The Young Man changed from the white clothes to his usual and tied his sword to his right side and started to head down the stairs.
As he walked down the stairs, he saw a woman named Rhina who had luster green eyes like grass after rain, long light blonde hair that laid across her shoulder and was styled with a ribbon at the lower end.
She wore a small brown mantelet like cloak that circled around her upper half body and white dress underneath. She looked both elegant, noble-like and innocent.
She was the owner of the tavern and knew the boy. She lets him sleep in the room when the work was not busy or tired from exhaustion after training, coming back already asleep. Other times the boy rejects it for some reason.
Rhina looked at the kid and the first thing she noticed was the boy averting his eyes and not even looking at her.
Rhina walked closer and said 'Why don't you rest up a little more?'
The kid responded in an oddly lower pitch as he clenched the side of his shirt while staring at the floor 'I am alright'
Rhina's eyes were filled with worries and concerns 'It has only been a few hours since you came back' while the kid just kept on staring at the floor refusing to even look at her in the eyes.
It was not that he was not looking up but could not. His heart felt heavy as he was scared to even look at her. Not from fear but from reasons that even he could not describe.
The boy squeezed his shirt tighter and he wondered 'My heart… Am I still injured?... Yea no way I am able to move in just a few hours' his eyes were blank lost in his own thoughts.
Rhina said 'It is alright' as she rubbed the part between her thumb and index with her other hand and nervously said 'you should rest up for now'.
She tried to reach the head of the boy but as she approached closer, the boy shakenly moved away. He looked at her eyes for a small moment just to look away once again.
The boy's eyes were shaking and blurry. He grabbed onto his shaking arm, suppressing it as he uttered 'I am sorry' and hastily walked towards the door.
She looked at her raised hand from which was trying to comfort the kid and remembered the same fear in the boy's eye. She did not have it in her to say anything as she saw him walking away.
Just when the kid was about to exit the tavern, a man's voice stopped him.
"Listen to the pretty lady, would ya?"
A large man with a sturdy build walked up to him while drinking something as he placed his hands on the kid's shoulder.
"You know she is worried about you" but the kid did not look up and tried to push his hands off saying 'I need to go somewhere…'
The man asked "Where to?"
The kid just replied with 'I need to see it for myself…' as he breathed heavily and felt like he could fall over and pass out with just a slight gust of wind.
The man's hands softened up upon hearing that, he raised his right arm in front of the boy seeing him barely standing up straight.
The rumors had already spread throughout the village like wild fire of him being escorted by the soldiers as they were about to throw him into prison for suspicion of some crime.
While the man believed that the kid wasn't capable of such a thing, he had different eyes from his usual. The man still held tightly onto the shoulder as he said "I am afraid I can not let you go out like this."
Just then the tone of the Kid changed to calm and cold, completely different from the one which was timid. It was as if he was ordering him around without even looking back 'Let go, I said I am fine'
The boy who was standing loosely on his foot as if he could fall any moment now stood straight up like nothing happened. He was no longer shaking and his eyes looked at his shoulder where the man tightly grabbed onto him and glanced towards the man's eye.
This jolted the man as he let go of the shoulder instinctively and thought "What the… What was that"
The man's body felt a small shock from the boy's body.
The man looked at the kid and continued "You almost died out there, you shouldn't push yourself too hard."
'It will be different this time.' said the kid with determined and resolute eyes. The very same eyes that were scared were now still and calm.
The man looked at his eyes and sighed saying "If you are that determined then why not settle it the Amodu way?"
The Almodu was a term for an old way that implies a rule that is made for when someone, usually younger, disagrees with an older person. It is one on one duel between them, any method is fine.
Its origin comes from the far past and original meaning was lost with time but nowadays it is just made to settle disagreements between party units.
Now the duel itself has been rigged for the experienced elder to win as a respect which was just a bunch of crap but just out of fairness, the younger are sometimes given a handicap.
Rhina walked in to dismiss it as a joke to stop it from evaluating 'Ked you don`t have to listen to Cor and Cor keep quiet' as she looked warmly towards the boy but coldly at Cor.
Cor thought the kid would quiet down after seeing a man of his size but the kid told him 'hurry it up' despite being injured as he rested his right arm over his sword.
The words from his mouth sounded like they mocked the which enraged him further and he tightened up his fist but he controlled himself.
"Meet me at the arean behind the guild right now' as Cor walked towards the exit of Traven.
But as Cor was walking out, he bumped his head on the frame of the door due to his anomalous size, he paused for a moment before walking out.
The tavern busted into noise about the duel but with just a single stare from Rhina made them all stop and quiet down.
Rhina tried to stop the Kid telling him not to do it but it was already too late to step back and the Kid just spoke 'It`s alright. I— will be right back'
The Young Man walked out of the tavern, still with his arm resting on halt and made his way towards the fenced area behind the small rundown guild just to find a bunch of people standing there, a lot more than the people who were present in the tavern.
