Ha...ha…ha…
A man with dirty blonde hair and green eyes leans on a tree as he tries to catch his breath. “That was close,” he said to himself as he tries to calm his wildly beating heart.
“Who was that person?”
The man, Raymond Lothar, wondered who his assailant was. A few hours after wandering aimlessly inside the Black forest, a person wearing all black and a white, featureless mask attacked him for no apparent reason. Fortunately, he has a sword with him and was able to fend off the initial barrage of attacks.
“Those sword skills are unreal…”
Although annoyed and terrified of the sudden assault, Raymond could not help but marvel at his attacker’s skill with the sword.
“I’ve no doubt that that masked assailant is an expert but why did he attacked me?”
Hand and eye coordination, judgment, motor skills… Raymond judged that his assailant was above him in almost all aspects as a swordsman, and yet he still could not understand why he was being attacked.
“Could it be related to the reason why teacher dumped and abandoned me in this place?”
Three days ago, Raymond asked his teacher to teach him a secret sword technique that he could use to win a tournament that’ll be held on a town called Drakus two months from now.
At first, his teacher had refused his request citing his readiness, or rather, his lack of readiness to learn one of their school’s secret sword techniques as the reason. But through Raymond’s incessant begging; his teacher finally (and begrudgingly) acquiesced to his request.
However, instead of teaching him one of his school’s secret sword techniques; his teacher left him inside the Black forest with nary an explanation saves for some instructions and a warning.
“You are to travel to the center of the forest and find a small hut deep inside. Only by locating the hut will you be taught the secret technique you desired. If you failed to locate the hut or give up half way and leave the forest, you can forget learning any technique,” his teacher said before turning around and leaving a stupefied Raymond alone.
It took Raymond a minute or two before he could recover from the shock of being abandoned in a dark and gloomy forest by his own teacher. But as he was to run after him, his teacher’s words rooted him in place.
“That crafty old fox… He really got me there,” Raymond let out a curse. “He didn’t even left me with anything. No food, no water…”
Raymond felt helpless with how his teacher does things. What kind of teacher would leave his student in the middle of the forest without supplies? Does he want him to forage and hunt for his own food? So Spartan-like…
Raymond really want to leave the forest and complain to his teacher’s face that he was being unreasonable. Unfortunately, he cannot for he had made a promise with someone important to him.
“I couldn’t give up now especially after making that promise with her…”
Dahlia von Drake.
That was the name of the woman he loves, and the only daughter of the lord of Drakus, Count Donovan von Drake.
“I must win that tournament no matter what,” Raymond reminded himself with grim determination.
Raymond had gone to see Count Drake with his retinue of servants bearing gifts about a week earlier. He intended to request the count's daughter's hand in marriage. His plan, however, was met with hostility rather than acceptance. Furthermore, with Dahlia's older brothers fueling the fires, things swiftly spiral out of control, resulting in conflict.
“I did expect that my proposal would not be accepted so readily but do they really have to become violent on me?”
Raymond felt resentment boiling inside his heart after recalling what Dahlia’s two older brothers did to him. He visited them with a pure motive (okay, maybe not so pure motive) but got punched in the face, twice, instead.
“Well, it’s not like I expected anything less from those two…”
The Drake and Raymond’s family, the Lothar have been in conflict for two generations now. The two families were like oil and water, unable to mix no matter what. Whenever a member of the Drake or Lothar family met, it would usually devolve into some sort of uncivilized altercation aka fist fights. Nowadays no one really remembered who or what started the feud between the two families but the resentment remained till this day much to the dismay of two youths (Dahlia and Raymond) who were madly in love with one another.
Sigh
“I guess there’s no point on crying over spilt milk. That said I’m hungry. Moreover, it’s starting to get dark so I should try to find something to eat before it becomes too dark to do anything.”
Two days have passed and Raymond is still yet to find the hut that his teacher mentioned despite having delved God knows how far into the dark forest. Fortunately, the forest is filled with edible plants, fruits, mushrooms and even small animals to hunt so Raymond did not have to worry starving to death. As for water, Raymond found a waterskin filled with potable water hanging on a branch on one of the trees in the forest a day ago.
A coincidence? Most likely not.
Raymond believed that the waterskin was left by someone for him to find. After all the area he is in lacked a source of water and if he didn’t find one soon, he would die of dehydration. As such, Raymond strongly believed that the waterskin was arranged by his teacher to ensure that he doesn’t just drop dead of dehydration.
As for the other arrangement his teacher made…
“Right on time again, I see.”
Raymond turned around only to see the masked man wearing all blacks standing several feet behind him with his sword drawn. Drawing his own sword, Raymond readied his stance.
“Hey, before we begin, can you at least state your name?”
“……….”
“No response, huh. I expected as much. But I’m not giving up just yet though. If you don’t want to talk on your own then I should use my sword to make you talk.”
