year 2018, ???, ???

Feeling the tiny rocks pressing into his left shoulder and hip Dorian slowly opened his eyes, still a slight confusion visible in them as he tried to remember where he was and what the last thing is he could remember. Pushing himself into a sitting position he brushed over his short hair trying to get a grip. Slowly but surely he got more sober. Gazing up at the high standing sun he was wondering how long he slept.

"Man, this must be one of the worst hangovers I've ever had. Luckily those two morons didn't wake me-", letting his gaze drift over his surroundings for the first time he choked on his own words not able to understand what he was seeing.

"Where the fuck am I???"

Surrounding him was a street. Tall buildings framed his view constructed in an old asian style with those iconic curved roofs and statues paving the way to their entrances.

"Am I dreaming? I must be. There is no way in hell that I traveled to China in a mere few hours without-. Holy fuck, I hope I didn't get roofied again by that damn prankstar. If he did that again I swear by all by all hells that I will-" as he was giving his runt of what he would do to Chris once he would get his hands on him he realised that he must look pretty stupid sitting there at the side of the road muttering to himself like a psycho in ragemode which earned him quite a few strange or pityful looks from the passerbys.

"Ahem", standing up he tried to act as souvereign as possible and walked away as to escape from all those strange looks. Trying to figure out where exactly he was by looking for some kind of info shield or traffic shield that may give him a hint he kept on walking down the broad street bustling with people of all kinds of cultures and lands which made him wonder but soon he put that thought to the back of his mind getting back to his first priority. Orientation. As he kept on walking he couldn't find any info shields or something that may help him so he simply decided to enter one of the shops and ask for some information. He picked the next shop he could find after making that decision and entered it straightaway. As he pushed open the door a faint bell that made his entrance known and signal the owner that a potential moneybag had entered.

"Welcome dear customer, my name is Mao Mao and I am the owner of this modest shop. How may I be of help to you? Would you like to see the newest fashion trend that just became popular in our city or do you maybe prefer something simple and unadorned?" As Dorian heard the voice that came from his back he turned around only to be meet by a very corpulent man, dressed in a dark-purple colored garment that reached all the way from his shoulders to the ground and decorated with the biggest money grabber smile Dorian had ever seen in his entire life.

Seeing the stunned face his customer was making the shopowner didn't push him but simply waited for him to get a grip.

He didn't have to wait long as Dorian came back to his senses coughing lightly to overshadow his inappropriate behaviour. "No thank you, I don't have any money with me at the moment but I would be very grateful if you could provide me with some informations about the city." Dorian smiled to the giant in front of him as a way to maybe sway him to help him without any gains.

As Mao Mao heard that his customer had no money his big smile crumble to a not so nice face.

"You got no money huh?" letting his gaze wonder over Dorians body the big man frowned and began to think of a way to make use of the time he had already wasted.

"Let me propose a trade to you." Mao Mao said to Dorian. "I will gift you with a new set of clothes, not the best ones of course but no carbage either. After all this greatest of the great shops has a reputation to loose. In exchange for the set of clothes you will give me your clothes which obviously aren't from these parts." Grinning over his briliance to spot a potential new goldmine earlier then his competition his smile grew back the way it was in the beginning.

"Deal." Dorian answered and shook the big mans hand. Finally he would be able to get out of his dust covered multifunction clothes he always wore when his was doing physical work or exploring in Egypt.

"I will bring you a set I believe will fit you just nicely. Give me a moment." With that Mao Mao disappeared in the back of his shop where rustling sounds were beginning to fill the room.

After a few minutes he came back with a set of light blue garments and put them in front of Dorian to chose from.

"I'll take this one." picking up the one on the far left side he went over to a cabin to get changed.

"Excellent choice if I may say so." Dorian heard the voice of Mao Mao.

Dorian took off his own clothes and put on the light blue trousers which were loose and tight together at his ancles. Afterwards he grabed the white shirt and put it on followed by the garment which fell a little bit further over his waiste and could be buttoned from his left shoulder to his right ribcage.

"As I thought, they fit you very well." Mao Mao said as he saw Dorian step out of the cabin.

"Here my clothes, as promised. Now what about the information?" he said as he gave Mao Mao his clothes.

"The informations were not part of our deal. Now if you would excuse me, I have money to earn." Mao Mao said and disappeared in the back of his shop again.

Grumbling unsatisfied Dorian left the shop not one bit further in his research then when he started. But how was he supposed to know that the shop he entered would be housed by such a money grabber?

Walking down the street his reached a square bustling with people who were seemingly watching something very interesting in front of them. Curious what was happening there Dorian walked over.

Squeezing himself through the crowd he finally got the the first row of spectators and was stunned by what he saw in front of him.

Two groups of people were confronting each other. The group on the left was wearing dark blue clothes and all of them carried Naginatas (japanese halberds) with them. The group opposite of them wore dark red clothes and carried broadswords with them.

A woman stepped in front of the blue clothed group seemingly the leader of the naginata wielders and seemed to wait for someone to step in front of the red clothed group. As the tension in the air grew thicker Dorians confusion grew with it.

"Excuse me sir, may I ask what is happening here? Why are they allowed to carry weapons with them so openly without the police stopping them?" Dorian asked a man to his right that he had tapped on the shoulder.

The man, ca. 40 years old with black hair tied into a bun on his head, turned around and looked Dorian up and down.

"Police? I don't understand what that is but I can tell you what is happening here. The school of the "moons embrace" are challenging the school of the "fierce sword" for their rank in this region as the representatives for all the schools that walk "the path"."

Stunned by the answer the man had given him, Dorian tried to process what he had heard.

