Arablest/ Prototype

The next morning we set off to continue our journey. When I quietly told General Ira that I wanted to visit the Northern Isles first because I had some errands to do, she sighed, and said that we could go. I could tell she wanted to get back as quickly as possible, probably so that she could go help Raymond in his tasks.

So, our path was slightly changed to make way to a port that would take us to the Northern Isles.

Again, we traveled day after day after day, without much incident, nothing worth talking about since that duel, even when we reached the port. Tomer had started a conversation with me a few times over the campfire, but it was just to know more about each other, I guess. He’s been a mercenary for years now, and has seen his share of terrible things.

“It’s hard at first,” He had said. “The life of a mercenary is never an easy one. You get paid based on reputation, so you have to build that up. But what about you?”

“Killing others was not an easy task, either,” he had said another night. “But it was necessary if I had to protect something, especially under contract. It was the only way for someone like me to earn money. But, taking someone’s life was something that was hard for me to deal with.”
“How did you deal with it?” I asked.
“By continuing to do my job. You desensitized after awhile. But, I got to meet some friends on my road to a higher reputation; Kal being one of them.”
“Kal… How did you meet him?”
“While on the job. I’ve never met another mercenary like him… Most mercenaries are relatively well balanced, or powerful. Because of lack of training, most may use brute strength to over power their opponents.”
“Like you.” I had said.
“Actually, not like me. I had training, and although I still use as much strength to over power the enemy, I’ve refined the fighting style. You saw how I dealt with Kal earlier, during our duel, right? Well, the score so far is an even 14-14 split with 51 ties.”
That meant they’ve dueled a grand total of 79 times.
“You two tied that many times?” I asked. “Are you two that evenly matched?”
“Perhaps so.” He had said with a short laugh. “Anyways, about Kal… I’ve never seen a mercenary as fast as he was, you see? It’s like he came from Raalte, where most swordsmen there are… extraordinarily quick. Well, to be honest, they’re even faster than Kal. I’m sure you’ve seen Kal fight before, right?”
“Yeah… I replied. “He seems to leave after images behind.”
“So you’ve seen. They good for confusing you, but I’ve realized that he’s not actually that fast.”
“He’s not?”
“Everybody has some sort of ability to use magic, but most are so insignificant that they aren’t worth being mages. Isn’t that right, General Ira?” he had said, shouting over the campfire.
Ira confirmed it, and went back to whatever she was doing.
“In fighters and warriors, their magic ability usually manifests into something that may help their swordplay. In Kal’s case, his magic ability is actually pretty high for a swordsman in that his magic is strong enough to leave these ‘afterimages’, as you call them behind, which confuses the enemy as to where Kal really is, and it makes Kal look faster than he actually is. But a swordsmaster from Raalte, now that’s a different story.”
“I see. So, what about you? And what makes a swordsmaster from Raalte a different story?”
“Me? I haven’t found out yet. Perhaps I will later, perhaps my magic ability is so low that it’s not noticeable, who knows. I do know that it’s not helping my reputation, however. And as for swordsmen from Raalte? Well, I could tell you an interesting story about how I met one myself when I just started out as a mercenary. Back then, I had next to zero training…”

“When I was a young man, I lived in a small town as a farmer. I helped my neighbors every day of my life; it was a peaceful town. We lived without a care of the outside world, and I had a good life. My neighbors were ordinary farmers, you see, so I helped then on the field quite a lot.”
“I see.” I said, wondering what this had to do with swordsmen from Raalte.
“But then, one day, our peaceful town got attacked by a group of bandits. Many of us were defenseless; most of the townsfolk could not fight. We were literally slaughtered because some of us had tried to resist, and then they set fire to all the buildings as a lesson for not doing what they said. The rest of the townsfolk screamed, ran, or hid as they looted and set fire to the buildings. I hid in my house, watching them; I was only 15 then, and still a coward. I didn’t know how to fight yet, but there I stood, a knife in hand in case a bandit walked in. And then he appeared.”

He paused, and took a breath to continue his story. His face was set, emotionless.

“My house was near where the bandit’s leader stood, so I watched him stand there, laughing. I remember his words clearly: ‘No one can stand up to me! I am the greatest warrior on the lands!’ he had shouted, as his men looted the town. Right after he had uttered this, a second person with extraordinary long hair appeared, dressed in completely red clothes that I did not recognize; I wouldn’t know until years later, learning that those clothes were the radically different style of clothes the people of Raalte wore. But I saw that he had a sword, and I hoped maybe he could drive the bandits away.”

He paused again, staring into the fire.

“Anyways, this man spoke quietly; I could not hear him, but the bandit leader could, and he turned around to face him. ‘That I said! None can stand up to me, Xan! And what the hell do you want?’ replied the bandit leader. After a quick exchange of words, Xan shouted, and charged recklessly at the man. He just stood there, watching the Xan run towards him, and he didn’t even draw his sword! I stared, and just as Xan was about to reach him, he simply disappeared! To my dismay, I thought perhaps it was a spirit or something, but then I realized that he was standing where Xan used to be. At that point, Xan turned around and shouted, calling his men over. The dialogue that followed I did not forget, either: ‘I don't know who you are, but you are not going to live another day. You can not win against this many.’ Xan had replied, which the man replied with, ‘We shall see.’ He was closer now, you see, so I could hear him now. This probably angered the bandit whose response was ‘I don’t have time to deal with you! Men, take him out!’

They began to advance on the man clad in red, who had finally begun to draw a strange sword. It was thin, and curved, not straight like the longswords I saw and read about in stories. Most surprising, though, was it’s red blade.”

A gasp came from a few of the people who were now listening to the story.

“It was over in seconds. The man in red crouched, and a second later all the bandits were falling, fatal wounds on every one of them. The man now stood a few feet away from Xan. After another short exchange of conversation, Shin attacked. I heard a single clash of steel as their weapons connected, but in that same second I also saw the red blade sticking out of the bandit’s back. What was scary, though, was that the man in red just laughed half the time, even as Xan slid off the blade. After that, the man in red just left, disappearing as suddenly as he had first appeared. It took me a while to realize that we had been saved.”

“You weren’t exaggerating, were you?” I asked. To kill a group of men in one second? How was that possible?

“Why should I exaggerate? He moved so fast that it took me a while to realize that they were actually dead.”

“Tomer…” Kal spoke out. “You were lucky the Crimson Demon didn’t kill you, as well.”

“Crimson Demon?” I asked.
“Yes. The most feared man on the continent. He goes wherever he pleases, and he seems to like killing. He has never lost a battle, or even been hit. An infamous legend even among the people of Raalte. Of all the stories of swordsmen from Raalte, you tell him this one?” Kal asked. “Although, I never heard this before either…”
“Well, I did see this one up close and personal. It was because of him I started a career as a mercenary.”

That certainly was an interesting tale, and it gave me much to think about.

But that was in the past; now, I must board a ship to the Northern Isles.