The Blades of Apocalypse

Chapter 2: A Stranger Walks Into Town

It's been four days since he left the Obsidion Castle. Four days of travel, carrying four of the most dangerous weapons ever seen by man, wourn around his waist, and hidden by the long dark moss green robe tha was given to him by the guardian monks to aid him in his perilous journey.

Along the way through the harsh desert of Hegiyet, this young man has been accosted by bandits, hunted by deadly creatures, and battered by the elements. However, this young man never faltered and carried on all the way to his first stop, the trade city of Carcasa.

After making his way from the dusty dirt road to the city's large wooden gate entrance, he is stopped by the town guards. "State your name and purpose of visit." Said the guard that's clad in leather armor and armed with a spear. The traveler provided a fake name and identification papers to be able to enter the city and procure the supplies he will need for what he knows will be an even longer jurney than what he's gone through so far.

The tension in the air, however is palpable. Once the young man entered the city, he has felt eyes on him. Eyes not that diferrent from the beast that stalked him while he made his way to this city. The eyes of hunters taking aim at their prey, readying to pounce.

Even with the knowledge of dangers surrounding him, the young man is calm and composed as the tour himself on the city streets. He's first inclanation is to go to a shop and buy he's supplies. He casually enters the shop, a bell fassioned on the door anouncing his presence to whomever is in there. The shopkeeper and the two customers in the shop eyes him immediately from head to toe, but their gaze noticeably stopped at the young man's waist, intencely eyeing the daggers peeking out of the man's rodes.

The young man had noticed the gazes these strangers gave to the daggers he carries, yet gave it no mind. Not even trying to cover the malevolent instroments he has.

"I need an updated map of all 6 kingdoms." He said."I'll also need six silvers worth of beff jerky and 3 flame crystals." The young man said as he placed his satchel atop the counter.

" Sure, Sir. You going on long trip?" The old shopkeeper replied as he stroke his thick bushie beard. The young man nodded in responce to the old man's query. The two customers stayed silent as they continue to eye the new comer. The young traveler keeps his senses sharpened with his hand close to the sword, resting on his right waist side, strapped securely along with the daggers.

The men left inside the shop continues to side glance one another, waiting with baited breath, the two men eagerly antisipating what the young man might do. One of the men on the far left side corner of the shop is visibly nervous, slowly reaching behind him as he keeps his eye on the young man. The other man beside him to his right, seemingly starts to do the same.

"BANG!" The two shoppers almost jumped out of their skin from the loud noise the shopkeeper made as he slamed the items on the counter once he returned from the back room. The young man didn't even flinched from the loud bang.

The young man pays and thanked the shopkeeper as he exits the shop, leaving the two shoppers nervously sweating from what almost transpired there.

As the young man continues his tour of the city, he spots a cantina and starts to head there. From the outside, you can hear the loud music playing, almost being drownd out by the chattering of the paytrons within. As the young traveler comes closer to the cantina, however, the sounds coming from it fell silent. The young man already knew what this might mean, yet he enters without fear.

The young man nonchalantly walks in the cantina, as all the patrons stares daggers into him. The two story cantina is full of people, yet the moment the young man sets foot in it, you could hear a pin drop. As the young man sat at the bar counter, he has already counted all the people within the cantina. Sixteen people including the bartender on the first floor, while seven people at balconey of the second floor while five more people hides in the rooms of the second floor. All of them armed, the young man senses.

"May I buy 5 liters of water from you?" The young man asked the bartender. "Sure thing, Stranger." The bartender replied as he reaches for a hose beneath the bar. "Where's your cantine?" The bartender questioned the young man, as he gingles the hose in his hand.

The young man then presented a small palm size bottle made out of magic crystals. "By the Gods." The Bartented exclaimed."This is the first time I've actually seen a magic vile in my life. I heard this can keep twenty gallons of water, right?" The bartender said with a look of wonder and surprise on his face. "It was a gift from my teachers." The young man replied before the bartender even ask where he got it from.

As the bartender begins filling the vile, three berly men walks up to the young man with menacing bravado. "You know it's rude to waire your hood indoors, right? Punk." The bald man in the middle of the group barks as he seemingly flashes the tattoo of a double bladed axe on his left cheek. "I have some unsightly scars on my forehead. I don't wish to offend anyone who sees them." The young man told the impossing man that is towering over him from his right flank.

"Oh, well there's no need to be shy. Everyone here has scars." The bald man told the young man. "No need to hide them. Speaking of hiding. I can't help but notice those colorful daggers you have there. You wouldn't mind showing them to us, would you?" The man said as he

sneers at the young man. "I'm afraid I do mind, sir." Replied the young man as he side glance the three men."TOO BAD FOR YOU." The berly man yells as he and his two friends draw their weapons.

The bald man was arm with a battle axe, not unlike the one tattooed on his face. His two freinds that also have the same tattooes on the other hand were armed with swords. The men are poise to attack the the young man, but in a blink of an eye, the young man has already gotten off his stool and drew his sword with his left hand, seemingly cutting all the men before him simultaneously.

As the lifeless body of the three men fell, so too does his hood fell from his head, revealing his face. The young man has striking features, from his wavy brown locks, his pearcing green eyes, right down to the unusual scar on his forehead. The scar appears to be composed of three scars of equal length running diagonally from right to left, and one slightly longer scar running through the other three from left to right.

The young man then grabs his vile from the counter, seals it, and calmly faces the patrols in the cantina, now with all of them having their weapons drawn, and asks them "So. Do I come to you, or do you come to me?"

Seemingly angered, the four archers on the second floor fired their arrows at him. However, with both elegance and ferocity, the young man deflected all four arrows away using his sword. The rest of them patrons in the cantina charged at him with their weapons of choice. The young man then proceeded to color every inch of the cantina with their blood.

