eyebrow. "Since we are now friends, you may call me Zal. Most people from this land seem to have difficulties pronouncing my full name, or any name from my home country for that matter."

"You've mentioned your home before. Where exactly is it? And how did you come here?", Nokin asked as they both leisurely walked forward.

"Aaah, my country is small and lacking in power compared this kingdom you call Ignifer. Really, it is a boring subject. As for my journey, let's just say Zaleal took a very long, very uncomfortable boat trip and leave it at that", Zal said, with a dismissive attitude and a laugh.

Nokin decided it was best to drop the subject, and moved on to his true subject of interest.

"So, Zal, where did you learn magic? You asked before if I didn't know how magic works, and indeed I haven't the faintest idea. I was wondering if maybe you could…explain it to me?", Nokin meekly asked, trying his best not to sound overly ignorant.

"Hum, Zaleal does not teach his hidden arts to just anybody. You however, interest me, and have helped me a great deal already. I agree to tell you a bit of what I know", Zaleal said, waving his hands around in a mystical way, although considering who was doing it, it was most likely a performance than a real necessity for magic.

Zaleal eyes became sharp and glistening, as he prepared a persona of a wise teacher, hunching his back ever so slightly and dragging his feet as he walked.

"Zaleal, you see, learned his magic from a stubborn fool from his own country. This man had no real interest in using or improving his power, simply taking advantage of what he had to gain influence. This is a common issue, I am afraid. Zaleal learned as much he could from the man before leaving him to his pitiful existence, but Zaleal knows enough for what he needs, and often I find interesting new information in my travels.", Zal said in a raspy, affected voice, most likely an imitation of his old teacher. "Magical energy, you see, is all around us. In some areas it is denser than others, but it still can be found anywhere in one form or another. In the beginning of our recorded time, the only magic used by human hands were those of the contractors. They formed bonds with the powerful ethereal creatures who have inhabited this land long before we did. The men and women capable of not only speaking to these creatures, but also to form a partnership with them, where the great people who took strong hold of the flow of History. Kings, Warlords, adventurous Explorers and cunning Merchants, those with the strength of soul to handle the large mystical energy these beings possessed shaped the land to their will."

Zal took a short breath, giving time to have any questions asked by Nokin.

"But not anymore, right? I didn't see any 'creature' when you did magic", Nokin chimed in.

"Exactly. Well, not exactly, even if you use an arcane being's power, they are not necessarily manifested and visible when you use magic. But nevertheless, I do not have a contract, nor do I wish one. The stories would always talk of the great deeds performed by those who formed contracts with powerful beings, but there was also always a price to pay. Some lost their family or their home, others lost their life before their time, and some were forced to spend the rest of their life serving the wishes of those they had depended on for power.", Zal said, a somber warning that transmitted the heavy cost of ambition. "Which is why humans eventually discovered how to harness the magical energy, not of creatures, but of the world around them. They discovered that by carving magical patterns and formulas in special magic conductive materials, they could safely and consistently use magic of various forms."

"Then why doesn't everyone use those, if they are so simple? Again, I didn't see you use any object either", Nokin interrupted, beginning to feel the bard's long winded explanation was a joke to mock his lack of knowledge.

"That is because I didn't, but we will get to that shortly. As I was saying, these objects could have a variety of different effects, but they took a long time to be made, were not as versatile and adaptable as the magic of the contract wielders and the materials capable of harnessing magic are both exceedingly rare and very expensive, so the amount of objects that could be made, or even those deemed useful enough to be made were few and far between." Zal finished his explanation, drawing one more breath before moving on to the final part of his lecture. "Which leads to the final form of magic, discovered quite some time after magic materials became scarce, which is the manipulation of magic, not from other being and not from the world, but from inside your own body! Humans were not initially capable of storing significant amounts of magic within them, but as they became more and more exposed to it over several centuries, both from contractors and magical objects, we slowly became capable of emitting and controlling our own magic. This is not nearly as powerful as the other two forms, but it serves as a good compromise between the adaptability and versatility of contractual magic, and the slightly reduced risk and higher consistency of constructed magic. And this, my friend, is the kind of magic Zaleal uses. Every person has a different capacity for magic within their bodies, and a different natural ability to manipulate said magic. These can be improved with practice, of course, but talent is a heavy factor, as is with most things."

Nokin tried his best to absorb and retain all the information Zal had given him, feeling a lot of it was something he would probably not be able to hear in most other places.

"So, in that case, do you think it would be possible for me to learn how to use magic?", Nokin excitedly asked.

Zal stops walking, and carefully looks at Nokin from top to bottom a few times, holding his chin in a pensive way.

"No. Probably not.", he finally said, walking forward once again.

"Hey! Wait, why not?!", Nokin exclaimed, walking behind him.

"You are impatient and reckless. Even if you concentrated long enough to actually learn how to use it you probably either hurt yourself or someone else. Absolutely not.", Zal answered, in a uncharacteristically serious way. "Magic is not something to take lightly, you should know at least that much."

His words resounded in Nokin's head, echoing with the warning granny had given him, with almost the exact same words. However, his curiosity could not be shaken, and he insisted.

"Please, you can't truly know that until we try. What do I have to do to convince you?", Nokin pleaded, despite not even a day ago scoffing at the very idea that magic was real.

Zal stops in his tracks yet again. His eyes pierce Nokin, who notices them taking a slightly purple coloration around the edges.

"You. Do you truly wish to plunge into the mystical arts? After you learn to tap into the power that may be within your body, there is no longer any denying it, and there is no way to escape it."

Zal's voice turned somber and menacing. His face seemed darker and instilled fear in Nokin's heart. He thought to himself it might be best to give up and continue his life has he had before, without the danger of ridiculous things like magic.

Nokin was about to tell Zal he had changed his mind, but something that he could not explain, something from deep within him urged him forward, telling him to take the leap. Nokin's fear started to fade, a warm sense of determination taking its place.

"Yes, I wish to learn whatever you are willing to teach me.", Nokin said, meeting Zal's icy, oddly menacing glare head on with no hesitation.

"Hm, very well, you have passed the first test. Zaleal will teach you, if you are capable of learning", he said, his posture, face and even his eyes returning to his usual cheery disposition.

"Test? What did you do?", Nokin asked, confused as to what had just happened.

"A simple spell, designed to cause fear and doubt in a person's heart. It seems you are truly determined, the illusion is not easily broken once it has taken effect." Zal calmly explained. "Come, I cannot teach you while moving. We will rest a short while."

They sat down a little off the side of the road, facing each other. Zaleal grabbed a handful of wild weeds and presented them to Nokin.

"If you wish to learn magic from me, you must first burn these weeds. Using magic, of course.", Zal told Nokin.

"That doesn't make any sense. How can I burn them with magic if you haven't taught me yet?", Nokin complained.

"Magic is something that comes from within. No amount of explaining will help you if you are unable to tap into your inner power. Give me your hand.", Zaleal orders Nokin.

When their hands touch, Nokin feels a jolt go through his hand and up his arm. It felt as if a thousand small needles were being stuck into his arm.

Zal then removed his hand and told Nokin "I have sent some unprocessed magic energy into your arm. Since it is foreign to you, your body may reject it. It probably hurts a bit, but try to hold on to that feeling in your arm. Concentrate in it, lose yourself in it."

Nokin closed his eyes, focusing himself exclusively on his own arm, which was twitching against his will. He tried to understand the source of his discomfort, looking past the pain, deeper.

Time passed, and eventually the pain passed, but Nokin wasn't able to feel anything like what Zal had described. He sighed in disappointment.

"Nothing? Worry not young one, even Zaleal did not grasp it in his first attempt.", Zal consoled Nokin. "Perhaps we should try something a little more…direct".

Without giving Nokin time to react, Zal put his hand against Nokin's chest, just above his heart. Nokin fell to the ground convulsing and then lying still.

"Oh, was that a bit too much? Well, nothing can be done about it now.", Zal said to himself, waiting for Nokin to wake up.

Nokin did not know what had happened to him. One second he was sitting in front of Zal, and the next he was drifting across an empty white space. It would be blinding in normal circumstances, but Nokin felt simply at ease, comfortable even.

He let himself drift aimlessly for a while, before he began feeling a sensation swelling in his chest. It was similar to the pain he felt in his arm before, except it didn't hurt, not exactly. Rather, it had a certain sense of familiarity, like an old friend that had been forgotten but found again, instead of needles it was more like something inside himself was yawning and stretching awake. He could feel his consciousness reach out, ever so slightly out of his body, like a new born peeking out of his crib for the first time.

Nokin concentrated in this feeling, whispering sweet words, luring himself further and further out of his own body. He felt himself getting warmer and warmer, until he felt as if every inch of his body was on fire. But again, he did not feel pain, but sense of ease and comfort.

Finally, he felt that whatever was growing inside him was finally fully outside his body. He slowly opened his eyes, and what he saw before him was a small creature, barely the size of his hand. It sneezed, and small spurt of flames came out from its face. Nokin had only one word to describe it: a dragon!

Except it wasn't. Nokin knew from the stories that dragons were large, lizard like creatures, with scales hard like metal, four legs and two wings on their backs.

This 'thing' however, was more birdlike than anything else. Its feathers were red like the setting sun, and its wings made it seem like it flew suspended by two flames. Its tail swayed from side to side, leaving a small trail of embers behind it. Its small, but deep, blood red eyes looked at Nokin.

[Friend?]

A soft, silvery voice echoed inside Nokin's head. Startled, his body jolted. The small bird also became agitated, flying away, performing various circles in the air and chirping in a fearful manner. Nokin calmed down and watched the bird, until it slowly came back near Nokin.

"Are you…my magic? Zal never said you would look so 'alive'", Nokin asked the oddly endearing creature.

[Magic? Is that my name?], the bird tilted its head to one side, staring at Nokin.

"I don't know your name either. What are you?", Nokin asks.

[I am your friend!], the bird chirped happily, fluttering its wings. [Will you give me a name?]

"A name, is it? If it was Granny she would probably name you something like Featherblaze or Burnbeak…how about just Ember? Nice and simple.", Nokin suggested.

