MEMORY

In one of the hills overlooking the Raison Sea, Ray sat comfortably on a wooden chair. He was currently watching the calm sea from the deck of a wooden house, one of many such houses built on the hills overlooking the sea. These houses were exclusively for those who could afford them, like a combat family with deep history. The ‘Eh’ family owned a few such properties and sent Ray to one such place to rest and heal.

Ray was sipping from a cup of hot tea and enjoying the view when a boy sat beside him. He glanced at the boy and a small smile formed on his face.

“Why are you smiling?” The boy asked Ray.

“I’m just happy to see you.” Ray answered after taking a sip from his cup.

“Are you feeling?” The young boy probed further.

“It still hurts most times, but I feel here I can finally find what I was missing.” Ray replied while looking towards the view of the calm sea.

“And what was missing? You were the champion, I doubt there is anything out of your reach.” The boy asked.

“You” Ray replied calmly and looked towards the boy.

The boy too turned his head and looked towards Ray, surprised.

“I thought you were happy.” The boy voiced his thoughts.

“Quite the opposite in fact. The less I saw you, the more unhappy I was.” Ray replied.

“Why?” The boy could only ask.

“My whole obsession on becoming the champion was that I could see you everyday, but the more I stayed a champion, the less and less I saw you.” Ray answered truthfully..

“So you lost willingly?” The boy followed up.

“No… no… he won fairly. I could see the fire in his eyes, his intent to be the champion was pure and he won through his skills. I wasn’t even sure I was going to see you again, but you came and I felt relieved that I lost.” Ray put aside his empty cup and stood up.

“So you are relieved you lost? You are weird, you know that?” The boy snorted.

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“The only thing that kept me going was you. I can’t lose you again.” Ray's voice cracked. He went on, “The day I lost you and your mother, my world ended. I didn’t want to live anymore and went into that match every intention to kill myself. But, I saw you appear before me and I didn’t want to lose you anymore.”

“You should move on.” The boy said.

“You are my son… how can I let you go?” Ray asked to which he didn’t want any reply.

"So… you're going to compete again?" The boy asked.

"Of course… I have to get my championship back." Replied Ray.

The boy smiled after hearing his answer. Both of them kept watching the view until the sun set over the horizon.

Inside the city state of Raison, a man knocked on a door of one of the rooms in a guesthouse. This guesthouse was located close to the Order of Combat Committee office building in central Raison. The Order of Combat Committee of the Order as the locals called it, controlled and supervised the armed combat sport in the city.

The man who was knocking was wearing a simple grey tunic and a white loose fitted pants to match it. The door finally opened and a groggy Hemon peaked his head out.

"Yes?" Hemon asked while he tried to clear his vision unsuccessfully by rubbing his eyes with one of his hands.

"Are you orphan Hemon?" The man plainly asked.

"Yes I am" Hemon confirmed, stifling a yawn.

"I have come to discuss some official business" the man said.

Hemon opened the door fully and stepped aside.

"Come inside " He said.

The man walked inside Hemon's room. The room was simple with a single wooden frame bed placed beside the only window in the room and a wooden chair along with a wooden desk placed on the other side of the window facing the wall. A wooden storage cabinet placed on the foot of the bed and a medium length table with two chairs in the middle of the room.

Both of them took a seat around the table in the room, sitting facing each other.

The man cleared his throat before he started.

"I work for a man who by profession is a trader. Two days from today, my boss will hold a large party to celebrate his eldest daughter's sixteenth birthday. He will also be hosting combat matches for entertainment. Two matches for professional combat fighters and one match for orphan fighters.

I'm here to present to you an opportunity to participate in this evening as part of the orphan fighter card. The orphan match will be a 3 vs 3 and the teams will be decided on the evening itself before the match begins.

Here is the official letter from the Order, authorising the mini event for private consumption" the man put a piece of paper on the table for Hemon to see.

It was an authentic letter from the Order along with the seal. All fighters learn to identify the seal of the Order if they want to verify the authenticity of a particular tournament they are participating.

"And here is our letter of intent to hire your services for the night along with the payment plan written in the document itself. As you can see, this document also has the seal of the Order" the man brought out another paper from his satchel and put it in front of Hemon.

Hemon took the document in his hand and carefully read it. It was regular in Raison for such events to occur. For many, being hired for such events was lucrative business for their careers and wallets.

He skipped past the name of the trader that wanted to hire his services. It was not important for him and he went straight into the details of the match and payment. He was being offered 5000 Rais to accept the offer and a winners purse of 6000 Rais to be divided equally among three members of the winning team. So there was a chance for him to earn 7000 Rais for fighting in one match. A deal for one evening for any orphan standard.

The Match will happen within the private Villa of the trader and he will receive half of his pay upon showing up on that evening and the other half after his match is over along with the share of winners purse should they be victorious.

"Everything seems to be fine with me. I gather the payment is non negotiable?" Hemon enquired.

The man gave a slight nod of his head and replied a simple "Yes".

"I accept the terms" Hemon said.

The man brought out another piece of paper from his satchel and kept it on the table.

"Please sign in both of these documents to finalise the terms of agreement" the man said.

After the documents were signed, he was handed his copy of the agreement before the man left his rented room.

5000 Rais was not bad a day's work. It would cover another 5 months of his room rent.