Taral was enraged.

“How did he possibly get into our castle,” Taral screamed. He was tired, so tired. He hadn’t slept in days, this could’ve been a hallucination, a dream for all he knew.

“We were asleep sir, but we had stationed two Golds, two Silvers at the gates, and four Golds and four Silvers inside,” Irian said. He was a high ranking Gold swordsman, and he looked horrified.

“Did you take math during your education?” Taral said. “Because those numbers definitely don’t add up. I see one Gold here, and definitely not six Silvers.”

“The others… the other Golds went out sir, they didn’t think that anybody could possibly just walk into the castle,” Irian said.

“Well, you said you were spying on him, where did you see him go last,” Taral turned to the Iron. He had run away from being attacked by Inaki. Taral had tried learning everyone’s names, but this was a junior enough Iron that he didn’t know his name yet.

“Last I saw him, he ran up the stairs, he had a lantern with him.”

“How many of you Irons attacked him at once you said?” Taral asked.

“Five, sir,” The man said, cowering in fear.

“Five Irons could not take him down one boy,” Taral said.

“Sir, I saw that just before fighting us, he killed two Silvers at the gate,” The boy said.

The boy told Taral the rest of the details of the incident. Taral couldn’t control his anger. He had given the Tomokas such grace, he had called off the war, he had apologized for his behavior, and this is what he got. He couldn’t maintain his anger. He was just so tired.

“How many has he killed in total,” Taral said.

“He has killed three Silvers, three Irons, and a Gold sir,” The man said.

“What are you waiting for, look for him,” Taral screamed at the rest of the soldiers in the room, “And go in groups of four, you won’t be able to fight him alone.” “You, the man who ran away,” Taral said, as the man was about to leave. “It’s your responsibility now, to tell the families of these people that they are dead. All seven of them.”

“Yes sir,” The man said, stepping away.

“Tell me what your name is,” Taral screamed.

“Hanten,” The man screamed, running away.

Taral bent down on one knee and put his head on the dead man’s chest. He was one of the best Gold soldiers that the Yaroka had ever seen. Yartan had been a drinking buddy, back when Taral was a young Gold. Taral felt it odd, how in almost a decade and a half, while Taral had become a Platinum, Yartan had remained a Gold.

“If Inaki can kill a Gold on the cusp of Diamond, and a Silver at the same time, he is probably at the same level as a new Diamond,” Taral’s Diamond lieutenant—Boru—said.

“You think he can defeat you,” Taral said, still seething in rage.

“No,” Boru said, “I will kill him.”

“Don’t fight him,” Taral said. “I value you too much.”

“Are you scared that I won’t be able to kill the boy,” Boru said.

“You just said that he was at the same level as a low Diamond,” Taral said. “I have lost too many people recently. I don’t want to lose my best friend and best soldier too.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t lose,” Boru said.

“Please, just don’t fight him,” Taral said.

“You know that I can’t do that,” Boru said. “Before he gets to you, he must go through your lieutenant.”

“Please if you are losing, there is no shame in running away,” Taral said, walking away.

There is no shame in running away.

Taral wondered whether this was how Aoin had felt all those years ago when he told him those words.

----------------------------------------

Inaki still sat in the closet. He was tired, and had more wounds than he had realized during the fight itself. The Silver had gotten some good hits on him and Inaki had been cut up like a sacrificial chicken.

He ‘borrowed’ some of the clothes in the closet to serve as bandages for his wounds. He didn’t think that he could continue on and fight Taral. Even if he were fighting Taral in prime condition the fight would end in either Inaki losing or the fight being extremely close.

Someone knocked on the door.

Inaki realized that by not extinguishing his lantern, he had told them his exact location. Inaki sighed, and waited as the man knocked on the door.

“I know you’re in there,” The voice said. Inaki sat, remaining silent.

“It’s me, your brother,” The man said.

Inaki stepped and looked from under the door, he saw a peculiar sight, his brother.

Inaki quickly opened the door, pulled him in, then closed it and latched it.