[Ember? Ember! Ember, Ember, Ember!], the bird started flying excitedly around Nokin, and landing on top of his shoulder. [Are you my friend?]

"Yes, I think I am", Nokin said, slowly stroking the feathers on Ember's head.

[So you'll take care of me then?]

"Of course little guy, don't worry.", Nokin said. However, he immediately questioned his own words. He had no idea what this thing was or what was needed to take care of it. But for some reason he felt that there was no other option other than to protect it no matter the cost, like it was an extension of himself.

[It's decided then, you'll help me, so I'll help you too. From now on we're partners, ok?]

"I'm not sure what you mean, but sure, let's help each other. I'm Nokin.", Nokin said as he smiled, the small bird snuggling itself into his hair.

[I like you Nokin. Thank you for waking me up, now it's your turn to go back.]

With that the small bird erupted in flames, enveloping Nokin in blazing heat.

When he opened his eyes Zal was calmly playing a small lute.

"Ah, the young one wakes. How was it?", Zal asked.

"Not like I expected, you never told me my magic would speak to me", Nokin complained.

Zal dropped his instrument, and stared at Nokin.

"Boy…what did you just say? It spoke?"

"Yes, a small bird with flames all around him came out from inside me and spoke", Nokin explained.

"This is much more than Zaleal expected. Your resistance to magic manipulation was already impressive, but to think…", Zal trailed off, his brow furrowed and thinking deeply to himself. "I suppose we must make sure. Nokin, try to remember the feeling you had when you summoned the bird. Picture that power, and instead of simply trying to take it out of yourself, try to make it burn those weeds I gave you."

Following his instructions, Nokin reached inside himself, until he found the center where he remembered the heat came from his body. He grabbed it, and focused his eyes in the weeds, imagining them on fire. Suddenly energy came pouring from within himself, and the weeds in his hands were engulfed in a fire at least five times larger than what Zal had shown him before. The weeds were reduced to ashes in a moment, and Nokin inadvertently set his own sleeve on fire.

He quickly put out the fire by covering it in dirt. Zal was simply staring at Nokin intently.

"Yes. Yes, Zaleal can teach you.", he said, in a low, slightly quivering voice.

And so Nokin took his first step into the mysterious world of magic.

9: Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"The first thing Zaleal will teach is the basis of all magic. Which is drawing forth the pure magical energy you will bend to your will. After I trust you to be able to control the flow of the dangerous power residing in you, we will move on to shaping that energy into the form you want, projecting it into the world, and finally control it with precision once it has been released. When you burned those weeds you had minimal success with the first two, but the last two were a complete failure. This is to be expected, do not worry young Nokin.", Zal says, sitting beside the campfire they had set up for the night. "This means you must train in tapping into your power and drawing it out as fast as possible, in the precise quantity you want. For this training you will use this, just as Zaleal has done in the past."

Zal took out a tablet, made from something which looked like clay, from his large bag. It had intricate designs leading to a small depression in the center.

"This is a simple magic device that will fill with water when it comes to direct contact with unprocessed magic energy. It is different from old magical objects since the magic source comes from the user, rather than special magical materials. Objects like this are much more common now as they can be made from less costly materials. Their uses however are, in most cases, marginally useful at best, and glorified toys at worst.", Zal explained, handing the tablet to Nokin, "Every day, I want you to practice filling the tablet as fast as possible so that the water flows out of the depression and fills all the lines along the surface, without the water spilling out onto the ground. You will do this when you are not moving. When we are walking you will hold it the other way, and continuously pour magic onto the ground until you are no longer capable of maintaining it. Is everything clear?"

"Yes, but what is the point of letting all the water fall on the floor?", Nokin asked, not understanding the logic behind it.

"I believe I explained it before? Magic is very dependent on talent, but it can and should be trained. By consistently reaching your limit and breaking it, your power will grow. Think of it as if it were like any other muscle in your body.", Zal calmly explained, keeping his usual theatrics to a minimum during his lectures.

And so Nokin took to his task, while Zal stirred a small pot above the fireplace, containing a few of Nokin's provisions.

Nokin had trouble getting a hold of his power, despite having done it before. Eventually he was able to tightly grip his magical source, and a small pool of water starts forming at the bottom of the tablet. Suddenly a large amount of water shoots out of the tablet, forming a small arc in the air before hitting the ground.

"Too slow. And too much, try again", Zal simply said, not even removing his eyes from his stew.

Again, Nokin tapped into his power, much faster than before. Not even a puddle was formed before water burst out with too much force, and splashed Nokin's face.

"A bit faster, but you can do better. And still too much. Again." Zal told Nokin.

Nokin did so for over 15 minutes, without success, until Zal stopped him.

"That's enough for now. Come, the food is ready."

Nokin approached the fire, and received a small bowl from Zal's hand.

"Thank you. Tell me, what am I doing wrong? I can't seem to make it go slowly at all.", Nokin complained to the man in front of him, sitting in a dignified manner, who had barely made any jokes or dramatic gestures since they began the instruction.

"It is as Zaleal said in the beginning. You are impatient. You do not draw your energy, you rip it out from yourself. You must learn not to rush the process. This power is not something you will ever be in full control, do not try to force it. Seduce it, gently guide it where you want it to go, convince it that it wants what you want. Like you would a beautiful woman, do you understand?", Zal said, making gestures with his hands with his eyes closed, as if he was dancing with a woman under the clear moonlight of the camp.

Nokin didn't understand what he meant, and simply ate his meal in silence trying to figure it out. He recalled the time he met the strange bird, and how he had slowly lured it out of his body. After his meal he picked the tablet back up.

This time Nokin put aside the objective of doing it quickly, and focused on slowly but surely drawing small amounts of power from within. Rather than gripping the warm center, he gently caressed it, whispered as he had in his dream like state. Slowly he felt it react to him, twisting against his mental hand which he slowly moved away, a small strand attached to it. He directed the warm strand into the rest of his body, and instead of the heat he had felt before, whenever he tapped into his power, he felt a very faint warmness spread throughout his body, starting in his chest slowly reaching the end of his arms and legs. He opened his eyes and saw the tablet slowly filling with water, reaching the top of the depression and spreading through the intricate maze of carved lines. Just as it was filling up, Nokin lead the energy back into the relaxed core deep within his chest, and the water stopped.

When he looked up, Nokin saw Zal looking at him intently, with slight disbelief.

"Incredible. It was quite slow, but to already be able to avoid spilling the water, in one day? Boy, when you have grandchildren, you may tell them you have surprised the great Zaleal. This is not an easy feat, I assure you.", Zal said, laughing as he tipped over the tablet, spilling it's contents. "Now do it again, faster."

Nokin spent some time practicing with the tablet until he was tired enough to fall asleep.

The next day Nokin and Zal were walking down the road, Nokin leaving a trail of wet dirt behind him, and Zal singing a song about an old lone traveler who had nothing but his clothes and a wooden cane he used to walk, who tried to help the people he met with his skills, but was always shunned by those very same people, who could not believe such a generous man existed.

Sometime before noon, Nokin was no longer able to create water, and asked to rest a short while.

"You've done well holding out until now. If Zaleal did not know any better, he would hardly believe you were a beginner, young Nokin.", Zal told Nokin, handing him a small flask he removed from his bag.

When Nokin took a sip he coughed violently as a burning sensation made its way down his throat.

"Is this alcohol?", Nokin asked, knowing men in the village would often drink this sort of beverage, especially during the festival. Granny was strongly against it however. One time Dagger had come home drunk after Alfred had decided he was old enough to drink. She beat Dagger senseless, and Nokin had heard she had a very heated discussion with Alfred a few days later. She came back with the mule they had used ever since.

"Yes, I find it very effective in relieving the mental fatigue associated with the arcane arts. A personal trick, if you will", Zal said, touching the tip of his nose with his index finger and winking at Nokin. "With this, even if you should avoid exerting your magic for a while, you can probably move around just fine now, yes? This is Zaleal's special brew, after all."

Indeed, Nokin felt his fatigue slowly fade away, and his breathing return to normal. He had no idea what was in the drink, but decided it would be best not knowing, considering the owner.

"Yes, I feel much better. Thank you.", he thanked the ever more mysterious man.

"Now, what do you say of practicing that sword arm of yours, yes?", Zal proposed, much to Nokin's surprise.

"What? Are you really trying to tell me that, on top of everything else, you also just so happen to be a master swordsman?", Nokin scoffed, sure no normal human could be that diversely talented.

"No, of course not. I find the sword to be a crude weapon, fit for crude men. And Zaleal may be many things, but he is not a crude man.", he denies vigorously. "That said, it is a very common weapon, used by many people, so I mean no offense to you. The best way to fight against something is to know how to use it, to understand how it works. You asked if I am a master swordsman, and no, I am not, but I am still many times better than you."

Nokin simply stared at the man, who was holding up a finger pointing at him, inches away from his face.

"So go fetch two suitable sticks, young Nokin, and I will explain to you why that is.", Zal added at the end of his speech.

A short while after they were facing each other, sticks in hand. Nokin took his usual stance, with bended knees and facing his opponent slightly turning his torso to the side. Zal had yet to assume any sort of stance.

"Hum, not bad, it seems you have some personal experience as to what does and does not work in a fight. I can also guess you received mild instruction from someone who was, at one point, a soldier, am I correct?", Zal asked.

"I don't know any soldiers who taught me anything, although a friend of my Granny, who is a blacksmith, showed me some basic things.", Nokin answered.

"I know many soldiers that retired to become blacksmiths in remote locations. The Watch regularly trains a willing part of their recruits in the art. In the battlefield the difference well maintained equipment makes can be what separates life from death", Zal explained.

Nokin gained new appreciation for the strong blacksmith who often looked out for Granny and her children, thinking it made sense now, how he would often spend a night or two drinking with a small group of older watchmen whenever they came for the festival.

Zal then took his own stance, which seemed very odd, just as most of the things Zal did. He gripped the small stick, which anyone would identify as a one-handed weapon, with both hands, holding it just above his right shoulder and pointed at Nokin, crossing his hands on the 'grip',his left arm close to his chest and gripping the sword farther from the blade would be, with the right hand being closer to the imaginary blade, his elbow sticking out behind him.

