"So.. which one of you is a Hawthorn?"
The three of us were stunned. Who is this person that appeared out of nowhere behind us? There were no footsteps sound nor any footprints to be seen behind us. Worst of all, I can feel the hair at the back of my neck and my arms were standing. Whoever this person is, he is terrifying. I turned my head slowly to see who this individual was. He had blond hair combed backwards and a few scars on his body. But one thing that stood out was a visor that was lifted to his head. It looked translucent, almost like the object was not supposed to be physically there but you can see it. It was shaped like a triangle or pyramid which I am sure he uses it to cover his eyes for whatever reason.
"I won't repeat again. Who here is a Hawthorn? You three were talking pretty loudly about it earlier that anyone can hear it from a mile away," said the stranger while lifting his disgusting right eye.
The three of us prepared ourselves against this weirdo. Lily stood behind the two of us while John and me unsheathed our blades. This sort of annoyed the stranger and he lost his patience even further.
"One FINAL time, which one of you is a Hawthorn or I'll just kill the three of you," as the stranger said this, black aura envelops us. We can see all three of us being massacred by this stranger in a span of a second. That must be his battle presence. He is strong. Very strong as a matter of fact. Neither of us are going to make it out alive even if he ran with our might.
All three of us started to shiver at the knees. Mostly due to the stranger's battle presence and partly due to us knowing that we are about to die. But still, I won't go down without a fight. I held Inazuma steadfast and pointed towards the stranger. I took a few deep breath and blinked once. He was gone. Disappeared from my vision completely. Where the hell did he go? I heard John shouting "Behind!" which made me turned my head.
The stranger was swinging his dagger towards Lily. No, he is swinging to cut all three of us. As light as Inazuma, my reaction speed was not fast enough compared to this stranger. We are definitely going to die. But before that, let's flashback before this event, shall we?
***
"So, what is it about me being a Hawthorn? Is there something that I should know about or something?" I asked John.
"Well, from where I came from, there was an announcement that all Hawthorn was declared as traitor nobles. Any information regarding a member of the Hawthorn must be informed to the security of City Of Pines immediately. At least, that was what we heard in like forever ago," John said.
He is from a small-town South of the forbidden forest. His route had him pass by the forest in order to reach the city where he met Lily on the way. She was standing at the signpost trying to read which way was heading towards the city.
"I remember she was almost about to cry having lost her way, didn't cha Lily?" teased John.
"I did not! I was just having difficulty in reading human language, that is all. I would have figured it out anyway," pouted Lily. She is quite adorable despite her age. Cute even.
"Oh yeah? Then let's split ways and see whether you'll make it then," John laughed.
Lily ignored and turned her head from him where she looked at my face. She then looked down on the ground quickly after that. Was that a blush? I must be imagining things. I somehow doubt that is true. I don't look handsome in particular. Just a skinny sized short boy that doesn't seems to be able to put on any weight no matter how much I ate.
"So Lily, what did you hear about Hawthorn? You seemed surprised as well after hearing it," I asked while trying to ignore what she reaction earlier.
"Oh, well, human news barely make it to the elven forest. But there was quite some gossip a couple of years ago where I heard that all Hawthorns were now being executed and captured. Even though there was a Hawthorn hero that helped turned the tide against the Demon King. It was quite surprising for such a renowned hero to suddenly have his name so desecrated right after the war," she recalled while pushing her bottom lip with her index finger.
Is she trying to act cute in front of me now? I must be too sensitive about her now. And I even promised grandfather that I won't be thinking about girls!
"I guess I should keep my Hawthorn name a secret from now on then," I smiled at her. Her face flushed red to the brim. Okay, that is most certainly a blush. No two ways about it. Guess I'll ask her about it when I get the chance. In the meantime, I'll just ignore the blushing for the time being.
"So Lily, I might be stereotyping but don't elves typically uses bow and arrows for combat? Are you perhaps aiming to be a merchant or something in the city?" I asked curiously.
Elves are known for their marksmanship and accuracy. Sure, this world favours melee combat more so than range. This is due to most creatures having thick hides that is difficult for normal arrows to pierce. You will have to use creature's bones or teeth to make stronger arrows which you will need to farm for it rather than purchasing from merchant since it will not be economical. This is due to the buying rate is around four to one of the selling rate. But even so, it should be common for a starting adventurer to have some sort of weapon to start out with before heading to the city.
"Ahh you see, my bow broke during the earlier commotion. I only have a dagger with me now but I am not that strong to use it in combat effectively," she gave a sad smile after saying that.