“What in Okan’s name are you doing here,” Inaki yelled at him.

“I don’t want you to die alone,” Gonten said. Inaki realized something, Gonten was covered in blood. And it wasn’t his.

“What happened,” Inaki said.

“I killed two Irons,” Gonten said.

“What,’ Inaki said.

“Why are you so surprised?” Gonten said.

“Do I need to say it,” Inaki said.

“Takehito is training me well.”

“I thought you’re becoming a gardener,” Inaki said.

“I can be both,” Gonten said.

“Well, good, but if you want to be helpful, killing just two Irons isn’t going to be enough.”

“I know.”

“Well anyways, how did Takehito turn you around in a month?” Inaki asked.

“I don’t know,” Gonten said. “It just happened.”

Inaki didn’t know how to react to his brother becoming competent, he couldn’t believe it at all. But he felt proud of him, but he thought that saying it would probably make him become arrogant, which is why he said, “Come on, we have to move, I need to go talk to Taral.”

Inaki got up and opened the door, he looked around him with the light of his lantern, and saw that no one was there.

“Come on, we have to go,” Inaki said.

“Where are we going,” Gonten said.

“To the training hall, to wait for Taral,” Inaki said.

Inaki began walking out, trying his best to be silent. He was surprised by how Gonten was able to remain silent as he walked. He would have to ask him how later.

The two of them walked to the stairs, and saw that nobody was there. Inaki stared up the stairwell, and saw that groups of swordsmen were crawling through the building looking for him.

Inaki began climbing down the stairs. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, he ran towards where he thought the training hall could be.

“Do you have any idea where the training hall is,” Gonten whispered.

“No,” Inaki said. “But we can look for the place.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The two of them opened a door, found that it was just another closet. Inaki closed the door and the two of them once again began walking.

“Found him,” A swordsman screamed, Inaki looked back and saw he had silver around the hilt of his sword. The man’s blade ran at Inaki’s neck. Gonten blocked the strike. Inaki slammed his sword into the man’s knees then stabbed him in the ribs.

“Thank you,” Inaki said.

Three more Silvers arrived. Inaki didn’t want to continue the fighting, which is why he began running. Gonten followed him, he pushed through the Silver swordsmen, who cut at him.

Gonten might’ve become an Iron in a month, but he definitely wouldn’t be able to fight Silvers and Golds, Inaki wondered why his brother had been stupid enough to follow him here.

Inaki ran around the castle, hoping to find the training hall. But the Silvers were hot on their tail, even a few Golds. Inaki ran through the castle, up the stairs, down the stairs, entering closets, entering rooms.

Should I take hostages? Inaki didn’t know, but he decided that involving non-swordsmen in this affair would have been the most dishonorable thing he could do.

Inaki jumped down the stairs, sliding down the handrails, and he reached the ground floor. He ran through the castle, and finally found the training hall. He opened the door, and saw that several lamps were still on.

Inaki placed the lantern which was in his hand down, and walked in.

Taral Yaroka, now high enough in position to drop his father’s name from his own, stood there, his eyes were bloodshot red. But he wasn’t standing alone. Surrounding him were four Golds and one Diamond.

“I tried to stop this,” Taral said. “Why did you come?”

“What do you mean,” Inaki said.

“You are a monster, Inaki,” Taral said. “I don’t know how you sleep at night.”

“I sleep comfortably, whether I sleep on the floor, in the grass or on the most comfortable mattress,” Inaki said.

“You will not be allowed to leave Yaroka,” Taral said. “You have made the biggest, and the last mistake of your life.”

“Can we not waste time, and can I just fight you,” Inaki said.

“Sorry, no,” The Diamond woman standing beside Taral said.

“Well, then are your Golds going to fight me one at a time,” Inaki said.

“No,” One of the Golds said. “Two at a time.”

“Good for me,” Inaki said.

Inaki stepped into a ring enclosed by thick rope, and waited. The Golds looked at each other, and stepped forward.