His feet were one behind the other, forming a line that pointed at Nokin, his knees lowered and his back straight.

"Now, attack me", Zal confidently said.

Immediately Nokin lunged, stepping into the side of the opposite shoulder Zal was holding his stick, aiming to hit his forward leg and retreating. Before he got even close, however, Zal had somehow managed to, in three small and very quick steps, position his body to Nokin's left, then face him head on, and finally catch him mid-motion with a downward swing executed the at the same time he stomped the third and last step firmly in the ground, which he initiated by swinging the weapon in a small circle above his own head before letting it fall on his target.

The attack was executed flawlessly, with barely any wasted movements and faster than Nokin had ever seen. The swing was stopped a hair's breadth away from the nape of his neck.

"Did you understand?", Zal simply asked.

"No, how did you do that?", Nokin asked in response, baffled by how fast the man seemed to move, despite showing no reaction to Nokin's advance or twitching is muscles before moving in any way like Alfred had taught him.

"Once again young Nokin, you fail to pay attention. I have told you are reckless, yet you insist at jumping in at the slightest opportunity. I commend your strategy, aiming at the side away from the sword and trying to take away my mobility, but you lack stability in your movements. Look at my legs.", Zal ordered Nokin.

Nokin looks and sees the stance Zal had taken, his feet were about shoulder-width apart, the back foot pointing outwards and his front foot pointing to the front, with his chest ever so slightly twisted to also face forward. It was stance that allowed for both bursts of speed forward and sideways, much like Nokin's stance. He couldn't understand what the fundamental difference was.

Zal noticed the confusion in Nokin's eyes, and decided to give him the answer.

"Balance, Nokin, balance. Your stance looks as if you are an animal waiting to jump on its prey. If I were to come over and push you, you would fall. Your defense is weak, and resort to speed and erratic movements, hoping no one will catch you. This is wrong. Because of this weakness in defense and patience, you are forced to attack first when faced with a minimally competent opponent, and this makes you predictable. If you are predictable anyone with half a brain can easily beat you.", Zal sternly lectured Nokin. "If you can firmly root yourself to the ground, body and soul, and force the opponent to fight in your conditions, then you are in an advantage. For example, even if you were to push me, in this position I would not move, for my center of gravity and my mind is perfectly under my control."

Zal stands straight and drops his stick to a more comfortable positions, and then punches his own stomach.

"What you must understand is that all your strength must come from here, it starts in the center of your body, and when that is strong and under your full control, then you can have true strength in your arms and legs while remaining secure and unshakable.", Zal said. "Your current form is not entirely bad, with instinctive speed and tricks as its core, and if you stick with it you would surely find power, enough to beat down common thugs and people who wish you harm, with some training and experience, but this is not enough to guarantee you can protect everything that is dear to you."

With that Nokin spent a short while learning the proper way to place his feet, and how to gain better control of his center of gravity so that he could move in any direction smoothly, without his opponent knowing where he was going until it was already too late. Zal also taught Nokin of several points in the human body that were particularly vulnerable, teaching him how to hit a man's arm in a way that guarantees he would drop his weapon, or various places one could strike to quickly make an opponent faint with a single attack.

A few days passed this way, and Nokin was amazed at how much he was able to learn from this bizarre and talented man who came from seemingly nowhere into his life. After getting used to the initial water exercise, Zal then had Nokin try to create water without the use of the tablet, based on his experience with water so far. He succeeded eventually, after a hard day's work, but it took him much longer to create a small amount of water compared to the flames. Zal said each person had different affinities, and will almost always gravitate to certain kind of magics or elements more than others.

The next step was deceptively difficult. Although Nokin could magically create water, when he cut the flow of his magical power the water disappeared, unlike the water from the tablet. Zal explained this was because Nokin had simply shaped his magical energy into the form of water, but hadn't 'released' it, or projected it from himself into the exterior world, stabilizing the energy into something independent from the user that can exist on its own. Nokin had great difficulties with this, as he couldn't grasp the way to consolidate the energy with his current mental visualization. Eventually he was able to think of his energy not as strings or abstract warmth, but more of a sort of malleable "mud" he could stretch and take parts out of, or join two separate parts together, or make into a ball. Once he shifted his mental paradigm he found it considerably easier to perform the exercise correctly. Nokin concluded magic didn't really have as many rules as Zal seemed to propose, considering it was so affected by simply the way he thought it worked, his ability to wield magic changing with his perception of how magic should be wielded in his imagination.

When confronted with this theory Zal remained silent, in his usual pensive pose, before arguing that perhaps magic was not changing based on his thoughts, but his thoughts were actually being changed by his magic. Nokin had no real counter argument to this, since it was all conjecture, but he certainly became a bit more fearful of the effects magic could have on him from that day onward.

Mastering the first 3 steps of Zal's 'basics of magic', Nokin reached the final stage, what Zal called true magic. Control over the energy you create, shape and release into the world, which was different than manipulation of magic you had yet to sever ties with. In Nokin's case the objective was to eventually create a ball of flames that he could maintain as only burning the area of that ball, and hovering the ball in place without it moving. Before attempting that, however, Nokin was forced back to the water tablet. His first objective was to fill the tablet with water as he had done before, but then create a small spinning vortex in the center, creating a makeshift current in the water, without spilling its contents. Zal's logic for this was that fire was one of the most dangerous and harder to control elements, due to it's destructive and chaotic nature. As such, Nokin would first have to master full control of water, which he had bad affinity to, hoping that by mastering an element he was not particularly suited for, he would then be able to properly control the elements he was more comfortable with.

As it would turn out, controlling your magic power after detaching it from yourself was excruciatingly difficult. Even after three whole days, the most Nokin was able to do was create ripples in the water's surface. Zal simply said he had to find a way to reconnect with was, essentially, a lost part of himself. But, as with most things, it was easier said than done.

After much trial and error Nokin once again drew the answer from his recent experiences inside his mental void. He remembered the feeling of stretching his consciousness outwards and using it to experience his surroundings in a different way. He spent a nearly entire sleepless night trying to extend his sense of self outside of his body, with moderate success. He could only do it when lying perfectly still, eyes closed and with no distractions, but he managed to extend a sort of net made of his magical energy, that reacted and sent sensations to Nokin whenever it felt a living being or a source of energy, like Zal, the campfire, or small rabbits lying in their holes. More importantly, he was able to feel his own magic power left inside the water filled tablet, and was able to interact with it, swirling it in a vortex as he had intended, but also rising it up into the air and even getting rid of it altogether, disappearing without a trace. Nokin went to sleep, satisfied with his results, but it would a long time before Nokin would be able to use that sort of magic in a practical situations.

The next day Nokin relayed his success from the previous night to Zal, who congratulated him.

"That is good to hear, young Nokin, your progress as been truly remarkable in this short week. Continue like this and soon Zaleal will have nothing left to teach you.", the cheery man said.

"So, could you teach me some actual spells now? Like how to change a person's emotions, or manipulate objects with the wind?", Nokin excitedly asks.

"No, no. 'Magic spells' do not exist in the conventional way, despite what the masses think. I could show you my tricks and you could try to mimic them, but in the end what kind of magic you are capable of using goes as far as that which your mind is capable of imagining, understanding and shaping. You must find for yourself the limits of your powers, Zaleal is simply here to make sure you do not endanger yourself or others.", Zal said, with a wry smile and small bow. "If you insist in learning the ways to manipulate others, the fastest way would be to let me tamper with your mind and emotions, and learn first hand how it feels to play with the lives of humans. It is a power that must not be abused."

Nokin shuddered, remembering the dread and discomfort he felt when he received such a spell, the pale purple eyes almost apearing before him again.

"Maybe some other time then, I don't think I'm ready to deal with that kind of power just yet." Nokin evasively said, hiding his discomfort.

"A good answer, boy. The arcane arts are not for the weak willed, or those who do not consider the consequences of their actions.", Zal warned. "Usually, one would at the very least train in protecting his own mind from outer interference, but with your natural resistance Zaleal may have skipped a step, or maybe four."

The man coughed, before walking at a faster pace.

"Zal? What did you just say!?", Nokin yelled, quickly going after his irresponsible, utterly bizarre companion.

With that Nokin put aside his training of magic manipulation so that Zal would teach him the basics of magical defense. Zal said it was common, that whenever two mages confronted each other, they would attack with both physical or elemental attacks, and at the same time try to tamper with their opponents mind, forcing them to lower their guard or give up entirely. As such Nokin had to be able to draw from and shape two sources of his magical energy at the same time, one to cast his own spells and the other to protect his sense, as a makeshift magical 'shield' of sorts.

Zal simulated this by having Nokin continuously sending water from the tablet onto the ground while fighting off Zal's random mental suggestions, which he sent without warning or a distinguishable pattern, and which included feeling incredibly sleepy, fearing for his life or feeling a sense of acceptance and safety that made him less vigilant of his surroundings. Whenever Nokin started feeling that his perception was being tampered with he would send more magical energy to protect his mind. At first this extra supply of energy overpowered Nokin's second source which he used to power the tablet, cutting the flow of energy and, subsequently, the water. With time he was able to balance his mental efforts with ease, until Zal also started throwing occasional small rocks towards Nokin.

"Hey! That hurt!", Nokin exclaimed, turning back while rubbing the back of his head where the first rock hit him.

"If they hurt, simply dodge them, yes?", Zal simply explained, happily juggling a small amount of almost equally sized rocks.

Nokin was therefore forced to maintain his concentration not only within himself, but also at what was happening around him, moving accordingly so to avoid danger to his body, while still controlling his inner energy to protect himself from Zal's manipulation and still creating a steady, constant stream of water.

While having a short rest, Nokin suddenly had a thought drift its way into his mind and out his mouth.

"Hey Zal, you said the most common magic now is personal, but there are still magic object around, so are there any cases of contractual magic these days?"

Zal stopped his relaxed humming, sitting up and opening his eyes in a smooth, effortless movement.

"Yes, contractors do still exist, mostly among the high nobility. There are also recent stories of Great Houses being created due to the power of contractual magic. Are you familiar with the House Azure?", Zal asked.

