The Things He Values

Hiroshi and I smashed the mansion's gate and stormed inside.

Everyone inside was looking at us, surprised, and we drew all the attention to ourselves. The bad thing was, it was more crowded than I expected. We were standing in front of many men, with their swords and spears pointed toward us.

But while they did, I wasn't focused on them. I looked around for a while, looking for the gun and where it might be.

And when I did, Hiroshi then turned to me and said,

"We will not attack until we see the weapon. So don't act all of a sudden, Kid."

We tried to find a way through them. But just as when we tried to do that too, someone appeared from the upper floor of the mansion. Through the darkness of its rooms.

At a young age, this is a man who dresses in a traditional style, with black long hair and dark orange eyes. And the way he dressed in his clothes and the comfort he had made, made it some kind of conclusion.

He was an Elite Soldier, so I knew after all those details I realized. And he was looking, right at us, with such eyes with ego.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

But Hiroshi, on the other hand, saw that he was holding something right beside his waistline.

It was his gun.

The gun that we were looking for, and the gun we put ourselves in danger for.

I knew he wanted to get it back badly, and that was the main reason for us to be here, but having an Elite Soldier in front of us, at the very first thing we did, was a bigger test for me. Of course, when I started on such a journey, I wanted to take the issue of empowerment more slowly. However, it was obvious that enemies would appear in front of me even at such unexpected moments, And it was a necessity for me to be prepared for it.

So looking once more again at him, I felt his gaze was getting stronger.

The gun was in the waist of the guy, that was standing upstairs. And Hiroshi was pointing to him, signaling me to be careful and what he first was aiming for.

"Hey, asshole! Do you have any idea about using that gun?"

"Me being able to hold this thing is what makes you this angry?" He showed the top side of the gun, pointing his waist.

"That thing belongs to my family, So I'm gonna have to ask you to give it back."

The elite soldier then grabbed the gun from his waist and looked at it,

"So this is your gun. Then you're the one who's been taking down my men for this gun all this time."

"It wouldn't have happened if your men hadn't tried to steal it from me in the first place. You should teach them not to mess with a stranger."

The Elite soldier didn't seem to get offended by his words. Other than looking at us, he looked conceited and full of ego about our situation. So with eyes, that were filled with envy, he smirked and moved his hand, making a come here sign,

"It's a pity that you want this bad. But if you really want to get it back, you have to come and get it."

"A price for a price, huh?"

"I call it an "Exchange"."

-Czch!-

Hiroshi was much more exasperated for not being able to closer to him. He was angry and was probably thinking about beating that guy up pretty bad, but he still only left it with looks at him.

I, on the other hand, wasn't experienced in a situation like this. I didn't come across any guarded hideout, or somewhere that I needed to fight. I was in the position that I was from out of nowhere.

I was like a fish out of the water.

So I turned Hiroshi, and asked,

"Hiroshi, can you handle these guys?"

"I'll give them a taste of their own medicine."

He then looked at me and added,

"So I leave here to you, Kid." Then he jumped among many men and started fighting them.

*If he keeps going like this, this scenario will turn into the previous ones he encountered!* I thought to myself.

So to help him, and create a backup that for him get through this time, I put my foot on the ground, bent my legs, and aimed my body toward the window where the Elite Soldier was standing.

He wasn't moving an inch while I did that. But he continued to look towards me, not caring for the mess Hiroshi created and smirked.

But his smirk wasn't going to stay on his face that long.

As soon as I aimed myself towards there, catching him off-guard, I jumped from the ground to the window and kicked him. The Elite soldier tried to protect himself and slipped because of the kick, but I kept punching him and tried to break his block.

Then I immediately kicked him once more and hit him. He was going to tangle his arm around my leg, but I quickly changed to the other one, so he couldn't block the kick and he flew back a little bit.

He then slowly put his hand on the ground and said while he tried to get up,

"You are not that unskilled like I thought you would be. But you have to do more than that to get what you want, Kiddo."

Before I knew where he was coming from, the elite soldier quickly approached me and punched me hard in the stomach. It created a big impact and made my skin curl, but I grabbed his fist and hit him in the face with my head. Then I gave him a 360-spin kick and hit his nose hard.

Blood began to drip from his nose but he still seemed unaffected.

At the time, when I was fighting with him, I saw from the window, that Hiroshi was easily taking everyone down one by one downstairs. And was using his fists, when he ran out of bullets.

He was as talented in combat as he was in weapons.

