The next morning...
Suddenly Yuri felt the sensation of drowning, he immediately sat up then looked around and screamed out "What the hell?! Who did that-..." he saw Arthur standing over him, he used a spell to create cold water and dump it over Yuri. In a low growl Yuri says. "--Tsk-- It was you, I guess meeting you wasn't just a bad dream." Arthur smacks Yuri over the head with the hilt of his glaive, a smile on his face then he says.
"I told you from now on you will address me as master, I won't take any nonsense and as your master I will assign you your first task but first." He takes up a bowl of cold stew, which must have been from last night. "As my student you must eat every meal I hand you and thank me for it!" Arthur exclaimed as he pushed the bowl against Yuri's face.
Yuri yanks it out of his hands and eats it slowly before muttering under his breath, "Thank you... master." Arthur laughs at Yuri's comment but a glint of warmth appears in his eyes, however it is quickly extinguished by his shitty personality and followed up by a parade of unfunny jokes. After he finishes all his jokes his tone changes to a calm and collected one, almost like a father giving his child advice, "Brat, this world isn't for the weak, use whatever you can and whoever you can to get stronger, never trust anybody except yourself." He says before going back to the camp packing his tent up and putting out the fire then he climbs in the front of the carriage and leads it back onto the dirt path, he seemed peaceful yet ready for anything. What was with the sudden change in attitude and wise words?
A few hours into the ride I decide to go in the front of the carriage and sit down next to him, he looks at me as if I had done the most insane and out of place action he had ever seen but his expression softens and he returns his gaze back onto the road. A few minutes of silence later I decided enough was enough, the suspense wanting to see his face was killing me so I decided to swallow my pride, after all I was technically his student now and it's not like anyone would find out.
"--Sigh-- Please master." I murmured. "There I said it so show me your face now!" I said in a very demanding tone almost like an order.
Arthur looked at Yuri, his expression was that of pure shock, he never expected Yuri to give up his pride and ego so easily just for something as small as seeing his face, but in the end he was still a child so curiosity must have been drowning his thoughts all night, suddenly Arthur bursts out in laughter slapping his knee, he laughed for a couple of minutes straight before looking at Yuri again.
"Kid you seriously know how to crack me up, alright but I warn ya, I'm pretty goddamn handsome." Arthur says in a joking manner as his hand moves to the edge of the hood gripping it, Yuri looks at him in anticipation with the corner of his eyes trying to play it off, his face calm but his eyes lighting up with excitement, suddenly he reveals something shocking.
Arthur's face suggested he was in his 40's, a clean shaven face with light gray skin, his green swampy eyes with a claw mark scar over his right eye, however now he came the revealing part, his hair was short with a magenta color and light green tips, the most shocking of it all he had two jet black horns that were twisting is circles like those of a ram's. Yuri completely turned his head towards Arthur, his eyes widened in shock as he's left speechless.
Arthur laughs, "See what did I tell ya kid, pretty darn dashing ain't I?" he exclaimed as Yuri just stared at him, the silence was so heavy it was deafening before Yuri finally spoke up.
"You're... a demi-human! That's so cool-" Yuri quickly stops talking and clears his throat then tries to play it off. "I mean, --psht-- I guess that's unexpected." His tone and face say he's calm but his eyes glimmered curiosity.
Arthur laughs again and ruffles up Yuri's hair. "Close kid, but I ain't no demi-human." He says in a calm tone.
Yuri's head tilted a little to the side in curiosity. "But you have horns... so what are you then?" Yuri says, his face expressionless but his eyes glistening with curiosity.
Arthur's expression becomes serious and even a little intimidating before leaning in and saying. "A demon." His expression reverts back to its relaxed and smiling "Or demon-kind or hellspawn, whatever you'd like to call me, all of them are accurate but demon just sounds more badass." Arthur says while laughing.
"Seriously? Like, demons from Hell?" Yuri says in a calm voice.
"Well I guess but we don't call it Hell, we call it the Underworld and also its nothing like the hell you guys have in your religious books, we have a society, a social structure and economy like you guys have here, only for us it's less about politics and more about strength, who knows maybe I'll take you there in the future when you're old enough and you can experience a succubus or two." Arthur says while laughing and nudging Yuri a bit.
"Experience a succubus? Like fight it?"
Arthur went silent for a few seconds. "--Ahem-- Let's forget about the succubus thing for now alright kid." It seems he realized how awkward it was to bring up that kind of topic with a six year old.
A long silence followed as they both looked ahead at the road, Arthur pulled back up his hood covering his horns and hair again while Yuri tried thinking about what his new lifestyle was going to be like, now that this man, who claimed to make him a warrior and spared his life was his master he knew he would have to listen to his advice closely however he still tried to keep a boundary as to not get attached or anything, just like Arthur said to him earlier, 'Use whatever you can and whoever you can to get stronger, never trust anybody except yourself.'.
I can't stop thinking about Arthur's glaive, it must be quite a heavy weapon if it's so long and fully made of steel, it must be 25 no, at least 30 kilograms, does he intend to make me strong enough to wield it or something similar to it? What could he have meant when he said he'll make me into a warrior? For now I guess I'll follow his advice since he seems a cut above the rest, --Scoffs-- I can't believe I'm actually under someone.