"Yes, they control the majority of the fishing and naval trade business.", Nokin stated, accessing his knowledge of History and noble houses with especial amounts of influence, commonly addressed as Great Houses.

"Precisely, this is something a lot of people know. What many of those people do not know, however, is that they managed to climb into their position with the help of Aqualights.", Zal said. "This was the secret for their great fortune. They never lost a single boat to either a storm or pirates, and their ships always seemed to sail faster than others."

"Wait, what are 'Aqualights'?", Nokin asked.

"You do not know of the Lights? Zaleal had thought them very common in most places, in one way or another.", Zal said, slightly surprised. "Lights are ethereal beings, the most common and widespread. Although "beings" might be a bit too much for them. They barely have any consciousness to speak of, mostly base instincts and emotions tied to their elemental nature. Not much is known about them or how they came to be, it is presumed they are pure magical nature, that somehow was able to form itself into a vague ball of energy, its characteristics depending on the region it was formed. When they formed next to the shore and in the high seas they were made out of water and were called Aqualights, if they were formed next to an active volcano, for example, they would be made of fire and called Lavalights. There are many different kinds, much more than I am now in the mood to list. Zaleal will simply say there is about as many different Lights in the world as there are different places with some amount of magical energy."

"I see. But if they are so primitive, how did the Azures manage to form a contract?", Nokin asked.

"Sometimes the Lights simply take a liking and attach themselves to people they identify with it, usually someone with a similar elemental affinity, but not necessarily.", Zal explained, letting himself fall back down and closing his eyes, marking the lecture as ended.

Nokin also let himself enjoy the rest under the fresh shadow they had found.

Finally there came a day where Zal and Nokin reached another set of crossroads. At which point Zal stopped and addressed Nokin.

"Well young Nokin, I'm afraid this is where we must part ways.", Zal suddenly said, bowing deeply to Nokin with an exaggerated flourish, as was his custom.

"What are you talking about? I thought we were going all the way to Rockport together.", Nokin said, baffled by Zal's sudden departure.

"Alas, I have said it before. Zaleal goes where the wind takes him, and the wind does not take me to Rockport. My destination lies elsewhere, I'm afraid.", Zal said, showing Nokin a subtle, sad smile, a first for the exaggerated and boisterous bard. "It was my pleasure teaching you what I could. I am sure we shall meet again, and I hope by then you will have mastered what Zaleal has taught you, yes?"

The bard showed Nokin his cocky grin one last time before turning his back and beginning his way down one of the roads.

"Fate waits for no man, young Nokin! There is no time to waste, for either of us I'm afraid, so this will be our farewell for the moment.", the strange bard shouted, waving to Nokin without even turning back to face him."Oh! And try not to show off your powers in front of others. Most people are not as ignorant as you were, but many are still superstitious, and may not take it kindly!".

Nokin simply stood there, unsure as to what to do, now that his annoying, but entertaining and friendly companion was gone. He would miss Zal's company and his extensive knowledge, but Nokin didn't feel sad for long, as he remembered the purpose of his journey. He was but a few days away from meeting his old friend, and getting rid of the strange pendant that was hanging from his neck, hidden beneath his clothes, which, ever since the initial incident, had never shown any more suspicious activities. He looked at his hand and saw Zal's tablet still pouring water onto the ground.

He supposed it was his now. Nokin continued his training, heading down the road leading towards Rockport with renewed determination.

10: Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 

Nokin felt a breeze, a nostalgic smell wafting its way into his nose. A fresh, salty smell that you couldn't find anywhere else: the sea.

Nokin let the deep blue expanse fill his sight. He thought back to the first and only other time he had seen it, in his youth. Nokin had been terribly excited to see the sea he had read so much about in Granny's books, his head full of stories of daring adventurers or knights on fantastical quests, exploring new and exciting lands, fighting the harsh weather and bloodthirsty, greedy pirates.

Nokin was the only child under Granny's care that truly took an interest in her small collection of books, some depicting fantastic stories about great adventures that Nokin loved, but quite a few where Nokin learned about plants, which were poisonous and which were good to eat, even which could be used to make medicine for assorted diseases, or books that talked about History and other subjects. Granny even had a single book that contained knowledge about Mathematics. Nokin didn't know what it could be used for, but he read the book after finally having exhausted the rest of the collection multiple times, learning about numbers as a hobby. He would often spend lazy days reading books, sitting beneath a tree's shade and enjoying the gentle breeze.

Nokin snapped back to the present moment, noticing he had inadvertently turned the small clay tablet in his hand, a magical object given to him by a mysterious bard, facing his legs, causing the water that was jutting out of it to completely soak his pants. Nokin sighed, and concentrated his energy into his legs, heating them up and slowly dissipating the moisture.

He had spent the last few days training the skills the mysterious bard Zaleal had left him with, before he left just as quickly as he had joined him. He was still unable to control the magic he turned self-sustaining, and he gave up on that area for the time being, starting to experiment with other forms of magic.

He still had in his mind the fantasy of throwing a fireball against his enemies, and he thought why he should limit himself to Zal's rules. He could control his magic as long as he didn't sever the ties that connected his spell to himself, as long as he kept supplying it with energy, so he created a small ball of flames, and tried throwing it forward. The ball flew forward just as he envisioned it, but as it got farther and farther away from Nokin he could feel the amount of energy being drained from his body increase exponentially with the distance, and when the ball was about two arm's length away from him, the amount being drained was so great his vision blurred for a moment before the flames disappeared altogether. The amount of energy required for the attack without severing the ties was many, many times larger than the energy required to manipulate a fireball of the same size that had been severed and existed independently from Nokin, who learned this the hard way.

However, he didn't give up with his experimentation of what he called "maintenance" spells, because they required constant attention and energy to be used. One such spell was the one he was currently using. He had been able to use wind recently, inspired by Zal's use of the element to help start a fire and clean a spot of small debris before sitting in it. And based on his training of creating multiple sources of energy simultaneously, he was successful in creating wind and also heating it up, which he was currently sending into his pants.

He had become used to his powers, despite his initial fear and disbelief. Under Zal's care and his constant training, tapping into his inner power and bending his previously assumed laws of nature had become as natural to him as breathing. He sometimes thought of how Granny would react when she found out one of her children had "meddled in what no human should", but he was positive she wouldn't mind once he explained it to her just as Zal explained it to him.

When he was dry, he began walking again. He knew he was a little under a day away from Rockport, but he would probably stop and set up camp before reaching the city, to avoid arriving at night and spending part of his measly amount of 6 iron coins, which Granny gave him for whatever he might need, in a night and meal in one of the town's many inns.

It was best to sleep a fair distance away from the town, as he had been warned that there were many bandits who preyed on poor folks who slept in the city outskirts, unable to afford a decent place to sleep within the town's safety. And Nokin felt he had had enough trouble with bandits for the time being.

After setting up camp behind a large rock, which gave some protection against the wind blowing towards the sea at night, and before preparing his dinner, Nokin practiced some of the breathing techniques he had been taught, designed to strengthen his core, and serve as a form of meditation. Nokin felt it worked in making him feel calmer, and less impatient, which he guessed was the exact purpose of the exercise.

He lit the campfire with magic, thinking how absurdly convenient this strange power was, and why he had ever been weary of it. During the night, just as most nights, Nokin tried extending his consciousness outwards, something he only had even minimal success when he was relaxed and trying to sleep. Even when he rested during the day he was unable to do it, the light shining against his closed eyelids were enough to distract him and center his sense of self back into his body. That night he once again slowly let out a sensorial net around him, before slowly drifting into sleep.

Nokin woke up suddenly. Something had touched him, yet when he opened his eyes he couldn't see anyone close. He realized what he felt wasn't a physical touch, but something that had abruptly entered the range of his net. He noticed a dark figure, now slowly making its way towards the, seemingly, sleeping Nokin. He had thought he had made camp sufficiently far away from the city, but he underestimated the greed of criminals. He slowly reached for his trusted dagger beneath his cover, waiting for the unknown assailant to get closer. When he was within arm's reach, Nokin suddenly got up, grabbing the criminal and using him as leverage to get up faster, while throwing his opponent down at the same time. He felt a sharp, burning pain on his side, but ignored it as he mounted the fallen criminal. His opponent had a curved dagger in hand, and was struggling against Nokin's weight to stab with it

Nokin grabbed the wrist that was holding the weapon and slammed into the ground repeatedly, until the bandit dropped it with a grunt. Nokin then pressed his dagger against the bandit's throat, intent on slitting his throat.

A second passed, then another, in what seemed a painfully slow crawl. Nokin had his dagger pressed against his opponent's throat, a man armed with a knife who had planned to attack him in his sleep and take his life and all of his belongings. But he couldn't bring himself to end his life, as he looked into the man's desperate eyes, having stopped struggling and simply lying very still, pressing into the ground as if he could somehow shift through it and away from the blade being held against his soft skin. Nokin began sweating profusely, his hands shaking slightly. The motion caused a small cut, and Nokin watched as a small stream of blood made its way slowly to the ground.

He got up with a jump and took a step back.

"Get out of here! If I ever see you again I'll kill you!", he spat out.

The bandit slowly got on his feet, gripping his wrist with his other hand. He walked past Nokin with his back hunched and a defeated look on his face. However, when he got close to a panting Nokin, he suddenly grabbed Nokin's hand, which was still holding the dagger, and violently shoved it hilt deep into Nokin's abdomen.

Nokin's eyes shot open, the pain quickly filling his mind, overpowering all his other senses. His eyes suddenly and quickly changed. Both his iris and pupil became blood red in color. The bandit let go of the weapon and stepped back, his face pale. He started shaking and muttering nonsensically, before turning back and running away as fast as he could.

This was no deterrent for a hate blinded Nokin, his vision tainted red and focused on the destruction of the source of his pain. Before he knew what he had done, an inferno lit up the sky in a place he only knew was vaguely in front of him. When he came to his senses he saw that were there was once a running criminal now laid a charred corpse. He felt sick to his stomach and puked what felt like all of his meals from the last three days.

When he stopped he looked down to his own blood stained shirt, his dagger still stuck firmly in his body. He yelled in pain as he yanked it out, feeling light headed and almost fainting when a large spurt of blood squirted out of the wound.

