Simon began to cherish his dreams, those gentle visions that brought memories of the old man. These dreams allowed him to immerse himself fully, letting go of the troubles before him. In these serene moments, he felt safe and at peace, enveloped in a comforting sense of nostalgia and tranquility.
<--->
“Crack!!!” A sizable chunk of the large sword shattered, splintering off with a resounding crack. Shards of metal flew in all directions, glinting in the light as the weapon's formidable blade was suddenly reduced to jagged remnants.
“But that was my first sword!!” Simon was almost seven years old, and he was fighting in an underground arena somewhere on the southern side of the Trist Valley.
Just after receiving a few attacks from the warrior, his 2-handed sword cracked.
“Boy… just finish it, it's too cold!!” the old man that was one with the crowd screamed.
His voice thundered through the arena, cutting through the deafening chants of the crowd. The arena itself was a crude construct, nothing more than a wooden cage surrounding a muddy pit. The sheer mass of spectators packed tightly together, created an insulating barrier that trapped the cold, making the air inside the arena feel warm.
Well, since the old man complained he had to finish it now.
“Come on little boy, don’t think you can strut here and beat a bunch of my friends and get away unscathed!!!” it was a large warrior who was holding an axe.
“... I can,” Simon taunted, provoking the warrior into attacking.
As the warrior lunged, Simon swung his own broken sword with precision. The impact shattered what remained of his blade, but it served its purpose. The broken sword deflected the warrior's axe, diverting its deadly path. Simon ensured the maneuver, even though it meant destroying his weapon entirely.
“You are strong… not stronger than my teacher though,” Simon said as he flew into the face of the warrior, the warrior knew he was going to get hit in the face. The boy had been struggling to keep his sword intact while parrying the axe blows.
The warrior’s axe swings were so refined that it was impossible to parry it without receiving the full brunt of its force. This was the reason his sword broke off.
He landed a punch on the warrior’s face and the warrior fell down, in the arena, it was allowed to kill their opponents but Simon could tell that the warrior didn’t have that kind of intention so he didn’t even think of it.
“The boy wins!! Against the champion, ODDS!!! 15 to 2~!!” The announcer's voice rang out, slicing through the air as he screamed the result.
Instantly, a wave of disapproval erupted from the crowd, a cacophony of boos and angry shouts filling the arena. Simon stood at the center as if nothing happened at all. This was his sixth consecutive fight, and the tension in the air was palpable. The crowd’s hostility seemed to wrap around him, pressing in from all sides, their disappointment and frustration almost tangible.
“Let’s go boy, they don’t have anything to offer now,” the old man called. Simon sighed, this was the 2nd underground arena that they had gone through.
As Simon exited the arena, a group of men approached them.
“Wait!!!” it was the proprietors of the underground arena stopping them in their tracks, 5 of them surrounded the 2, armed guards and bouncers, ready for a fight, trying to intimidate the 2, a much older man with a walking stick followed out too... the crowd who knew who they were started scattering, in a few minutes it was already cleared.
“Old man and a boy… you’re also the ones that fought on the arena north of the Trist Port,” It seemed that the leader of the underground arena knew of them.
“What should we do?” one of the guards that was surrounding the 2 asked.
“Let them go… they didn’t kill anybody,” the leader said.
“Elway says we can go around and try the underground arenas as long as we don’t kill… it's much more peaceful than from my time,” the old man said then he threw a bag of gold.
“For all the troubles,” the old man said and threw a glance at the man who had a cane.
The leader nodded, and the guards who were surrounding the 2 stepped back, opening up a path for the 2.
“Sir… are you sure… it seems that they are still going to look for more… we can’t let them go,” one of the 5 armed guys complained.
“Hey! Sir Alphecca!!” the leader called out to the old man…
“Yes?” The old man's eyes blazed with fury, emanating a suffocating aura of bloodlust.
The six warriors felt a chill crawl down their spines as they realized this was no ordinary old man. His intense glare promised danger, making it clear that they had severely underestimated him.
“Head south, just a few kilometers southwest of the farmlands. A young fighter was named champion there,” the leader instructed.
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“Thanks, I’ve noted it,” the old man replied. With that, the two parted ways.
“Alphecca… the Sword of Light?” one of the younger men mused, recognizing the name.
“Yeah… so that’s his protege?” another speculated, eyes wide with awe.
“They’re monsters,” the leader said, tapping his boys' shoulders with an all-knowing smile. They had earned enough that day to afford a well-deserved rest for months. All was well.
<--->
Weeks ago…
When Simon and the old man went back to the town, after reporting the subjugation of the mutated wyvern they rested for the night, and on the next day they immediately went around the town to find a good sword for Simon. Although the shops would recommend beginner swords to the boy, it just didn’t sit right with Simon.
After spending almost half a day looking around the old man decided to get a custom order for the sword. It was a long 2 two-handed heavy sword, the boy held it at ease although it was longer than the boy's height. They received it after 2 weeks when the autumn was starting to break out. For those weeks the old man and the boy would spend their time sparring with Sword Dance almost every day.
After receiving the sword, Simon and the old man immediately went to the indoor arena under the adventurer’s guild to test it out. On the first sword dance, Simon almost won.
Taking it gentlemanly while saying, “I will have to fight seriously now,” the old man said, and from then on he didn’t even give the boy any quarter.
“You… you fought so much better when we were using wooden sticks,” the old man suddenly said after Simon’s 55th loss.
