Chapter 1

Centum woke up when a crow started to peck his leg. With a speed impossible for normal humans, he reflexively sat up and threw a punch at the crow. With a crunch it flew a few meters away and didn’t move anymore. He slowly got up and checked his surroundings.

No noticeable threats… unfamiliar location… what exactly happened?

He was standing in the middle of a grass field next to a pine forest. In the opposite direction of the forest were plains and hills, with no humanoids in sight.

The search for a nearby settlement should take priority, he thought and decided to walk along the edge of the forest first, ignoring the pain from his severely hurt body.

While he was limping, Centum couldn’t help but wonder how he survived the execution. He should be dead and not walking. It especially wasn’t logical how he got transported from the execution ground of Rovaerus to this place, wherever it was. Also, currently his primary objective was his own restoration, but what would happen after that.

I didn’t manage to fulfil my last order so… should I simply return?

On the other hand, he now didn’t have a master anymore so it would only be logical to live on his own, according to the normal people’s common sense. However, he had no reason to do so.

For now I will simply focus on preserving my body before returning to the king.

He was a soldier after all and what use would a soldier have if he couldn’t move his body? None. Centum simply kept moving, as he now had an objective to follow, but even at nightfall, there was no settlement to be seen. Although he noticed, that his body was slowly getting heavier, he silently stayed in motion and moved forward.

Several hours later, he noticed that his body’s condition was dropping to critical levels and he finally decided to take a break. Breathing heavily, he laid down in the grass and closed his eyes to sink into a state of vigilant sleep, sleeping but able to wake up at the slightest sense of danger.

Centum woke up at dawn and continued to drag his tattered body in search of a village or even just a small shack, but despite continuously walking all day, he still wasn’t able to find anything. Just when he rested again, he suddenly heard a low growl coming from the forest and immediately jumped into a standing position to be able to intercept the attacker. He silently waited to see his enemy and kept his breathing forcefully low, while his eyes darted around to locate the source of the growl.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then a black wolf with a size of about 2 meters jumped at him to tear him apart. Centum quickly jumped aside and drove his right foot into the wolf’s side. With a whimper, it got slammed against a tree, but rose back up quickly to glare at him with even more vigor.

Wolfs always hunt in packs, so where is the rest? Is he the alpha?

Not daring to attack restlessly, while he was in a weakened state and with possibly more enemies around him, Centum stayed vigilant and kept his distance from the black wolf. The wolf, however, growled once more and suddenly charged at him with an explosive speed. Centum knew that his body was currently vulnerable, so he tried to avoid direct confrontation and tried to dodge to the side again, but this time another wolf attacked him by sinking its claws into his back with a furious swipe. Centum gritted his teeth and turned around in midair to deliver a kick against the new wolf’s head, strong enough that the head exploded with a sickening crunch. The giant black wolf didn’t stop its attack and started biting relentlessly in hopes of locking Centum in place.

Centum saw from the corner of his eyes, that about ten more wolves had appeared in his vicinity, ready to pounce at him.

I have to kill the alpha. Fast.

With the new foes approaching, he took his only option and jumped up to slam his heel into the back of the black wolf’s head, smashing it into the ground. Yet that powerful kick still wasn’t enough to kill the wolf, which made him wonder just what kind of monster it was. No ordinary or even strong monster should have survived that. Despite his thoughts about the wolf’s race and origins, Centum didn’t lose focus and grabbed onto the ears of the wolf to keep himself above him. The rest of the pack didn’t dare to attack their leader, so they simply encircled their leader and waited for Centum to fall off. The alpha was still a little dazed, but reacted quickly nonetheless by trying to shake him off. Centum saw his chance while it was shaking wildly and let himself slide down while yanking at the wolf’s head with all his strength, turning it a whole 180 degrees, breaking its neck in the process.

The wolf pack noticed how their leader fell to the ground and first looked at Centum in confusion, before turning tail and running back into the forest.

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He took a deep breath and sat down. Now, with the adrenaline gone, he could sense the pain of the claw wound on his back and felt how his shirt was soaked in blood. With movements, that showed no sign of feeling pain, he ripped his shirt and created a makeshift bandage around upper body.

Since there were wolves in the area, Centum ventured farther into the plain to avoid them. With no other choice but to move on, he didn’t stop to sleep and simply kept walking.

Halfway into the next day, he noticed how his vision had become blurred and his legs felt weak. He knew that his body couldn’t keep up for much longer, but he still moved as if he was in perfect condition. Another hour in and he was unable to continue walking.

I have lost too much blood and my body was in its worst condition anyway. It was only a matter of time anyway.