Just as he felt himself losing consciousness, the pendant hanging from his neck began pulsating in a familiar fashion. He ripped out what was remaining of his shirt, seeing the pendant once again begin to glow. As his blood heated, he heard a sizzling sound, and looking further down, at his own wound, he could see smoke coming out of it, as his flesh slowly covered the hole left by the dagger. Nokin could only watch as his wound healed itself, leaving no mark to prove an injury had ever been there at all. When it was done, Nokin felt a sudden and great depletion of his inner energy, fatigue throwing Nokin over the edge, who slumped to the ground as he finally felt his consciousness slip away.

[It's okay, you can rest. I took care of you. Good night], a silvery voice whispered to him.

Nokin woke up the next morning before the sun came up, sore and stinking of his own vomit. He did his best to ignore the charred remains that served as the only proof of last night's events for the moment. Nokin then did his best to wash himself off with warm water he created using magic. But no matter how hard he tried to focus on his tasks, he couldn't get the image of the terrified bandit's face just before he started running for his life out of his mind. What had triggered it? Nokin hadn't used magic then, in fact, he had just offered the criminal the chance to walk away with his life. He had no idea of the change his appearance had undergone, nor was he aware any normal person would have slumped down to the ground after such an attack, not continue standing, and much less emanate such powerful bloodlust.

Nokin skipped breakfast and his morning exercises. He dug a grave and buried the remains of the bandit before continuing towards Rockport. He decided to never speak of the incident again, blaming the bandit for attacking him despite his efforts to spare his life. He didn't think of the explosion he created, nor did he pay any mind to the pendant's strange power, choosing to push it to a corner of his mind until he was ready to cope with the events. In the meantime, he had other objectives to focus on.

After two hours of walking, Nokin finally arrived at his destination, still somewhat early in the morning. Rockport, a large town, but still rustic in appearance. It didn't have any large and imposing stone walls and buildings. Instead, it had short, just about three to four times taller than Nokin, but thick wooden walls covering each side of the town that wasn't facing the sea, with two taller watchtowers in each corner opposite the shore. Nokin could see guards posted there, with bows and quivers strapped to their back, and small horns at their waist, to sound an alarm in case of attack, and most houses were also made of wood, with little planning or structure to the way they were distributed, most building being made by the people who originally used and lived in them. The danger of fires seemed to not overly concern the citizens, who trusted the large water source they had available to quickly deal with what could happen. The sole exception to this was a single, large, imposing building made entirely of stone in the center of the town. This was the headquarters and training area of the Peace Watch, and also the place where criminals were placed in a dungeon underground. Nokin approached the main gate, where a moderate amount of people, on carts, horses or on foot where going both in and out.

Once inside, Nokin immediately felt nostalgic, remembering how everything seemed so gigantic to him, as he tightly grabbed onto Granny's skirt, trying his best to not get lost in the sea of people unprecedented to him, even compared to the busy festival he knew. The town wasn't quite as big as he remembered it, but it would still take a good two hours walk, or more, to go from one end to the other at a normal pace.

Nokin started making his way into the town's center, eager to meet his friend. Many merchants tried to shove merchandise in his face, claiming they had the solution to all his worldly problems, whether it be hunger, odor, style, or even troubles when 'performing' with female companions. Nokin ignored them all, too poor to buy anything even if he had wanted to.

Eventually he managed to reach his destination, the Watch Headquarters. He walked past several young men and women training hard in the courtyard in front of the building, running laps around the building, sparring with each other, swinging swords at large wooden statues, of much better quality than what Dagger had made back home, or firing arrows at circular targets made of straw. Nokin passed an impressive set of solid wood doors, twice as tall as him and at least three times as wide, which were open at the moment. Inside was a small reception area, with a old female clerk behind a smooth stone counter, her eyes facing down to a large parchment she was currently writing something on.

"Hello, I am here to see a recent recruit?", Nokin said, trying to get the woman's attention.

The woman kept writing for a few moments, finally laying down her elegant writing feather, which had a deep blue color and seemed very well maintained.

"Yes? A new recruit, was it? We get many of those, could you be more specific?", the lady tiredly asked.

"I can, he was the winner of the recruitment tournament in the left arm mountain region, named Dagger.", Nokin specified.

"Ah, that makes it much more simple, let me get our log", the woman sighed in relief, her workload apparently lessened. She leaned down, grabbing another parchment from somewhere beneath the counter. "Let's see here…Dagger, Dagger…ah! Here he is. Hmm, I'm sorry, I'm afraid he is out on patrol at the moment, there had been word of an increased number of goblins in the woods to the south, and he was sent with the inspection regiment as part of his training. They are expected to return sometime next week."

Nokin felt disappointed that he wouldn't be able to see his friend, since he didn't have enough money or provisions to last him a week in the city and still make his way back home.

"I understand, would it be alright if I left a note and an object for him?", Nokin dejectedly asked.

"Certainly, you may leave both with me and I promise I will have them reach his hands when he returns. Do you want some paper? I could also write if for you if you preferred.", the lady offered, touched by the young man's disappointed and sad demeanor.

"That's alright, I can write it myself.", Nokin answered, taking the paper, pen and ink the lady offered him.

[Dear Dagger,

By the time you read this I will most likely be back home, being scolded by Granny for taking too long in my trip. I was sad I couldn't meet you in person, but I just wanted to let you know everyone is doing fine. Green has started going into the woods with me often, and he's even been coming home with a few rabbits of his own! Aster is the same as always, even if it gets a bit quiet and lonely without you around for her to scold. With this note you should also be receiving a sword, Granny had one made for the both us. Mine is very different, but it's still really good, Alfred did a fantastic job, it would have been fun if we could have sparred once with them, I've gotten pretty good with mine over these last couple of weeks!

I hope you're having fun and everything goes well.

Good luck Dagger, from your brother,

Nokin]

Nokin finished writing the letter, handing both it and Dagger's sword to the lady, which promptly stored them beneath her counter.

"So, young man, is there anything else you needed?", she asked.

"Yes, actually, would you happen to know where the Ashbed inn is?", Nokin asked, eager to finish his second task and go back home, since his main motivation was gone.

"Ashbed inn, was it? I believe I do, it's closer to the docks, in the poorer district", the old lady informed Nokin, who thanked her and went on his way,

It took Nokin quite a long time to reach his destination, the town was quite large and the lady's vague instructions were not enough for him to gain a proper sense of orientation. He walked around the dock area, occasionally asking people if they knew where the inn was, and whenever a person recognized the name they would point in the general direction with directions he didn't fully understand, referencing places and landmarks he didn't know of.

By the time Nokin reached his destination, there was one, at most two, hours of sunlight left in the day. He approached a dirty, broken down building that was built in a sort of wide alleyway, surrounded by bigger, more well maintained buildings. Hanging in front of the building was a sign with a small fireplace painted on it, but instead of a fire it had a pile of ash, with a small line of black smoke coming out of it. The 'luxurious' Ashbed inn.

As he approached the building he could hear drunken laughter coming from behind the building. He was about to dismiss it but then he heard another voice, a female voice that was speaking quite loudly.

"Please, sirs! I've said no, please just leave me alone."

Nokin went to inspect the situation, unable to ignore the distress the voice transmitted. When he reached the back of the inn, he saw two drunken men talking to a girl, who was holding a small bucket, and pressing herself against the wall, turning her face away from the breath of the men who were a bit too close for comfort. The girl had long, golden curls, and was wearing simple clothes fit for a waitress at an in or pub, and she seemed to be about Nokin's age, maybe a year or two older.

"Aw, come on Joan, throw two old men a bone, will ya? We saw you looking at us, you know", one of the men slurred, clearly intoxicated to the point where he could barely hold himself upright without supporting himself with his hand on the wall. However, rather than the wall he seemed to "mistakenly" had placed his hand on the girl, slowly moving it up and down her side.

Both men were wearing normal clothing, but Nokin noticed they both had swords hanging from their hips, deciding they were dangerous and the situation should be diffused before the girl was hurt, stepping in with his hands resting on his own weapons.

"Excuse me sirs, I think it's about time you both went home.", Nokin confidently told the drunken men.

They slowly turned towards him, trying to focus their eyes on the stranger that had just appeared.

"An' who the hell are you?", asked the other men, who seemed slightly more in control of his own body, and noticed Nokin's weapons. "Are you a mugger?!"

The man drew his own sword and approached Nokin, who drew his sword and dagger. The drunken man clumsily swung his sword towards Nokin, who easily blocked it with his sword, hitting the man in the face with the pommel of his dagger. The man fell to the ground, and the girl gasped, covering her mouth. The other man, however, seemed shocked, and regaining some of his senses, running into the building through a small back door.

"Quickly, you need to run!", the girl said, running up to Nokin and pushing him into a small, narrow alleyway. "Quick, you don't have much time!"

"Calm down, I can handle a few drunken miscreants.", Nokin laughed, slowly being pushed towards the entrance of the alleyway.

"No, you don't understand, they're-"

"There he is! Hey, you! You are under arrest for the assault of a Peace Watch officer of the town of Rockport!", a man wearing a soldier uniform shouted, coming out from the small door, closely followed by some more soldiers and normal dressed men, including the other drunken man who had just gone inside. "Surrender now or face the consequences!".

"Run! Now! I'll hold them off and try to explain!", the girl said one last time, giving Nokin a final push towards the alleyway and turning to face the soldiers.

Nokin was running with all his might, vaguely hearing the girl screaming at the soldiers. A few seconds later he heard water being splashed and the sound of several footsteps behind him. He made as many turns as he could in the maze like pathways the alleyway had lead him to. He was just thinking how it was possible he had gotten himself in this mess when all he had done was save an innocent girl from drunken harassment, when he was suddenly pulled through an open door that was then shut behind him. He was inside a dark room, and was about to shout, but a small, bony hand covered his mouth.

He heard the soldiers run past, shouting among themselves to split up in various directions, and to find the "violent criminal" that attacked a "pristine member" of their Watch, those colorful descriptors coming from a slightly slurred voice that seemed familiar to Nokin.

