Chapter 5: Dawn of an Era

 Kalfu had never enjoyed fighting. He thought his power would be better used serving the public, creating for the peasants. After nearly dying twice the same day it's like something snapped in him.

" My Magus, if you don't mind me asking why are you out here?" He asked, making him lose his train of thought.

"You've lost him already? Again? Where is he this time? Don't lie to me, child." The Grand Magus said, pausing the moment he made it down the steep ledge.

Their meeting spot is the village outside the Third Wall. It was closer to a town. Kalfus' hands and feet ached. He had never scaled such a steep and imposing cliffside. " My Lord, explain how is this my fault. He's a WIND SAGE. I couldn't force him to sit still for 2 seconds let alone an hour while I debrief you. And another thing I've been spying for you for nearly 10 years and you still don't trust me. I'm doing you a favor.'' Kalfu responded, stepping closer to the stone-faced Magus.

Most would never talk to the Magus like this. "Let us stop here. Before I banish you to the Unseen. You may be able to negate my magic that doesn't mean you're outside my reach.." He said drawing his ax.

"I know you're right, we're already being closed in on. We need to find him. He found the key. What's the plan?" The painter responded, sitting on a boulder and taking a sip from his pouch.

[Back with Rudra]

He began stretching his legs out then back waiting on his new pursuers. Merv was enchanting his axe and snapping his armor shut. They were trapped with their backs against the mountain. Rudra couldn't use his explosive power out of fear it would cause a landslide. So here they'd be fighting like soldiers. Rudra began squatting in the crouching dragon position using zeal instead of soros to fuel the ability. "Merv I need you to keep their attention and try to keep them grouped." He released his step and launched himself onto the cliff's ledge.

Quickly the group of mercs was upon Merv. He started by clearing his voice.

"Fellas fellas come on, there's no need to swarm me like a pack of rats. I'm a poor mercenary, I swear~ it." Merv said slowly backing up underneath the ridge.

"Empty your purse or we'll gut you like a pig. Your bag too." The lead bandit said motioning for one of his bandits to go and retrieve the items. Just then Rudra had pushed several boulders from the ledge. They hadn't seen it coming. Out of the 10 only 2 remained, Merv quickly cut them down before they could regain their composure. 'Wow he broke through a bandit trap so easily. Maybe I am more prepared than I thought.' Rudra thought as he jumped down.

"Make sure to cut out those badges. I want to turn them in for the bounty." He said continuing up the road. It wouldn't be long till they reached the town's checkpoint. "Why Merv? That's a terrible name and it sticks out too much. From here on out I'll be calling you Samson. We don't need the locals remembering everything about us." "You know Merv isn't mY real name right? It's an alias for Mervleregen '' Merv replied before being cut off. "Wow, that's worse than your nickname. I don't care what your name is. I'll call you... Samson. S-A-M-S-O-N.." The Prince mocked.

An hour later a few hundred yards before reaching the city Rudra decided that it would be easier to not hide his identity as a noble, but rather hide which noble he was. The vast majority of citizens had never seen him let alone spoken to him.

"Say, Samson, where's the next major city? You've been roaming these mountains for a while, surely you know." Rudra asked, fastening his collar over his face and forming a half mask. "Well, the capital of the Spindle Guard is OakenFort. And that's about 3 days East from here. Yjarl is a month south. Young Lord are you on an expedition?"

As usual, Rudra ignored his questions. Before long they arrived at the checkpoint. Rudra and Samson both refused a search. With only a glance you could tell they both were warriors so the guards wouldn't try to stop them.

"Samson, here's about 2000 gold coins. Find lodging and traveling equipment. Buy double the amount you'd buy normally. Then buy spares of everything you buy."

"Haha, this is far too much. Only say....20 gold would do?" Samson replied.

"I'm no fool, I know as much. The rest is for mounts and a wagon." Rudra said following the smell of smoke in the air.

"Ah, I understand. Should I ask the County Guardsman about the bounties?" He asked, tapping his pouch. Rudra put his hand out motioning for Samson to give him the badges. It annoyed Rudra how diligent and capable Samson was. He was supposed to be a power-drunk idiot but he's not. He's intuitive and diligent, you couldn't ask for a better servant. It was clear he had no intention to flee either. He wanted to serve and that was clear. An arcane knight was being wasted in this backwater mountain range.

