The streets bustled with soldiers. It looked to be beefed-up, but nowhere close to how Blackmane was. August and I walked along the streets. I’d designed another longsword for him after going through a series of different weapon types. It seemed he liked those the most. Its blade had a striking iridescent finish, making it quite unlike anything ever seen before. What’s more, he walked around with it running over his shoulder and up into the air. He had a sheath, but hiding the sword wouldn’t do.
Bianca commented on how crazy of a plan it was, but figured that it was the one thing that might actually work in a culture so enthralled with war. After all, if one was to challenge someone to a Firmament, one would need to have something to wager. And seeing that we were basically tourists here who didn’t own a thing, the sword – something Ulanos soldiers were infatuated with – would be ideal.
I had my doubts that it would work. But after we simply entered a rowdy bar, got in a fist fight, and challenged our ‘enemy’ to a Firmament, I instead began to doubt the intelligence of Ulanos’ soldiers.
Our cover, which wasn’t much at all, was that I was simply August’s assistant. Bianca remained hidden. If asked, then we’d just say we were from some obscure country far away that Ulanos had yet to lay their hands on, and probably didn’t have an interest in doing so.
The man accepted the challenge in the bar. We made sure his uniform looked of higher status than the usual foot soldier. A couple days later, we met in a park in that town, with multitudes of spectators. It turned out that the Firmament needed a contract to be sighed. Fair enough. August flung his coat in a grand way before he entered, and I picked it up like the good assistant I was.
Someone, who looked like a referee, was explaining something to August and the other stupid guy who accepted the challenge even though he was a bit intoxicated. That guy was so prideful, he didn’t even try to cancel it. Either that, or once the Firmament was accepted, there was no backing out. Seeing that it was a duel to the death, and that literally everything you owned was on the line, I figured he just couldn’t back out of it. Trying to do so anyway would probably lose him whatever honour he had. Honour seemed to be of extreme importance in Ulanos.
The duel would start only when the referee-like person stepped out of bounds. The man rushed in immediately, and August dodged and parried most of the strikes, making it look like the duel was tough and simply ended the man through impalement. Anti-climactic.
A woman’s cries were heard immediately after, and some people consoled her. Well, sorry there, lady. Better than killing the entire military force that the town had to offer. As witnessed, August won.
Some hours later, we met with the family of the fallen man. Turned out, he was the leader of some squadron. His children looked at us with a lot of hate, and the wife seemed to be a bit more understanding. “Does this mean I can now make you my wife?” August asked. She hesitantly nodded. That guy just gave up the deed to his land and house, and his entire family, along with whatever accumulated riches he obtained in his career, for a single sword that we boasted was enchanted. We weren’t lying though. “Your husband. Was he a good man?”
She looked a bit confused, and nodded after. “Was he the sole breadwinner?” August asked yet another question and the woman softly said yes. I could see where this was going.
“Don’t,” I warned. “Don’t sympathise.”
“Why not?” August asked me, looking right at one of the kids, then back at me, not truly turning around to see me completely. “My father was murdered and I wanted revenge. Now this kid is in my exact position. What makes me special? What makes us special?”
“August…”
“Does having power mean we have the right?”
I clenched my fist in anger, “Fuck, man! I don’t know!” Does it?! My mind bludgeoned me just as August did. “But we cannot afford to make this personal. It’s,” I quieted, “not about us…”
He scoffed, then gave a wry smile, turning into some weakened laughter. “Messed up…” he muttered under his breath.
I couldn’t believe we just had that conversation in front of a random family.
August looked back at the woman and stared at her for an uncomfortably long time. He simply stood up, and walked out the house. Geez, and he himself suggested using the Firmament. Was massacre easier for him?
We continued on challenging, as if nothing happened, from town to village. At times, I’d make a couple clones, dress them up like we once were when we killed a lot of people, and have a score of people witness the clones passing by. This was to ensure people didn’t label us as the two creatures that killed over a million soldiers. Every deed to every property we got would be wagered on the next Firmament.