His eyes got used to dark, and he saw the person whose hand was covering his mouth. A small, skinny kid with long, dirty black hair, who looked like he never had a decent meal in his life, his eyes like a wild dog.

"I saw what you did. Joan is a good girl, she always gives me leftovers when no one catches her…That guy had it coming.", the boy whispered. "My name is Rat, and I know every nook and cranny of this city. Stick with me and I'll get you out of this, ok?"

Nokin nodded, and the young boy removed his hand from Nokin's mouth.

"Good. Now follow me.", he said, not a whisper, but in a still low voice.

He led Nokin up some decrepit wooden stairs, into an equally decrepit room and out a small window, jumping to the roof of the building in front of it. Nokin followed, landing with a thud and groaning.

"Ssh. Be quiet.", the boy told Nokin, before squatting low and moving forward.

Nokin imitated him, closely following his movements. They jumped across two more roofs before going into another abandoned house, although this one seemed to be in a, comparatively, good condition, despite still being quite run down. They went up one more floor, and the boy named Rat opened a trap door that Nokin hadn't even noticed until Rat put his hand on a concealed latch and pulled it down, revealing an entrance to the house's roof.

They were quite high up by this point, but Rat confidently made his way to the edge, stomping the ground with his foot to make sure it was still secure, before making a long jump to a nearby roof of almost the same high, just slightly lower.

Nokin hesitated, but Rat made impatient signals for him to hurry up, and he didn't want to seem cowardly in front of the young boy who reminded him of his small brothers, so he gathered himself and jumped. It was easier than he expected, and he cleared the distance with more than enough space between him and a nasty fall. He was going forward so quickly, however, that he was incapable of landing properly, falling on his face.

"Are you alright there…uh, I didn't get your name, actually.", Rat said, seemingly more relaxed now that they had covered some distance.

Nokin once again admonished himself for his lack of manners, and introduced himself.

"I'm Nokin, thank you for your help. What happened back there?", Nokin asked, incapable of understanding how the Watch could side with those drunken troublemakers.

"Like anything, not everyone in the Watch is in it with the best of intentions.", Rat said, spitting loudly to the side. "Those two are always messing with Joan, I've wanted to punch them myself for a long time, but Joan always said I should stay out of trouble, and it wasn't worth it…"

The young boy was first angrily pretending to punch the air, but he then stopped, dragging his foot side-to-side, embarrassed for his lack of usefulness.

"Well, if I knew they were watchmen I probably wouldn't have attacked them either. You did the right thing.", Nokin consoled the young boy, who had a small amount of snot slowly coming out of his nose, which he wiped to the sleeve his old, dirty and very worn down shirt.

"Right. Anyways, let's just camp out here for a bit, and when it gets dark we'll climb down, there is a small ladder that we can throw down right over there", Rat said, pointing to a corner of the rooftop. "I guess the original owner of this house liked to be able to make an escape whenever he felt like it."

"You know, I hope I'm not being rude, but you talk really well for a kid who looks like he grew up in the street.", Nokin said, surprised after hearing many people talk in the poor district on his way to finding the inn.

"Yeah, I know right?", Rat said with a small laugh. "Joan taught me, she said it wasn't right for a young boy like me to talk like a sailor. She taught me how to speak properly, and how to read…sort of. I'm not very good at it, but sometimes she wouldn't give me any food until I learned what she wanted me to."

They spent some time talking, Nokin telling Rat how life in the mountains was, and Rat telling Nokin what it was like to grow up in a town. When the sun started going down, Rat got up, and revealed a rope ladder, which was essentially two ropes tied securely to the roof, with sticks between them at regular intervals. Rat vouched for its safety as he threw it down to the ground below. Nokin wondered how he would get it back up, and the boy said later he would climb back up, put it in place and climb down through a more dangerous path he didn't think Nokin would be capable of climbing down on.

Once they reached the ground they were at the end of a dead end alley. Rat turned to Nokin to say his farewell.

"They should have given up by now, those guys are lazy, so I don't think they'll keep looking now that it's dark. Watch yourself out there, Nokin, there are a lot of bad people who won't hesitate to lie and trick you to get what they want.", Rat warned, before turning back and getting ready to climb back up the ladder.

"There he is! Sir, I found the criminal!"

Suddenly a single soldier holding a torch was standing at the entrance of the alleyway, shouting to his right side. Nokin and Rat froze in place. Nokin knew there was no way to escape this time, and he reacted quickly. He drew his dagger and grabbed the small boy, holding him in front of himself.

"Stay back! I have a hostage!", Nokin shouted towards the soldiers, who were rushing to block of access to the alley.

"What are you doin-urgh!", the boy grunted, as Nokin interrupted him with a small punch to his ribs. He then hid his mouth behind Rat's hair and whispered.

"Shut up and go with it. Would you rather be an accomplice or a victim?", Nokin asked in a low voice.

Rat's eyes opened wide before giving Nokin a small, barely noticeable nod.

"Release the child! Surrender now or we will be forced to shoot!", an officer looking old soldier shouted towards Nokin, two men at each side with bows at the ready.

Nokin let Rat go, who ran up the ladder, putting his dagger back in the scabbard before kneeling on the ground with his hands on the air.

"I understand! I surrender.", he told the soldiers, who were slowly walking up to him after deciding to ignore the escaping boy.

He waited for them to arrest him, and when they got near him and saw he wasn't offering resistance, one of the soldiers walked behind him. Nokin suddenly felt a large amount of pain in the back of his head.

[Befriend the old man, but be wary of him, there is more to him than he lets others see…]

A deep, booming voice, crashed inside Nokin's head in a gigantic wave, washing away everything else he had on his mind in that moment. Once the words faded, he simply thought to himself how ridiculously often he seemed to have fallen unconscious recently, and the increasing amount of strange voices in his head.

The last thing he saw was his body being dragged by two soldiers.

11: Chapter 11

Chapter 11

-A few days before Nokin arrives in Rockport-

"Damn, do you ever not try so hard? Seriously, lighten up", said a skinny, sharp looking young man, sitting in the ground and massaging his right shoulder while sighing heavily.

"Is that what you're going to say when it's a real enemy with a real sword next time, Rash?", another young man replied, this one tall and muscular, his muscles stretching his clothes as if they had recently become too large to fit properly, standing in front of the smaller youth and holding a wooden practice sword in his hand. "The point of these sparring matches is for us to be prepared for actual combat, I'm trying to help you."

"Right. I think I'd prefer it if you 'helped' me a little less strongly next time, Dagger", Rash said, holding out his hand for Dagger to grab, and getting up with a small grunt. "I was under the impression we were trying to gain experience, not bruises."

"Who said they're not one and the same?", Dagger replied, as he calmly walked in the direction of a large stone building, passing the reception area and into a large, but stuffy room, where fresher recruits than him were being instructed in basic swordsmanship by some of the younger instructors. He walked up to a small wooden rack, where a large amount of wooden swords and a variety of bows were being hung, and he stored the wooden sword he had just been using.

He was getting ready to leave when he was spotted by one of the instructors.

"Hey Dagger! Would you mind coming over here? We're doing a small demonstration for the new bloods.", a short haired, dark skinned youth said, about two years older than Dagger, with a similar muscular build but slightly taller.

Dagger had only been with the Watch for little over two months, nearing his third, but he had already gained a reputation of a strong sword arm and a friendly, hardworking disposition, gaining him respect from his similar aged peers, even those who had joined before and were of higher rank than him.

"Sure, I've got time Meatloaf.", he cheerily answered as he picked his sword back up, always eager for a decent fight, having been thrilled to meet many fighter of similar skill to him and Nokin after arriving in Rockport. He had been worried none of his new friends would be able to make his blood boil like Nokin did seeing how his smart, crafty and creative brother would always come up with new ways to surprise him, attacking in ways he hadn't even thought were possible. Fortunately, he quickly learned this wasn't the case, earning himself a fair amount of bruises when he underestimated one of his swordsmanship instructors. The very same he was now happily talking to, having found they were actually quite alike and becoming friends shortly after the incident.

"How many times are we going to go through this? My name is Matai Olaf. Next time you call me Meatloaf I'm giving you a bigger beat down than when you got here Dagger.", the older youth said with a menacing voice, but an oppositely very friendly smile.

"You could try Mat, but I'll warn you I've gotten a lot better, and from what I was seeing right now you seem about the same", Dagger mocked as he walked past heavy breathing recruits and joined Mat's side.

"Well, why don't we try it out right now? See if you have your words match your skill, mountain boy.", Mat challenged, readying his sword and facing Dagger. "What do you say? Can you show these kids what a real fight looks like?"

Those 'kids' were essentially the same age as Dagger, and only slightly younger than Matai, but still Dagger simply let out a small laugh and assumed a stance of his own.

Dagger had grown incredibly skilled during his stay in the training facilities of the Watch, not only strengthening his already well built muscles but also learning how to use them more effectively. Instead of simply throwing his weight behind every strike, he learned how to use feints to bypass an opponent's guard, and how to properly hold his sword so he could easily block strikes from various directions and quickly counter attack. He knew when to swing hard and when to strike lightly, such as when he knew he would be blocked and simply wanted to use the first strike to chain into a second or even third more powerful strike after having a better understanding of the opponent's level of skill and combat habits.

Dagger learned most of his lessons with blood and sweat, each and every one beaten into his thick skull by his more experienced instructors, who were secretly happy to teach a young man with the determination and toughness to see through their harsh training without complaints and understanding what makes an efficient soldier.

Dagger spent a few minutes sparring with Mat, until the recruits were rested and Mat decided it was time for them to start working again after seeing how their stances and attacks were supposed to look like. Having once again hanged his practice sword, Dagger was about to leave the inner practice hall when he noticed a familiar face staring at him from the door. He recognized the old, but strangely ageless face before him, with white hair and a long white beard that reached around the height of his heart. His muscles where not as full and bursting with strength as they had been in his prime, but they still looked incredibly tough and resilient, the body of a man who had been through and survived several life and death situations, and his piercing light blue eyes had such a sense of authority that any recruits would swear they were about to be killed the first time they were exposed to his gaze for a prolonged period of time.