I felt sorry for her but I don't have any spare weapon with me currently. Maybe I'll bring her to purchase a weapon before we head our separate ways. Assuming we will be choosing different guilds. It was only after she started walking in front of me that I noticed she hid her quiver behind her cloak. Seems like I need to increase my perception to start noticing things faster to avoid sad conversation like this.
"Forgive my question but what is that you are wearing in front of your eyes?" I asked her."Oh this? These are glasses. My eyesight is a little bit off so I have to wear them. These are elven made mind you," she puffed up her chest.
Is there even a difference between human and elven ones?
"I thought elves have excellent eyesights in general," I shrugged.
"Hey, not everyone is born perfect. This applies to elves too," she said.It was close to late evening now and we were not too far away from the city borders. Give or take around a kilometre and a half by my estimation when the stranger decided to appear. And you know the rest of the story.
***
Whoosh pak!
A hand reached out to grab the stranger's wrist. The stranger's dagger just was an inch away from Lily's neck. Things happened in the span of a few seconds but I managed to regain my senses and pulled Lily back by her cloak. I immediately recognised whose hand it was as I have been seeing it for eleven years now. He is indeed very old now.
"Now why are you attacking children for, might I ask of you?" grandfather said. I can feel grandfather getting serious now as his battle presence is overflowing the air. Not even a green dragon got him to be THIS serious.
"Not bad, old man. Your reaction speed is fast enough to keep up with me I see," said the stranger.
I can see both of them struggling to overcome each other. The stranger was trying to push the wrist forward to slice grandfather while the other was trying to resist. Grandfather increased the pressure of the grip and the stranger broke the struggle by leaping back followed by a "Tch". Damn, he is facing in the direction heading towards the city. If we can somehow knock him out cold or something then we can rush towards the city. Grandfather held a hand to the side as though to stop us from making any rash decision.
"Stay behind me kids, no matter what," he whispered to us. Damn it, I am getting really nervous. Grandfather should be able to handle this stranger right? With both of us together, we stand a chance!
The stranger leaped forward with the dagger in his hand. Grandfather held out both his hands forward steadfast. Seems like he won't be unsheathing his katana yet. The stranger swiped his right hand inwards to slice grandfather's arm. No wait, it was a feint! He is going for a stab instead!
Grandfather countered by grabbing the stranger's right wrist again and dragging him forward. He then perform his under-leg sweep which will cause the opponent to fall to the ground. The stranger seems to realised this and immediately released his dagger. His left hand reached out to grab the falling dagger and tried to stab grandfather even though he was falling head first into the ground. Good thing grandfather reacted quickly enough to leap backwards. The stranger then placed both his hands on the ground and did a backflip. What is with these people? This is not a normal human reaction. Lord help me.
"Seems like I severely underestimated you old man!" the stranger shouted. As it is, our backs are now facing towards the city. We can make a run for it somehow now once we put him down!
"You three, run towards the city right now and don't look back. When I say go, you run with all your might," grandfather whispered to all three of us.
"But Oji..," I muttered but was instantly stopped by grandfather when he shouted "Be quiet!"
"Don't say anything and get ready," he said.
"Oi oi.. you're not planning to make a run for it are ya? Now you're severely underestimating me. I ain't just a normal bounty hunter!" the stranger shouted.
"Go! Now!" grandfather shouted while placed his right hand on his katana's hilt.
I hesitated. I couldn't move. How can I abandon my grandfather for my own safety? I want to fight with him. And if we both perish then so be it. But I was grabbed by someone. I looked back and John pulled me by my dougi. He is dragging me one-handed and I am floating in the air. What the? Am I too light or is John stupidly strong?!
"Put me down! I'll run!" I shouted to John. He let go and I ran alongside him. Lily was running in front of us. But I disobeyed grandfather. I looked back because I needed to know. I need to know that grandfather will be fine.
"You're not getting away Hawthorns!" the stranger yelled and began running towards us. Grandfather retaliated by unsheathing his katana and raised it above his shiny head.
"YOU, SHALL NOT, PASS!" grandfather yelled back at the stranger. Okay grandfather, that was badass. If only you are facing a Balrog now.
I turned my head forward as I know what is coming. Even facing forward, I can see the god-rays flashing forward in front of my vision.
Damn it! Grandfather please, please be safe. All three of us ran towards the city as fast as our legs can carry us.
***
Ahh, it seems like my daughter is asleep now. I will resume my story another time. Now, I know that the lot of you are probably are not interested in my daily life currently and more interested in my past story so I won't bore you with much interruptions. I will focus more in telling my past story while skipping all the unnecessary current event bits. Although, I do have a quest that was assigned to me recently which I will need to do soon. Look forward to it.