“But… it's much easier to fight you with this heavy sword,” Simon said.
It seemed that Simon was starting to develop preferences.
“Simon… there is no right way to win a sword fight… you can use what you are used to but it would not always be effective every time… a swordsman must be flexible…” The old man started preaching but Simon didn’t understand it.
It would be a different story if Simon could use the Magic Edge technique. It’s a magic that coats an object amplifying its efficiency. It was quite the old man’s fault that Simon hadn’t been practicing magic.
“You have to fight different fighters to understand it… Let go up north,” the old man gave up explaining and suggested this, the old man knew some of the underground arenas run by the Sen-ran nobles.
<--->
Back to the present…
Simon's heart sank as he gazed at the mangled remains of his sword. Not even the handle remained recognizable. With a heavy sigh, he made a decision. Gripping the ruined weapon tightly, he hauled it back, muscles tensing as he prepared for the throw. With a fierce motion, he launched the shattered remnants into the mountains, watching as they disappeared into the distance with a sense of finality.
But the old man said that he knew more underground arenas around the frontier, was he going to fight bare-handed again? Simon thought.
“You haven’t been practicing ‘Magic Flow’ Is the sword much fun?” the old man while walking on the main roads in the Trist Valley started a conversation.
“Yeah…” the boy answered honestly.
Well, it's partly the old man’s fault since he was also using Simon to distract himself, it seemed that Jedi leaving did affect him a little.
“From now on use a wooden sword,” the old man says smiling fiercely, he had some ridiculous ideas again.
“But if the enemy is using a real weapon like the warrior and the swordsman earlier… I can’t parry it,” Simon suddenly commented, after fighting against really seasoned fighters twice Simon could tell that a weapon was as important as his skills.
“You can actually dodge it, idiot,” the old man said, the boy was stuck with the rules of the Sword Dance, the old man could tell since it was the only thing they had been doing before Simon got the new sword.
“I want to get better with the sword dance… I want to beat you,” Simon said.
“You can’t beat me… not in a million years,” the old man said with a boast. Simon was quite annoyed with the old man’s comment.
…
The 2 continued walking in silence, there would be carriages that would pass, some coming from the east, and sometimes it came from the port town.
“Shouldn’t we take a hitch” Simon suddenly said.
“I actually have an idea… Let's go on foot, we should be seeing it soon” the old man says smiling.
He was looking into the south of where they were walking. The Trist Valley main road was a west-to-east path that connected the port to the totality of the eastern frontier.
…
It was getting dark already and at the lead of the old man, they began going south off the roads again. Rather than face a forest the 2 were going into the mountains, it was just past 20 km after the turn northwards the Beryl Pass.
“Simon… you can see in the dark right?” the old man probed. Then he pointed upwards “That’s where we are heading.”
What Simon could see were trees of reddish leaves. Since it was autumn the leaves were turning orange or brown but the reddish leaves could easily be discerned.
“You will be the one guiding us up, let’s go,” the old man smiled.
Simon nodded and leaped first into the mountains.
“What are those?” Simon asked while walking.
“Since you aren’t that sensitive with magic yet you can’t feel it, those are spirit trees, a mystical tree that can assimilate any kind of magic, some call it the Witch’s Oak,” the old man said.
They finally reached the feet of the mountain, it was still technically a mountain south of the Trist Valley.
With that, Simon led the old man traveling up into the mountain.
“Simon! Let’s not jump around, we might cause a landslide!!” the old man complained, then Simon followed and started climbing up crawling, rather than jumping on the corners of some protruding stones.
It took a few, almost an hour until the 2 reached a certain cliff on the mountain.
“Red trees,” Simon breathed into the darkness, his eyes piercing through the night with an otherworldly clarity.
Though the sun had long set, leaving the world shrouded in shadows, Simon's vision remained sharp. The crimson foliage glowed faintly in the moonlight, casting eerie shadows that danced across the forest floor. Despite the darkness, Simon found himself captivated by the ethereal beauty of the scene, each detail illuminated in stunning clarity by his nocturnal sight.
“Yep Witch’s Oak, let’s go inside,” the old man urged, this time it was the old man’s turn to lead inside the canopy of red trees.
But as soon as the old man stepped a bit inside, a voice resounded coming inside of the reddish forest. “Leave the forest!!!” it was the voice of a woman.
“Sorry… we just want 2 pieces of the Witch’s Oak!!! We would like to take a couple of twigs and we will leave!” the old man screamed, Simon was not sure who he was talking to.
“… This magic… state your name!!!” the woman’s voice asked as it resounded the whole reddish forest.
“I’m just an old crippled man!!!” the old man was mocking the woman.
“Old man, the trees are moving,” Simon spoke what he was feeling, it was true, in a few minutes the trees started moving, basically it was opening apart.
“Oh… the owner of the trees is coming to greet us!” the old man smiled tapping Simon on his shoulders.
“Old and cripple… true… but your spirit and the magic you have cultivated is amazing…” a woman that was riding a large deer comes out. She had white hair, a paint on her face but Simon and the old man could tell that she was really beautiful.
“If you promise your body to me after you die… I would grant you your wish,” the woman spoke.
“Oh witch of the red forest… can’t do that,” the old man answered.
“Then you can leave… or are you going to take it by force?” the witch smiled at them, there was something behind her smile that gave shivers to Simon.
“How about we play a game” the old man said with a tone of a taunt.