Rudra had quickly wandered off. He had a goal this time. A blacksmith.

'These filthy men. I can't believe I need them.' Rudra thought as he opened the large iron-framed door.

" Ah hello my Lord, how can I be of service." The blacksmith said bowing from behind the counter. He was short but his arms were like tempered Blackstone.

"I need you to make some weighted grieves. Be sure to have some form of spike or button along the front. I'll give you 300 gold. I also need light armor that can deflect scrapes and arrows." Rudra said, plopping the bag of gold down. His eyes lit up. It had been a very long time since he had seen so much gold.

"AH..yes. Yes sir my lord." The blacksmith had already begun drawing up plans. While exiting the shop Rudra decided he was more than enough for a free whetstone and blade oil. So he slipped it into his pocket as he strolled out of the door.

It was never hard to find the Guardsman building; they were always built with stone and formed a hill-like structure. Rudra needed to turn these badges in. It had nothing to do with the money. He wanted the fame that came with it.

The Grand Magus always told his son that the easiest way to rally people to a cause was to create a hero that the people could stand behind. If there's one thing Abbaddon knew, it was how to play people.

For now, he'd have to settle for clearing out the bandits of Spindle Guard. He'd turn this region into his own. But how did he end up here? The character told him it hadn't been more than seven days. He went out of his way to keep him safe. So why was he here? 'It'd be best to just wait for Chaactu to wake up. He probably took me out here for some ancient magical power.' He thought as he made his way to the citadel.

Citadels were a half place of worship and half research facility. The building was dark and had metallic gold notchings all along. It had an octagon shape but every citadel varied in size. Some were the size of storehouses, others the sizes of palaces. This Citadel was on the smaller side.

Each corner of the octagon where two walls met, had red flowing silk attached to them. They were used to detect Archon's Mythical Weapons. Here would be some of the best craftsmen around. Everyone had attended at least 2 forms of university or would be a master among masters.

So just why hadn't Rudra commissioned them instead of a town's blacksmith? He held more than 1 Midas item is why. His 4-dimensional compass was a rare and powerful item. Not only could it point you in ANY direction it also told you what you'd need to get through to reach your goal. It was the size of a child's handball. The clear marble could never be scratched. Not everything Archon created was meant to be flashy. It just turned out that way more often than not. They say everything he touched turned to gold.

These armbands were a testament to both of those statements. He knew what an Archon tier weapon felt like. That was expected from the son of the Grand Priestess. This golden armband was latched onto the soul. It was beyond the reach of a mortal's hand.

The Prince waited 3 hours for a paladin to exit or enter the Citadel. None had shown himself so he knew it was a waste of time. 'Damn it all.' He thought as he began walking.

Rudra needed a master cartographer. One could always be found in hillforts. There are some generous cartographers. The Gilsmasters Company is a group of strategists and map makers of King Melbourne. He needs to find one to find his way back to Yjarl.

"I found you master. I have everything you wanted. I entered the Citadel and got you-" Samson was cut off.

" Gods I'm a fool. Go back into the Citadel and look for a guild named Gilsmasters, and commission a map of the area.'' Rudra commanded.

He had swiped the bag from Samson and peeked inside. "Heh heh I can't believe such a shitty village had all of this," he said snickering. At that moment the spear started to glow blue. It was getting dark and he was starting to stick out. He began frantically looking for cover. He was in the middle of the street and couldn't find any alleyways. A glowing weapon usually meant a treasure was within grasp. Not to mention he was still within eyeshot of the Citadel. If they saw it glow they'd immediately try to confiscate it. He wouldn't allow that to happen.

Rudra had buttoned his trench coat, completely concealing the glow. Whatever was happening he needed to examine his blood spear. That feeling of bloodlust washed over him once more. He turned and rushed into the first inn had seen.

"Give me a room. My servant has my coins hell be here shortly." Rudra said blankly staring into the innkeeper. His bloodshot eyes looked like something from fiction. A demonic possession.

Before he could reply he reached over the desk grabbing a room key. He started taking what he wanted whenever he wanted. He stepped into the dining hall to quickly see the inn was sporting a full house that evening. He scanned the room looking for the staircase for the rooms. It was along the back wall.

