Chương 58: Chapter 57: Hidden Danger

TARION Travelling down the River Deila's splitting shallow rivers to Menne, the capital of our dear country, I used the slower, winding journey to teach my steward Liam qinggong/movement arts. After travelling for a week, I was comfortable with the bobbing waves. But this feeling of foreboding danger kept increasing within me. As though we were sailing directly into the jaws of a beast to be eaten. However, we couldn't wait for the beast to strike forever.

With just a white shirt on my back and common breeches, I was resting over the taffrail of the cruising boat. I listened to the waves underneath while a soldier fell into the water again. I sent a mana tether to carry Liam's soaked arse out of the river. I dropped him on the boat; the fellow scowled at me like a sad cat.

"Told you, feel that humming with you. It's like singing. Maintaining a constant tone and note will help you stabilise."

"I know! I know…" Liam turned back and leapt upon the railing.

"It will take just some time. Not everyone is a genius like you…"

"Liam-" My steward jumped back into the water. The lightness technique made Liam become a leaf on the water. Each step caused a ripple. Liam slowly increased his speed, following the boat. However, every few steps he dipped.

"I see. Don't look worried; you did nothing wrong per se. I have taught you wrong." I pointed to his feet.

"Focus your domain around your feet." With Absolute Sense, I watched him follow my instructions.

"Good. Resonate with the water. Take root." Leaves rustled on the tree along the river. Like a radar, I sent out my qi. Several men. One of them is strong.

"Y' Grace! It's working!" From the weeds, a dark figure brandishing a dagger struck Liam from behind. A sabre wiggled from a sailor's sheath and came to my hand. A quick throw and the weapon skewered the assailant through his neck. Liam, on board. Kurt, guard the doors."

"Yes, Your Grace!" they shout in unison.

"My blade." I caught it spinning in mid-air. Liam found his shield and sword and guarded my back.

"Your Grace…" His quaking voice betrayed his true feelings.

"What's wrong? This is your chance. Are you going to stay there and quake in your little booties, or are you going to fight?!

"I-I-I'm going to fight!!" Lightning sparked as Jushua tested his new rapier. Proudly over his chainmail jacket with a hood, he shows off his new cuirass with wings displayed on the front.

"Your order, brother."

"Show Liam the ropes while I take care of their leader. Nice drip, by the way."

"Drip? The only thing dripping is your saliva when you start thinking." Giving my brother a middle finger as a farewell, a leap to the blue sky dipped the whole boat. Gazing at the browning trees that went farther beyond the horizon, I landed on a high branch, calling my opponents forward with my hue.

"COME. LET US FIGHT LIKE MEN." LIAM I echoed my senses like the duke, and I felt three men approach the bow. Using mana platforms, they skip across the water.

"Take care of the fifth circle on starboard. The lord and I will kill the rest."

"Right!?" My seniors had already left. Bloodlust brought my sword to guard. The attacker curved his sword, but I protected my left side with a shield coated in qi. However, the fifth circle's strength was so great that I was thrown against the captain's cabin wall. Hitting hard, my focus lapsed, and only by my instinct did I parry a thrusting blade. Seeing my chance to attack, I roared with green qi, and I ripped the air. The sly opponent sidestepped, taking three quick slices at my body.

"Bastard!" A qi slash broke wood as the attacker cut my right leg. My sword followed and missed. I missed and missed again. Each time, I received nicks on my body.

"Shit…" I wiped sweat from my brow. I allowed wood qi to rejuvenate my shallow injuries, but I was getting injured more than I could heal. The confident assailant dashed toward me, bright blue mana cut from above. I rooted myself and held my shield high. The mana exploded into mana essence. A feint. The attacker's blade blurred. I dropped to my knees as all the pain rushed in at once from my stomach. I looked down and saw dripping. I did not care to see what it was. Qi sewed into tissue, knitting me up.

A veteran's voice spoke.

"I will end the suffering quickly, young one." A sword fell down.

A week ago.

"Why is it like to experience a real battle?" I asked Duke Greystone during a break. He polished his greatsword on his lap.

"It's different for many people. But a common factor is that they find their real selves. Are they cowards, opportunists, selfish, or sacrificing? Do they love their family or do they hate the world? Would they die for country and duty, or would they rebel and live in spite of powers that be? They find the answer in war."

"What did you find in battle? I asked.

