Soldier

"Huff!"

The wild boar charged forth; its body quite nimble for its massive size. It intended to poke Mars' head with the two long white tusks, finishing him with a single move.

'Shit…!' Mars cursed, his heart jumping a beat as he looked at the beast. A nerve-wracking pain surged through his back, which had slammed against the tree, and his arms had gotten numb from the impact of the collision with the boar.

Without thinking, he immediately rolled to the side, barely avoiding the fierce charge from the boar.

Bang!

With Mars moving aside at the critical moment, the boar collided with the trunk, sending tremors throughout the tree.

The brown-furred beast grunted, its head spinning from the collision, and became slightly disoriented.

Mars wasn't going to let this change slip.

Bearing the terrible pain, Mars gritted his teeth, lunged forward, and plunged the cold tip of the sword straight into the spot behind the shoulder, where its heart was.

"Die…!"

The sword belonged to Luther and was a rare treasure. It cut straight through the muscles without any hindrance and pierced the boar's heart with a swift blow.

The beast roared, realising its impending doom, and struck Mars again with his head in a final attempt for revenge, which made Mars stumble back, and before the beast could attack again, the life had already faded from its eyes.

Thud!

The beast fell to the ground, and so did Mars, exhausted by the thrilling hunt.

****

The sun had started to descend, and somewhere in the Edan forest, a fire burned, cooking the messily chopped leg piece that belonged to the wild boar.

The smell of cooked and somewhat burned meat permeated the surroundings, and Mars couldn't help but gulp while looking at his dinner. He hadn't eaten anything for the past few days due to the numerous incidents that took place, and his stomach had been rumbling ceaselessly.

Recalling the past few days, the light in Mars's eyes dimmed a little. His father and mother had been killed, and so had the only friend he had.

'Leo would be jumping around in excitement just by looking at the wild boar meat' Mars thought as he removed the meat from the fire and took a tender bite.

It was slightly overcooked and bland because there was no seasoning, but still, a satisfying warmth spread through his stomach. Mars finally felt somewhat contemptuous.

The fact that he had hunted the beast by himself made the meat tastier than anything he had ever eaten.

It took him a while to finish the meat, and the sun finally descended, plunging the forest into a deep and gloomy darkness.

Fearing the wild animals that may roam the land, Mars decided to spend the night on top of the tree.

With the sword still tightly clutched in his embrace and the shield fastened on his back, Mars leaned against a branch and eventually descended into a deep sleep.

****

Crip! Crip! Crip!

Mars was woken up by the faint sounds of leaves and twigs being crushed on the ground. With his vision still quite blurry, Mars took a glance at the source of the voice, and the sight almost made him yelp in surprise.

A soldier!

He was a lean man with a clean-shaven face, probably in his twenties. Dressed in a black uniform with the Eldoria kingdom's insignia, he held a long sword and warily studied his surroundings.

Slowly, the soldier made his way towards Mars's location.

Looking at the soldier, Mars's heart sank, and he slightly shifted himself to hide his body behind the dense branches and leaves.

Step! Step! Step!

Eventually, the soldier walked close to the tree on which Mars sat, silently waiting for him to pass.

'He won't suspect anything; I already cleared up most of the blood and meat from the ground...' Mars thought, carefully studying the soldier.

But to his misfortune, the soldier suddenly came to a halt when he was directly below his tree. He studied the surroundings, and then his gaze turned lower to the ground.

Noticing nothing unusual, the soldier was about to walk forward when his gaze went over to a particular patch of soil.

Even though someone had tried to erase the traces, the work was the work of someone immature. He lightly kicked the dry leaves and twigs covering the ground, and there he saw burn marks on the ground as well as on some leaves.

A fire was set up here!

Without waiting, the soldier hurriedly fished out what seemed to be a wooden whistle hanging from his neck with a thread and was about to blow it when a shadow suddenly lunged at him from above.

"What…?" The soldier sensed it and swiftly jumped to the side, but the blade still ripped through his shoulder.

"I missed…!" Mars exclaimed.

Turning his head, Mars saw a horrifying wound opening on the soldier's left shoulder as he crashed to the ground.

Realizing that the soldier had found his traces, Mars had jumped down in the same instant, intending to thrust the sword straight through the soldier's neck and kill him with a swift blow, but he had underestimated the soldier's perception and reaction time.

The soldier grunted, placing a hand on his shoulder to feel the wound, and realising the severity, his face turned pale. If he didn't receive medical attention soon, he would surely die from excessive blood loss.

Getting a proper footing, the soldier turned back to gaze at Mars.

"So, it's really you...!" The soldier's pupil dilated, recognising Mars, but his voice was cut off in between when Mars suddenly rushed at him again, this time slamming his shield straight into the soldier's chest.

The sudden impact sent the soldier stumbling to the ground.

"Die…!" Mars roared. He threw off the shield and jumped at the fallen soldier, the sword in his other hand aiming to thrust into the soldier's head.

"Get off...!" The soldier coldly spat and kicked Mars's torso with his legs, which sent the latter flying through the air.

Bam!

Mars fell back, not backing down; he got to his feet again and looked back, only to see the soldier jumping back to his feet too. His shoulder bled heavily, crimson liquid staining his whole back and dripping on the ground.

Mars charged forward, slashing the sword to cut through the soldier, but the latter only moved his sword, lightly deflecting Mars's sword to the right, making him go off balance.

Mars stumbled, but before he could fall, the soldier's arm slithered into his neck and pressed Mars's back against him.

Tightening his grip on Mars's neck, the soldier choked him and muttered with a scowl, "Enough of you, cockroach, now let me take you, Ahhh!"

Soldier screamed. Mars had bit into his hand like a wild beast, his teeth sinking deep into his flesh.

Creating a moment of distraction, Mars didn't hesitate to take advantage of the moment, a viscous expression of rage and determination in his eyes.

He moved one of his arms above his head and thrust his hand into what he guessed was the deep wound he had inflicted on the soldier.

His aim was correct, and Mars's nails dug deep into the hideous wound and scratched it as much as they could, making it even worse.

"Aaaaah, you bastard!" The soldier's eyes widened, feeling the horrifying pain of his wound being scratched from within, and frustrated, he delivered a heavy punch to Mars's jaw, intending to knock him unconscious.

Bang!

Mars's vision spun, pain exploding from his jaw. He fell forward, but not before spinning his body to face the soldier and slashing his sword one last time with all the strength he could muster.

Rip!

The cold blade struck and cut through the soldier's throat.

Mas fell to the ground, his mind spinning from the ruthless blow, but he felt a sense of satisfaction when, from the corner of his vision, he saw the soldier falling on the ground too, his hand tightly gripping the wound on the neck.

Mars watched the soldier struggle on the ground as a fountain of blood emerged from his neck and a grin flashed across his lips.

But it soon turned to a frown.

In his final moments, the soldier somehow fumbled the wooden whistle to his mouth and, using all the strength left, blew into it from his wounded throat, creating a sharp voice that echoed through the forest, alerting the nearby soldiers of Mars's location.