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Tales from the World-Soul
The Alienation of Life

The Alienation of Life

In the decrepit kingdom of Éolos lived one of the greatest heroes humanity had ever seen, he who, without anyone's help, was able to defeat the feared Black Dragon and bring peace to the kingdom of Éolos for over 30 years. This great knight belonging to the Order of Chánon was known as Géros. It was the legends and stories of this great hero that inspired the young Afelís to become a knight of the same kingdom and order as his idol, Géros.

Reality, however, had a different story in store for him, for when he arrived in the kingdom, all he found was a filthy, irate, and drunk old man, a shadow of his former heroic self. Despite now having become a dead weight who only caused problems with his constant senseless outbursts of anger and frequent bar fights, people also had to be careful with their words in front of him. He was known for threatening to kill those who offended him, and in his state of eternal alcoholic stupor, anything could set him off. People did not know if he would follow through with those threats, but given his reputation, no one wanted to take the risk. Although people appeared relaxed and smiling on the streets, anxiety and fear were always present beneath the surface because the wrong ears could be listening to what they said. Géros could get away with this behavior because of the great deeds he had accomplished in his youth. Despite how he was now, the people of the kingdom tolerated him as if under the influence of some dark magic, making them repeat the same phrases: "That's just how he is," "We must be tolerant of people," "Without him, we wouldn't have the kingdom we live in; we owe him, he earned his drink."

Devastated and angry by this revelation, the poor and naive Afelís, in a youthful outburst of stupidity, tried to challenge this public perception of Géros, attempting to make the inhabitants see him for the drunken failure he was. But he only received scorn and disdain from the inhabitants, who responded with phrases like: "You think you're better than old Géros, you who have never done anything and will never be like him," "Géros gave us a kingdom, what have you given us?"

This discouraged the poor Afelís until one day, a massive Red Dragon threatened to destroy the kingdom. As expected, the inhabitants turned to Géros for help, which infuriated the old knight immensely. He began throwing tantrums, shouting insults, and exclaiming how dare they impose such a duty on him, asking who they thought they were, and that they should defend themselves and not ask for favors like spoiled children.

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Seeing that Géros was evidently not going to defeat the dragon, Afelís set out with great nervousness and fear but invigorated by youthful anger and desire for greatness. Due to the gravity of the situation, he left so quickly that he forgot to announce his plans to the people of the kingdom.

The battle was arduous and prolonged, but after three days of fighting, he managed to kill the beast at a great cost, losing his left arm and eye along with his right foot. With his horse dead, exhausted from the great battle, and losing blood, Afelís could not move. He opted to lie on the body of his former enemy, gasping as he held his shattered sword with pride, awaiting the consequences of his actions. Then a sound pulled him out of his stupor, the sound of a galloping horse approaching his location. With renewed vigor, he shouted with all the strength his survival instinct had given him. To his astonishment, Géros stood before him, who, in a bipolar act of remorse, had come to defeat the beast, which to his surprise lay dead before him. Astonished, he asked Afelís if he had killed the dragon, to which the boy, exhausted, responded affirmatively and explained that due to the severity of his injuries, he needed help to return and needed urgent care. Géros did not respond to this and remained staring indifferently at the dead dragon. They stayed like that for a long time, and Afelís, becoming more nervous by the minute, brusquely demanded that Géros take him back to the kingdom. The old man slowly moved his head to look at him and, calmly dismounting from his horse, approached him, placing his face a few centimeters from his, and with spasmodic rage began spitting insults and yelling at him, threatening to kill him if he did not show more respect and never speak to him that way again. Then he lifted him by the arm and roughly put him on his horse, starting the journey back to the kingdom in silence, except for the occasional hateful grunts Géros let out.

Upon their return, the citizens of Éolos received them with cheers and applause, quickly taking Afelís to the healer. Géros returned to the tavern, where he received barrels of beer for free. When Afelís recovered and told people that he had killed the dragon, they laughed in his face, dismissing it as a youthful lie born out of envy and a desire to be like the real hero Géros, who had saved him after the foolish attempt to approach the dragon while the hero was working. At least that was the popular version of the events that happened that day. Géros never denied it, and Afelís feared confronting him about it. Moreover, in his weakened state, not only did he have no chance of defeating the old man in combat, but his days as a knight were over. He had now joined the masses, sharing their secret and countless fear of the greatest hero humanity had ever had.