Inaki didn’t think that he’d be able to take on four Golds and a Diamond, and then take on a Platinum. But now Inaki stood in the den of the lions and there was no other option for him.

Inaki looked behind as more and more people rushed into the room. Golds, Silvers, Irons, all kinds of swordsmen rushed into the room. The little training hall was filled to the brim.

“What did I mean when I said that you won’t be able to leave,” Taral said. “You might be a once in a generation prodigy, but you are still just one man, you cannot defeat all my forces and run away.”

“Are you going to throw an entire army at me because you are scared of me,” Inaki said.

“No,” Taral said. “These are here to make sure that you don’t escape. We have deemed you the same level as a Gold at the cusp of Diamond, and we shall treat you as such.”

Inaki felt true joy. His enemy acknowledged him as being very near to the pinnacle of swordsmanship before he’s even gotten a steel blade. Inaki tried to twist his face into a smile, but he couldn’t. He only got a small grin.

“You got lucky,” Hassai whispered in his ears. “You just caught them off-guard. You will lose if you fight even one of these Golds.”

Inaki felt the high that had just gotten dulled down. Inaki stood in Bullstance, and waited for the two Golds to enter within the ring.

“Please,” one of the Golds turned to Taral, “Let us fight him one on one, it would be a disgrace.”

“You saw how he defeated your friend, because you were out drinking,” Taral said.

They were drunk. Inaki realized that this gave him a chance. But this depended on how drunk they were. Holding their swords in their hands, they didn’t seem too drunk, but maybe when they swung their swords, Inaki would be able to tell how drunk they were.

“Why do you grant me two on twos,” Inaki said.

“Even after all you’ve taken from me,” Taral said, “I want you to die in a swordsman’s duel, not a beating.”

“Well I appreciate your concern,” Inaki said.

The Golds entered the ring, Taral stated the rules of the duel. “The duel is to submission. Fainting counts as submission, dropping your sword and raising your arm into the air counts as submission. Death counts as submission. I, and all these other people serve as the witness, may the duel begin.”

Inaki rushed at the two Golds, they both stood in Mountainstance. Inaki used the Bullstance’s special Battering attack, and tried to isolate one of the swordsmen from the other.

One of the Golds had a scar under his eye, and the other one had long white hair. Inaki was attacking the one with the scar. The man stepped out of the way, Inaki’s momentum kept him moving forward, and Scar slashed at Inaki’s back. Inaki dropped to the ground, the sword flying over his back. The two swordsmen stabbed at the ground, Inaki rolled. This was when he realized a few minutes of sitting in a room, and tying bandages in his wounds was nowhere enough to recuperate.

He stood up and felt his wounds begin to burn in pain once again. His biggest wounds were gashes, but a thousand tiny cuts were enough to kill an elephant.

Inaki still continued to fight. Afterall, the only reason they thought of him at the cusp of Gold and not an outright Diamond, was because he hadn’t proved himself stronger.

The Golds ran at him, The Mountainstance wasn’t like the stances that Inaki was used to. It was very rigid, each move was more discrete, it didn’t flow like Tigerstance, or Bullstance.

They attacked him with heavy attacks. Inaki blocked one strike with the flat of his blade—why hadn’t he picked up a sword when he was outside the training room.

He didn’t think his wooden sword would be able to survive through all of this. Inaki stepped back as a slash grazed his chest, creating another scar, and another wound.

The two Golds rushed at Inaki. Inaki tried his best to block and dodge, but he couldn’t. These Golds were slower, but were more precise and struck heavier.

It was then that Inaki realized where he had gone wrong. Though these men were Gold, extremely strong in their own right, their Stonestances weren’t designed for one on one duels. They were designed to be in a group, whether they were fighting one person or many. They weren’t duelists, they were soldiers.

Inaki was still in the fight, even though he was being pushed back, barely able to dodge and fight. Inaki stepped forward and struck downwards trying to take control of the fight while the other two were recovering from huge strikes.

White Hair switched to Leafstance.