We avoided most young soldiers, and they likely wouldn’t own property themselves. August grew quieter as the days went by. This was something that affected him more and more, yet he’d always make time for the family of the Firmament losers, even if they’d break law and attack him after he killed their loved one.
Bianca on the other hand, who knew I had a clone visiting her sister every night to keep my real identity in check, got even closer to me. I put two and two together soon enough. Some sort of jealousy, but I couldn’t tell for sure. What was clear, was that her sister made her make moves on me. But I showed disinterest every time. This was something I knew I’d eventually have to unravel.
About a month and nearly a hundred Firmaments later, we arrived at Whitemane. Yes, I know, they weren’t very creative. The order in which we went to different places remained the same, so even if we were killing indiscriminately like before, we’d still have gotten here around the same time.
By the time we got there, August was quite the infamous adventurer. His collection of deeds made others challenge him more than he could challenge others. It was risky, because by now everyone knew he was undefeated, but the prospect of having that much land and wealth was too alluring for some to pass up. If only they knew he was a beast who mastered both quintessential energy and enchanting, they’d surely pass on challenging him. The people of Hyzek would’ve laughed at anyone foolish enough to issue a Firmament challenge to him.
We moved up the ranks in the military, challenging those in the service for a long time or who had substantial popularity. By the second week in Whitemane, we were enough of a juicy catch to meet a special rank of soldier called Sword Paragons. It was less of a rank and more of an independent group that could only be commanded by the leader of the entire country or one of his three generals. For each general, there were eight Sword Paragons, making twenty-four in total. Some were overseas, so we wouldn’t be able to challenge them all. I wondered how much of them we killed in Blackmane. They’re probably the ones with that gravity magic, I figured.
My suspicions were correct. We stood in a huge square in Whitemane. August was about to face off with one of these Sword Paragons. He looked on curiously at August’s iridescent blade and simply smiled. His confidence was through the roof.
When the match commenced, he started off with two weak Fireballs, then sprinted forth, almost catching up to his own magic. He slid down, slicing upward to August’s midsection. He expected August to try and dodge the fire spells; that way, he’d catch him off-guard. August simply let the spells hit him. With ninety percent magic resistance, I doubt he even felt the heat from the Fireballs.
The man’s attack was parried and his face got stamped in. The shock running through him gave him a slight concussion, but didn’t fully send him unconscious. August didn’t need much more than that. The longsword swerved downwards and cut through both jugulars, exiting through the other side of the neck.
The crowd all gasped and murmurs began pelting around. I could tell August amped up his quint, but I had no way of telling just how much of it he used. It was hard to speculate how a Sword Paragon could be defeated by anyone, but the crowd didn’t question August’s ability to react to the man’s speed. This was a Firmament after all. And, that’s what underestimating everyone and overestimating yourself does, I thought, looking at the blood pouring out into the grounds.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
After beating that man, other people stopped challenging August altogether. We had to hunt for our own game the next few days.
That Sword Paragon didn’t have an especially large house, but man was it loaded. He also didn’t have any family, so August asked me to stash the money in the spirit world so he could distribute it to the families we distressed before.
“Hey dude, how much quint were you at for that guy?”
“Forty. It was overkill apparently,” August shrugged.
Our little invisible sword girl groaned in annoyance, “What is this quint thing you two keep talkin’ about?!”
At that point she couldn’t stand not understanding us.
As August was explaining what it was, a knock was heard on our door. We specifically told the innkeeper not to let anyone disturb us, so we were a little suspicious. I put Bianca and August in Invisibility, and Voidwalked through the wall to see who it was. Who the hell’s he? I questioned, not recognising the face. But soon enough, I realised he was just a messenger. I returned inside, came out of Voidwalk and opened the door. “Pleasant evening, good sir. I’m here to kindly ask for your master’s presence. My master wishes to meet.”
“Who, why, where, and when?”
It startled the old man a little, but he soon caught himself. “Er-my master, Von Trell wants to meet at the Darksinew Brew tonight. I will fetch you. As for why, I’m afraid he didn’t say.” The old man gave a light shrug.
August gave me a grunt of approval ever so softly, so I told the old man we would come.