Just like in prison, he felt no resignation or fear, but simply stated the facts as they were. Still, with one last effort, he crawled up another hill and fell down on top of it. Despite the village that he saw in the distance, he knew that he was at his end. He closed his eyes and allowed the darkness to take him.

*

Aylin was returning from her daily work in the fields. The sun was burning down on her long, blonde hair that she had tied into a braid. Thanks to her daily work, she was slightly tanned and had a rather strong build compared to an average woman. Although not quite tall, she still appeared with a graceful and slim figure, which was partly ruined by the hoe over her shoulder that she had used for field work. Even though it was a particularly hot day, she happily hummed a song, seemingly not bothered by the intense heat. When Aylin could see the village, she stopped for a little and enjoyed the wind blowing through her hair, refreshing her from the warmth. Just as she was about to end her little break, she noticed a dark object lying in the grass a few hundred meters away. Her humming stopped and she narrowed her eyes to be able to see what it was. When she realized what she saw, Aylin immediately started running towards the object, which she recognized as a human.

Kneeling down, she gasped as she saw the deep gashes on the man’s back and grabbed him by his arms. Despite her small build, she had considerable strength and was able to hoist him over her shoulder. Aylin noticed that the man was surprisingly lightweight and rather skinny, as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks, but that didn’t really matter to her as she half carried, half dragged him in the direction of the village.

“Kelrin! Get Granny here!” Aylin called out to the guard on duty.

Kelrin was startled, but immediately ran off to get ‘Granny’, the oldest person and only healer in the village.

Meanwhile, Aylin dragged the man to a bench near the entrance and laid him down. Trying to catch her breath, she took a closer look at him to look for more possible injuries.

A minute later, she saw Kelrin coming back with Granny in tow, who was surprisingly fast, despite her high age. The old woman didn’t hesitate and shoved Aylin aside, while checking the man.

“I found him collapsed on a hill not far from hear! It seems an animal or monster attacked him!” She explained the situation.

Granny just nodded and carefully placed her hands atop his back, before mumbling some strange words, followed by the activation word.

“Heal”

Slowly, the deep gashes began to close until they were no bigger than a normal cut about ten minutes later. Breathing heavily, Granny sank down and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Kelrin came to support her with a worried look on his face.

“He shouldn’t die anymore… I can only estimate that he… lost much blood and is severely… malnourished. Bring him to my house for now.”

With a sigh she sat down on the bench next to the man and closed her eyes to catch her breath.

Aylin breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed the man’s arms, while sending a short glare towards Kelrin.

“Surely you wouldn’t let a poor woman carry him all by herself, right?”

With a short nod, the guard grabbed his legs and they carried him to Granny’s home, a small house near the center of the village.

“So, where exactly do you think he comes from? I haven’t seen that symbol anywhere before.”

He pointed to the front of the man’s torn shirt, where an emblem with a hawk in front of a shield was placed. Aylin shrugged.

“I don’t know either, not from around here at least… Do you think he might be a knight?”

With glittering eyes, she started wondering about the stranger’s origin, but Kelrin apparently had other thoughts.

“Either way, let’s hope that he isn’t some sort of prisoner or criminal who escaped, or we are screwed for helping him.”

“Or he isn’t and just needed help!”

Even if he was. I’d still help someone in need…

With a cheerful smile on her face, they reached the house and put the man down on a small bed.

“Alright, I’ll simply put on some bandages for now!” She looked at Kelrin and indicated with her hands for him to leave.

“Don’t you have guard duty? Shoo!”

Kelrin looked at her exasperated, but didn’t refute and simply rolled his eyes as he left.

Aylin looked over the stranger and bandaged his wounds, after applying some herbs that fastened the body’s own healing process. She was used to this sort of thing, as she had helped Granny with her patients for quite some time now and was even seen by many as her official student. Yet, Granny still refused to let her learn healing magic. Even earlier, when Aylin was attentively watching her, she decided to mutter the words quietly instead of incanting normally.

Why though? It would make everything much easier if I was able to use healing magic as well.

Sighing, she finished bandaging the man and changed his clothes.

This emblem really is strange… he must come from a rather faraway place. I should ask the merchants when they come back through the village.

Finishing her work, Aylin left the room to let the man rest and paid a visit to the mayor to inform him of the current situation and ask about the stranger’s possible origin, but he also had no idea… which wasn’t that unexpected, as they were just another rural village with the next real town being more than two weeks of travel away.

That meant that she really only had the option of asking the merchants that would come next week, as they always came around that time of the month.

Whoever he is… I have a feeling things will become lively soon.