He started off walking carefully not to draw attention. However, Rudra recently had a tremendous breakthrough with his cultivation after being struck by an ancient primordial spirit's lightning. All those years he spent being nothing but his parents' favorite little soldier regressed his mentality immensely. Being put through life and death trials every week before you're even 10 would melt anyone's mind. While he was a genius with no equal he still couldn't think for himself. Now things were different: the real him had been born. He could feel it in his bones and refused to hide his magical aura or his zeal. He flaunts it. His ura-kih was a beacon for martial artists and mages alike. Quickly after entering a figure in a white owl-shaped mask with smoke slightly pouring off their overcoat. They felt the threat that approached them, and they didn't like it. The smoke-covered owl immediately withdrew poofing into a tiny puff of smoke.

The Prince quickly shuffled up the stairs and nearly knocked the door off the hinges paying no attention as he walked. 'Who was that? Their aura felt so...hateful. If only I could have seen them....' Rudra thought while unlocking his door. He immediately slammed it behind him and slide the stone dresser over blocking entry even further.

No, soon after he rushed to unbutton his trench coat to reveal the dagger was glowing even brighter than before. It was almost blinding. Just then Chaactu arose from the spear. The parasite on his arm had been gone. But the scar remained.

"Thank you for feeding me those souls, child. It sped up my regrowth, but I'll need far more souls than that. I'm glad we see things my way. It's good to know someone still appreciates the old ways."

Chaactu said in his thunderous voice. " I haven't fed you anything spirit," Rudra replied holding the now dagger in spear form.

"....No child you have. I told you that every soul you take gives me strength. And in return, I'd give you that strength. You even went so far as to give me your life. The ultimate show of devotion."

"What? When Have I died for you? IM standing right here?!" Rudra asked.

"You don't have to die because you already have. In return, I give you what you want. Power. Simple you bring me, souls, I give you the strength you're a smart boy you can figure out the rest."

"...I did die huh?" He asked rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I can assure you, your soul has been sacrificed to me. You are my avatar. But I used my power to bring you back the moment you perished. That's how quickly this contract works."

"When has feeding souls to spirits ever worked out in the end?"He thought sliding down the wall.

"I've already done more work than the souls I've fed me.... you've fed me I mean What more can I do? I fixed that timid weak personality of yours and let you be whom you want. I'm sure you've felt the effects?" Chaactu said, turning to face Rudra. Before he could reply Samson came knocking on the door.

"Hey uhh the innkeeper told me where you were I got the maps with-" The door swung open. Rudra had been standing there shirtless and scared with bloodshot eyes.

"Yea all right give me the maps. Get some rest starting tomorrow we train." Rudra said closing and locking the door. 'Gods he treats me like a servant already...Good.' Samson thought, making his way down into the inn. He turned back around and just fell face-first into his bed.

"Spirit, I'll give you souls. But in return, teach me everything you know about ura-kih and teach me to fight with a spear, I'll do the rest.."

"Then we have a deal. You are not good at deal-making. Both things I've already done." Chaactu said in his booming voice. Before long Rudra drifted off to sleep. Before that he needed to cultivate. He had a very eventful day and his power was still surging despite how exhausted he was. He sat up and began to meditate in a folded leg position.

[Downstairs in the dining hall]

Samson had been knocking drinks back like there was no tomorrow. Although he had not shown it he was trying his best not to think of his fallen comrades. He tries not to be angry at the Lord for he attacked first. What could he do? He had seen the gap in their strength and it was frightening.

'To think they had a kid like that and never used him? The boy jumped twice in the air .' Samson thought, swirling his ale around before swallowing it all in a single go. Although Rudra had decimated everyone he knew he was still thankful for it somehow. He yearned for days of serving a noble house and this was the closest he'd come in a very long time. He began stroking his beard as he did when he was deep in thought.

'Not to mention that dance he did to gather wind.... I've never seen something like that before.' He took another long chug. 'He even used a spear as a wand? How strong is that bastard? Maybe I sensed it wrong but had he been using both zeal and soros simultaneously?' He sat there for some time deep in thought. This was his 4th mug of ale and he still was not close to the mystery of his Lord's strength.