"So.. which one of you is a Hawthorn?"
The three of us were stunned. Who is this person that appeared out of nowhere behind us? There were no footsteps sound nor any footprints to be seen behind us. Worst of all, I can feel the hair at the back of my neck and my arms were standing. Whoever this person is, he is terrifying. I turned my head slowly to see who this individual was. He had blond hair combed backwards and a few scars on his body. But one thing that stood out was a visor that was lifted to his head. It looked translucent, almost like the object was not supposed to be physically there but you can see it. It was shaped like a triangle or pyramid which I am sure he uses it to cover his eyes for whatever reason.
"I won't repeat again. Who here is a Hawthorn? You three were talking pretty loudly about it earlier that anyone can hear it from a mile away," said the stranger while lifting his disgusting right eye.
The three of us prepared ourselves against this weirdo. Lily stood behind the two of us while John and me unsheathed our blades. This sort of annoyed the stranger and he lost his patience even further.
"One FINAL time, which one of you is a Hawthorn or I'll just kill the three of you," as the stranger said this, black aura envelops us. We can see all three of us being massacred by this stranger in a span of a second. That must be his battle presence. He is strong. Very strong as a matter of fact. Neither of us are going to make it out alive even if he ran with our might.
All three of us started to shiver at the knees. Mostly due to the stranger's battle presence and partly due to us knowing that we are about to die. But still, I won't go down without a fight. I held Inazuma steadfast and pointed towards the stranger. I took a few deep breath and blinked once. He was gone. Disappeared from my vision completely. Where the hell did he go? I heard John shouting "Behind!" which made me turned my head.
The stranger was swinging his dagger towards Lily. No, he is swinging to cut all three of us. As light as Inazuma, my reaction speed was not fast enough compared to this stranger. We are definitely going to die. But before that, let's flashback before this event, shall we?
***
"So, what is it about me being a Hawthorn? Is there something that I should know about or something?" I asked John.
"Well, from where I came from, there was an announcement that all Hawthorn was declared as traitor nobles. Any information regarding a member of the Hawthorn must be informed to the security of City Of Pines immediately. At least, that was what we heard in like forever ago," John said.
He is from a small-town South of the forbidden forest. His route had him pass by the forest in order to reach the city where he met Lily on the way. She was standing at the signpost trying to read which way was heading towards the city.
"I remember she was almost about to cry having lost her way, didn't cha Lily?" teased John.
"I did not! I was just having difficulty in reading human language, that is all. I would have figured it out anyway," pouted Lily. She is quite adorable despite her age. Cute even.
"Oh yeah? Then let's split ways and see whether you'll make it then," John laughed.
Lily ignored and turned her head from him where she looked at my face. She then looked down on the ground quickly after that. Was that a blush? I must be imagining things. I somehow doubt that is true. I don't look handsome in particular. Just a skinny sized short boy that doesn't seems to be able to put on any weight no matter how much I ate.
"So Lily, what did you hear about Hawthorn? You seemed surprised as well after hearing it," I asked while trying to ignore what she reaction earlier.
"Oh, well, human news barely make it to the elven forest. But there was quite some gossip a couple of years ago where I heard that all Hawthorns were now being executed and captured. Even though there was a Hawthorn hero that helped turned the tide against the Demon King. It was quite surprising for such a renowned hero to suddenly have his name so desecrated right after the war," she recalled while pushing her bottom lip with her index finger.
Is she trying to act cute in front of me now? I must be too sensitive about her now. And I even promised grandfather that I won't be thinking about girls!
"I guess I should keep my Hawthorn name a secret from now on then," I smiled at her. Her face flushed red to the brim. Okay, that is most certainly a blush. No two ways about it. Guess I'll ask her about it when I get the chance. In the meantime, I'll just ignore the blushing for the time being.
"So Lily, I might be stereotyping but don't elves typically uses bow and arrows for combat? Are you perhaps aiming to be a merchant or something in the city?" I asked curiously.
Elves are known for their marksmanship and accuracy. Sure, this world favours melee combat more so than range. This is due to most creatures having thick hides that is difficult for normal arrows to pierce. You will have to use creature's bones or teeth to make stronger arrows which you will need to farm for it rather than purchasing from merchant since it will not be economical. This is due to the buying rate is around four to one of the selling rate. But even so, it should be common for a starting adventurer to have some sort of weapon to start out with before heading to the city.
"Ahh you see, my bow broke during the earlier commotion. I only have a dagger with me now but I am not that strong to use it in combat effectively," she gave a sad smile after saying that.