“I know you guys are smart, so why are you actually going? Von Trell is a Sword Paragon,” Bianca informed us.
“Oh, my oh my, thanks for mentioning that before we made the decision,” I teased her and earned a punch to the gut. Regret never came faster.
Before long, the old man came to us and we had a lovely carriage ride to a posh bar. I didn’t know such a thing existed. Von Trell, a tall grey-haired man welcomed us in with open arms and a big smile. His colleague came as well, one Roger Clement. This guy was short with jet black hair. They were like polar opposites in the looks department, but virtually copies of each other in personality.
“Come, come, sit!” Von encouraged.
We drank all through the night, laughing and having a good time. Some women even came in to spruce things up. Hours went by and yet another round of honey-coloured draft came to the table. “That was amazing! You handled him so simple, I couldn’t believe my eyes!” Roger spoke of the Firmament with the overconfident Sword Paragon earlier.
“Please, you give me too much praise. But I can never have too much of this!” August buried his face into one of the girl’s chest and everyone burst out in laughter.
Oh, yup. There it is. I thought, immediately casting Renew on myself to wash the alcohol and whatever poison they placed in our beer. August was probably less affected than I was, but I still used Renew through Light Link on him, just to make sure. We were now practically sober, but the woozy feeling the drug they used gave us made me go along with it anyway. My head rocked side to side, and eventually I rested it back on the sofa.
“So, fellas, guess you must have a death wish to try and drug us.” The grin on my face concreted that we just busted them.
“Revenge, right?” August asked Von at the side of him. “Hmm, wonder how people would react to you trying to kill us as an act of revenge for someone who died in a Firmament? But hey, I understand. So, here’s what I’ll do…”
August stood up and pulled his shirt to show his abdomen, “Stab me. You’ve had that knife since you last went to the washroom. So, I know you planned on using it. Go ahead.”
So, Von grunted, peeved that their plan failed, and did it. He stabbed August right through the stomach. The women ran off at that point. When the serrated blade was yanked out, August’s health regeneration enchantments began kicking in and within ten seconds, he was good as new.
I downed the rest of my drugged beer, “You’d best run,” I commented, and Roger paid heed.
They both got up and gunned for it. “You’re letting them go?” August asked and I cackled.
“Of course not,” a wave of Arcane Missiles hit them, leaving nothing but blood-soaked cadavers. We used Invisibility and left quietly.
~
“You killed them?!” Bianca scolded us into oblivion. It felt like she was the one leading us now.
I looked at August. He looked at me. We shrugged. “You could be happy they didn’t kill us, y’know?”
“Do you have any idea how filthy rich they were?!” she palmed her face and calmed herself down. “There’s one more Sword Paragon in Whitemane at the moment. When we’re done with that one, we’ll go after the general here.”
“Yes ma’am,” I saluted. She rolled her eyes and went to bed.
The next day, on hour way to the last Sword Paragon in Whitemane, we stopped mid-air, spotting her in the market. She was, buying potatoes… We removed Invisibility in a lonely alley and then encroached her.
She picked up a couple carrots and inspected them. “Here to challenge me, young warrior?” Her eyes stayed glued to those carrots, until she decided to purchase them. How extraordinarily normal. Perhaps I should say, how ordinarily normal.
“Um, yeah,” August dragged the word.
She perused some spices, “It’s been a while since I had guests. Join me for lunch.”
“Uhh…”
“Will you deny me that simple request before a Firmament?”
August looked at me, and I shrugged. “Well, you hungry?” I asked.
“Good! It’s decided then. I’m just a couple minutes away,” she gestured us to follow her.
Whilst she prepped the ingredients, we chatted a little. This ordinary house gave a nice homey feel. “Heard Roger and Von died last night. Interesting huh?” she looked back at us with a smile on her face, and a knife in her hand, then returned to dicing up the carrots. “I know you two did it. Those girls you had with you told us everything. But the big boys are covering it up. Everyone knew those two were assholes anyway.”
“Why would they cover up the deaths?” August asked.