But while I got my eyes focused on that, the elite soldier wiped the blood from his nose, and quickly attacked me once more. But this time he was using faster techniques during the attack and blocking my guard faster than I did to him.

And even though I blocked his fists, I couldn't prevent the elbow blows. He hit me hard on the chin, stomach, and once again on the face and made me cling to the wall. Now a little blood came from my mouth, and we got even.

But without paying attention, I knew I had to continue.

Holding an incoming fist, I did a reverse somersault. Then I twisted the arm of the elite soldier and locked it up, behind him. Pulling him to myself, I took the gun from his waist and threw it at Hiroshi.

He, at the time, saw that the gun was falling from the air, so he quickly stepped on the men's shoulders, jumped, and grabbed the gun in the air. And as soon as he did, he fired it once or twice towards the men he was fighting.

*I guess he was waiting for this moment for a long time." I said to myself while looking at him a little bit surprised.

He was taking advantage of everything around him, but as soon as I started thinking about what I should do in my situation, the elite soldier got rid of the lock by throwing me in the air. I wasn't expecting it, so I did nothing to prevent it and hit my back on the ceiling.

But as soon as I started falling, and by pressing very strongly on the ceiling with my feet, I threw myself back at him.

I threw a hard punch, falling quickly towards the elite soldier. And with the impact of the punch, the Elite soldier and I broke the floor and fell downstairs, since the building we were fighting was old and rotten.

We both got on the very last floor and now everything was covered in dust. So on, I found myself looking around carefully because of how hard it was to see around me in that dust cloud.

I was looking around for the Elite soldier, slow and steady, but not careful enough, that he suddenly appeared right behind me,

"Looking for something?" He said as he swung his kick.

He hit me in the corner of my stomach and threw me into the other room, smashing the walls and destroying the house once more.

Luckily, I landed on the ground, spinning just a couple of times. But then I realized he was coming toward me once more. He tried to kick me as I was knocked down to the ground and my legs started shaking because of the impact of the blows. I was losing my balance and had a hard time looking at his moves. But I clenched my fist, used my energy more than I should, ran away from his kick, and got up.

I blocked his knee blows, with my elbows and tried to not get hit. Then I held his punch and bent it,

But he then once again smirked just like before and said,

"Show me all your strength! At last, you are not going to get away far from here!"

The elite soldier then jumped and kicked me in the stomach with his idle foot and once again made my skin tingle. I squeezed myself so hard not to glide back this time. So holding his kick, I turned him over and threw him too high.

The elite soldier flew into the sky, smashing the roof, and went too high in the air. Then I immediately jumped after him and continued to punch him.

In the air, we both punched each other in the same order and tried to deal damage to each other. And even though we were in a battle like that, our fight continued without taking a breath.

We were throwing punches at each other nonstop and blood got onto our fists. And I wasn't even realizing at first, that I was aiming for his chin because of how much I was annoyed by his smirk in the first place and it was implemented in my subconscious that I started throwing him rapid and strong punches.

On the other hand, he, he was throwing harder and stronger punches, showing me how much more he was experienced in close combat because of the evil and merciless life he lived. And he was also annoyed by me being a child. It was so obvious from his words, so he started aiming both at my chest and head to deal me vital damage, and acted thinking that I was just a child and with such ego.

But unlike he thought, I wasn't just staying in that forest with Ronk for nothing.

Not only my soul and mentality were refreshed and renewed, but my perspective and durability in every manner of life were also changed. I was less scared of every attack or incoming danger, I was able to train a lot more and also made my body parts much more durable so I wouldn't get defeated in such battles. 

I knew this was going to happen. I was expecting it. And I needed this to move forward.

So at that very moment, I blocked the elite soldier's incoming fist and then punched him in the throat, I took his breath away for a little while. Then giving him one last fearful and fearless look, I felt my eyes get filled with anger and the want to win the fight.

And when he was defenseless, I took him under me and started punching him. We were getting closer and closer to the ground as time went on, and we were about to hit the ground. So before we did, I got behind him and locked his throat with my arm. 

This was to prevent him from getting away from the damage and get him knocked out even though I was with him there. We hit the ground together. Created a huge impact on the ground and changed its shape with our bodies.

At last, I was able to defeat him. He was just lying on the floor, ecstatic. But I didn't get much damage like him, just because I was on top of him. I was just tired and shaking because of the punches and kicks I got from him.

I was sure he wouldn't get up too, so I decided to approach Hiroshi, and asked him,

"Hiroshi, I think I have taken care of him. How are you doing?"

"Taken care of? You sure are quick, Kid." He said while shooting at people from the cover he was hiding.