A few hours later...
The rest of the day had went by in a flash, the air of awkwardness between Yuri and Arthur had started to lighten as the sun starts setting and the horizon turns a golden hue, Arthur drives the carriage again into the forest far enough where bypassers couldn't see the fire from the path, this time however there was a river next to where they stopped and set up camp, as Arthur was setting up the camp Yuri couldn't help but ask.
"By the way old man- I mean master, when are you going to start training me?" Yuri says with a semi-annoyed tone of voice.
Arthur looks at him a little bit surprised. "I wanted to let your wounds heal completely but since you got so much spunk I guess it can't be helped." He rubs his chin while thinking. "Oh I know, go to that river and swim until I make dinner, and make sure to clean your clothes and throw away those dirty bandages." Arthur said before waving his hand dismissively.
Yuri looked at him then looked down at the ground. "Uh actually... I kinda... I don't know how to swim." He said a little ashamed, his voice barely above a whisper, his ego breaking a little at the fact he had to admit something so embarrassing.
Arthur's eyes light up and an evil smirk appears on his face, he stands up. "You don't know how to swim huh..." His voice filled with not only amusement but also mischief while approaching Yuri. He looks down at Yuri and suddenly grabs him by the collar with one hand lifting him off the ground.
Yuri glares at him, "You wouldn't dare." His voice challenged Arthur but also had a hint of fright.
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Arthur's evil grin widens. "Time to learn how to swim you damn brat!!!" He screams out before throwing Yuri in the middle of the river, Arthur laughed as he saw Yuri struggling not only to keep afloat but also fight against the current, after struggling for a few minutes his splashing around turned into actual swimming, although it looked like a dying fish it was still swimming. Arthur continued to put up the camp.
One hour later...
Arthur finally finishes cooking and calls out to Yuri who was still swimming. "Alright kid come back and let's eat!"
Yuri swims to the shore and crawls onto it, his whole body aching from the exercise, his clothes damp full of water as he lays on his back gasping for air, he looks at Arthur and says, "--Cough-- You bastard, I swear I'll kill you in your sleep." Arthur gets up and walks over to him and hits the top of his head with his fist. "It's master not bastard, get it right next time." Yuri lets out a small scoff in pain, Arthur drags him to the campfire and lets go of him next to it, he fills up a bowl with stew and puts it down next to Yuri's head.
Yuri lets out a big sigh before sitting up slowly and picking up the bowl of stew. "Potato and tomato stew again... yummy." He says in a disappointed tone of voice.
"Well that's all that the crates had, plus a warrior doesn't complain about food he just eats it... unless it's poisoned, then don't eat it" Arthur says. "Oh and by the way tomorrow we're starting to walk on foot." Arthur says distantly while eating almost like wanting to avoid Yuri from hearing what he just said
Yuri stops eating and looks at him, his eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean on foot?! We have a perfectly good carriage with mules to drag it!" Yuri screams out, obviously pissed off.
"Well everything here is stolen, I mean the crates, the carriage, even the mules are, so yeah, plus I ain't got a permit to cross the border with merch and since tomorrow we'll be crossing the border I need to get rid of this stuff. By the way kiddo, after we cross the border we'll walk during the night and sleep during the day." Arthur says dismissively, I want to retort his words but I know it's useless so I just eat my soup quietly but even lifting the spoon up to my mouth feels like a difficult task.
After finishing our food Arthur goes over to the river, undresses and jumps in, he starts washing himself, I can't help but see the countless battle scars that cover his body, now feeling a little refreshed from the food I do the same, as I wash in the river I take off my bandages, all the wounds have healed leaving no scars except the stab to the stomach, I look at my lower back and see that the exit wound also has a scar, Arthur notices it and slaps me on my back and starts laughing.
"Look at you boy, you have your first battle scar before you even hit puberty!" Arthur says while laughing. "By the way kiddo, I don't even know your name or how old you are." Arthur says, his voice turning serious.
"Oh uh... My name's Yuri and I'm six, well I turned six a few days ago." Yuri says while Arthur is just nodding. "Hmmm, I see, I see." Arthur ruffles his hair and laughs a little, softly, it wasn't one of his funky or shitty laughs, it was a soft laugh of care, he gets out of the water and starts washing his clothes, Yuri does the same, looking over from time to time to see how its done, copying how Arthur does, it doesn't end up great even ripping the clothes a bit, after that they let them dry over the fire for a few minutes then get dressed again.
Arthur goes to his tent and falls asleep quickly while I stay out a little longer, the stars are shining brightly and are starting to fill the sky, I look at them, my eyes and expression both blank before I realize something very important, I look back at Arthur sleeping in his tent peacefully, I walk up to him and..... I kick him in the stomach, he quickly gets up and yells at me. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR YOU LITTLE TURD?!"
"WHERE THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP YOU DAMN STUPID MASTER!!!" Yuri yells before kicking him again.
