The man in black flicks blood off his short blade.

“What's going on? Who are you?"Why ar-”

“You. Hurt?”

The hooded figure walked across the bodies. There was not a speck of blood on his black jacket that almost swept the ground.

"Ye, ye, yes. I mean, no. I am not hurt.” Drac looks around at the carnage. “How could you do this?”

“I don't know. Walk Now.”

The man in black gestures in a direction. He points with leather gloves to the door across the corridor.

Drac gives a nervous nod and steps between the corpses to reach the hooded man. Drac is utterly befuddled. A man with his face can massacre a group of guards with hardly any effort. Walking down the corridor, Drac gives his helper a proper look. same height as him, a comparable frame. He must be a warrior. Very few people in his village can sport the strength that Drac has earned from his daily work on the farm. Cal was the exception. But the man in black had a different form. moves in a cat-like, efficient way. Every motion is purposeful.

“Why do you look like me? People hardly look anything like me in Tralor, and to see a person who mirrors me... it is quite unnerving.”

"I will tell later.” The rescuer seemed very short with his words.

"My name's Drac, my goodman. Yours?”

The man in black paused and looked at Drac. “Just call me Hood.” Hood continues walking. Drac followed tepidly behind.

“Hood, huh? Unimaginative parents. They should've named you Shadow or”

“Shh.” Hood mumbles

"Rude, was I? Sorry, my mouth tends to run away from me when I am nervous.”

“Silence!” Hood says it in a loud whisper. “Guards are approaching.”

Both stopped in their tracks. Footsteps can be heard coming from the right corridor leading to the exit.

“Stay. I will go.”

Drac follows the instructions. Hood unsheathed his short sword. A gleaming silver blade shines brighter than any mirror Drac has ever seen. double-edged with a ridge down the middle of the blade, a gold cross guard, short and blocky with intricate detailing that seems otherworldly and a grip covered in black leather with a gold pommel at the end. As Hood unsheathes the beauty, he flips it and handles the blade with a reverse grip.

Hood stalked towards the sound of approaching footsteps. And like a fox, he springs into action to catch his prey. One blink and the sword in one guard's throat In the same blink, the sword is already travelling towards the second unfortunate soul. Both bodies lay lifeless, spurting blood across the floor.

Drac was a farmer, used to gore and faeces. His father would bring him to a slaughterhouse. Drac’s Farm merely sold milk. So his father thought these visits would teach him the real world. This sight was too real for Drac. People who previously chatted about their families with each other lay soulless and red.

“Let's press on,” Hood points with his head towards the exit.

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Drac moved on with the hood still staring at bodies.

“Concentrate. It will get more bloody later on."Hood looks at Drac with concern. “You will get used to it. Like me. Now. Move.”

They finally reached the exit. Hood opens the door to show an empty field of grass. Possibly a secondary entrance forgotten by the new owners of his castle.

“Where do we go now, Hood?

“Down the other side of those woods is a road where the horses await us.” Hood surveyed the area. “Come. Walk.”

The two kept walking and entered the woods. Tall, winding trees block out the sun until they are sunshafts. Bells ring from afar.

“Not Good.” Hood grumbles.

“What the hell is happening?" Drac says this with high-pitched terror in his voice.

“They know what happened. They have come to catch the sacrifice they have lost.”

Drac's heart pumps furiously. He looks at Hood, who looks like he could not have cared less about the situation.

Hood finally says, “Run. I’ll hold them.”

Drac cannot believe how much trust he has in a person he just met.

“Good plan. Where do I go? Down the dark woods to the left or the foggy wilderness to the right?”

“Follow the black tassels on the trees. Now. RUN!”

Drac breaks for it. Horse hooves can be heard hitting the ground at full speed in the distance. Hood readies himself into a stance. Drac looks back and sees Hood standing alone, still in the stance. Feeling grief for the poor man, he turns back to enter deeper into the woods.

Following instructions, Drac searches for the tassels, eventually seeing one above. Finding the tassels became easier to do, and Drac finally found an opening in a gravel road. Exhausted, he takes a moment to rest. But he must go on. Hood did not sacrifice himself for any reason.

Drac straightened himself and walked across to the horses that were hitched. He calms the horse and proceeds to climb on top. Now to wait.

Time passes, and Drac’s heart keeps pumping hard. He grips the harness, ready to ride away, leaving his companion behind.

“Come on…”

The road is silent. Nothing but a breeze whistles its way down. Then, with a bang, Hood comes flying out. a foot off the ground. in the air for a good few metres before falling to the ground in a roll to regain the fighting stance, the reverse grip to the chin, and his left hand low. Hood adopted a more agile form of footwork. bouncing like a mantis. To a rhythm, only he could hear.

Looking closer, Hood is bleeding and bruised in several places. Movement is sluggish, and the eyes on the hood show his feelings; the mask hides away. He wasn't expecting this.

Drac did not expect this either. Cal comes out from where Hood flew from. Each step of his seems to vibrate the air.

“HAHA, you are quite strong for a lesser!” Cal keeps walking towards them with a sword in hand. Long with a crossguard to suit.

“Good job, Mercenary. You have completed your mission. But poor you. Left on your own."

Cal is just three metres away from Hood as he stops to point his sword at his adversary. “Drac I wanted. But you will be good enough. Surrender and die a death that befits you. By serving me.”

Hood continues his silent rhythm and grips his blade.

Cal grins. “Death here, it is."

Cal exploded towards Hood. Accelerating at an inhuman speed. The road broke where Cal stepped. Cal comes close with a horizontal sweep at Hood's chest. Hood narrowly managed to step back. Cal continued with his strikes: up, down, and upward. Hood dodged, evaded, and blocked with his blade. The last strike knocked Hood off his balance, but he was able to use his momentum to move further away by flipping with his open hand. Cal's barrage kept coming, and Hood persevered. In a blink, five moves were made by Cal, but they were rendered useless by the man in black. As several blinks went by, Hood found his rhythm. Parrying most attacks. redirecting the immense strength of Cal’s strikes. The grin on the bully’s face started fading. The vibration that Drac felt rumbled once more. Hood's deflections started to have less of an effect. Soon, Hood started getting nicked and cut little by little. The speed of Cal’s strikes was increasing.

Hood's blade was knocked away. Cal winds up to slash at Hood’s open body. His longsword set ablaze with a magnificent aura. Cal attacks.

Drac could not believe his eyes. Amid the amazing battle, there was something even more strange. A person is hiding behind a hood. blade in hand.

Cal comes in to strike. hits Hood with full strength, causing a wind to blow. Hood dissipates into nothing, and from there, the hidden figure comes out of hiding to slash upwards at Cal's left eye.

With Cal distracted, Hood looks towards Drac, who also saw it as a sign. Drac grabs the harness of the second horse and gallops after Hood. While Cal is groaning, in a leap, Hood gets on his horse and rides on, with Drac following along.

“Onwards to my hideout. Don’t lag.”