I run all the way to the park while Princess Mathilde’s elite bodyguards pursue me. The park is a simple child’s park covered in sand. It features a sliding board, a jungle gym, monkey bars, a see-saw, and the swing set upon which I was sitting when I first met Princess Mathilde. Luckily, the park is unoccupied at the moment. During the yearly festival, there are much better things to do in the city than play in a park that’s always present.

I step into the sand right in the middle of the park and wait there for the guards to catch me. When they arrive, they draw their swords eagerly. “Have you finally decided to accept your fate boy?” one asks.

“Do you remember me?” I ask pointing my staff at his throat.

He doesn’t respond. I alternate to a different guard. “Do you remember me?”

“When we’re done with you, there won’t be anything to remember,” he boasts.

Wicked pricks. I will make them remember me! I demonstrate my martial arts skills by fancifully swinging my staff around and finishing with a gallant pose. When I decided to learn martial arts, these were the exact people that I had in mind. They’re all close range fighters. They can easily defeat pure mages because as long as there is more than one of them, one can simply draw the mage’s spells while the other closes the distance. Once up close there is little that a pure mage can do against a fighter. Because there are three of them, there’s virtually no chance of me being able to use my magic. This fight will be primarily a question of my martial arts skills.

“Come!” I challenge.

All three guards come at me at once. They approach in a tight triangular formation hoping to attack me from the front and the sides. I wait until they come into range. Then I leap out to the left while turning upside down in the air. Once I’m completely vertical, I stick my staff into the dirt like a vaulting pole. Then pushing off of the ground with my staff, I gain a surprisingly large amount of distance for one leap. At once, the guards pivot to chase after me, but now their triangular formation is broken.

The leftmost guard reaches me first. He thrusts his sword straight at me with both arms. I dodge slightly to the left while parrying with my staff. Having my staff firmly pressed against his sword, I push hard to throw the guard slightly off balance. From there, I yank my staff back and knock the guard in the face with it. At the same time, I throw out a left side kick to push him away from me.

The second guard in line immediately follows. He cleaves his sword straight down at me forcing me to defend with my staff raised over my head. He presses down hard with it threatening to overpower me and slice open my head in spite of my defense. Responding, I front kick him in the stomach as hard as I can, but there’s no reaction. Unlike the other two who are both Fortissimos, this one is a Colossus class mage. Most of the inquisitors are either Fortissimos or Colossi. The Fortissimos specialize in speed and technical skill whereas the Colossi specialize in raw strength and defense. The man in front of me is like a human fortress. It’s going to take much more than a little kick to stop him.

The colossus presses down even harder. My arms are starting to give in. I have no choice but to take a risk. I reposition my legs slightly to the right. Then I let go of my left-hand grip on my staff. His sword presses through my staff while I slide out to the side. Before he can launch another attack, I slam my weapon down on his foot. He immediately winces in pain. Although my light kicks can’t do much damage to these guys, my stone staff sure can. Infuriated, he tries to readjust into a horizontal swipe at me. Yet before he has the chance, I gouge my staff into the bottom of his chin and push up hard enough to take him off of his feet. He plummets to the ground allowing the third guard to have his go at me.

He makes a vertical chop at me. I dodge to the side. Then I strike him in the wrists with my staff immediately followed by a strike to the face. He reels back from the blow. Behind me, the first guard is ready for another turn. This time he tries to get tricky with a diagonal slash to my legs. I hop over it to the right with an aerial cartwheel. When he crouches for a second slash to my legs, I completely frog hop over him. He twists around and tries to quickly get back up to his feet, but as he rises I launch an intentionally telegraphed stepping side kick. He blocks my kick with his sword, committing his only defense to his midsection. With a slight delay behind my kick, I jolt my staff straight into his eye. My staff strikes his helmet with enough force to push it inwards a little. I can’t tell how much actual damage his eye takes beneath his helmet. All I know is that he goes down from the blow. To make sure that he doesn’t get back up again, I jump high into the air and land hammering my staff down on his chest. Now, even if he does get up again, he’ll have a hard time seeing and breathing. I can effectively count him out.

Watching one of their teammates drop makes the two remaining guards more cautious. I once more swing my staff around in fanciful display and pose. The colossus steps off to the left while the fortissimo goes right. They’re trying to attack me from the sides again. If they come at me at the same time, then I have a good idea what I should do. Otherwise, I’ll have to wing it. So what’s it going to be?

They poke at me with their swords and make little feints like they’re going to charge. I’m sure that they want to get a reaction out of me. But instead, I remain calmly posed staring straight ahead so that I can keep both of them locked in my peripheral vision. Fed up with my non-reactive response, the colossus nods to the fortissimo. They both shout a loud battle cry and charge at me simultaneously. Perfect.

I wait a moment until they draw close. When they reach four paces away from me, I cast the Boulder spell in front of the colossus blocking his path. The fortissimo pauses dumbfounded at suddenly being cut off from his partner. That leaves me with enough time to make my attack against him. I jump towards him rotating twice in the air. Then finally, I use the torque of my rotation to crack him in the head so viciously that my staff imprints itself into his helmet. His body bends forward for a split second and then spontaneously whips back from the force. He crashes to the ground unconscious while his sword flies out from his hand. I can guarantee he just suffered a massive concussion.