After saying so, Raymond dashed towards the mysterious masked man and did a downward slash. The masked man, as if anticipating the attack, easily parried Raymond’s sword and tried to counter-attack. But his plan was foiled when a diagonal slash came out of nowhere, forcing him to jump backward.
“Tsk. You even dodge that, huh.”
Raymond clicked his tongue. He didn’t really expect to defeat the masked man with that surprise attack but he at least hope that it’ll cause some damage. Unfortunately for him, besides getting a bit flustered, the masked man was relatively unscathed. That said Raymond isn’t done yet.
“Hah!”
Flurry after flurry of slashes rained upon the masked man, forcing him into a defensive position. Raymond on the other hand continues to put pressure on his opponent, hoping that the masked man would make a mistake. Skill-wise and speed, Raymond is inferior to the masked man but his determination and stamina makes up for it. In term of physical strength, the two are almost equal.
Still, the difference in their level is substantial, and despite his best effort, the masked man remained unhurried, and was able to parry most of his slashes, albeit with some difficulties.
I need to push harder!
Raymond let the raging motor inside his heart roar and his assault grew fiercer and heavier as a result. Feeling the weight of Raymond’s sword, the masked finally showed some wariness and judged that staying on the defensive might prove fatal. As such, the masked man changed his strategy and went from defense to offense.
The two men locked swords, but as both men are of equal strength none of them get the upper hand, that is until the masked man seemingly stepped on a pebble on the ground, lost his balance and stumbled backwards.
“Chance!”
Seeing his opponent stumbling, Raymond saw his chance to end the stalemate. Stepping forward, Raymond swung the flat of the blade down… but hit nothing but air. Surprised by the sudden disappearance of his opponent, the young swordsman was slow to recover. And then he felt intense pain on his chest.
“Gah!”
A groan escaped Raymond’s lips, and before long, he found himself staring at the clear, blue sky.
“I see. It was a trap,” he said to himself while looking daze.
Raymond realized that he was caught in the masked man’s trap. The masked man didn’t lose his balance earlier but was just acting to lure him into a trap.
“How pathetic, to think that I fell for it hook, line and sinker,” Raymond murmured in self-derision. “Hey, what’s the name of the technique you used on me just now? I want to learn it.”
The masked man who had walked to Raymond who was still lying on the ground looked down and spoke, “Go straight west and you’ll find what you seek.” After saying his piece, the masked man left.
“So its west, huh.”
Following the masked man’s instruction, Raymond finally found the hut he was looking for. There he found three people waiting for him outside: The masked man (no longer wearing the featureless mask), an ordinary looking middle-aged man, and… his teacher looking at him with a wicked grin painting his lips.
“Took you long enough to find this place, boy.”
“We have a certain someone to thank for that. If that someone has the decency to give proper directions, I would have reached this place sooner.”
“And who might this certain someone be?”
“Who knows?”
Teacher and student stared at each other with bared fangs. If no one was to put a stop to their antics, the two men, young and old, might just come to blows.
“You two seemed to be getting along well,” said the ordinary-looking middle-aged man with an amuse smile on his face.
“Hey Nel, do you need to have your eyes checked? It might be going bad.”
“I have to agree, sir. What made you think that I’m getting along with this old fox?”
The middle-aged man’s smile grew wider, “Didn’t you just agree with him?” He replied.
“…You got us there,” said Raymond begrudgingly. “By the way teacher, who are these two gentlemen?”
“Lionel, a fellow disciple and his apprentice, Ken,” his teacher answered.
What?
Raymond looked at his teacher in confusion and asked, “I thought our school only takes one student every generation?”
“That’s just on the surface. The truth of the matter is…”
According to Raymond's teacher, each generation is divided into two teachers and two students. The only difference is that one teacher will always be on the light, while the other teacher and student pair will remain in the dark. Those in the light are responsible for spreading the name of their sword school, while those in the dark are responsible for ensuring the continued existence of their school's heritage.
“In other words, if anything happened to the both us, our school’s legacy can still be passed to the next generation.”
“…Okay, that actually make sense but why not just take more students and spread the name of our school far and wide? Wouldn’t that be more practical? Also, what’s the point of my trial? ” Raymond questioned.
“That’s just how our school works, boy. Don’t question the founder’s motive. As for your trial, it was to make sure that you’re ready to learn our school’s more important sword techniques.”
“Fine, whatever. Just let me learn the technique that guy over there used on me.”
“You disrespectful whelp.”
The two men, one young and one old, began squabbling again, much to Lionel and Ken's amusement.
“Those two sure get along well, teacher.”
“Hmm…” Lionel nodded.
And so, Raymond’s grueling training to learn their school’s secret sword technique begins. Under the tutelage of two teachers, and a fellow student serving as his sparring partner, Raymond’s skill with the sword improved leaps and bounds. Before long, the promised day arrived…
“The victor of the match is Raymond Lothar!” The referee announced Raymond’s victory. It was his fifth consecutive victory in the tournament.