“To save face,” she said, joining us at the kitchen table whilst the stew cooked up.
Before long, we were having some of it, and it was goddamn delicious.
Suddenly, my clone, who slept wherever Isana was, began bombarding me with messages. Then he decided that telling me everything he found out was inefficient. That piece of shit pushed all his accumulated memories to me. My body jerked, and I ran away from the table and began puking my guts out. “That is fucking disgu–aahhhh!” I vomited again, over and over, trying my hardest to make it outside her house but I just couldn’t.
“How rude!” she slammed the table in vexation.
“No, no, no! I don’t mean your fo–aaahh!”
All the memories of the nasty stuff he and Isana did came flooding back to me, and my mind couldn’t get rid of the images. In fact, memories of how everything felt, smelled, tasted, all came back to me. I could understand kinky, but this was on a whole other level. Their night activities got to a point where he needed to use Renew multiple times.
“Hey Eric, how’s it goi–Hydra’s ass!”
Really?! Really, woman?! Why now?! I groaned.
“You dare! With her of all people?!”
“If you didn’t want any you should’ve just said so!” my host scolded me. Donna thought I cheated. I didn’t know what to focus on!
“I just told you, it’s not the food!” My stomach was turning inside-out, but there was nothing to puke out anymore. What a horrible feeling.
Don’t make this any worse, dammit! I roared at Donna. How could I cheat? That would obviously never happen. Well, I guess now that my clone’s memories were mine, I guess you could say it kind of did. Man, that was not pleasant.
August, through all my suffering, simply laughed at my misfortune. “I have to say, buddy. I love this side of you the most.”
“I’ll,” I breathed heavily, “kick your ass!”
“Those are some words for a servant…” Aaraly, our kind host, said, clearing the table in even more suspicion of us than before.
“Well,” transmutation made my puke gone and her floor like new, “guess that farce is over, eh? Hey, Aaralyn, let me ask you a question…”
“The floor is yours,” she snidely said. “But,” her voice went up in pitch, “in exchange for that question that is obviously going to be personal, you have to tell me who you two really are and why you’re here.”
August and I looked at each other. I nodded, even after considering Bianca’s presence. “Fine then. Tell me, how does one become a Sword Paragon?”
The reason my clone transferred his memories to me was exactly this reason. Isana gave him bits and pieces of information every night. But I couldn’t trust that fox to tell the truth, and neither did he.
Aaralyn sighed and closed her eyes, “Knew it was personal. Well, in order for you to become a Sword Paragon, you must first present your–”
“Wait!” Bianca came out of Invisibility. “Wait… I’ll tell them.”
Aaralyn was shocked, I think. I couldn’t be sure. It was hard to tell if the woman could ever be surprised with her freakishly calm nature. She nodded at her new guest and offered her a seat in the living room. We all went there.
“Loyalty,” Bianca began. “Loyalty is the number one requirement of the Sword Paragons. The next is subordination. For a general to ensure that those who wish to become an SP are truly swearing fealty to him and the great Sword Sovereign, he oversees an initiation. The initiation consists of one simple, but difficult task – kill everyone important to you, namely your family.”
It all made sense now. The hatred Bianca had for her sister, Isana. Her reason for wanting to kill Isana. Her reason for stopping me from doing it back in Methelia. Her reason for helping us against Ulanos’ attacks. She hated Isana for killing her family, and in extension, she hated Ulanos. But how was she and her grandfather, Solomon, still alive?
“When done, you would present their heads to the general and become an SP, where you’d receive advanced training.”
“But you and Solomon are…” August brought up my thoughts.
“Gramps would often come and sneak me out for snacks. He loved spoiling me. When we came back, mom’s head was being sawed off by my sister. Gramps grabbed me and ran away, out of the city entirely. He told me the truth when he realised what happened.”
I hugged her, as her eyes began watering a little. August and I looked right at Aaralyn with newfound ‘admiration’.
“What?” Aaralyn shrugged. “My family were just plain assholes and had it coming. That was a legal way to kill them. I was messed up as a kid, y’know?”
Man, what the hell is Ulanos?