He scanned the hall looking for anything of interest. He saw a reflecting glass and looked at himself for the first time in a while. When Rudra sent him on a supply run he decided to treat himself as well. He spent the day in the bathhouse and got tailored for armor inside the citadel. He clearly understood Rudra had no concept of money. Most peasants around here used copper and bartered. A single piece of gold was worth 100,000 copper, a single piece of gold was worth 10,000 silver and a single piece of gold were worth 100 jade. He gave Samson 2445 pieces of gold. He gave him enough to not only buy this entire village but still have enough left over to buy 5 more. So Samson splurged.

He was bald and his head was sporting a crystal ball glow. His beard was mostly scruff now and you could see his face. The dirt and grime had added many years to his 37-year-old face. He had deep dark brown skin with a pudgy kind of face. Although it had been many years since he seriously trained his body you could still tell by his biceps that he could split you in two.

'I know that kids are gonna use me as bait. He's gonna make me do all the shit jobs, so thanks for buying me this armor little lord.' He thought snickering admiring his black iron mithril-infused armguard, chest piece, and pauldron. He bought each piece for 10 silver which is 40 for the set. Since he bought the entire set plus another set of armor they gave him a 25% discount on his entire purchase. He still had more than 2000 gold. He wore a bright red undercoat made with lesser wyvern scales and scaled-elk hide.

In reality, infusing metal with mythril is costly. Regardless of what it is that's being infused. It's insanely rigorous and tedious work so it costs a small fortune to do it. Samson looked good and felt good in his new gear. He was out of the beaten and blood-soaked black tortoise armor he had before. Using an animal skeleton with iron soaked into the gap as armor has the advantage of high durability with the downside being an overall lower quality of work. Black iron was extremely light and flexible armor combined with a mythical infusion and it instantly negates and dissipates certain spells.

Although it was the crack of dawn and still freezing out Rudra was already out training his spear. They were barely outside of town so that they wouldn't be disturbed but not far enough out so that passersby would attempt anything. He had trained in basic fighting styles all his life. So he could sword fight, shoot a bow, use a wand, and even soros spheres as a child. Since he was a child everything always felt too easy for him.

He had never struggled, even when he was supposed to. Things just always ended up in his favor. However, it wasn't good enough. He needed his muscles to get used to thrusting, slicing, and footwork. Being a master class wind mage taught him that everything starts from the basics.

He was unnaturally nimble. Especially since he walked with the wind... So he had been surviving off of that alone. He wanted to train his spear more. He liked the weapon far more than he thought it would.

It fit his mid-ranged fighting style but they didn't compete with his twin moon lyrics. Samson had been standing back trying to reactivate his zeal points and circulate his soros. It had been 4 years since he was exiled and hadn't even attempted to use any of his abilities. So over time the zeal and soros within his body became petrified. Samson had become exhausted far faster than he thought.

"My Lord I wanted to ask. You're no older than 17 aren't you?"

"17? I'm..... 23? This year." Rudra replied between thrusts.

"23? By Midas beard...With your ability to read situations as well as your ability to fight shouldn't you be serving in your father's army? Or at least getting your mage certification?"

Rudra looked up with a smirk "Haha you think something like that is hard? I was certified as a master wind mage at 14. I graduated from university majoring in theoretical magic application at 15." Samson who normally kept a very cold and straight face was now beyond shocked.

"I'll pretend that makes sense. You know that ability where you jumped and cracked the ground, what the hell was that?" Samson asked, sitting down on a stump.

Rudra walked around the makeshift training area a bit before opening his mouth.''I created that. It still needs a lot of work though." He took a rest on his spear. 'I can't tell him just yet that I have no idea how strong I am after Chaactu brought me back from the dead. Could I trust him to know that?.' He thought staring off into the woods. Just then something began to glimmer at that angle it hit the sun just right, blinding Rudra.

"Hey, do you see that?" Samson said, pointing to the glimmer getting closer and closer. Samson started running from the stump tackling Rudra right as a chained scythe came crashing into the earth cracking it, shooting black smoke with specs of shimmering light within.

Before they could even respond a second chained scythe came crashing down once more. Rudra shot himself onto his feet, grabbing the chains coming from the scythes.