After completing his training and learning one of their school’s secret sword technique, Raymond joined the tournament held in the town of Drakus. On the tournament, Raymond faces several powerful foes but thanks to his training, he was able to emerge victorious every time.
Raymond walked down the stage under the cheers of the spectators. Looking up, his gaze falls on Dahlia, his lover. The two stared at each other for several seconds. Although it has only been several, the two youth were able to communicate a lot of things to each other.
“Just one more win,” murmured Raymond before walking away with determined strides.
While some people are celebrating Raymond’s victory others are not. Dahlia’s two older brothers, for example, are seething quite a bit especially after seeing the looks that Raymond gave to their little sister.
“That damn whelp! How dare he look at our little sister like that? Big brother, make sure to teach that bastard a lesson,” Douglas, Dahlia’s second brother requested.
“Don’t worry, he won’t become the champion while I’m around,” assured Dahlia’s oldest brother, Henry.
“Big brother, if anything bad happened to Raymond, I will hate you for the rest of my life,” Dahlia who was silently listening to the side warned.
Dahlia’s two older brothers looked at their little sister in shock. They never thought that their adorable and obedient little sister would say such hurtful words in order to protect a stranger.
“L-little sister, what, what are you saying? You can’t be serious, right?” Henry asked imploringly.
“Of course, I’m serious,” Dahlia answered without pause.
“No way…” Dahlia’s two brothers felt deflated. They cannot accept the fact that their little sister chooses to support someone else over her own brothers.
Damn Lothar! How dare you turn our own sister against me?! Henry felt aggrieved and bowed to teach Raymond a lesson.
The following day, Raymond finally met Henry von Drake, the previous year's champion, face to face on the stage.
- What's up with that expression? Why did it appear as if he wanted to swallow me whole? *
Raymond was baffled. Although he was aware that the Dahlia's older brothers disliked him, they had never shown such hostility toward him before. He genuinely wants to ask the man what his problem is, unfortunately, the situation didn't allow him to do so.
The moment the referee gave the signal. Henry flew towards Raymond with reddened eyes and swung his two-handed sword down as if wanting to cleave his opponent in twain.
“Whoah!”
Raymond was almost caught by surprise by Henry’s ferocious attack. Fortunately, his training during the last two months allows him to prepare for the unexpected and thus was able to parry the attack.
So heavy!
However, despite successfully parrying the attack, Raymond was still able to feel the heaviness of Henry’s sword.
Still, that won’t be enough to defeat me.
Raymond started the motor in heart and he exchange blows with his opponent. Despite being half a head shorter than his opponent, he did not lack the strength to go toe to toe with someone of Henry’s stature.
At first glance, the two swordsmen seemed to be of equal to each other but as the match drags on, the spectator starts to notice that Raymond was getting pushed back little by little.
Just a little more, thought Henry with excitement after seeing that he’s gaining the advantage.
Henry let out a bestial howl and shoved Raymond back with his sword, causing his opponent to stumble backwards.
“This is the end!”
Henry swung his two-handed sword down with great power at Raymond's shoulder. Although the combatants are using blunted swords to avoid death, if employed by someone with significant strength, it may still result in severe agony and broken bones. This means that if Raymond is struck by the sword, he could be incapacitated for weeks, if not months.
That said the keyword here is “if”.
That’s because before the sword could even touch Raymond, he was already gone, and Henry hit nothing but air.
“What?!”
Shocked, that he didn’t hit anything, Henry was left momentarily dazed. And before he could even recover his bearings, he felt intense pain in his chests soon find himself staring at the clear, blue sky. Soon after he heard the referee announced the victor.
“The victory goes to Raymond Lothar!”
At first the venue was as quiet as a cemetery at the sudden reversal but not long after, deafening cheers could be heard anywhere.
“Raymond…,” Dahlia murmured his lover’s name with tears in her eyes. Unable to hold herself back any longer, she sprung to her feet and ran to the stage to join the man she loves to the shock of his second brother.
“Wait, little sister…”
Douglas tried to stop his little sister but was unable to do so as he was caught off guard.
“Just let her go,” said a dignified-looking man. It was Count Donovan von Drake.
“But father, he’s a Lothar,” Douglas tried to argue.
“The conflict between our two families had gone for too long. In my opinion, whatever resentment left in that conflict should have been buried along with our predecessors,” the count explained. “I think the marriage between the two can become the bridge that connects the two families together.”
“Well, that’s true but big brother might not like it.”
“I don’t think that’ll be a problem. Take a look.”
Douglas looked at the stage and saw Henry staring at Raymond and Dahlia with a complicated expression on his face. Before long, he let out a sigh and left the stage with a wry smile on his face.
And with that, the generation long feud between two families that prevented two lovers coming together finally came to a close.