The man was no one other than the highest ranking officer in the Rockport branch of the Peace Watch, Captain Joshua Broadshield. Some of the older members of the Watch told Dagger that his last name was not his birth-given family name as he was originally from one of the middle-ranked noble houses in the capital, but that he abandoned his title and the riches associated with it due to strife with his father. The exact details of what caused the conflict were unknown to the soldiers, but the fact remained that he then joined the Watch and made a name for himself, rising in rank and gaining prestige for his actions in the frontier lands of the kingdom, finally earning a comfortable, but dull, commanding position in Rockport. The name Broadshield is said to have been given to him by the High Commander of the King's Army during his youth, who said he would feel at ease going in campaigns into foreign and enemy territory, knowing Joshua and his Watch would stay behind to defend his homeland.

"Recruit Dagger, that was a good fight, not many of our young soldiers can keep up with Matai like that, and certainly not recruits who have been here less than a year.", the old man complimented Dagger, with a soft, yet strangely intense voice, that never failed to send shivers down Dagger's spine.

"Thank you sir, the instructors have been teaching me very well, so I can't take full credit for it", Dagger answered respectfully, as he saluted the commanding officer.

"Humph, being overly modest won't get you anywhere boy, take pride in your accomplishments, while you're still young enough to make new ones.", the captain scoffed, waving Dagger out of his salute into a more casual stance. "There is something I wish to discuss with you. Present yourself to my office in twenty minutes. I can assume by then you will have freshened yourself and will be wearing something more presentable?"

"Sir, yes sir!", Dagger answered, quickly making his way to his quarters.

Dagger slept in the recruit quarters, one of several large rooms with several bunk beds. Dagger approached his own bed, having just gotten out of the large public bath the soldiers shared. With his tight time limit, all he really did was jump in and quickly scrub his body without any of the cleansing sand that was supplied to them, that left the skin red, but clean and with a fresh fragrance, quickly getting back out and leaving his training clothes in a basket with dozens of similar and dirty clothes. He grabbed a fresh set of clothes, which Granny had given him before he left for Rockport, made with her own skilled craftsmanship, before setting off in the direction of the Captain's office, in the top floors of the building.

When he got there, he found a soldier stationed outside the door. When he told him the Captain was expecting him, the guard lightly knocked on the door before going in, shutting the door behind him. A few moments later he came back out.

"You can go in, the Captain would like to speak with you.", the guard simply told Dagger, before stepping aside and letting him walk into the open room, closing the door again once Dagger was inside.

The captain was sitting behind a very well-crafted desk made of solid, worn but elegant wood. Next to him, standing, was another older man, with grizzled hair and beard a few tones darker than the captain's pure white hair, calmly scratching his scruffy beard that gave him a sense of ease when beside the stern and neat looking captain. Dagger recognized him as the captain's right hand man, Lieutenant Raizer.

"Ah, Recruit Dagger, you managed to arrive early, excellent. Please, take a seat.", the captain said, rolling up a small parchment he was reading, handing it to Raizer before gesturing Dagger to sit down in a simple chair set in front of the desk.

"Thank you sir.", Dagger said as he approached the chair and sat down. "Excuse my rudeness, but might I know why I was called? I don't recall any action that could be condemnable…"

"Don' worry kid. We're not here to tell you off", Raizer reassured, shaking the parchment that was now in his hand. "This right here is a report that arrived early this morning from one of our regular scouting troops. A large amount of goblins have been sighted deep in the forest to the south."

"I see. But, how does this concern me? I haven't even been given a rank yet.", Dagger said, confused as to why he had been called to a meeting with the two highest officials he knew.

"Oh haven't you? Are you sure of that, Trooper Initiate Dagger?", Raizer asked, with a small smirk. Even the captain had a slight smile in the corner of his lips.

Dagger was left speechless. There were five main basic classes of soldiers in the Peace Watch: Troopers, Piercers, Snipers, Scouts and Footmen.

Footmen were the most common of the five, for those who didn't show particular aptitude for any of the other classes, serving as versatile troops with a wide range of skills and tactical uses, wearing the standard armor usually associated with the Watch, quilted armor with chain-mail providing extra protection, and often being quickly dispatched to where they were most needed, with the highest traveling speed of any unit, trained specifically for high mobility and adaptability to most combat situations. They would normally use their swords and shields unless there was a lack of a particular class, in which case they would adopt the weapon that was required.

Snipers were the second most common, for those with especially keen eyes and good aim, using their bows or crossbows to shoot the enemies from afar. They could use a sword, but their first reaction to an approaching enemy would be to draw back and run to a vantage point where they would be able to keep shooting, due to their lighter armor that didn't weigh down their arms, and by extension their aim, and that didn't restrict their movements in their joints.

Third there were the Piercers, soldiers with a strong arm and good compatibility with their fellow soldiers, who compensated what they lacked in defense, simply wearing the same armor as the Footmen but without their advantage of a shield, with an overwhelming offense, using spears from behind the defensive line formed by their allies, being particularly effective against heavily armored enemies or those on horseback, switching to their swords if the enemy got too close. This was a last resort, however, since this would require them to drop their spears, draw their swords and use said sword without the protection from a shield, putting them at a significant disadvantage even if they were able to pull out their weapon in time after the enemy breached the defensive wall.

Then you had the Scouts, soldiers with an aptitude for equally swift and silent movements, usually traveling only with fellow scouts, gathering information on enemy positions, numbers and the threat they could pose, occasionally attacking with ambushes or hit-and-run tactics if they were sure they could handle the enemies with minimal casualties. They resorted to traps, short bows that were easy to carry and shoot, and carried a dagger and a short sword with them if they were forced into a close brawl, although they were mostly not suited for frontal, close combat, as such being the only non-combat specific class.

Finally you had the Troopers, these were the soldiers that, unlike the Scouts, were most fitted for full frontal, direct combat. They wore the heaviest armor, their quilted armor replaced with a splint armor covering their limbs, and a bulkier scale armor protecting their chest, with the added protection of very light metal helmets, which covered the top and a portion of the side of the head, with no visor, allowing for full visibility to the user. They were the most skilled with the sword, capable of cutting down any enemies that came towards them, either using a sword and shield like Footmen, or wielding heavier swords that required both hands to use. They were charged with the front line, the very first line of defense and attack, protecting the allies at their back while attacking the enemies in front, usually forming a sort of partnership with Piercers, who would strike down the enemies that were locked in combat with the stalwart Troopers, lunging their spears from behind them whenever an opportunity presented itself. Troopers where, for those reasons, characterized as being the most reliable, determined and fearless members of the Watch, those who were always the closest to facing their death in each battle despite their heavier protection.

There were also a significant amount of sub-classes that each soldier could take onto himself if they showed an aptitude and willingness for it. These could go from Blacksmith, repairing and maintaining equipment on the field, to Medic, who was able to administer emergency medical treatment that even if it weren't as good as professional aid in ideal conditions, it could still either save a soldier's life or prolong it long enough for him to receive proper treatment, to even Cook, who was responsible to cook the meals for his comrades, ensuring they would be in high spirits when the time came to head into battle.

Among the main classes, one would always begin as an Initiate, and in the case of Troopers they would make their way to simply Trooper, then Trooper Vanguard and finally Trooper Shield, with similar progression among the other classes. After that ranks were independent from which class you started with.

It was for this reason Dagger was dumbfounded, not believing he had been chosen to enter such a prestigious position among the beginners. As ranks in the Watch would go up classes would become less important, as tactical and leadership skills became more relevant, and there weren't any real rivalries between each class, seeing as how they all depended on one another to survive on the battlefield and knew the worth their comrades had. Despite knowing this, Troopers were still the closest to the idea Dagger had of what a Knight should be, and he had admired the older soldiers that belonged to the Troopers. Not to mention he had been a recruit for not even three whole months before graduating from his recruitment and basic training. As far as he knew this was not at all a common occurrence.

"Sirs, I…I don't know what to say. Thank you very much.", he finally managed to say, his chest swelling with pride.

"Yes, you will be graduating with a few other recruits, although it will be recruits who joined a bit earlier than you.", the captain noted. "These graduates, including yourself, will graduate into and represent each of the four combat classes, one for each, and will accompany the expedition that will be sent to exterminate the goblins, to serve as your first field training. We are leaving tomorrow morning when the sun rises, so take the rest of today to make any preparations you see fit. Any questions?"

"No sir.", Dagger simply answered.

"Then you are dismissed, good luck Initiate", the captain dismissed Dagger, waving him towards the door. Dagger got up, showing the two men a salute before leaving the room. The captain responded with something that could almost be considered a nod, while Raizer gave Dagger a small wink.

Dagger spent the rest of the day retrieving his new Trooper equipment, familiarizing himself with it and how it was maintained. He also made sure to take a longer bath, knowing it would be his last for the foreseeable future, and finally packed the small amount of belongings he would require in the trip.

The next day Dagger was on top of a horse, waiting for the expedition to be ready to depart. As he waited a skinny youth approached him, also on horseback.

"Dagger! You graduated too? Well, I can't say I'm too surprised.", the youth said, pulling his horse up next to Dagger's.

"Hey Rash, what class are you?", Dagger asked. Rash smiled and pointed to his back with his thumb, where a large bow and a quiver were hung.

"Sniper. Guess they figured out my eyes are better than my sword arm. What about you?", Rash said, laughing in a relaxed manner.

"Trooper.", Dagger said, watching his friend's mouth open slightly. It reminded him a bit of Nokin in a way.

"Whoa, are you serious? That's amazing! Congratulations Dagger, I guess if anyone deserved it, it was you. Make sure to keep me safe, alright?", Rash said, patting Dagger's shoulder in a friendly way and letting out a small laugh.

"Men! Form up!", a loud voice interrupted.

Dagger looked to the source of the noise, and saw Raizer in front of him, rallying the various troop into formation. It seemed he would be responsible for the expedition, an extra caution to guarantee the safety of the newly graduated troops.

Following orders, they went to their designated positions and set off.

The journey took a few days before they were out of open fields and into the southern forest. And another day still before being anywhere deep enough to be close to the area the report described as the source of the monsters. Before entering the forest they made camp early, each soldier preparing and checking his equipment. Dagger put on his heavier set of armor, which he and the other Troopers did not wear when it was required for them to keep up with the higher pace of of the other soldiers in the expedition, which would now be slowed down when they entered the dangerous territory.

