Chapter 16 The shadow hiding behind

You wake up early in the morning and rise from the tall grass you slept in. The earth you used as a bed was a bit uncomfortable, but you managed to sleep with a rested and refreshed mind knowing you managed to save Ursatanti. You have 18/18 stamina.

You put your sword belt on, put your item bag on your shoulder, put on your boots and go along the road leading out of Dirritanti. You look up into the stars and your guardian constellation, Tiny mouse, is radiating its stellar energy towards you, as you leave Diritanti and head towards the nearest mountain.

You meet no bandits, beasts, undead, or a giant race that wish to kill you on your way to the mountain and you arrive there after a few hours. The mountain is really big, so the original road builders had to go around the mountain rather than dig through it.

You can go left or right, it is your choice. You look left and see a patch of black flowers. The flowers are some of the most beautiful ones you have ever seen in your life. They have curvy, black stems with small black thorns all over them. They petals are just as black as its stem and have beautiful looking white lines going through the petals.

The beautiful flowers tempt you to go an pick them one by one and give them to your significant other. "Wait a second. I am not married yet and I am on a journey! Why would I suddenly be thinking about giving flowers to an nonexistent significant other?"

You brush off the weird thought as a small moment of irrationality, because of how beautiful the flowers are. You know what the left side is and decide to look right and check out what is there.

A thick forest full of closely packed trees stand on the right side of the mountain and extend to the cliffside's edge. You look down and see the Crystal Waterfall in a very distant corner near the cliff you are currently on and marvel at how much you have walked over the last 4 days. You should be able to get to Khare in less than a single day and make your first big leap of your adventure.

The forest looks thick, but it isn't that big. You can cross it in a few hours. The black flower field will take just about as much time, but will require more walking and you can probably get some of those beautiful flowers for yourself.

You think your options over and decide to go through the forest. Time is of the essence and wasting even a single extra second is an extra second the Archmage is allowed to tinker with the Staff Of Kings.

The thick forest is hard to traverse and you feel as if you are being watched as you walk. You walk for around 30 minutes and the feeling of being watched becomes too strong to ignore or brush off and you secretly keep your eyes on your swords hilt and see if you spot anyone lurking around you in the reflection.

A few minutes pass and you see a black shadow flicker on your sword's hilt. You don't falter and instantly draw your sword and turn around to face a man dressed in completely black clothes with a black veil over his face standing behind you with a small dagger held in a backhand way in his right hand.

The man turns out to be a professional of his field and reacts as fast as you and jumps back from your sword's swiping attack. You still manage to leave a small cut mark on his right leg when he jumped back.

Combat engaged.

Shadow man has 16/17 stamina and 17/17 power. You have 18/18 stamina and 11.5/15 power left.

You watch the shadow man carefully as he takes out a saber from a black sheathe on his back and stand in a very advanced form. You can't see any flaws in his stance and he can probably read any attack you will make.

You can tell the man is quite powerful as well. His body looks almost as strong as yours and even more powerful than the young man called Vini you met in Cantopani. "This man is dangerous. Unlike Vini, he looks like he is trained very well with his blade. Just that stance with no openings is hard to fight against even if I did have more power than him.

The chances of you winning are low and you decide to talk it out rather than risk your life. "Friend, I mean you no harm and we don't have any grudges. What is your goal in challenging me to a death match? A man such as yourself can't be a simple bandit out for a petty coin."

The shadow man says nothing and hold his blade, as if he is about to attack. Risking your life to such an extent is not something you can afford and decide to look for a constellation that can aid you.

You see the constellations RAZ, TEL, YAP and LAW above you. Neither of them are of any use and you doubt this shadow figure will be kind enough to gift you the time needed to wax your weapon.

The man rushes towards you with a strong attack and you instantly use your defense from to block it. The sword glides across your sword with a lot less power than you expected it to and you feel a small cut on your arm. Shadow figure used a 0.1 power jab and you managed to counter it by defending. Shadow figure has 16/17 stamina and 16.9/17 power left. You have 17/18 stamina and 15/15 power left.

"This man is good! Someone being able to trick me is a rare sight these days." You stare at the shadow man in amazement. Tricking your senses isn't an easy task and forcing your response is even harder. He used the frighten with strength tactic you often use when fighting people weaker than yourself. "Being done in by my own tricks. Quite an ironic situation."

You quickly readjust yourself for the fight and get ready for his next move. The man looks at you with cold eyes and an unreadable expression. It is almost like the time you fought the wolfbeast in the elven hut.

The LAW spell can be casted here, but you are a sapient creature. The spell, even if you cast it on yourself with a grimalkin, won't work on you. You wish you equip the collar and become completely unpredictable, but you can't and such arbitrary thoughts should be cast aside.

You make haste and jump at your opponent with your sword held high above you. The shadow man reads your intentions and counters with a direct strong attack containing 16.9 power. If such an attack hit you, you would lose a limb from the huge power difference. Luckily he read your intentions a bit wrong.