By the time that the colossus gets past my boulder, the fortissimo is already down. He takes a quick glance at the fallen guard, and then glares at me ferociously. I return his glare with an equally menacing look. Except, I add an awesome pose with my glare.

He continues to just stand still, glaring at me, unsure what to do. So I help him out by beckoning with my hand for him to attack me. “Come on prick. Your turn.”

He cries out loudly and charges straight at me. Oh yeah. He’s a hotheaded one! He’s also alone now, so I don’t have to worry about attacks from the side. In other words: magic time.

The colossus continues screaming his lungs out and running straight at me. I position my staff at hip level ready to thrust it out with my favorite spell. As soon as he reaches point blank range, I put a fiery Comet straight into his chest. “Argh!” he grumbles as he goes down.

Before he even hits the floor, I’m right on top of him. He tries to scramble up to his feet, but I drop my staff down square on top of his head. He falls flat on his back. From there, he still tries to attack me with his sword, but I strike him as hard as I can in the wrist causing him to drop it. Quickly, I pick up his large two-handed sword and toss it away leaving him defenseless. I then kneel over him and yank his helmet off. Immediately, I recognize his face even though his hair is starting to gray a little. This man is the leader of Princess Mathidle’s bodyguards.

It was this man who ordered the others to attack me that day. He was the one who carried my half-conscious body on his shoulder out of the city and then tossed me to the ground like a worthless rag doll, leaving me for dead. Even worse, as he and his cronies headed back to the city, he laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. I was only a fifteen-year-old boy. I was completely defenseless against them. Moreover, I hadn’t even tried to resist them.

Now that he’s the one who is defenseless it’s time for me to take my satisfaction of vengeance. The others were only following orders, so the beating that I gave them is sufficient recompense. However, this man I shall make suffer more. But first, I want him to know exactly who I am. I kneel over his face so that he can get a good look at me. “Do you remember me?”

He stares at my face silently for a moment. “Who are you?”

I spread my fingers out wide and then slap him in the face. “Five years ago, here in this very park, you and your men beat a young boy senseless and then tossed him out of the city. I was that boy! The only thing that I had done was talk to the Princess. I didn’t even know that she was the Princess at the time. Yet you ordered your men to brutalize me as if I had made an attempt on her life. For that unjust act, you shall now be brutalized yourself.”

I rise to my full height and clinch my staff tightly with both hands at its base. Then, drawing in a deep breath, I set about my work. First, I start with his right arm. I smash his fingers twice with my staff to make sure that he will no longer be able to hold a sword. Then I move up to his wrist, his forearm, his bicep, and his shoulder. I repeat the process with his other arm. Next I smack him one good time in his chest followed with a blow to the stomach. That’s just to send him a message. I won’t completely collapse his lungs until I’ve broken both of his legs.

Where should I strike first? Oh I know! How about the shin? That should hurt a lot! I lift my staff high into the air and then rain it down upon his right leg. The helpless guard screams in pain. At once, I revel in the sound of his agony. Continuing on, I smash his ankle, his foot, and then his thigh. I also give him a sturdy poke in the hip just for fun. Next I move to his other side stepping on his stomach. I then repeat my work with his other leg. Finally, I step back over his stomach to finish my business by crushing his chest plate.

“Which one of your lungs should I pulverize first?” I ask him.

“Please stop,” he pleads.

“You know, that’s funny. I said the exact same thing. Do you know what you did? Let me show you.”

I smash him low in the stomach. “Oops, I missed.”

Next, I smash him a little higher up on his stomach. “Oops, missed again. But don’t worry, we’ll get there.”

I continue dropping my staff down on him blow after blow working my way up to his chest. I reach above his belly button just shy of the floating ribs when I hear a voice scream, “Master! What are you doing?”

I ignore Katherine and hit him again. Yet before I can strike another blow, Katherine wraps her arms around my chest from behind. I try to strike despite her, but with her arms wrapped just beneath my armpits, I can’t quite get the proper striking form. I try to wiggle my way free from her. “Master stop!” she pleads.

I keep trying until I succeed. Immediately, I lay another blow upon the guard.

“Master stop!”

I prepare for the coup de grace. This will be the blow that makes him stop breathing. I raise my staff up as high as I can and jump into the air.

“Souladonis!”

I land to my feet without striking. Katherine’s sudden usage of my proper name pulls my attention to her. My eyes set on Katherine, furious that she’s interfering with me. But when I see a tear trickle down her face, I drop my staff in horror. “Katherine, I…”

“Souladonis what have you done?”

I look at the guard to check his state. His arms and legs twitch violently from shock and he’s spits blood every time he exhales. What have I done?

Suddenly, a flashback memory of what he did to me streams through my mind, and my heart hardens. I’m not at fault! This is justice!

