Chapter 2 - The First Battle

Raylyn listened to the word Ilabas said about the name of the legend. "The world hungers" a name of the legend of the creature that eats moons that almost will destroy the world. An absolute terrifying creature known as Bakunawa. Then after a couple of hours of sailing, he sighed a little bit as he was already seeing that his little town is nowhere to be found. He felt a little distress since that was his home but other than that, he was actually a little excited that he is going on a real adventure.Though, he is still a brand new trainee of a paladin. He still excelled mostly during combat, so he is very confident in this escort mission that was assigned to him or rather, he chose to be assign to. Then Ilabas tapped Raylyn's shoulder. "There's a storm coming up ahead kid. Brace yourself, this isn't an ordinary storm that's for sure. Whatever it is, be careful." Raylyn nodded and readied his holy blade. As the black clouds from the sky began to show, a howl of thunder and multiple lightnings began sparkling down each time. Then Ilabas readied his own blade. As the sea folk creatures began emerging from the surface and jumped on the ship with their sharp claws and sea weapons of spears and blades. "What are these creatures Ilabas!?" Then Ilabas said to Raylyn as he stood his guard. "These creatures are called Shokoy. A large number of sea folk that lives under the sea near the South East continent. However, they shouldn't be this aggressive unless we approached their territory. Something must be wrong here. Try to stay alert kid!" Raylyn stood his ground as these creatures began attacking him. Of course Ilabas also began slicing and dicing these creatures left and right. So far, the merchant himself is an excellent fighter. But why does he need an escort if he is this strong? Raylyn didn't have time to wander that thought. He began using his paladin techniques by slicing their neck one by one in one move. They began to get even more aggressive as more creatures emerged from the surface and crawled into the ship. Their eyes began turning red and they have gotten even stronger by the minute. "These things are becoming stronger! We need to retreat in the upper plank! Or else we will be overrun by them!" Raylyn said as he began killing more of these creatures. But Ilabas then replied with a smirk on his face. "Kid! You haven't experienced fighting on the maritime seas have you? Well that's alright. Let me show you something, a fighting skill or rather style of the South East people, specifically The Kingdom of Lusong." Ilabas drew two blades that has a swirl shape and then began to put on a stance. He began to slice them with each blade, slashing them in a precise yet deadly move from this tight space. The creatures began dropping one by one on the ground, spraying their bodies with his fighting style. He sliced their head clean while stabbing their eyes and slicing their limbs while immobilizing their movements by targeting their legs and shoulders. The screeching of the creatures began so loud that they began to almost feel powerless against the like of Ilabas. Raylyn was amazed by his vigor and skill. But Raylyn fought his own battles from his side and kept on backstabbing some of the creatures and kicking them out of the sea. Then Raylyn asked Ilabas "That move and fighting style. It's something I have never seen before. I have seen some paladins wield two blades but your blade has a unique shape and the way you move is like the raging waves of the sea. You can fighting in this tight space while the storm is still brewing!" Then Ilabas answered while jumping from one sea creature to another from their back and shoulders after beheading them with a massive deadly blade strike. "It's called Kali. It's a type of Martial Art that most people from the Kingdom of Lusong learned. I used to be a Mandirigma when I served Rajah Ligcuban. I'll tell you everything once we reached our destination. But for now! Let's kill some of these monsters and send them back to where they belong!" Raylyn then answered "Got it!" Then the battle continued for several minutes. Then a large creature with a dragon like sea serpent appearance, appeared in front of them. "What the hell is that!?" Raylyn with a shock expression on his face questioned it's existence. While Ilabas then saw it and grit his teeth with both anger and annoyance. "You've got to be kidding me. It's a baby Bakunawa. Then Raylyn said with a shock expression still but this time he shouted. "WAIT THAT'S A BABY!?" Ilabas then sliced the remaining sea creatures of Shokoy and saw that the storm is already dispersing. Then the so called baby Bakunawa went back under the sea and then the sky began to become blue once more as the sun began to rise. With a sigh of relief from both of them as they already saw the pier. The shore of the South East from the Lusong Kingdom, Kabite City. Then some folks were expecting Ilabas as they waved. They wore the same clothes like Ilabas. Then, Ilabas went down and so did Raylyn. He saw the people and how they established their cities. It's very different. He saw a very distinct civilization that seems foreign in front of his eyes. Then Ilabas talked to some of the locals. "Kaibigan! Maari mo bang kuhain ang mga kagamitan at kasangkapan ko sa barko? Bibigyan ko kayo ng sampung bulawan." (Translation: My friend, can you get some of my stuff on the ship? I'll give you 10 gold for it.) The people nodded and got all his stuff out of the ship and then Ilabas smiled to Raylyn. "Thanks kid." Then Raylyn replied "No problem. It was my duty after all. But I do have one question." Then Ilabas answered. "Sure. What is it kid?" With a curious expression from his face he asked. "Why did you ask for an escort if you were already this strong?" Then Ilabas answered as he then grabbed Raylyn's head and smiled. "Because I'm bored. I don't wanna go back home without having some company. I don't have a family to go back to and it is boring to have everything and there is no one to share it with. That's all there is to it." Then Raylyn began to feel a little bit empathetic towards him since he also don't have a family to go back to. Then Ilabas went on his way and left Raylyn on the shore and waved goodbye after disappearing from his sight. Raylyn then waved back and smiled as he found himself, stranded on the continent since he doesn't have any money to go back to.

"Aw man! I forgot! I didn't have any money to go back to!"