"I found proof of my existence. In the midst of battle, I can lose everything to a single arrow. I defy fate. I am alive because I willed it so." The duke stood and offered me a hand, and I took it.

"When the time comes, in the moments before death, that is how you discover who you really are, when you become who you are meant to be." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

NOW. A sword fell down. My shield hit with strength and qi, and I bunted the enemy in the ribs. The force sent him to the ship's railing. My shield blocked a mana slash, and I blitzed through the waves of mana to press the attacker against the railing. I jabbed at his head and missed, with him grasping my arm. In a struggle of strength, we broke the wooden rail, but with flooding my system, I pushed him off the ship and fell into the river. I followed him, landing in the deep river like it was earth.

I created a wave with each step. Qi Sense already saw him coming from my right for a sneak attack. Heightened senses helped me block five swift slices, and I parried down a thrust. I flash-stepped, punching my shield into the attacker's skull, and I heard a bone crack. I stepped into range, slashing from my left. Cutting through fingers and mana armour, my blade was stuck in the assailant's neck." I will end your suffering, old man!" A burst of qi ended the battle.

My enemy sank into the river, dyeing it red, and I howled to the sky.

"I AM MY FATHER'S SON! I AM LIAM LOTHSON! A WARRIOR!!" TARION Impressive, Liam. As my greatsword ripped through a fourth circle. I watched it all. I grabbed an ambusher's head, bouncing it like a basketball. It didn't bounce back up. My current opponents weren't great distractions. Leaving seven bodies behind, the rest hid, no longer underestimating the third circle. There. I thrust, shooting mana at a bush, and the coward escaped. A quick man. I was faster, impaling him with my greatsword.

I flung him to the sky, trying to squash a bug behind me. Breaking through their sword, I divided the man. One left. A corpse finally found the ground. I shone my hue bright and waited for an answer. Rather than a hue, I saw a mana slash, cutting trees on its way to me. I dashed forward, avoiding the mana slashes with no hassle. A dark-clad swordsman received my descending blade. As our swords created a blinding spark, trees were ripped from the roots, and soil became waves, pushing outward as if a meteor fell.

But the black-clad man smiled, unharmed. Crystallised mana shone in the sunlight. His stance was like a wild beast. Unrefined but tested in battle. He seemed used to fighting monsters more than men.

"What's a Hunter doing out of the woods? Ain't no monster piss to sniff here."

"No monster? Then what are you, red-eyed?" A tired old voice said. The hunter jumped from twenty metres, and I blocked his heavy slash that created more waves in the soil. I pushed his sword down, but he dodged the thrust at his head. The air exploded as I swiped right for his head. Slicing through the air, my sword spun around 200 degrees and saved my guts from almost spilling onto the floor. Locked and grinding, Qi pulsed away my enemy's blade.

Using the momentum, I swung my greatsword from high and slashed with a great stomp. Mana erupted from my sword's edge. Nothing should live in the line of my sword for acres. I sensed bloodlust on my left. The uninjured hunter pierced the air above me with a burning blue weapon as I dipped. A mana blast from my left hand hit his uncovered body and blasted him away into the other end of the crater. But out of the dirt, mana armour grew back around his torso, then resealed after a moment.

Mana jetted out of the Hunter's back, and he flew across the ground at me. This seven-circle… Flash-stepped made me appear before his face.

"Whoa!" A thick shield appeared around him in haste. My greatsword crashed into his shield from the right, slamming the hunter to the earth. Rolling in dirt, the hunter just managed to intercept my blade, and from the hunter's back, a dagger cut my cheek. His mana flared bright like a bonfire, and his force drove my great sword away. Flash stepped to evade a slice to my chest twice and caught a dagger aimed at my forehead. The hunter's blade sliced down from his left and missed as he leaned away.

Qi coating my greatsword, I unleashed my true speed, cutting under the hunter's ribs.

"Don't be stupid."

"Fuck you!" In a compromised position, the hunter spun, slicing at my head. My greatsword moved faster than my opponent could notice, cleaving a subpar hunter's arms. Uncle Loran is different from the other sevens I see. Or was this one weak? Uncle would at least have made me use my points. A man howled in pain, and my greatsword scratched his screaming Adam's apple.

"What happened in the forest? A man of your talents would be working as a 2-bit assassin. What has made you this desperate?"

