The Spirit Race, fallen gods, the forsakens. They had several names. The general public would not differentiate one from the other. A Spirit Race is a Spirit Race. That is an undeniable truth to them. Regardless on what form they take, what clothing, gender or age, they are creatures who are since time immemorial enemies of the Human Race.
"A Spirit Race? Aren't those the crazy man-eating monsters that lived far into the Dark Forest?"
A hunter said when asked by one of my assistants.
"What I would do when I see one? Haha, that is funny. Just like how I hunt deers and boars..."
Appearing amused, he tapped his forehead repeatedly.
"Would I lend a Spirit Race a room upstairs, you asked?"
A lady, who supervises a tavern in a town near the Frontier, mumbled after being asked by my assistant.
"Yes. Money is money regardless where it came from. Still, I'd earn more after telling the authorities. Hmm? Selling the Spirit Race out after paying for accomodation? Fu..hahahaha you must be joking. Two Taels of Silver is not enough for me to betray humanity."
She snickered as she waved her hand expressing disgust in her face, my assistant could only nod in return.
"Meeting with a Spirit Race? Mister, are you trying to scare me like Mommy?"
A child, who was playing swords with his friends, was asked by my assistant.
"One day I will grow up so I will no longer be afraid of them. What will I do? This is how Knights do it, right?"
The child waved his hand which held the wooden sword. Demonstrating a slash and a thrust, he appeared proud of his movements.
"Have I ever seen a Spirit Race before? Of course! Having worked as a hired hand, I've experienced my share of battles."
A crippled man sitting on a chair near the outpost of a village huffed his pipe as he recounted his experiences.
"If I didn't get hit by an arrow to my knee, huh, what Spirit Race did I encounter you ask? What is the difference? All are foul creatures that must be get rid of."
The man puffed before massaging his leg.
"You see here lad? A Spirit Race with pointy ears did this to me."
"An elf, you mean?" My assistant interjected as she eyed the leg pointed out by that crippled man.
"Elf, schmucks, whatever. I'd pay anything to strangle that damn beast."
My assistants narrated to me the information they have gathered from commoners. Their opinions, experiences and ideas about the Spirit Race were anything but colorful. Still, that provided much insight on the humans' thoughts on the Spirit Race's existence.
A Spirit Race is a Spirit Race, regardless of color, age, gender, clothing, size or whichever form they take is what these people believe in.
"Am I different from the tavern hostess on the other side of the town?"
The same assistant asked that tavern supervisor but with a different question.
"Of course I am. I am obviously more beautiful and refined than that wench. Eh? We are both humans you asked? No, no. She is a whore and I am a lady in commoners' skin! There is a huge difference!"
And then, my assistant asked the same question to the hunter.
"What will I do if my rival hunter asks me for help? Of course, I'd help out..haha with payment and added interests. Eh? You are asking why won't I just leave him dead? He will, probably, we are not cut of the same cloth and I am the better man."
The hunter said proudly though my assistants felt he was pretending to be poignant.
"You are asking me what I'll do if you showed in front of me the person that hit my knee with an arrow? What if its human?" The crippled man rubbed his temples who thought through the question but it did not take a while for him to answer.
"Call the Town Guards or Bailiff. Guy needs to pay for his crime. Hm? You are asking why I won't strangle him? I am not an inhumane person. Justice should fall under the law."
And then, the child pondered, "But aren't the enemies the Spirit Race? Why should I point my sword to a human?"
I see. Humans are such fascinating creatures. Truly the most hypocritical beings at the height of their foolishness.
Moving along, my assistants asked......
-Extracted from a page of an Old Book titled, "Queries of Differences"
Chapter 2: Warning Signs
In a fortress a ten kilometers away from Village Arto, a commotion was currently happening. Men dressed in uniform attires were scrambling documents while horseriders went in and out of the fortress gates.