"WHY THE HELL SHOULD I CARE YOU STUPID DISCIPLE!!!" A fight breaks out with Arthur beating the crap out of Yuri while Yuri bites and scratches at him but to no avail, after a short fight Yuri is exhausted and falls asleep on the floor, Arthur looks at him before letting out a big sigh, he picks Yuri up and lays him down in his tent, Arthur lays down next to Yuri with his back turned to him before whispering to himself.
"If he was still alive he would be around your age... stupid brat." Arthur says in a nostalgic and warm voice before going to sleep.
The next morning I wake up in the tent alone, I look around to see that Arthur had already put out the fire and left me a bowl of cold stew by the tent's entrance, I eat it then throw the bowl in the river, I look around and see that the carriage, the crates and the mules are gone however his glaive is leaning against a tree that was near out tent, I wait for a few minutes leaning against the same tree as the glaive, Arthur finally comes out of the forest.
"Oh you awake kid? Don't worry I just went to destroy the carriage and cargo it had plus I released the mules into the wild, you ready to go?" Arthur says as he picks up his glaive.
"Uh yeah I guess, let's just pack the tent and leave." Yuri says but Arthur quickly responds. "Nah kid leave it, after we cross the border we'll be sleeping during the day so the ground will be warm." Yuri sighs and just nods, following Arthur as they leave the tent behind, the only thing they have now their clothes and Arthur's glaive, the rest of the walk was peaceful with Arthur attempting to make a few bad jokes from time to time.
A few hours later...
After a long and tiring walk we finally reached the crossroad that united the paths towards the border and a broken stone arc with a sign was there, it read Brokeback Checkpoint, I looked down the path and I saw what looked like a small village inside the naturally created valley between the mountain ranges creating a perfect chokepoint, it would take days or maybe weeks to walk around the mountain so this was out only way in, me and Arthur walk up to the entrance where two guards are standing, both human, they let us pass after Arthur handed them a few coins as an entrance fee.
The town was filled with shops and guards, some of them were human while some were demi-human, Yuri couldn't help but stare and notice how much more physically stronger the demi-humans looked as they wore much less armor than the human guards almost as if showing off their muscles despite the cold, there also seemed to be a few caravans and adventurers however Yuri and Arthur ignored them going directly to the general store where Arthur bought what looked like small little brown balls and filled a small pouch with them and two canteens handing me one, after we leave the store.
"What were those weird little brown balls you bought?" Yuri asked, Arthur took out the pouch and handed it to him. "Nutricional pallets, they can go years before rotting and a single one is packed full of as many nutrients as a normal meal, downside is they are as chewy as old jerky meat and taste like stale bread." Arthur said, Yuri hands him back the pouch and glares at him, how dare he suggest Yuri eat such things?.
"Deal with it kid." Arthur said as they walked, he led Yuri to an inn, Arthur went to the front desk. "What can I get for you sonny." Says the receptionist who was an old skinny man in a neat looking wool vest that went over his clothes. "A one bed room." Arthur says, the receptionist glances at me with a bit of worry after hearing Arthur wants only a one bed room.
"Kiddo... do you know this man?" The receptionist said in a friendly voice like he was talking to a clueless child.
I glare at him. "Yes, he's my master, he's training me to become a warrior." I say with a hint of pride and arrogance.
The receptionist hesitates a bit before giving Arthur they key to to our room, we head up to our room, we both go inside and I close the door, we both look at eachother then at the bed, we immediately sprint towards the bed, I trip arthur and laugh at him however he grabs my leg making me fall, he gets up and throws me to the other side of the room and then jumps into the bed.
"HA HA HA KIDDO, LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR." Arthur says mockingly while laughing and pointing at me.
"DAMN IT, THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Yuri says while pounding his fist on the ground.
"Life ain't fair kid, deal with it." Arthur said before facing away from Yuri and going to sleep.
Yuri mumbles a few cuss words under his breath but decides to lay on the floor facing away from Arthur and go to sleep. The next morning Yuri wakes up and looks out the window, the night sky is up, it's time to move, he looks at the bed and sees that Arthur isn't there, his eyes widen a little before rushing out of the room, he saw Arthur eating some meat and talking to a few women who seemed to admire his horns and flirt with him being very 'handsy', Yuri goes to his table.
"O-Oh Arthur you didn't tell us you had a kid." One of the women says before they pull away from him a little bit. Arthur quickly retorts with an awkward laugh, "No no ladies this is just my disciple, right Yuri?". An evil grin spreads across Yuri's face, Arthur notices and shakes his head no but it's too late.
"Father, are you cheating on mother again?" Yuri says with an innocent look on his face that is hiding an evil laugh. "That's what you get, you old bastard." Yuri thinks to himself.
Arthur tries to stop them but the women leave, he lets out a big sigh before glaring at Yuri, he hits him over the head with the hilt of his glaive. "Let's go brat, and tonight's training won't be so easy." Arthur says menacingly before starting to walk towards the exit, Yuri gulps, he doesn't know what to expect but follows him, we exit the inn and go to the exit, after they walk past the gate the scenery is very different here, it's swampy but Arthur just moves forward down the path and Yuri follows.