Dawn- An age of Darkness

After eating our fill, the guy and I rested on a bench. It was somewhere around ten, not quite midday yet. 

"Where're your pretty friends?"

"I left them behind. I have a bad feeling about today."

He looked at me a bit funny. I guess I was saying weird stuff. "Yeah, the geezer used to say that line too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and most of the time, nothing really happened."

"It's good then."

I couldn't remember if the old man ever said something like that- wait, just before we set foot on that cursed island- the one where all the pirates had died, he did say something like that….

"But sometimes, hell broke loose. It was a day like this when the two of us were on top of a wall lazing around."

Wait, he was going to do a flashback now? Why?

He continued. "I was a rookie and the geezer was kind of a veteran: we were both mercenaries. He came from a faraway land and supposedly he was a criminal there. But he was really good. He kept on saying he had a bad feeling and felt restless." He chuckled. "I was kind of pissed, my wife threw a tantrum at home and I was in a really bad mood so I lashed out at him and he gave me a whopping."

Should I have been laughing or crying? I didn't know.

People were passing us by and we were basically the only ones sitting, looking around. Everyone else had a purpose and they were working towards that- or maybe they were just walking aimlessly- who knew.

"So anyway, the day goes on, and eventually, evening comes. My shift was almost over, I walked towards the geezer and asked him if he wanted a drink before going home. Normally we didn't get along but when alcohol was involved, we were best friends." He let out a mighty laugh. Yeah, I believed him. "He didn't answer me: Normally, he'd never turn down the offer to drink. He was looking straight ahead, speechless. I said it again and since he wasn't responding I looked ahead too. I couldn't move my head."

"Why? What happened? And I don't think the walls here are tall enough for you guys to see that far anyway."

The walls of Dracona were barely one and a half guy tall; roughly, three meters. 

"It was a city to the far left of this country. Anyway, there was something headed over this way- something flying our way- a black cloud and a massive threat: death." He gulped. "It was the emperor of death."

My eyes opened wide. The old man once talked about his encounter with the emperor too. I probed a bit too much but the geezer never said much about that. 

"Then?"

"Nothing." He chuckled. "He destroyed the town and about twelve of us guards survived and a handful of other people too. The geezer actually challenged the emperor and lost badly. How he made it back alive, I still don't know till this day. He was a bloody mess though."

'Well, he certainly didn't tell me that.' I guess losing was too embarrassing for him. Or maybe scary?

Or maybe the old man was just saving me from depression by not telling me?

I could imagine the emperor giving a line like 'You're too good to kill, entertain me some more in the future' or something along those lines. I chuckled just by thinking about it.

"Anyway, sorry to scare ya but I'm an expert at surviving, so rest assured, you're in good hands!" He puffed up his chest in pride. 

I guess that's why he was talking about this story- to boast. 

I gave him a slow clap. But it did give me a bit of clarity though- the emperor wasn't something I could just go up against and hope to win just like that. I needed a rather complicated plan.

The geezer I knew was strong and maybe I was a bit stronger than him at the moment with all my things combined, but that wasn't enough and I knew that. I needed more strength and more skills. 

'We got this!' I was definitely trying my best to not get discouraged and lose hope though.

***

The guy took me to a children's playground. Since it was more or less midday, there weren't any kids around.

"Are you sure we can practice here?"

"Sure, sure, probably."

Yeah, he definitely didn't sound sure. 

Anyway, we proceeded to draw swords. He had a normal sword which he was wielding with one hand. 

I had a slightly heavier sword and I was using both hands. 

"Now, I'll first gauge your current capabilities, so try to hold nothing back."

Now that I paid close attention to the guy, he was about two inches taller than me, rather fair and he had a very good build. He didn't seem human but he didn't seem like a demi-human either. And since only dwarven nobility were like this, I had a feeling his origins were full of mysteries. I didn't bother asking though.

"Alright." Sounded good to me. I wasn't going to use any magic of Imbuition- just pure skills.

The moment I said 'okay' though, the guy came straight for me. As I thought last night, he was fast- probably not as fast as Ve or the half-elf but definitely fast. 

I blocked him and sparks flew. He packed quite a punch. 

"Good on defense, now try attacking."

He tried to step back but I went for him and swung from up towards his head. 

Instead of blocking, he parried it and gently moved to his right. That was an excellent deflection but I didn't have time to admire him as he was set to launch another attack on me. But instead of just one swing- he made a number of consecutive attacks like he was using a knife of sorts, and with his free hand, he was often following up things with a punch or sometimes even a kick. I could almost see entrails, even in broad daylight.

Dodging was hard and eventually, a punch landed on my nose.

I held my nose and the guy sat down on the ground panting. "Gosh dang it kid, you're too strong. What the hell do you want to learn from me?"

My nose was stinging but I talked anyway. "Even I don't know. But how were you keeping your balance? You were both swinging and punching me and even kicking at the same time." With my nose kind of busted, it was really hard to talk.

The pain was slowly dissipating though.

He chuckled. "Just some stuff I picked up during my thug days: and I had loads of fights with the wife so maybe..." He went a bit too quiet in the last part.

"During your thug days? So, you're good now?"

"Mostly."

'Then why the hell did the guild master say those stuff about letting sleeping dogs sleep?'

I still didn't know if that woman was the guild master though.

"Anyway, can you teach me how I could at least be better one-handed in case of emergencies? And I want to move faster too."

"Sure?" He didn't really seem that convinced. 

Of course, I could be faster than him if I imbued myself but that was another story.

I tried taking a stance one-handed. The way the half-elf, Joanne had taught me and fought Travador a couple of times. 

He corrected some of my mistakes but that was it. according to him, my form was already superior to his, just a bit on the crude side. If I practiced enough, I could get much better. So, he suggested swinging with one arm every day and practicing more and more. This way, I'll strengthen my arm while also improving my technique. 

I almost felt ripped off at this point.