You manage to avoid his sword and glide your sword on his saber. Your body experienced the pain of such a huge impact and you took 1 damage from it. Your damaged Analand's warrior sword has become damaged from the strong impact. Shadow figure has 16/17 stamina and 8.5/17 power left. You have 16/18 stamina and 15/15 power left.

You don't waste any time and rush him with a weak 0.1 power jab and stab at his heart. The shadow man has become disoriented because of your blizzard tactic and can't respond appropriately. He can only try to block your attack.

His blade doesn't turn out to be the best at blocking and only manages to knock your sword off its trajectory. You make a decent cut on the shadow man's shoulder and he takes 1 damage. Shadow figure has 15/17 stamina and 12.5/17 power left. You have 16/18 stamina and 14.9/15 power left.

You expected a slight bit of panic from the shadow man, after which you would go all out and overpower him, but the man in front of you is a true master. He didn't make a single mistake and blocked your 14.9 power strong attack with his blade, but his arms to a little numb from the strong impact. Shadow figure -1 maximum power. Shadow figure has 15/17 stamina and 16/16 power left. You have 16/18 stamina and 7.5/15 power left.

The shadow figure jumps away from you to create distance and figure out his next course of action. Your fighting style has changed slightly and it made predicting your attack a lot harder. The shadow figure tries to read your movement and thought you were about to defend.

You placed your sword in a hidden defensive way that looked like a strong attack. The shadow figure thought he figured out your true intentions and rushed towards you with a 0.1 power jab. His eyes widen when he gets close to you and you glide on the side of his saber with your sword and make a big slash wound on his chest with a 3 power jab. The difference of 2.9 overpowered the shadow figure and he took 3 damage. Shadow figure has 12/17 stamina and 15.9/16 power. You have 16/18 stamina and 8/15 power.

The shadow man realized he is dealing with an expert swordsman and became more cautious, which was what lead to his downfall. A couple of turn pass and shadow figure has 4/17 stamina and 12.6/16 power left. You have 10/18 stamina and 13/15 power left.

The shadow man made his first mistake of the fight and rushed at you with a 12.5 power strong attack. You had more power than him and used a 13 power strong attack to counter him. The blade and sword rush at each other with great might and speed, but yours is much stronger. Your sword's slam into each other and you push the shadow man back. With him off balance you make your final attack and the huge cut wound on his chest exhausted the last bit of stamina he had.

The shadow man falls down and can't move anymore. His body has cuts and bruises all over it, just like yours, but you have a lot more stamina left than him. The shadow figure coughs a few times and you see blood slowly flow down his cheek from under his veil.

The man looks at you and says "Guess I wasn't strong enough to win." You look at the dying man and you sense no hostility from him and wonder if he was actually trying to kill you. You can try and save the man or you can kill him and take his sword.

You look at the dying man and leave him for a few seconds. You soon come back with leaves the size of your head you plucked from the trees and some wheat you plucked from nearby. Sightmaster Kim has taught you multiple ways to make makeshift bandages and rope from natural materials. You brace the wheat into a long and somewhat sturdy rope and use it to tighten the leave on top of the shadow man's wounds.

The leaves block his bleeding and you lift him and and place him down next to a tree with his back facing the tree. The man looks at you and his eyes look confused. The man speaks up and says "Why did you spare me? I tried to kill you?"

You look at the man and say "I only spotted you when you got close to me and made your position obvious. I can tell you weren't after my life and were only after a challenge. You didn't attack a defenseless man, so I want to commend your honor by sparing your life. I'll fix your wounds and you may go on your way."

The shadow man looks at you and says "This debt... I will repay it no matter what! My name is Flanker and I am a golden member of the assassin's guild. If you ever need my help, you can put in an order on me and I will do the job for completely free." You nod at the shadowy figure and inwardly commend him for his honor.

You find the black bag of Flanker and get some food out to feed him. Flanker ate some of his provisions and looked up. "This Forest is decently safe. There aren't many dangerous beasts around so you can leave me here to recuperate. I will be just fine. But, before you leave, I would like to share a bit of information with you."

You nod your head and jesters for Flanker to continue talking "The goblins are planing a takeover of Khare in 4 or 5 days. I would recommend you wait out a few weeks before going into Khare, or you might get caught up in the chaos."

You look at Flanker with horror in your eyes. Goblins taking over the entire city-port is a horrible thought and you will have to get mixed up in the situation. You can't give the Archmage an extra second, much less an entire week. You will have to traverse Khare as it wages war against the disgusting goblins.

You thank the shadow figure for this valuable piece of information and leave him leaned up against a tree. Like he said, the forest wasn't dangerous at all. You met no beast and easily pass through and continue on your way.

A.t

Hey, I am a little late on uploading this. I spent the last few hours just being happy the Hell I went through ended and forgot to write something. The next chapter will be up within 12 hours from now, so wait for that.