Outside of the cantina, an absurd amount of people waits for the commotion within the establishment subsides. As the noise within the cantina dies down, some one walks out of it. Some of the people that are waiting outside gasped and jolted themselves upon seeing the blood bathed body of one of the patrons who attacked the young traveler.

The bloodied man shambles and begs for the surounding men for help, but his plea ended once a knife, thrown from inside the cantina, opened his skull, finally killing him. With the surounding people still in audible gasps, the young man stepped outside to meet them.

"So... How many more will have to die before someone tell me why you're all after me?" The young man emotionlessly said to his malicious audience. "The only one dying here will be you, Blade wielder." Someone shouted from the crowd. "That is, unless you leave those daggers of yours with us." A man clad in light armor colored in black continued to say. "My name is Dearik, by the way." The man stated out. "And you are?" Dearik continued.

"... You can keep calling me Blade Wielder, since I have no name to give scums like you." The young man, now going by a new name told Dearik. "Be reasonable, Blade Wieder." Dearik continues the conversation. "All of us here are a gathering of the three strongest bandit gangs from across the allied kingdoms. The Roseta gang, to which I belong to. the Battle axe gang, and the Desert Dragons gang have all gathered here, over four hundred strong. Are you that arogant to think you can take all of us?" Dearik asked the Blade Wielder.

The Blade Wielder only looked at Dearik with a blank expression and said "It doesn't matter how many you are. You're all going to die if you get in my way"

With a mix of shock and annoyance painted on his face, Dearik signaled for the attack on the Blade Wielder to commence. Multiple archers from the sorounding rooftops took aim at him and fired, but just like before the Blade Wielder deflected and avoided the arrows with great ease. As the Blade Wielder swings his sword, the glimer from the blade creates the illusion that he is being shielded by light.

Seemingly bored with deffending, the Blade Wielder simultaniously deflects arrows while kicking the rocks beneath his feet on to the archers shooting him. The archers dying one by one from the Blade Wielder's assault.

As the archers' numbers dwindle, Dearik then orders the foot souldiers to attack insted. This made no difference, as the Blade Wielder used his inhuman skill with the sword to cut and slash all on comming attackers. The blood of the attacking bandits cascading down the durt floor, as the Blade Wielder mows down anyone within reach of his metal.

As the attacking bandits continues to fall, (either dying from the blade Wielder's attacks or being heavily injured, unable to fight anymore) Dearik sighed "This isn't going well" to the man on his right. "That's an accurate assesment." Said the tall man named Nirros.

As the minutes pass, the bandits surrounding the Blade Wielder became hesitant to attack. Severed limbs, dead bodies, and entrails that are strewn around the area, fueling the fear and unease the would be hunters felt with fighting this seemingly unstoppable monster, known to them as the Blade Wielder.

"I think it's time we step in, Dearik." Nirros said. "Tch! Right." Dearik replied. As Dearik gestures to the two people behind him to follow him and Nirros, they possition themselves to attack.

Once the last attacking foot soldier ran off without his right arm, Dearik and the rest made their move. Armed with a sickle with a steel ball in chain, Dearik attacks first. Dearik threw the steel ball at the Blade Wielider's rear, which he easily avoids by ducking down. This, however, was all part of the bandit's plan.

As the Blade Wielder avoided Dearik's attack, two arrows, one from his left and the other from his right, shot towards him like lightning. These arrows came from the fraternal twin bandits Lena and Lanu. Lena is the female and Lanu the male, are high ranking commanders in the Roseta gang alongside Dearik. Their weapons of choice are repeater crossbows.

The Blade Wielder managed to hop forward, narrowly avoiding the projectiles. However, Nirros, seemingly comming out from nowhere, attacked the Blade Wielder using his War axe with unbelievable speed.

Nirros, known as the second in command of the War Axe gang, aimed for the head of the Blade Wielder. With the blade of the axe about to hit him, the Blade Wielder skillfully dodged it by arching back like he's about to lie down, and folded both his knees to perform a slide, As if he was avoiding a realy low clothesline.

Standing up immediately after his sliding move, the Blade Wielder took up a defensive stance. Facing his four skilled opponents, the Blade Wielder can't help but smile in the prospect of a challenging fight.

"Lena, Lanu," Dearik shouted "use the Quarig tactic. Nirros, the mirror tactic, just like we practiced." Dearik continued. "Understood." The three replied in unison.

The twins fired a barage of arrows from the rooftops with their crossbows. Jumping inhumanly high thanks to their magical sandals that can enhance agility. The Blade Wielder deflected the arrows the same as he's been doing earlier, but now Nirros swatted the arrows back at him again like a deadly game of catch.

Remarkably, the Blade Wielder is able to avoid even this coordinated assault. However, Dearik made his move. Dearik used his skill that creates multiple images of any weapons he uses and attacks the Blade Wielder with what appears to be multiple steel balls on chain.

"Got you now." Dearik victoriously shouts as six images for his attack launches at the Blade Wielder's direction. The Blade Wielder, on the other hand, deflected some arrows, courtesy of the twins' crossbows, on to Dearik's attack to find out which one is the true steel ball.

Once the Blade Wielder knew which is the real one, he kicked it with full force towards the head of Nirros. Nirros managed to weaved his head away from it's trajectory, the ball scratching his left cheeck in the process. Before Nirros can recover, however, The Blade Wielder moved in and pearced his sword through Nirros's heart, killing the bandit.

Before anyone can react to what happened to Nirros, the Blade Wielder picked up two arrows from the ground, and with a full throw of both hands, he sent each arrows to Lena and Lanu. The arrows finding a home between the twins' forehead. They died atop the respective rooftops they stood upon.

"You BASTAAAAARD." Dearik cried out in anger as he and the Blade Wielder locked eyes.