Within one of the fortress' rooms, a man wearing a silver plated armor stabbed a piece of paper with a knife as he turned his head to address the people behind him.
"The Order has given its decree. We must head to Village Arto before noon."
There were four people there all wearing the same set of equipment. They were wearing the same armor emblazoned with a dual crossed golden symbol on the chestplace while paired with a crimson scarf with a white sword stiched at its center which was wrapped on the armor's neckpiece.
This was the standard armor of Provisional Knights those who are a step closer to being knighted by the Holy Order. And these people he turned his head to are those who stood over thousands to get to this point.
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"Captain, that place is too close to the Frontier. Heck, we already are. Why should we go~"
A red haired knight with a short stature complained as he placed his hands behind his back.
"It can't be helped. The scouts have picked up activity there. It seems the <
A long haired man pushed his glasses up as he followed through the red haired's complaints.
"Furhermore, it is unbecoming of a knight to complain about doing his duty, " he followed with a remark aimed at the former.
"Yo, you are not picking a fight now are you, glasses boy?!"
The red haired man glared at the man with glasses but he was pushed off by the female knight beside him.
"Oy! That's not a way to treat your comrades!"
The female knight, who had short chestnut hair, waved her fingers at the red haired man.
"Captain, since we are currently stationed in this fort, then I assume we will rendezvous at Count Barton's Castle first before proceeding?"
Another female knight, one with long blonde hair, spoke but she intently ignored the squabble of her companions and instead spoke to the Captain before them.
The Captain, who had short black hair while sporting a mustache and goatee, appeared in his middle age. Unlike the other four, he was a seasoned veteran, a true Knight. His armor did not possess the crimson scarf sported by the other four but instead had a blue coat wrapped on his armor.
"That is the plan. I heard the Count's lands are preparing for the selection so they believed it would also be a good time for us to show those newbies what it takes to be a Knight, " the Captain then took an ink pen, using it to write on a piece of paper before folding it into a scroll.
Handing the scroll to the female knight, " take this to the stables and hire a messenger to address the Count to warn the Village. We need to make haste."
"Understood."
As the female knight left, the Captain turned his head to the other three, "You lot should best behave. This will be your first challenge and the Wrath of all things."
The man let out an exasperated sigh before relaxing his shoulders.
"Uhm...Captain, what is this thing called Wrath?"
The female knight with the chestnut hair raised her hand shyly as she asked the question but it was immediately interjected by the glasses knight beside her.
"Did you honestly forgot? It was in the Provisional Written exams!"
"Eeehk...hehe...I can't say I did well there."
The glasses knight's forehead twitched and was about to shout at the female knight before a hand chop from the Captain stunned him.
"Easy now. No need to get heated this early though we might not get any sleep as we have to head out immediately. Okay listen newbies! <
The female knight tilted her head seemingly not understanding the explanation then red haired knight beside her raised his hand.
"Oh I remember that! Isn't that what they call their group or something, like they have this brutish looking flag!"
"Not group you dimwit, it is what they call their people," chided by the glasses knight as he fired a glare at the red haired knight.
"Wrath, Lust, Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth and Greed. Those <
The Captain raised his finger as he asked the question. The three Provisional Knights before him turned their eyes on the finger.
Glasses Knight was about to open his mouth to answer but the Captain continued with an exasperated voice, "Because they themselves don't get along, just like you lot! Now go and pack up! We are leaving in 15!"
Although the moon barely lit, the stars were still present in the sky. Yet, Lucielle did not feel the serene ambience of this night.
"What is that hideous monster?"
"A beast! A beast!"
Whispers and curses echoed through her ears. A growling sound, a hissing sound.
"You are a curse. You are a sin."
She remembered the former words but the latter ones were foreign. When were those aimed at her?
"You inherited ugliness, truly pathetic."
And, she saw the blackness in her vision dyed into a hazy hue of red and purple. Her eyes currently gazing at a mirror which served as a barrier between the cussing noise that began.