Not only did the whole tavern got wind of duel but people that were not even present started gathering up behind the dying guild which had a small area enclosed by fences and started placing bets.
In the fenced area stood two people, one was a smiling kid who lost his smile and on the other side the strongest adventurer of the village.
A man announced loudly 'A duel between a member of a ghost mercenary against a grieving adventurer' and some people even turned it into a betting game.
Ghost mercenary was just a name given to people who survived the fight against something that took away all their mercenaries. For some it was a way to shame the survivor while for others it was to show their strength.
Regardless, it was a sick way of using it for the Kid. They knew no weight of their own words.
Cor looked at the Kid's eyes which were still indifferent and unbothered by any of them but that statement enraged Cor as he just simply stared at the commentator which made the man stop talking entirely.
The boy who had his right arm slightly tilted, ready to quickly draw only to be thrown a wooden sword by Cor.
The outcome of the battle was already in favor of Cor and with the rumors and gossip spreading fast, some people came there to either kill their boredom or try to talk sense into them to stop such madness. But it was too late to stop for either of them.
The kid had determination while Cor had concerns but both Cor and the kid had something in common, they both were running away from their own reality.
And at last, they both readied their wooden sword and got ready to fight.
Cor looked at the kid and said "You really intend to fight me with those bandages? Don't be mistaken if you think I will pity and go easy on you. You can not win against me, especially when you have injuries that bad."
While he was showing concern for the kid, he just silently readied his sword and said 'I need to go or else I will never be able to live on'
Cor spoke "I will tell you this much— having resolve does not mean you have the strength to do so. You can easily die even when your determination is strongest"
'I already know that. But I need proved it to myself or else I feel like I might never be able to look at them in the eyes'
Seeing no change in his eyes. Cor paused and thought for a few seconds.
"Well then, I admire your courage but let's see if you have the power to stand up. If you block three strikes of mine, I will allow you to go."
Which was almost an impossible task for someone who was injured but the kid quietly accepts it. He gave him leverage but underestimated him entirely.
As they took their positions, Kid realized the shadow images were no longer appearing as before even after focusing on Cor.
'... I guess it`s too late for that.'
The man sprung into action and used his left hand to swing his sword at the kid.
'His sword is slow…? Is the world itself is slowing down'
He glanced towards his arm yet he himself was not able to move any faster 'Ah… It`s not the world. My mind is just— racing faster'
While Cor's sword was indeed not fast, it was just strong enough to knock him to the ground if not blocked properly but for someone who just fought against Ignis, whose sword was barely visible and he had to rely on pure reflexes even with peripheral vision, these normal swings looked like a child's play.
The sword was easily blocked by the kid.
Cor thought to himself "Ha, I forgot you were part of his group, of course you wouldn't be taken down that easily."
He instantly struck the boy with more strength this time, enough to knock him out cold but the kid blocked off another strike of his with ease.
The group of people started to gossip among themself questioning about the match itself and the kid rumors being true which were easily overheard by the boy.
The kid responded with a bit louder voice that was enough to be heard by the gossiping spectators 'Hey… I thought you were trying to stop me. Are you pitying me that much?'
Cor asked with concern "So you are telling me to give it my all? Even I am not that heartless"
The kid smiled 'I do not want to hear loser excuses later on.'
Cor questioned "Are you really injured on that arm"
The kid just smiled and said 'Who knows, I woke up in these and you know how I hate to pull the bandage off from dried blood' he paused and smiled once more as he finally looked into Cor's eyes 'And you will not attack me on that side which gives me an advantage' as he smiled.
Cor asked, confused "Why you think so?"
'Because you did not strike me at the tavern.'
Cor paused— this whole duel was a complete joke. He only said it in a fit of rage and confusion while trying to control my anger.
But this was the first time the kid looked at him in the eyes filled with resolve and he stood firm on his decision.
Cor let out a breath and thought "I don't know why I am even here in first place… What's with the strongest adventurer of the village. I am the only adventurer that resides in this village except for a few others and got injured' as he glanced towards his left arm which still twitched 'and now I am fighting a child because I could not keep my anger… Life does have weird turns. I guess we both are stupid."
Cor looked at the kid and stated "This is the last strike. If you don't take it seriously, you will really regret it." as he takes on a stance of down slash and lets out a breath as he concentrates.
Cor thought "I am sorry Ked but if you really intended to go out like this, you would only get yourself killed."
The kid readied himself for a strong blow and took an upper guard, holding the sword with both arms, one on sword's hilt while other on blade as he lifted it in the air above just like he did with Ignis.
Cor said "Don`t you dare die on me, it will make me look bad" as he opened his eyes and struck down his left arm with his sheer strength.
Such force that the wood itself started to crack.