15 Who is this strange child?
[Hassar Pov] - Before the fight
"What were you thinking of when you decided to make that test of yours?"
"Someone had to be the bad guy, and the kids here are scared of me. I wanted to see if he was lying, so I decided to scare him a little. I thought it would get him to say the truth. One thing leads to another, and now I have to find an opponent for him to fight."
That does tend to happen when Morgan is involved, the proper way to deal with him is to expect the unexpected. I never once in my life thought I would throw a child, and yet it happened. We both agreed to never talk about it.
"So what did you think of him, you go first Ganbold. You're the reason why we are in this mess."
"He is kind of weird, I mean when we were surrounding him, his response was to smile and wave at us. Something I also noticed was every time his name was whispered, he would sometimes react to it. He also likes to look people directly in the eyes, that isn't so bad.
My problem with that is, he doesn't blink or he somehow manages to blink at the same time I do. Other than that, he is exactly how you described him. Very calm, quiet, and intelligent. You wouldn't know it if you looked at him, but he knows a large number of words.
He talks more like an adult, and nothing like a kid. His words at the end were very similar to things my father told me when I was at that age. The only difference between me and him was that Morgan understood the weight of those words."
"And do the rest of you feel similarly or is there anything else you want to share."
Everyone else in the room nods their heads in agreement. I then see Roger step out of his group. Looks like he has something to say, now that I think about it, Morgan could be considered as his fellow countryman.
"Most of the kids here don't like to use the spear, so we felt a little happy when he said he could use a spear. We sensed a little pride when he mentioned surviving and fighting alone. So in this fight, we will focus on looking at his skills with a spear.
With the four of us here we can probably identify where his master came from. While spearplay is mostly uniform between all the regions, there are enough differences to be able to identify what region the spearman came from."
Out of everyone here, those 4 are the most experienced when it comes to talking about spearplay. They also come from different regions of Elibe, so their chance of finding out where Morgan's master came from is high.
Dorian was a former Lycian knight, and he had fought many battles across that region. I remember him telling me he learned a couple of moves from knights in other territories. Garret is from Illia and was taught how to fight by other Ilian mercenaries. He has also fought on battlefields all across Elibe.
Corben was a former Etrurian knight, with a past similar to Dorian's. His specialty is fencing and defensive combat. The biggest help will come from Roger, he is both a former knight and fallen noble from Bern. He could probably tell us what family Morgan's mother is from, and about the different fighting styles from Bern.
"Does anyone else have anything they want to share?"
Everyone nods their head in disagreement, I guess Ganbold said what was on everyone's mind. We still need to find an opponent, but I'll let Ganbold clean his own mess. We can finally finish this meeting, I want to play with my daughter. I hope she likes the gift I bought her.
"Ganbold, go find a suitable opponent for Morgan. And with that, the meeting is over."
----------After the Fights
"We all saw what just happened. Did anybody think that would happen? I knew the most about the little guy, and I had no idea he could do all of that. He told me he knew magic, and he kept showing me bright colorful rainbows. Didn't think he could use magic like that."
His skills with magic are definitely better than his skills with a spear. Anybody who has fought an experienced and skilled mage knows they can fire magic without a tome to aid them. While Morgan isn't as powerful as those mages, he has the same skill. The question is, how and why?
How could a kid have that much skill in magic at such a young age? This is beyond prodigious, this type of talent you only see in legends. What kind of person is that mysterious master of his? Then there are his skills with a spear, even I can tell he has the basics down. Does he know more than that? He is only 5, how did he have the time to learn all of that?
"I want to have some sort of idea of who that mysterious master of his is. What kind of person could have taught a kid to be that powerful? Or is that a result of Morgan's talents? You four, any ideas after seeing him fight?"
Dorian is the first one to talk out of the four.
"I saw his footwork, it is very reminiscent of what a Lycian knight would learn. His version is very steady, explosive, and very well balanced. However, the footwork a Lycian knight typically learns is more geared towards initiating combat. To put it simply, we sacrificed defense for more offense.
The footwork is rooted in tradition, it has been passed down and changed over the ages. This might be a version I haven't seen before. The point is, his footwork is good for offense and defense. He won't have the benefits of specialization, but he won't have any major weaknesses either."
So he couldn't find out anything, this is not off to a good start. I guess Corbin wants to share his thoughts. I motion him to go on.
"Etrurian knights like to focus on defense, as a result, most of our training focuses on learning various stances. Like the Lycian knights, our stances are rooted in tradition. They each offer different benefits, but like Dorian said he doesn't have the benefit of specializing in one aspect.