It was an instantaneous switch, he didn’t have to stand still, reset himself, then attack. He swung from Mountainstance, to Leafstance in a second. Inaki tried his best to block, his sword hit the man’s sword, but it was no use, it slashed his cheek, narrowly missing his eyes.

Scar rushed at Inaki, not giving him time to rest.

This was like when he was fighting the Gold and the Silver, the one in Leafstance was now keeping Inaki’s attention, while the other one struck when he was diverted.

But this time, the one who was striking when Inaki wasn’t paying attention was competent enough for it to actually hurt.

Each strike Inaki barely hung onto life, he was bleeding from a thousand cuts. He didn’t know a way to win this fight.

Inaki began stepping back, he needed to think, but the two Golds weren’t giving him the time to think. The two of them slashed at the same time. Inaki allowed them to hit him, but dodged just enough that he wouldn’t die. He also dropped his sword.

He hit the ground, leaking blood from a million cuts. He felt slight shame at playing this trick, but not really, since they were Golds. He flailed on the ground.

They stepped close to him, waiting for him. Inaki had his eyes closed, so he couldn’t see who descended to inspect him. Inaki punched the man in the face. He then grabbed his hand and twisted it. The man was surprised enough to drop his sword, Inaki picked up the steel sword and sheared the man’s head off, before throwing himself to the ground as the Gold behind him stabbed.

“You would descend to such childish trickery, as playing dead,” Taral said.

“Not my fault your fighters fell for such an old trick,” Inaki said.

A man came out of the crowd and dragged the dead Gold out of there, leaving Inaki with who realized was the one with the scar under his eye, the one who only fought in Mountainstance.

Inaki rushed at him, he switched to Firestance, and the two of them battled. Inaki was tired, he was bleeding, and with all the might in his body slashed one last slash.

The man blocked it, both their swords cracked, Inaki didn’t miss a beat and slammed the hilt of his sword into the man’s jaw. He hit the ground. The man stood up, and rushed at Inaki with his broken sword too. The two of them hit each other with their hilts in the jaw. Inaki spit blood as he bit his tongue, then fell to the ground.

Inaki stood up, and the other man stood up too. The two of them held their broken swords up. They looked each other in the eye, the man had sincere hate in his eyes. Inaki kicked the other Gold’s severed head to his feet. The man’s anger erupted. He rushed towards Inaki. Inaki stepped to the side, and slashed at him with the broken part of his sword through the stomach. The man fell to the ground, with his friend’s sword stuck horizontally in his stomach. The man gurgled. Inaki picked up his wooden sword, and slashed his sword on the man’s neck, ending his suffering.

Inaki stepped back. And he was declared the winner of his duel.

Inaki sat down, a small pool of blood under him. How would he win his next duel? He stood up and said. “What level do you deem me at now?”

“Well, I don’t know,” the Diamond said.

“You know I won’t last another duel with Golds,” Inaki said. “Stop being cowards, and either fight me Taral, or send out your Diamond.”

“Fight my Gold who is at the cusp of Diamond,” Taral said. “Then you can fight my friend, Boru.”

“This is just stalling,” Inaki said. “Coward.”

“I just need to see if you’re even worth fighting,” Taral said.

“That is a plain lie,” Inaki said. “The truth is Taral, you aren’t even a man. Your son died in an honorable duel, and you came crying like a child to bully me. You cannot bully me. Your vow of non-violence was always bullshit, you are a swordsman, and violence like attacking me after your son lost a duel is in your blood. You can stall our fight all you want now. But you will have to either kill me, die or announce yourself a coward and a bully.”

“I issued an apology just a day ago,” Taral said.

“Well it doesn’t matter to me,” Inaki said.

“Why are you so hellbent on fighting me,” Taral said.

“Why are you so scared of me,” Inaki said.

“Stop,” the Diamond screamed. “You can’t let him talk about you like that.”

“It’s okay Boru, it’s not like he’s getting out of here after the disrespect,” Taral said.

“No,” The Diamond said. “I am going to fight him, and end his life.”

The Diamond stepped into the ring. Inaki stood prepared to fight his next opponent.