Lucielle tried to open her mouth but no voice came out. Shaking her head to look for something, someone, anyone, yet nothing but the cage of the hues of red and purple could be seen.
The hissing sound came again but this time it wrapped her body from toe to head. Squezing her, constricting every fiber in her body, it felt as if it had her heart within a grasp making it difficult to breathe.
Lucielle woke up pushing her body up the makeshift bed of hay she made for herself. She could hear the grumbling sounds of the owl and far into the distant forest the howling of wolvves. Once she hears these sounds, she knew it was far from daybreak.
"A nightmare huh..."
Lucielle murmured as she placed her hand on her forehead. That dream was an experience she had when she first came to the village market years ago. Because of the shock it dealt to her, she never went to that place ever again.
It was not because she was afraid to do so. For her, those words were normal. It was the people who banned her from doing so.
However, the latter part of the dream was surreal and different. That was not somethign that happened before.
Shaking her head, Lucielle pushed her body off the hay bed and exited her room within the barn. It was still too early for her yet the nightmare took all energy to sleep from her. Instead, she took a bucket in the corner close to her room and walked to the riverside close to the bridge heading to the village square.
The river flows from the mountains through the farm and into the village. It was such an advantageous location for their farm and for Lucielle who couldn't afford to be seen by the public.
"Ah, Alan will leave today."
She recalled as she scooped the bucket to fetch water from the river. She was planning on going with Alan to see him off. Although she was warned of the consequences of being found out, she swore to him that she'd cover herself up to disguise her appearance.
The boy had no choice but to agree.
Finishing her errands way ahead of time, Lucielle scurried off towards their usual training spot. It didn't take long for her to reach it and immediately she could hear the swinging sound of a wooden sword slicing the air.
"You are up here early."
Alan addressed Lucielle as he held the wooden sword in his hand before throwing to the latter.
"I couldn't sleep," she answered as she caught the wooden sword the boy had thrown.
"Up for another bout before I leave?"
"Are you sure about that? The coachman will be by the square soon."
Alan chuckled as he took another wooden sword which lay beside the rocks. There wooden swords would usually lay here especially Lucielle's as she couldn't afford to let the people by that house know what she had been doing here.
"You always hold back whenever the Old Man is watching. He isn't here today so you can go all out."
He chuckled as he swung the wooden sword toward Lucielle. She blocked the sword and held her ground while asking, "Where did the Old Man go?"
It was quite rare for the old fella to leave. With his age, he could barely chop some lumber.
"He said he'd be visiting an acquaintance over the County Capital at Urswick. He said he'd meet mere there he left just a while ago."
"And he went by horse?"
"Cost him a few taels he saved up, I heard."
The two conversed as they swung their swords at each other. It was a lighthearted morning for the two. However, beyond the forests from the Old Man's cottage, a looming shadow emerged from the thicket of trees.
"So this is that place he told us about."
A horse and beastly voice grumbled. A humongous figure emerged from the trees and even with yet the sun rising the minimal light dawn had provided still illuminated it.
"Warchief, the scouts have confirmed. This place is barely guarded. They doubt of the Oracle's..."
A small petite figure emerged from the bushes to that figure's right. It was the size of a child albeit it skin was not brown nor it possessed hair. It was blad and green and its voice was that of a shrieking child.
"Have the army assumed formation?"
The "Warchief" was none other than that humongous figure that had emerged from the trees. A green giant covered in bone-like armor with two humongous horns portruding from his skull. Those horns were conscpicuous in size as they were shaped like an elephant's tusks.
"We are only waiting for the wolf riders. The Wrath tribe is ready. The village barely have any guards, though there is also a farm far beyond it, are we going to raid that as well?"
The Warchief grumbled in response as he turned his head towards the defenseless village.
"Leave no stone unturned. The Chord must be ours."
The giant roared as he held his hand towards the village and grasp it into a fist.