“Katherine, I haven’t done anything wrong! This is justice! This man here and the others there beat me savagely when I was just a fifteen-year-old boy. They threw me out of the city and left me to die! I was so scared. I felt so weak and powerless, and I knew for sure that monsters would come along and devour me. I would have died out there if Wilmette hadn’t saved me. So this is what he deserves! This is justice!”

Katherine moves to the guard and kneels beside him. She lays her hands on his chest and closes her eyes in concentration. “What are you doing?” I ask.

“I’m going to heal him.”

She releases her mana into the Heal spell – a clear advancement from her previous Mend spell. I stand watching her confused. “Did you not hear what I said? This is justice.”

She concentrates her energy for another spell. “Yes, and this is mercy.”

She casts the Heal spell again, and then looks him over. “Give me your handkerchief.”

I pull my handkerchief out from my coat pocket and hand it to her. She tilts the guard’s head forward and cleans his mouth out. “Do you have anything to drink?”

“Just life and mana potions.”

“Give me one of either.”

Without question, I summon my medical supply bag and give her a small life potion from it. She tells the guard, “Here gargle this and spit.”

She pours some of the red liquid into the guard’s mouth. Then she helps him to turn to the side so that he can spit it out. Afterwards, she cleans his mouth out a bit more with the handkerchief. “Can you breathe better now?”

“A little,” he answers.

“Good. I’m going to cast some more Life Magic spells, so hang in there okay?”

Katherine begins to focus her mana energy again. “Wait!” I command. She looks at me in question.

“You’re doing it wrong. Concentrate your energy into your palms not your fingers. Release the energy from there. It will be stronger and more consistent that way.”

She follows my instructions and cast what seems to be the master-level Major Heal spell. But I probably just saw wrong. That does remind me, however, of her wand Traveler. I take out the inventory bag with the sack from Cornucopia in it. Then I concentrate my energy into it so that I can withdraw the sack. From out of the sack, I take out Katherine’s wand and hand it to her. That should help make her Life Magic spells more effective.

“The same thing is true with a wand,” I tell her. “Release the energy from your palms. It may seem weird at first, but it’s correct form.”

Obediently, she follows my instructions and casts another healing spell. This time I clearly see the white flash of the grandmaster-level Miracle Heal spell. Yet that can’t be. That’s an utter impossibility for her.

The guard’s arms and legs stop twitching. As Katherine prepares for another spell, I lean forward and squint my eyes. She casts her spell. Again, I see the white flash of the Miracle Heal spell. By reaction, I cover my mouth with my hand in awe. I can’t believe that she’s doing that! But if I don’t stop her, then she’s going to over do it.

“Katherine stop!” I order. “You’re going to send yourself into mana shock. I’ll cast the Regenerate spell on him. He’ll be up and about in ten minutes or so.”

I pick up my staff and cast the Regenerate spell. Sparkles of Life Magic energy twinkle all over the guard’s body. I can’t believe that I’m helping a man who has literally haunted my nightmares for years. But somehow, it feels good to do so. I approach the guard and kneel beside him so that he can see my face. “What you did to me was awful. Make no mistake; this was an act of justice. However, Katherine has taught me today that sometimes mercy is greater than justice. So for her sake, I forgive you.”

I rise to my feet with tears in my eyes. “I forgive you,” I repeat just so that I can hear myself say it out loud. As I start to walk away, I hear the guard faintly say, “Thank you.”

I continue on my path. I had fantasized about this day a thousand times or more. I can’t believe that it actually happened. Of course it didn’t go exactly as I had envisioned. I had never planned on beating the man to death. I simply got caught up in the moment. Luckily, I had my incredible servant to save me. Thanks to her, things actually turned out better than I could have ever dreamed. By forgiving the guard instead of killing him, I now feel as light as a feather. The heavy burden of hatred and desire for revenge has been lifted from me. “Katherine!” I call.

She had been trailing behind me, but now she quickens her pace and catches up to my side. “Yes Master?”

“I’m sorry for what I did back there. That was very ugly of me.”

“Yes it was, but I know that you’re not a cruel person. You must have been in great pain.”

“I was, but now I’m healed thanks to you.”

Katherine giggles sweetly. “You’re welcome Master.”

I stop walking. She takes a step beyond me and then stops as well. When she turns to face me, I place my right hand on her shoulder. “Really Katherine. Thank you. Thank you for being the wonderful person that you are.”

She smiles serenely and places her hand on my shoulder. “You’re wonderful too Master.”

I can’t fully agree with that, but I thank Katherine nonetheless. We walk together through Magali headed northbound towards the castle. “What do you say we go and check out the castle Katherine? While we’re there, I can inquire on what Wilmette was saying about the death mage problem.”

“You don’t have to ask me Master. I’m your servant for three months. I’ll follow you wherever you go.”

“True,” I say.

I look over at Katherine and we meet eyes. She smiles bright and innocent. I force my mouth into a reciprocal smile.

“True,” I had said. But it’s not true at all. Can you not see Katherine? Do you not know? I’m the one who is following you.