Goblins were infamous creatures, almost like a plague. They were humanoid, could use simple weapons and were capable of organizing themselves in small packs, but they had limited intelligence wit little talent for complex strategy and were about the size of a human child between the ages of 10 and 12. By themselves they posed little threat, but they bred rapidly and their offspring matured quickly, so if they were left unchecked they could quickly enlarge their numbers enough to become a serious danger to nearby communities.

No women participated in goblin hunts. Not because they were weaker than men or a liability, but because it was widely known of the beastly and savage treatment women would go under if captured by goblins. Most women would rather commit suicide than become goblin slaves, and as such they would not go in that sort of expedition, in the off chance that the very improbable happened. Only especially insistent women who truly wanted to participate, despite the risk, were allowed to go, being confident of their skill and with enough determination to make their choice in case the worst outcome came to be.

Dagger and Rash were riding side by side in the middle of the formation, traveling through a beaten dirt path occasionally having to go around a particularly large root, attached to one of the many gigantic trees that populated this ancient forest, the biggest Dagger saw almost reaching the height of the Watch's headquarters back in Rockport. Suddenly, they heard some commotion coming from the front of the formation, and suddenly a single rider galloping back towards them, passing them in great speed all the while repeatedly yelling to everyone else.

"Ambush! Enemies ahead! Get in battle formations!"

Dagger reacted quickly, readying his sword and shield before he really understood what was going on. Just as had pulled his shield out he felt a strong impact on his arm. Looking to his left he saw an arrow stuck to his shield.

"Snipers! Rash, come on, we need to get into formation and cover!", Dagger yelled, turning back right to where his friend was. But all he saw was his friend's horse darting into the woods. "Rash?! Where are you?!"

He looked down and saw him. Lying on the floor with an arrow in his chest, and another in his throat, his mouth open as if he had tried to scream before the light left his eyes forever.

Dagger was stunned. He was unable to process what was happening around him, and suddenly he felt something grab his leg and drag him down from his horse. Two small goblins had gotten close to him and forcibly dismounted him. He fell on top of one of the odd, misshapen creatures, crushing it beneath the combined weight of his body and his armor, but the other was now above him, wielding a sort of makeshift wooden club.

Dagger blocked the strike with his shield, stabbing the monster with his blade and quickly getting himself up on his feet. He looked around at the chaos that was spreading throughout the ranks of the Watch, as waves of goblins rushed out from the cover of the trees and arrows rained down from the treetops. Dagger didn't understand how such a large number of goblins were able to move around unnoticed until they had come so close, but his thoughts were interrupted as more goblins were running towards him, forcing him into a fighting stance.

He cut down two of them as they ran towards him, but three more were able to circle around him. He cut down one while bashing another with his shield and the last one hit his armor with no effect, so he quickly finished him off after the other two. When he was done he could see that his fellow soldiers were rallying in a specific point, so he started running in that direction holding his shield above his head, as arrows fell down on the ground around him.

"Come on men! Circle formation, don't let them get behind you! Snipers, look for where those arrows are coming from and shoot them down! Piercers, the enemy has no armor and they're a small target, use your swords! Troopers, don't let our men get hit, blunt weapons shouldn't be a problem for your armor!"

In the middle of the chaos was Raizer, barking orders at the top of his lungs while slashing countless goblins and setting up a defensive formation.

Dagger made his way into the formation, standing side by side with other Troopers to make a defensive wall to cull most of the goblins, who would sometimes still run beneath their legs, targeting the Snipers who were being defended by the remaining Footmen and Piercers, that quickly cut down the goblins who reached the second line of defense which they had made.

The Watch's soldiers fought valiantly, and suffered no more casualties after organizing themselves in their defensive formation, but for every goblin cut down, five more would take its place. And after some time the goblin's equipment began changing, instead of clubs they had rusty, small swords. At first they were ineffective against their armor, but then there was a significant turning point in the battle.

Suddenly, arrows seemed to strike with much greater accuracy, picking off Snipers and bypassing the Footmen's shields held high, hitting them in the legs and other exposed segments. Likewise, the rusty swords the goblins were using suddenly had much greater penetrative power, cutting through even the Trooper's sturdy armor.

Before he knew what was happening, Dagger was alone and surrounded by several goblins, his allies either having fallen back when they started receiving significant blows or falling to severe injuries. Dagger drew from his experience of being overwhelmed by numbers from the bandit harassment he received in his home's festival, to which he afterwards trained to ensure it would never happen again. He made a conscious decision to not stay focused in one enemy at a time, constantly swinging around to deflect and attack enemies from all sides, keeping them at bay and delivering a fatal strike whenever he had an opportunity. But no matter how many he killed, the gap he left would quickly be filled, and slowly the goblins managed to hit him, cutting his arms, legs and chest, making his movements become increasingly sluggish. When he was starting to feel there was no hope two goblins head's flew through the air and he felt a back pressed against his own.

"Are you ok kid? Stay focused, we'll make it out of this, at least they ran out of arrows.", Raizer said as he swung his sword, cutting down several goblins with each swing, if not killing them at the very least taking them out of the fight.

With his back covered, Dagger could finally take a deeper breath and analyze his surroundings. Indeed, there seemed to be no more arrow being shot, and he saw a handful of soldiers back to back just as he was now with his commanding officer, who he saw was, much like himself, covered in cuts of varying sizes all over his body.

No longer completely surrounded, they were able to fend off the attacks, until there came a point where the goblins stopped attacking them, simply standing a few steps away from them, staring.

"Sir, what are they doing? Have they given up?", Dagger hopefully asked Raizer.

"No, I doubt it. They have the clear upper hand, and somethin' about those weapons doesn't sit right with me…I have a feeling we're goin' meet whoever is responsible for this.", the grizzled veteran said.

Sure enough, shortly after the goblins all turned facing a section of the woods, and from it came out a short person.

Except, as it drew closer Dagger noticed it wasn't human at all. He had a blue-ish colored skin, much like the goblins, but he was much too tall to be called a goblin, and he had much slender and more elegant features, with well-toned muscles and overall human like appearance. He had two small fangs that curved upwards, coming out the corners of his mouth, and his eyes, if they could be called so, were deep, sky-blue spheres with small black dots in the center. With black, silky hair to the length of his shoulders, a straight, slender nose and equally elegant but clear jawline, the creature could almost be considered attractive by human standards, where it not for the primal, almost beastly aura it exuded, replacing any kind of affection one could have with fear and aggression.

He walked closer to Raizer, with an elegant and purposeful walk, where every movement seemed under an incredible amount of control, like a predator, leisurely making his way towards its prey.

"You. You are the leader, correct?", it said in a low, almost guttural voice, almost more akin to a snarl than an attempt at communication. Despite this, his words were easily understood, for a reason Dagger could not quite grasp, until he remembered a conversation he once had with Nokin.

This creature was a Hobgoblin. Nokin had always been the smart one, with his books and sharp wit, but Dagger, if nothing else, could always boast of his ability to commit things to memory. He recalled how Nokin had explained that, at least based on the fairy tales he had read, they were a very rare variant of goblins, born in areas with high concentration of magic. They were gifted with higher intelligence and physical abilities, and could even use magic. They were often depicted as evil, commanding legions of their lesser brothers, uniting them in numbers that goblins would usually never achieve on their own and teaching them war tactics they were too stupid to come up with, but not to too dumb to follow.

Dagger knew all this about Hobgoblins, but he never expected them to be real. They were villains created for stories, evil users of magic for great warriors to vanquish. How could they possibly be real? Dagger had heard from older soldiers that magic was very much something that existed, referring to stories of how the king could communicate with all of his army's highest officers, but he always thought they were lying to him, trying to make him look like a fool. But if magic were true it would explain many things. How the goblins had been able to sneak up on them in such large numbers, how the arrows had suddenly become so accurate from such great distances, and how rusty swords could cut through their superior armor so easily. All this went through his head, until he was interrupted by Raizer's response.

"That's right, I am. And who the hell are you?", he said menacingly, glaring at the strange creature.

"It doesn't matter who I am. I'm the one who is going to kill you if you don't take care of that…attitude.", the creature answered, in a slow, collected voice. But it was…odd. Dagger felt a chill that froze him to the very core. Something inside him was screaming that everything about that creature was dangerous and he should run away. Even Raizer seemed to have his determination waver for a moment, but he managed to regain his composure.

"Fair enough, you do have the upper hand…for now. So, what do you want?", the old soldier said, no longer glaring but still managing to look the anonymous hobgoblin in the eye like spheres he had in his face.

"I already have what I want: Victory. The question now is if you are going to surrender and save the lives of what little men you have left or if I'm going to kill all of you.", he said, laughing. It was the most disturbing laugh Dagger had ever heard, menacing, manic, clearly enjoying the pain, suffering and bloodshed that surrounded him. The laugh of a killer.

Raizer hesitated, but then threw his weapons to the ground.

"Throw your weapons away, soldiers! There is no honor for dead men.", he said, slightly hunching his back and accepting momentary defeat.

"A wise choice, human. Take them away.", the creature ordered the smaller goblins, who had somehow gotten hand of several ropes and small bags, and began tying up the standing soldier's arms to their backs, the rope going around their entire torso with a loose end in front, and covering their heads in the bags, tugging them by the ropes and dragging the ones who were lying on the ground, but still breathing, by their legs.

They were then lead into the forest. Dagger wondered what Raizer had been thinking to simply surrender like he did, but then he thought back to the chill he felt with the monster's words. Something about it was certainly not natural, magic or not. It was probably wise to not try to fight him with barely a handful of demoralized and injured soldiers, not knowing what kind of powers the creature possessed. He had no choice but to accept his commanding officer's decision and wait for the right time to act, letting himself be taken by the mob of cackling imps. The time would come where he would make them pay, he had promised his family he'd see them again, and he wasn't planning to break that promise anytime soon.

Over fifty soldiers disappeared in the woods that day. A little over 30 bodies would be found a few days later by a Scout party, surrounded by over a hundred small, mangled bodies.