"How about you? You seem all torn out and beat down. Did he beat you up that hard or something?"

"We can say it's like that. And frankly, I've had better days."

"Anyways, forget about that. Let's just get out of here before backup arrives and hope they won't come after us."

Hiroshi and I left there that day. We went to an unknown place in the woods and stayed there for some time so they would think we got away. We got no food or drinks so we had some problems at first, but it was the best option we had at the time if I thought it by now. We also arrived at a place where we could see the view of the city very clearly. It was full of lights and people going around so it was a cherishing feeling to watch it.

On the other hand, Hiroshi only looked at his gun that night. For such a long time, he was away from what he called "Memories" and it was a big deal for him to get it back. So he just sat there thinking about it for minutes.

But eventually, he opened his mouth that was closed shut and talked to me in a kind voice,

"Kid. I've been in this damn misery for who knows how long. I have done some stupid crap that I don't even want to remember nor have somebody to tell. But I must admit you are the first person that would get my attention this much. Respect for respect, the thing you do for a human being is so important. So I recommend you, you would go on this and continue being on you. So maybe you can find a buckle head just like me to help."

He was talking in a manner that I would least expect. The deep breaths between every sentence, his sadness-filled eyes, and his unmoving gesture, showed me how important heritage can be. Not only the importance of him keeping it what mattered to him but what actually mattered was how many and which people carried it with such legacies on it.

It was maybe the most important thing to him, that was filled with dreams and hopes.

It was maybe the first time I have seen someone, like a tough guy him, get deep into his emotions and thoughts.

So just to be honest and show the kindness and respect I have for him, I talked with a smoother voice,

"No problem Hiroshi. My goal like I said, was this after all."

"Actually, it's very important. My father always told me that a man should brag about his efforts together, not about his strength alone. At first, it seemed ridiculous, but now it makes a lot of sense since I have come across a crazy, Kid just like you."

He looked me in the eye and added,

"We're a team now, partner."

Those words of Hiroshi made me actually very happy. It seems like we have a lot of adventures to go on.

"At least I now have something that I can call an experience or something that will move me forward in life."

He chuckled, he seemed very impressed by my words,

"Where did you learn that? You talk much more mature for your age, Kid?"

It was the usual expression that people gave me when they talked. But I didn't think it was anything special,

"It is just something that my Uncle and Ronk taught me. They always said "being able to help a person is what moves us in this world. Because as a big machine that life is, we can't just stop working out of nowhere or stuck each other in a bad way. We have to work together, just to get through and make the machine go." I didn't think much about their words, but as time moved on, I felt the emptiness of helping a person and the need for somebody to help me back, in order to achieve what I wanted. That is actually why I'm on this journey. To find people that need that, and get the same from the people that think the same."

Hiroshi leaned quite forward to the fireplace we set and talked still smiling,

"Well then, I must admit, they have raised you well. This mindset can get you far in anything, but you must also give your own effort too."

"Yeah, I should..."

He then once again stood firmly and changed the subject,

"Now tell me what's on your mind. How are you planning to defeat the "Epics"? Since you said you have a plan in mind."

And after that, came for the moment we finally set off for the first part of the journey,

"Do you know how to go to the village of witches?" I asked him wondering if he knew anything about it.

"Village of witches, what are you planning to do there? Isn't that place full of magical people going around?"

"My uncle told me that, they aren't always friendly, but in order for us to gather people, I need to open the seal of the magic map that I have. And I learned that "they", can only do this."

"So now with a magic map? It's getting crazier, Kid."

"But do you know where it is?"

"I know their village. It's four days from here. But we have to figure out how to get there."

"All right then. That's the first place we're going as soon as possible. We have to start moving as fast as possible so we can talk with them sooner."

Hiroshi lit his cigar again, but this, stopped me and asked me another question,

"Wait, Kid."

He then looked at me and added,

"The elite soldier you fought. He was the fifth elite soldier of The First Epic. I ain't sure how you did this in the first place, and maybe it was an easy fight for you, but you also have to remember, that they're getting stronger. Every and each one you defeat, the other one will be stronger and none of them will wait for you to get up and fight back. You'll see powers you've never seen before. So are you still ready to do it?

"Whatever comes, I'm ready. After all, I've spent so much time training for it. If I aimed for this in the first place, then I have been ready for what will happen in the process. After all, this is what it takes, am I wrong?"

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. And one last thing. The epics have eyes and ears everywhere. So we have to stand out as little as possible. Got it?"

"I understand."

"Then let's go."