"Where the hell am I that he doesn't even know what the police is. And what's all this talk about "path" and "schools"? Something's really fishy here, I can smell it."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"You don't seem to be from around here. Where are you from?" the man asked obviously curious to the obliviousness Dorian showed.

"It seems from very far away, but actually I don't know how far." , sighing he gave him a rather contemplating answer.

"I see." the man said while thinking about something deeply.

"Hmm, how about this: I will treat you to a meal or drink, whatever you would prefer and you tell me everything about the place you came from or the most important things." the man said.

Grinning Dorian said, "Sure thing. I feel like I haven't had a meal in years."

"It's settled then. lets go after the competition is over. You may not know about it but in our land it goes as disrespectful or even disgraceful not to spectate a duel of pathfinders or as you may see them warriors." 

"I see." Hearing the man speak of the warriors in such an exalted way Dorians interest in the warriors climbed yet again. Something about their posture, prideful yet modest gazes and the way they carry themselfs ignited something inside of himself. It was not a passion like his fable for myths and legends. No, it was more like a calling. Something was calling for him and pulling him and his every fiber towards those people, something he hadn't felt before which was a peculiar feeling. 

Dorian watched with bated breath how an imposing man wearing the same red clothes and carriing a broadsword in his right hand stepped forward and focused his gaze on the woman standing before him clad in blue. 

"I, Karra Bora, leader of the moons embrace challenge you, Ma Valo, the leader of the fierce swords under the guidance and supervision of the all seeing gods to a duel of life and death so that the winner may advance further on the path towards the stars. Do you, Ma Valo, accept this challenge?" The woman called out in a dignified voice which showed to all who heard it that this was not a mindless fight for supremacy. No, it was a ritual. 

The male leader stepped forward even further. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes he readied himself for what was to come next and when he had made up his mind what could happen to him, should he accept, he opened them straightened his back and called out equally loud: "I, Ma Valo, leader of the fierce swords, under the guidance and supervision of the all seeing gods accept the challenge of life and death so that the winner may procede towards the stars and fullfill the acient promise from long gone."

As soon as he stopped his speech both contestants locked eyes and bowed before each other in respect for the sacrifice one of them would have to make. When they raised their heads back up everyone around them who spectated the duel closed their eyes for a minute without muttering a sound for here would a life end and it was a demonstration of their gratitude for this noble sacrifice. 

Dorian who was watching this whole ordeal was not minder surprised as everyone closed their eyes and not understanding what was happening around him he just stood there dumbfounded and lost.

As the people opened up their eyes the silence faded and both contestants fell into a stance to ready themselfs for battle.

Ma Valo raised his blade before himself with the tip of his sword held in the direction of the enemies eyes, shoving his left leg back and turning himself sidewards so his enemy would have a more narrow field to aim for. Bending his knees he waited for the strike.

Karra Bora took a more aggressive stance. bringing her right leg back and tilting the Naginata with the blade behind her back to not let her enemy gauge the possible length and with it the reach of her weapon she prepared for a strike.

One second passed, two seconds, three, four, five. Suddenly Karra tilted her weight onto her front foot and moved the Naginata in a swiping motion forword in a circle towards her enemies knee aiming to cut it off. 

As reaction, Ma Valo, trying to close the distance and weakening her advantage of reach closed in on her in a short jump moving towards her while bringing up his sword over his head to aim for her head in a downwards strike.

Having seen his advance forward Karra Bora fell back in retreat, trying to creat more distance between them but Ma Valo having anticipated that tried to kick for her front leg in an attempt to weaken the leg with which she was trying to push herself away. 

Just as Ma Valos leg was about to hit her she smiled slightly and shifted her weight from her frontleg to her backwards standing leg and folded her front leg against her backwards leg, and with it standing on her backwards leg. The room that was suddenly created broke Ma Valos balance as his strong kick to her frontleg hit nothing but air and swept past her. Seeing her chance Karra pulled back her Naginata and laid it against her waiste and spinning herself on the spot by using the force of the pull to sweep in a circle like motion at the height of her own hip towards her opponent aiming to open his stomache. 

Ma Valo, having his balance broken and tumbling to the left so her attempt to strike and tried to block it by raising his sword to his right in an attempt to shield his stomache, while breaking into a cold sweat in anticipation.

Not having the time to dodge or close the distance the full force swing connected and arrived with so much force that it was indeed blocked but only the blade, not the strength. Hearing a dull cracking noise a few of Ma Valos ribbs must have been broken as he was blown away by the force. Tumbling to the ground he groaned in pain turning around to not loose vision of his enemy. Just as he was about to stand up again another strike came, this time from above attempting to connect with the weak spot between head and should, right at the neck. Still sitting, Ma Valo raised his sword over his head in a last attempt to protect himself only to be meet by a brutal energy from above pressing his sword down and burrowing itself inside his neck. 

Blood dropped to the ground, painting the arena in a dark red color. Slowly the life faded from Ma Valos eyes and as Karra pulled her weapon back out of his neck he feel lifelessly to the ground.

An eerie silence pervaded the plaza as all eyes fell down on Ma Valo, the former champion of the region and after a few seconds, starting with Karra everyone bowed deeply towards Ma Valo while muttering the words "Thank you".

Afterwards the students of Ma Valo stepped forwards, some of them sobbing in grief and picked him up to carry him away.

Dorian stood there inside the crowd, rooted to the ground by what he had seen and completely shocked that a human being had just been killed right in front of him. But still, he couldn't stop himself from admitting that this man had known what could happen and still agreed to the duel. Seeing as the crowd dispersed he turned around to the man he had spoken with before. 

"What a strange day..." Dorian muttered to himself as he followed the man to a tavern he beliefed anticipating to finally satisfied his always burning curiousity that had been set a flame yet again.