The harsh, cold environment, filled with snow and ice and god-knows-what slowly began to change. The open, bleak nature slowly turned lively; green and lush as William walked, his steps slow and steady. The tears, and the trembling cries, filled with sorrow soon transformed into something more joyous.
Days passed. Weeks passed. And months passed.
“Splash!”
The cold river water brought William a clear sense of mind as he dove deep into the river. Invading his body, the fresh water washed away the sweat and dirt together with the bad smell. He cleaned himself and then got dressed. 469Please respect copyright.PENANAm8Xj1OKTNt
It was time to continue his journey.
He was inside deadman’s land.
Chirps and squeak together with nature itself; the rivers splashing and the tree crowns rustling, made the forest incredibly alive. William traveled this area over three years ago, but that was from the opposite direction. That time he was afraid of everything; the dark, the devious beasts, and even robbers that could steal his meager possessions.
Now, he was more afraid to hurt what attacked him instead of them hurting him.
Even though humans seldom moved inside deadman’s land, there are still human villages a bit there and there, a remnant from ancient times. They have been living in the desolate area for thousand of years and are well-versed in fighting demons with their own protective measures.
William was only a few kilometers away from one such village, one that he visited a few years ago and rested at before continuing his journey. And now, his next stop was just that village. He was quite down after leaving his master. He loved her like a mother. But he understood her reasons and respected them. After all, she wanted the best for him. William wondered how she did. Was she well? Did she miss him?
“Oh, I can see it already.” a little smile touched William’s mouth as he saw the small, remote village in the horizon.
He jumped over a fallen log and increased his speed a bit. He grinned, saliva filling his mouth as he thought about what good how much better the food there would be than the animals and beast he’d caught and eaten with his meager cooking skills. 469Please respect copyright.PENANASEiM763CuU
The smell of saltiness struck William. He guessed the villagers were in the middle of the salting meat. The village has no walls. Instead, it’s surrounded by water to keep the beasts away. Those luring pests hated water and did everything to stay out of it. 469Please respect copyright.PENANAyGTrspHVJI
Two villagers stood fishing in the moat.
“Hey!” William shouted to the villagers across the water, amplifying the sound with his life essence.
The villagers looked up to him, seemingly very surprised. “Would you mind to dropping down the bridge so I can get over? That would be very kind-hearted of you, fellow brothers!” William continued after getting their attention.
The two villagers looked at him, one of them was a woman in her early twenties. The tight leather armor and black hair tied in a short ponytail made her seem very tomboyish. “Who’re you? she called out to William. “And what business do you have here inside our village?”
“I’m just a lone traveler.” He answered. “You wouldn’t want to leave a poor soul out here and wait for beasts to rip him apart, now would you?”
“Of course, we wouldn’t.” The young woman reached for the lever used to pull down the bridge. “but don’t dare cause any trouble in the village. We got mighty warriors on our side!”
“No worries!” said William, stepping onto the bridge and slowly entering the village. When he passed the two villagers, he turned to the woman, giving her a quite obvious wink. “Thanks, sweety.”
Apparently, the young man behind her didn’t quite like what he saw.
He stepped forward, saying to William. “Watch your tongue, she’s not someone can talk to like that.”
“Ooh.” William chuckled. “I see. So you like this woman quite a bit, huh?”
“What did you say?!” the now angry young man spun around and charged at him, throwing a wide punch that wouldn’t even hit drunkard if the man so stood still with eyes closed.
William leaned to the side, dodging it like taking a stroll in his own garden.
“You’re going to need a lot more than that to hit me,” William said to the young man, moving behind him and tapping his back, throwing his balance off. As the young man lost his balance, his charge ended up in stumbling, which eventually resulted in him falling face first to the ground.
“You fucker!” the young man screamed and wiggled to his feet, clearly affected by the massive fall.
“Enough, Terry!” the young woman shouted. The young man stopped the instant he heard her voice. “But Sara,” he said to her. “This guy totally disrespected you! I can’t allow him to–”
“I can take care of myself, thank you!” Sara interrupted him.
William smiled at the scene.
“What’s so funny?” Sara and Terry asked.
“Sorry,” William smiled and waved it off. “It’s been so long since I’ve met other humans, I almost forgot how it was.” His eyes shone with mystery. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m William.”
The two villagers were quiet. Sarah took the tone. “I’m Sarah.” She pointed at Terry and introduced him. “This is my younger brother, Terry. I apologize for his behavior earlier. He’s still a bit wet behind his ears.”
“But sis?! what are you saying!” Terry’s cheeks reddened. “You can’t say those things to strangers!”
“Sorry, Terry” William turned to the young man. “Earlier, I said something I shouldn’t have. My bad.”
“Uh, it’s okay.” Terry shrugged his shoulders. “But don’t dare to disrespect big sis again!” he warned William with a finger in the air.
“You have my word.” William nodded.
“Good.” Terry let out a slight smile to this, then said in a responsible voice. “Follow me, I’ll show you the village.” He turned around and walked through the gates leading into the small village.