Spearmanship from Etruria is also very defensive, we approach it like fencing. We focus on parrying and riposting, we like to disrupt the tempo and take control of it. The kid knows how to fence, and is a prodigy. He still needs experience, and his movements aren't instinctual yet.
I looked at his eyes when he fought, his eyes were constantly focused on finding openings. He found some, but his body couldn't capitalize. Still, he did what he could and ended those matches very quickly. I really want to teach him some things, and see how much of it sticks."
Great, so we have another person who wants to teach Morgan some new tricks. Now that I think about it, that might be a fun thing to do. Should I teach him how to shoot a bow? No, I don't think it's a good idea to give him more power. But then again it might be a fun experience.
"Garret, do you have any ideas? You have seen the most battlefields out of all of us here."
"That's the problem, the kid's style of combat is a mix of many different ones. He fought like a typical Ilian mercenary, he used whatever he could to his advantage. We like to use the environment to get advantages and to fight dirty. The kid wasn't taught to fight honorably, he probably realized that we never forbade the use of magic. So he used it to get that last victory.
I thought his master would be an Ilian, the way he discarded his weapon to get into grappling range screams typical Ilian. That magic is throwing my guesses off, there aren't many mages in Ilia. Let alone ones that take mercenary work. Most of them are scholars and don't fight.
As we all saw, Morgan was scarily calm in those battles. Most people show at least some sort of emotion in combat, but he showed us nothing of the sort. Morgan was probably taught to think only about the battle ahead. He won't let anything distract him until he gets the job done."
"I don't think that's the case, I know the little guy and I know for a fact that he was distracted. He was probably talking to that skull of his the entire time. A trick I learned was to pay attention to that strand of hair at the top of his hair. When he talks to the skull it stands up and moves.
Don't look at me like I am the strange one! I had to spend the week with him, and sometimes he would accidentally say what he was talking about out loud. Every time that happened his hair would move around. You can also use it to keep track of his emotions, like an animal's tail.
Did you know he sometimes talks and laughs in his sleep, he scared me the first time it happened. Not going to lie, I started seeing him as a funny animal at some point to make it easier to be with him. Okay. I realize I have something wrong with me. Roger, take over please."
When and where did things go wrong with me? I want to blame Morgan, but that's the main problem. Well, this is nothing my daughter can't fix, with her adorable smile and her cute actions. I have to make sure Morgan doesn't let that skull near her. I think I heard it talk to me at one point. I think it has powers, or it gives Morgan his powers. Questions for later.
"Moving on. I already know what family his mother came from, Morgan is a Gildard. The black color of his magic and his grey eyes gave it away. His family comes from a long line of Dragon Generals, generals whose authority rivals the King of Bern. The Gildard family is known throughout all of Bern as the only magical wyvern knights.
Heard many nasty rumors about them. Rumors like only the most magically adept or physically powerful can marry into their family, to keep their bloodline powerful. In Bern, the name Gildard is synonymous with power. When I was still there, his grandfather chose no one to succeed him, claiming the next generation was too weak.
Morgan would be what he is looking for in an heir, and he would probably send an army to get him back. I guess that's why his master raised him away from Bern, it's a miracle he is even here. All of that should explain to you why he is that strong and intelligent at such an early age. Honestly, the boy reminds me of those legends I heard as a child, the ones about the 8 legends.
The boy will be a monster judging by the prowess of his ancestors, and he will reach his true potential if he can get his hands on a wyvern. He will be the strongest warrior of this era, nothing can stop his imminent rise. I want to keep him here, to make sure he isn't as heartless as his family. We need to guide him to make sure he doesn't use his power maliciously."
Wasn't expecting Morgan to be from such a powerful family, maybe it was a mistake bringing him here. Well, too late for that. I had enough Morgan for today, we can talk about his matters tomorrow. As the chief, I can end the discussion for today. Is it an abuse of power? Yes, and I do not care.
"We will end our discussion for today, and continue tomorrow. It is almost time to eat, so we should probably get ready for that. Who knows, maybe he will tell us more about himself while he is eating. I stopped asking him questions to not go mad myself, so you guys should give it a try. Let me warn you, if you stay near him too long you might start to hear the skull talking."
They will know in time, that I am not crazy. They will be dragged into Morgan's pace and see the things I have experienced. Should I destroy the skull to be safe? Maybe I shouldn't, who knows what sort of evil I could unleash into the world.