"The monsters! They have b-been cursed! Not e-enough beast, not enough m-m-monster blood to sell! W-w-we can't even sell to the mages! What's a man to do?!" I examined the man. Sullen eyes and a ragged beard from not shaving and grooming properly. In this world, a man of his skill or higher would be two things. A hunter who seeks to kill monsters for the rare blood and meat used in rune spells and different medicines. And second, a knight under the king's order.

Both earn enough to allow their children's kids to be taken care of. But the real prestige is to work as a knight under a king. No eight-circle or above would miss the chance. Just shy of the eighth circle, what could he do? I took my blade from his throat and rested it on my shoulder. I looked at this poor soul and pitied him. Shall I ask her for help? Mana blocked his spit from touching my face.

"JUST KILL ME ALREADY! PLEASE! Please…my arms, my life is over…!" Tears washed his dirty face. A swipe of my sword ended the hunter's suffering. Would have been a waste of her time.

I dropped onto a blood-splattered boat. My brother chatted it up with one of the sailors, Kurt, leaning by the foremast, clean as a whistle. But Liam… Stepping down to the crew quarters, I found a golden glow in the corner.

"Sorry…Your Grace," he said to Vanessa, who was focusing her healing power on Liam's gut. The huge cut that would kill a normal man. The traumatised man still held his weapons that were painted red.

"Duke...!" Liam grimaced in agony but tried to hold a smile.

"You were right…" Understanding his feelings, I slapped his shoulder.

"Can you fight again?" Liam gave me a crazy grin.

"Most definitely." TARION RIVERWARD DOCKS After a day of gentle sailing on the calm River Deila, our ship found itself at the splitting river guarded by the famous city of Riverward, with its many houses by the river. Among the duchies, Riverward had the most friendly relationship with Osberg, although it was expected to at least keep a cordial relationship despite our troubles with finances, since we were close trading partners.

Given that it is small, it does serve as a fabulous trading spot that allows the capital to receive goods from Azerria and Osberg. Wanting to improve relations between our duchies, I thought to take a small rest and stop at the Riverward docks. But as soon as I stepped off the ship, the sorrow was palpable in the sea-stained air. The docks were too quiet. I sent a man to announce my arrival, and a viscount found us by the boat, sweating. But to our surprise, the duke had been giving the same order as we.

"Yes, it's true. He left days ago on his journey after failing – after guarding the border. But I recommend you do not stay here any longer!" Shouting in the distance echoes down to the dock. A furious man preached aloud from a pulpit. I went up to a roof to find the voice. The origin was a normal man, dressed in tatters, partly cursed. Not one person paid him any mind.

"RUN WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT! DEMONS COME WITH VENGEANCE BURNING BRIGHT! PROTECT YOUR LOVED ONES! SEEK REFUGE, REFUSE THE AID OF THE HEAVENLY ONE, FOR HE HIDES HIS DEMONIC WAYS! HEED MY WORDS! RUN!" I floated to the cursed man's side, and I scared the cursed man.

"Where do you fair from, good man?" I asked.

"I hail from Azerria, or what's left of it. It is no longer the place I knew." I noticed a slight tan. He must have been a long way from his home. I held his cursed arm, protecting myself with qi.

"Sir!"

"It is okay. I assume you got this there."

"I…" He nodded. I let his arm go.

"After running for a long time, I was finally captured like thousands of others and sent to a camp. There, they gave disgusting food to eat. And monitored us day and night. After a while, my cage mate became a monster before my eyes. Most turned into cursed humans, some broke everyone in the body, some…" He put his uncursed hand to his mouth and held back his sickness." My people found me as we started to gain a crowd.

A steel blue eye guard was watching the area as a woman dressed as a nun came forward with a black hooded cloak.

"Vanessa…" Once again, she goes against my advice to keep low, as the church would come after her just as they did Haru, but her guilt could never take it. People were getting no help from the priest, and more people afflicted by the curse were appearing. SO we made a compromise. She shall heal, but under the cloak of darkness, masked and protected. But she came to City Square with her beautiful smile hidden by the hood. She knows my weakness too well.

"I could sense it. The curse." She walked up to the poor man and raised her glowing hand. The mist blew off like a blown candle.

"My… Lands Above…! Were the rumours—" Vanessa placed a finger on the man's lips.

"This heavenly one, explain him to me."