He increased the air pressure on the chains making them nearly impossible to lift. "YOU ATTACK ME WITH THIS LEVEL OF STRENGTH?! HA DON'T MAKE ME LA-" He was cut off by several feather-shaped smoke feathers coming his way. Samson had jumped up knocking them out of the air with his axe then igniting the soros shield stone within it. There was nothing for a few moments, but neither Samson nor Rudra let their guard down for even a moment. Waves of crushing smoke came rushing at them now.

It burned everything in its path. Although it had been burning things it hadn't set anything on fire. Just creating a sea of smoke filled with glittering light. Something told Rudra desperately needed to either dodge the blow or redirect it.

"Out of the way Samson. You're too weak. Go back to town." Rudra said to Samson who was still standing in front of him. The arcane-knight didn't need to look back to confirm what was said. He immediately turned tail and took off.

The moment he was no longer in the way Rudra flipped backward and began to twirl his spear. He had decided to fight smoke with the wind. Now a cyclone of wind had completely stopped the attack in its tracks. The issue was that now there was a massive dust cloud looming over the battlefield.

A scythe blew past his face. It narrowly missed his arm on the way back. Rudra realized his attackers' patterns now. Soon the second scythe should be headed his way. Rudra started charging his palm with ura-kih. He could faintly sense their presence within the dust cloud. To his surprise, there was only 1 attacker.

Rudra began listening for the chains rattling in the wind. He enhanced his hearing further with zeal unintentionally creating a small bubble of sound around himself. The attack was coming low but he couldn't be sure. He'd have to risk being hurt to even draw out his attacker. It was low like he thought but still higher than he anticipated. He reached out to grab the handle but it was far too fast. It ripped up his arm destroying his trenchcoat. He still scrouged to grab the chain, yanking it with all his strength.

His assassin was within his range within 4 seconds. They must have only had 3 seconds at most to prepare for the attack. A fully charged and empowered corrosive palm was waiting on the other end of that chain.

Of course, it connected, destroying several trees and boulders. His attacker flew backward but not before sending the other scythe Rudras away, he'd need to let go of the chain to defend against it.

He couldn't block it so instead he'd divert it. Only to have that plus the assassin disappear and reappear on the pillar of smoke they created before the fight. The attacker's white bird-like mask began to hover.

"If I knew you were this strong I would have come 2 days ago." They said, calling their mask over to them

" Speak. Who are you and why have you attacked me?" Rudra demanded, calling his spear to hand. The bird cocked its head to the side.

"Heh heh, what do you mean why? You're strong and I was bored. That's a good enough reason, isn't it? I suppose it's only fair if I introduce myself to the person I'm trying to kill. I..am Ivory." She had long ashen grey hair with streaks of white throughout. She was quite tall for a woman standing over Rudra at 6'3. Her face was pale and tired. Her cloak was made from smoke, but it was in the shape of feathers surrounding her. Both her gloves and boots had 3 white claws on them.

"So now... the fuckin birds gonna kill me huh?!" Rudra said pointing with his spear.

"HOHO look at the mouth on this one." She said twirling her chains.

Ivory was deceptively fast. She was in front of Rudra within a second striking from every direction. Only leaving a plume of smoke where she stood. He was parrying every blow she sent out with the base of his spear. She was too close and too fast to disengage reliably. She had been cutting him over his hands, arms, and chest.

'At this rate, she'll just tire me out. I need to calm down. She's too fast for me. I can't even use this damned spear.' He thought. She had a small pause between flurries. He could use that to break her momentum. He finally got his chance when she stopped to catch her breath.

He used it to punch her in the chest as hard as he could. She went flying backward once again. She was going to collide with a tree so she latched the scythes into nearby trees to catch herself.

" I'll be honest here Ivory, I've never fought anyone as versatile as you. This has truly been a learning experience. But I'm afraid this ends here." He said with a smile on his face and blood dripping from his coat.

He ripped the rest of the tattered black cloth off revealing a myriad of cuts and stabs. He then infused zeal into his shoulder and arm muscles and launched his spear at Ivory.

"This is your big finisher?" She replied, slightly moving her upper body to avoid the blow. The moment she turned back she saw a black iron grieve greet her. Rudras flying axe kick was looming overhead.