Chapter 10: A New Ally?

Ken picked himself up, putting his hand against the tree he would always find himself leaning against. He made sure to let everyone know he was leaving beforehand since he wasn't a big fan of goodbyes.

Before Ken left the village, he made sure to pick up 2 daggers from the armoury and equip them to his waist. Relying on magic all the time can only take him so far, he had to be prepared for any type of situation. All Ken had were his clothes, the daggers and some gold. Ken didn't know what he exactly needed, so he tried not to take too much. A trader in the village also gave him a small map to use which had certain landmarks marked down this could prove to be useful in case he got lost.

Ken followed what seemed to be an endless path that went straight. He hoped to reach the small village that was on the map after walking for a couple hours he wanted to rest, but it wouldn't have been safe to just set camp, at an unknown place.

Initially, Ken had thought about heading over into the direction of Alecentria, but he felt that would've been too close to home since it also lied within the same domain as his village which was owned by Lord Azar.

In the land of Zarxion, the empire has claimed 5 different domains. Each domain is run by a lord in this world they're typically the strongest type of mages you'll see. There are other unmarked territories within Zarxion, but there's a good reason to why they haven't been claimed or to put it in a better way it's why they cannot be claimed. In those territories live beasts that if the empire faced them, there would definitely be an immeasurable number of casualties.

It's also recommended that people shouldn't go near those areas because it's likely that they'll never come out alive. That didn't matter much to Ken since he really was eager to go to those places, but he knew that is most likely too early for him. The place Ken was heading for was a city where a lord lived, but to get there, he would need to cover quite a big distance.

While walking down the path, Ken spotted an odd-looking person. It looked like some short kid wearing armour a knight would. He tried to ignore whatever it was but, then the person put out their hand in front of them and said.

"Halt, traveller."

Being confused Ken stopped in his tracks. Then the strange person said.

"Before entering this village, you must identify yourself!"

"Aren't you a bit too young to be a knight?"

"How dare you insult me, now that you've made me angry, I will not show you no mercy."

Ken drew one of his daggers and excitingly replied with.

"I'd like to see you try and land even a single hit on me."

The person pulled out their sword and in an instant... it dragged them downwards from being too heavy. Ken scratched his head, thinking he might've gotten his hopes a little too high there.

"Ummm, I don't really have the time to play around with you kid, but thanks for letting me know that the village is nearby."

Ken walked around the unusual knight and continued going on ahead. The knight let go of his sword and started following him.

"Hey, don't just walk away from me!"

"I'm not sure what you want, but I don't think I can help you find your parents kid."

"Don't call me a kid I'm a knight named Zad and I'm also 15 years old!"

"That's gotta be some sort of joke, and why are you following me?"

"I happen to be heading in the same direction as you."

"I guess it can't be helped then."

Ken took another look at Zad and noticed something odd, the armour he was wearing barely even fit him. It was obvious Zad wasn't a real knight, but why would he be wearing something that didn't even fit him.

"Hey, Zad..."

"What?"

"What's up with that armour, it doesn't even fit you."

"Oh, this? The guy I bought this from told me that wearing this would triple my strength. He even gave me a special deal telling me it was just for me!"

After hearing something as sad as that Ken firmly placed his hand on his face in disbelief. This guy was a complete fool.

"May I ask a question now?"

"You know, you don't need to say that before asking if I don't like the question, I just won't answer it."

"Would you mind if I tagged along with you since I've been trying to find someone to adventure with for a while now? Everyone I ask just laugh at me and call me useless, but you didn't laugh."

After hearing that Ken was taken aback that was a pretty odd reason for wanting to join him. Although, he did need people to accompany him, would it be safe for Zad to join?

"I'm not sure how you're able to trust me so easily."

"Well, that's because you had so many opportunities to attack me and you didn't. Plus I didn't sense any danger from you."

Ken gave Zad a concerned look.

"You joining me shouldn't be too much of an issue."

"Really!?"

"Although I do have one condition... You're gonna need to get rid of that armour and at the very least get a sword you can actually carry."

With a determined tone, Zad nodded and said

"Of course!"