I felt sorry for her but I don't have any spare weapon with me currently. Maybe I'll bring her to purchase a weapon before we head our separate ways. Assuming we will be choosing different guilds. It was only after she started walking in front of me that I noticed she hid her quiver behind her cloak. Seems like I need to increase my perception to start noticing things faster to avoid sad conversation like this.
"Forgive my question but what is that you are wearing in front of your eyes?" I asked her."Oh this? These are glasses. My eyesight is a little bit off so I have to wear them. These are elven made mind you," she puffed up her chest.
Is there even a difference between human and elven ones?
"I thought elves have excellent eyesights in general," I shrugged.
"Hey, not everyone is born perfect. This applies to elves too," she said.It was close to late evening now and we were not too far away from the city borders. Give or take around a kilometre and a half by my estimation when the stranger decided to appear. And you know the rest of the story.
***
Whoosh pak!
A hand reached out to grab the stranger's wrist. The stranger's dagger just was an inch away from Lily's neck. Things happened in the span of a few seconds but I managed to regain my senses and pulled Lily back by her cloak. I immediately recognised whose hand it was as I have been seeing it for eleven years now. He is indeed very old now.
"Now why are you attacking children for, might I ask of you?" grandfather said. I can feel grandfather getting serious now as his battle presence is overflowing the air. Not even a green dragon got him to be THIS serious.
"Not bad, old man. Your reaction speed is fast enough to keep up with me I see," said the stranger.
I can see both of them struggling to overcome each other. The stranger was trying to push the wrist forward to slice grandfather while the other was trying to resist. Grandfather increased the pressure of the grip and the stranger broke the struggle by leaping back followed by a "Tch". Damn, he is facing in the direction heading towards the city. If we can somehow knock him out cold or something then we can rush towards the city. Grandfather held a hand to the side as though to stop us from making any rash decision.
"Stay behind me kids, no matter what," he whispered to us. Damn it, I am getting really nervous. Grandfather should be able to handle this stranger right? With both of us together, we stand a chance!
The stranger leaped forward with the dagger in his hand. Grandfather held out both his hands forward steadfast. Seems like he won't be unsheathing his katana yet. The stranger swiped his right hand inwards to slice grandfather's arm. No wait, it was a feint! He is going for a stab instead!
Grandfather countered by grabbing the stranger's right wrist again and dragging him forward. He then perform his under-leg sweep which will cause the opponent to fall to the ground. The stranger seems to realised this and immediately released his dagger. His left hand reached out to grab the falling dagger and tried to stab grandfather even though he was falling head first into the ground. Good thing grandfather reacted quickly enough to leap backwards. The stranger then placed both his hands on the ground and did a backflip. What is with these people? This is not a normal human reaction. Lord help me.
"Seems like I severely underestimated you old man!" the stranger shouted. As it is, our backs are now facing towards the city. We can make a run for it somehow now once we put him down!
"You three, run towards the city right now and don't look back. When I say go, you run with all your might," grandfather whispered to all three of us.
"But Oji..," I muttered but was instantly stopped by grandfather when he shouted "Be quiet!"
"Don't say anything and get ready," he said.
"Oi oi.. you're not planning to make a run for it are ya? Now you're severely underestimating me. I ain't just a normal bounty hunter!" the stranger shouted.
"Go! Now!" grandfather shouted while placed his right hand on his katana's hilt.
I hesitated. I couldn't move. How can I abandon my grandfather for my own safety? I want to fight with him. And if we both perish then so be it. But I was grabbed by someone. I looked back and John pulled me by my dougi. He is dragging me one-handed and I am floating in the air. What the? Am I too light or is John stupidly strong?!
"Put me down! I'll run!" I shouted to John. He let go and I ran alongside him. Lily was running in front of us. But I disobeyed grandfather. I looked back because I needed to know. I need to know that grandfather will be fine.
"You're not getting away Hawthorns!" the stranger yelled and began running towards us. Grandfather retaliated by unsheathing his katana and raised it above his shiny head.
"YOU, SHALL NOT, PASS!" grandfather yelled back at the stranger. Okay grandfather, that was badass. If only you are facing a Balrog now.
I turned my head forward as I know what is coming. Even facing forward, I can see the god-rays flashing forward in front of my vision.
Damn it! Grandfather please, please be safe. All three of us ran towards the city as fast as our legs can carry us.
***
Ahh, it seems like my daughter is asleep now. I will resume my story another time. Now, I know that the lot of you are probably are not interested in my daily life currently and more interested in my past story so I won't bore you with much interruptions. I will focus more in telling my past story while skipping all the unnecessary current event bits. Although, I do have a quest that was assigned to me recently which I will need to do soon. Look forward to it.