As William followed the young man inside the village, he secretly checked the storage ring that Saphira gave him at the tundra. It was, in fact, a mysterious relic containing dimensional storage pocket.
Inside the storage pocket, his master had left clothes, food, water for his travels, as well as a note reading:
“William, this is a relic able to transport various things you’d like to take on your travels.
These rings are standard for adventurers and very necessary. The saber is the weapon used by my brother. I saw you discovered heavier weapon than swords, and so I wanted to give it to you. The scale is one of mine, and you’ll understand how to use it when the time is right. You can access every item in this ring with but a single thought, like you did to discover the ring’s magical properties.
Good luck on your adventures, love Saphira.”
It was true.
William discovered the ring’s unique properties when sitting and fumbling with the ring in his fingers, thinking about Saphira, a bit over a month after leaving the frozen tundra. It’s a very magical ring, able to store items far bigger than its own size inside.
And that’s not to mention that rings shouldn’t be able to store items inside.
“Here is the town hall. The chief and all the strong warriors of the village have meetings here..” Terry explained, pointing at a big building of oak-wood. Everything in the village was made from this tree type.
“And here’s the barracks, where the community’s young men and women train to become stronger.” He said and gestured William’s gaze to a field of dirt where several youths were hitting dummies. They used small swords and spears of wood.
Terry continued to show William around the village under the day. The time passed in the blink of an eye, and it was soon getting darker for every second. The two young men sat together in the village’s tavern.
“So you come from the human civilization?” Terry asked William with stars twinkling in his eyes. “How is it over there?”
“Don’t know,” William said, jerking the jug of apple ale to his mouth, letting the burning liquid flow through his dry throat. “I haven’t been there for about four years now. So I don’t fully remember.”
“Four years?” Terry was surprised. “Where have you been?”
“I’ve been far up in the north. The Tundra.” chuckled William, remembering the sweet times with his master. Damn, he missed her sexy body. “Finally, time to go home, I guess,”
“Woah!” Terry exclaimed. “That’s so cool! I’ve never even been outside the village.” He sighed and scratched the behind of his head. “Father never allowed me.”
“Then, do you want to sneak out tomorrow?” William’s eyes gleamed. He quite liked this young man and wasn’t in a rush to get home. So why not spend some time with him, thought William. “I’m not in any hurry to go back and can stay here for a few days.”
“Really?” happiness adorned Terry’s face as he heard what Willam asked him. “Yes.” he hurriedly said. “Of course!”
“Great!” William poured the last drop of ale into his mouth. It gave quite the soothing feeling. “It’s settled then!”
They laughed together and ordered two new beers. But as they were heartily talking and enjoying the calm and easy-going night, several young men entered the tavern with disdainful expressions.
They sat down at a table a bit away from William and Terry.
“Seven beers and a plate of salted meat!” One of them said to the waitress who scribbled down quickly on her notes. When she turned around to give their order’s to the kitchen, one of the men slapped her perky butt. “Nice ass!”
The youths broke out in laughter while the waitress blushed.
“C’mon, don’t leave yet, let’s all enjoy this night together!” Said the man who slapped the girl and tried to grab her skirt
“No...” the waitress told them to stop.
William’s face darkened. Disgusting.
However, Terry’s reaction was even worse than his. His eyes radiated killing intent. He shot up from the chair like a bow from a bowstring, shouting. “Don’t you dare touch her, Derek!
“Eh?” the young man who slapped the waitress ass glanced at Terry and snorted. “Piss off Terry, this isn’t your business!
Terry strode over to him. “No! you listen to me, get your filthy hands off her” He said. “Or I’ll beat the crap out of you,
William’s jaw dropped slack. It seems that even though his new friend was weak and often a bit too kind. But when it really mattered, the young man had the guts to stand up for what he believed in.
“Oh, you like her, don’t you?” Derek slapped the waitress’s ass again and taunted Terry. “Then what do ou think about this?”
“You fucker!” Terry screamed and charged at Derek.
This is going to end bad, thought William. He knew his friend’s fighting skills. But unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to get there in time, so he had no choice but to wait here and see how everything turned out.
Terry threw his specialty. A slow punch following a wide arc.
“Piss off!” Derek shouted and dodged the punch. He kicked Terry in the stomach and the groin. Terry fell down on the ground, curling up in pain. Terry fell down to the floor. A faint line of blood could be seen between his lips.
“Had enough?” Derek spat a gurgle of thick froth in Terry’s face.
“That’s enough.” William rose from the table. Looking at Derek, he was actually angry. Terry; a kind young man who only wanted to protect his crush has gotten beat up because of it. And to boot, Terry had shown goodwill and kept him company the whole afternoon.
Derek directed a gaze of maliciousness and scorn to William. “And what do you want? To protect this waitress too?”
“No, not at all. I don’t care what happens to this waitress.” William said while slowly walking toward Derek. “But what you did to Terry, I don’t like it. And do you know what happens to those who do things I dislike?”
ns 172.70.130.82da2