Cough Cough Cough

Arsh woke up with a sharp pain in his whole body, as he flinched from the pain, he started looking around the place.

Blink Blink

When Arsh opened his eyes slowly, he saw an old-looking wooden cottage. There was a candle near his bed and a man sitting on a chair. The man had an expression of amusement on his face.

The man had scattered long hair, with white skin. He looked to be in his 20s from his face.

"I didn't think you were going to survive, kid"

Arsh stared at him and then asks -

"Who are you?"

"Kid you shouldn't talk like this to your saviour you know, didn't your parents teach you any manners "

"DON'T INSULT MY MOTHER"

"Woah! Calm down kid, no need to be so agitated"

The room went silent again for a few seconds, then the man turned to Arsh and asked.

"You hungry? kid"

"You can call me Alan. Where are you from by the way?"

"From a village that used to exist on top of the mountain," Arsh replied, his head downcasted.

"From the land of forsaken?"

The man gasped and exclaimed.

"Is it true that it exists? I only heard legends about that place. It is forbidden for any person, to go in the northern mountains"

"Wow, you seem like a package of trouble to me. If any of the churches know you are alive, you are not in for a good ride"

The man went silent and then continued with a sigh-

"Looks like we got a lot to talk about. So why don't we start while eating, you were unconscious for the whole day after I picked you up from the river. I think you will be plenty hungry by now"

Arsh doesn't believe the man at first, but after Alan pestered him for a while. He sat on the table and started eating the bread on his plate.

The man smirked, "How do you know it wasn't poisoned?"

Arsh spat all of the food in his mouth on the floor and started coughing violently.

The man laughs out loud.

"Kid, I was just joking. I don't know why you are so on the edge"

'This Bastard. What is wrong with him'

"And if I want to kill you, it will be a matter of seconds. For a former Espada like me"

Arsh went silent and started glaring at the man. He didn't speak a word until he finished his food.

After a while, Arsh lifted his head and asked with a somewhat curious expression appearing on his face.

"What's an Espada?"

Alan smiled at him "oh, now you feel like talking"

"I don't know why you are assuming that I will just tell you everything"

Arsh stared at him in a daze and then suggested-

"What about information exchange, you can ask me what you want while I will ask what I want"

Alan eyed him carefully and scoffed at him.

"I don't want to do information sharing with a kid"

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"I can tell you about the forsaken ones"

"Deal"

'This bastard don't know shame'

Alan shouted enthusiastically which annoyed Arsh to a certain extent, but he ignored it.

"First question- What's an Espada"

Alan's face turned serious as he said "How much do you know about the world we live in ?"

"It is ruled by gods"

Alan was startled by the answer of Arsh.

"Half right and half wrong. I don't know how you know about the gods, but they don't directly rule the world"

"There are 4 continents on our planet. They all have many different cities. And every single one of them is in the jurisdiction Of the churches, except for the northern continent."

"Northern continent is mostly covered in very dense forest and mystery. You will be labelled a criminal if you even set foot in the northern continent. Unless you are an adventurer or an official"

"There is still a town just near the shore of the continent. It isn't particularly big, but you can get your daily necessities from there. In exchange for monsters' materials"

"What I am going to tell you is, I think you already have an idea about it. Every person in this world thinks there are only 5 gods in the world, which is not true. There is a being more powerful than all of the 5 gods combined, whose only temple is on top of this northern mountain we call him the -"

"DEATH GOD," Alan and Arsh said in unison.

Now it was Alan's turn to be shocked as he said with a confused and cold expression on his face.

"How do you know that? It is the greatest secret of the royal family?"

Arsh said simply "Because he will die by my hands"

Now Alan was too confused to keep his curiosity in check. He shouted in a loud voice at Arsh.

"Do you know what you are talking about right now? if we weren't on the northern continent. We have loosed our heads, and you are saying you are going to kill the gods"

He clicked his tongue and continued "kid, you can't even kill pets of the demon. You are not in your right state of mind if you are talking about killing a god"

Alan went silent and then asked with a sigh -

"Tell me about yourself, you can trust me. I am also here because of treason, so we are in the same boat"

Arsh looked up at him and decided to trust him.

Arsh started telling Alan his story, As to how he reached that river which he remembered clearly as a day.

Every memory from that day was etched at the very heart of Arsh, He finished his story while tears started flowing from his eyes. As he remembered his mother, Edward, and every villager who helped him run away, from the angels of death.

Alan looked at him with pity and sadness and pulled him into a hug. "It must have been hard, kid" he said in a low and completely serious tone. Arsh started to weep on his shoulder-

"Yeah, it was"

It was silent for some moment. As soon as Arsh composed himself. Alan continued again-

"Let's start from the start, kid. I was an Espada for the southern continent's military. It is a rank given to an assassin, who kills what is deemed to be a threat by the king and churches"

"Every continent consists of many cities with only one monarch. They control the whole continent. The monarchs are also appointed by the churches"

"Believe me they might be mentally unstable. But not stupid enough to do all this for mere amusement. They have some kind of goal, which at least I am not aware of yet"

"I betrayed them when I was on a mission to kill newborn twins and their mother. I always knew I am a monster, but even then I was not able to kill those kids"

He said with an expression of extreme sadness on his face.

"I knew a blunt knife has no use. So it was only a matter of time before I was killed by my fellow Espadas. So I ran away in the northern continent, away from the eyes of gods."

"The northern continent has only one town near the shore, but no monarch. This place is filled with all types of magical creatures, who can kill you just by their presence"

"There is also a very famous legend, all around the globe regarding this place."

"In the deep forest of the northern continent there live people, who have declined the hands of gods and are trying to go against their will. We call them the forsaken ones,"

Alan sighed and said-

"I never knew they existed though."

For Arsh, it was a lot to take in so he went silent for some time. "What about the death god?"

Alan eyed him carefully and said "I don't know anything about him. Except that he is the reason there are no churches on this continent. I heard every other god is scared of his powers, they say he is omnipotent."

"You are the only person that has seen the death god descend in the whole world, I am sure of it"

"He is the very representation of death and his emblem has been removed from every history book to hide his existence. Most of people don't know what and Why that being is"

Arsh tried to digest every bit of information Alan gave him in a short span.

'What should I do from here on out? I am alive and well as of now. While there are still beings that killed my mother in this world. I am not going to let them live them for long'

Arsh was so deep in thought, that Alan had to shake him out of his thoughts.

"You okay? Kid"

Arsh wobbled for a moment then asked him, in a voice full of determination "Teach me magic and fighting"

Alan was surprised by the sudden development "Kid I don't know any magic except for stealth but I am pretty good with swords and daggers. But leaving all that aside there is no reason for me to teach you" he announced.

Arsh turned his face downwards and said "I'll do anything you ask of me, but I need the power to exact revenge on people who murdered my family and villagers, Please help me, Alan, PLEASE"

"You should stop crying first. Let yourself cool off for some time, and sleep on the bed. I will take the couch, and come with me in the morning"

"We will think about your training tomorrow"