Ghul slashed his sword at a Bokoblin while dodging another Bokoblins attack. He was raiding another advanced Bokoblin camp. The two archers were already dead, and he was taking on a horde of Bokoblin.

Ghul tightly gripped his Traveler's Claymore, and performed a 180º slash, knocking off all the nearby Bokoblins. He took a deep breath and started his wild flurry of attacks again.

Ghul had some minor cuts and bruises, but nothing major. There were dead all Bokoblins around him, while he was facing two Blue Bokoblin all by himself.

Swinging the big claymore was exhausting him but he managed to stab one of the Blue Bokoblins in the chest. Without a second to spare, another Blue Bokoblin tried to stab him with a spear, he dodged the attack, as his body spun in the air. He took out his Eightfold blade, cleanly slicing off the Bokoblins head, and perfectly landed on the ground.

Panting, his body lay exhausted on the ground. There were dead Bokoblins all around him, and the smell was absolutely horrifying. He was too tired to care about it though.

Ghul laughed as he tried to stand up. He laughed uproariously, drowning away all his hardships.

Cleaning the battlefield, Ghul extracted the Bokoblin teeth and horns. The weapons he got were nothing but some rusted metals, nothing particularly useful. The loot wasn't that good, only the arrows were of some use. He had about 28 arrows, an Eightfold blade, and a Traveler's Claymore. He had quite a considerable sum of Bokoblin teeth and horns as well.

Crows cawed in the orange-tinted sky, as the setting sun made it dimmer. The night would fall soon. It was Ghul's 4th day here. He packed his inventory and went towards the very first camp he raided. It had a river beside it, so he could escape from there if anything unexpected happened.

Ghul was returning to his camp when he heard some noises. It was coming from his camp. He quietly made his way towards it hiding in the bushes.

When he reached there, he saw some horses and some people with armors. They couldn't be Hyrulean soldiers as their armor differed from one another, probably some mercenary. A big cart that looked like full of goods was nearby as well.

Merchant?

Ghul took a deep breath and headed towards them. As soon as he came out of the bush, all the men became alert and picked up their weapons.

"Who's there?" A bulky Hylian guy asked who seemed to be the leader.

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Well, Hylians were nothing more than humans with long ears, kinda like Elves.

"Who are you?" Ghul questioned back, a bit cautious. It was his first time meeting a real-life Hylian. He didn't want to be hostile with them, but he still kept his guard up just in case.

The bulky guy signaled with his hand as everyone lowered their weapon. He hesitated a bit and spoke, "I am Tobias. The leader of this mercenary group. Who are you and why are you here?"

"I'm Ghul. Well, to be honest, I am lost here." Ghul lied without batting an eye. There was a bit of truth though.

"Why are you here?" Tobias asked again, his gaze a bit stern this time.

"What why am I here? Why are you here? This is my place." Ghul was truly speechless this time.

"Didn't you see that this camp was already cleared out by someone? " Ghul huffed.

"Well... It was already cleared of monsters when we reached here," Tobias feigned a cough, a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry, but it's already dark and it's not wise to move in the dark. why don't we compromise? It would be safer as well."

Ghul pondered for a second, it wasn't a bad idea.

"Sure.." Ghul nodded.

"Prepare another mattress for brother Ghul as well," Tobias said to the Hylian behind him. He knew how to get along.

"How did you end up here brother Ghul?" Tobias tried to make small talk with Ghul.

"I got carried away by the river," Ghul replied. He knew quite a bit about the art of lying.

"May I ask a question?" Tobias said a bit hesitant.

"Sure.." Ghul replied. His reply was short, as he didn't want to blurt out any more than needed. He still didn't know the date. What if he leaked some future knowledge?

"Umm... The mask?" Tobias didn't know how to phrase the question in his mind. After all, that thing was a freaking skull.

"Oh.. Some personal reasons," Ghul replied vaguely,

"I... understand," Tobias replied. He knew he wasn't going to get his answer.

"What's the current situation of Hyrule?" Ghul questioned casually.

Tobias sighed as he spoke. "It's getting worse by the day. There are frequent monster attacks. People aren't even traveling anymore. The prediction of the great calamity has caused more panic."

Ghul's eyes gleaned. "What is the Kingdom doing?"

Tobias stared at him, while Ghul stared him dead in the eye as well. Tobias had to admit, the skull mask gave him extra intimidation factor.

"Recently, Princess Zelda has found a way to activate the Divine Beasts." Tobias tried to test him.

Ghul knew it, and he knew that he had to give a substantial reply, not a vague one.

"I heard the Sheikah were helping as well."

"Yeah, who knew that all the myths were actually real," Tobias replied, relaxing a little.

"You believe that the Great calamity will happen?" Ghul questioned.

"Well, the myths were real, so maybe..." Tobias replied. He was a mercenary who was accustomed to risk. He wasn't as fearful of the calamity.

"What about the Master of the sword that seals the darkness?"

"That kids a monster. Worthy of the title top swordsman of the kingdom." Tobias replied, awestruck.

"Hey, who's this guy?" A dark-skinned Hylian said while pointing at Ghul.

"Ah... Raihan, he's Ghul. He is the one who killed the monsters here. " Tobias said. It seems their relationship was quite good.

"Oh.. Thanks for the help. If you need help with anything, just ask. I'm sleepy, so I'll be going to sleep." Raihan said while yawning.

"Don't mind him, he's quite a good guy if you get to know him," Tobias said with a nonchalant expression.

"No problem, I'll be going to sleep as well," Ghul said, happy that he won't have to sleep on hard ground.