“I can feel it Warrior Bona.” Emily urgently pleaded with me.

“Ahh, I love that song.” I replied jadedly. “Em, I need proof. Who is following you? What motive? At the moment, I am exhausted. Freya is literally killing me. So helping you isn’t a high priority.”

Iliana, Maggie, and me were all sitting on a large couch, resting up after learning how to fight without falling into a rhythm. It has been 3 days in, and the girls are far ahead of me in sword skills. I’ve been sending Emily to the shopping district near the entrance court for food runs with coins that Freya had given us. Emily lived in Capella for a year before taking a job at the palace and moving her family there.

As of yesterday, she claims that she is being followed. Apparently, Warren stopped her before she left the palace, he warned her that if she doesn’t stop building a close relationship with me that he would be forced to fire her. And Emily shyly suggested that she was doing her job, I call her into my room, and she cannot deny my order. Warren stormed off upset, Emily believes he has his men following her, I presume he is plotting some machination to get her back on his drugs.

I do feel somewhat responsible, but something odd happened to me and the girls. Since we arrived here, we had been able to communicate with the mana using our minds, speaking to the mana inside of us. But yesterday when we woke, we felt different, as if the air we breathed felt thinner. Yesterday morning’s conversation at the breakfast table went something like this:

“Hey, Iliana, Maggie, did you guys try opening your lights this morning?” It sounded like a weird question, but I needed to know how they opened their lights in the early hours that Freya has us waking up at.

“So, it wasn’t just me.” Iliana said conclusively.

“Yeah, I tried thinking and thinking about it, but the lights wouldn’t turn on. I had to use hand signals like Freya taught us at our first training.”

“Huh, you were thinking that hard…, so that was what that smell was.” There was no reaction to my lame joke. I took an attempt at giving my assumption.

“Well, based off how we performed using the mana, I can only think that we lost our power up because it was too much for us. I felt that if we let emotions bend the mana to our will, then in every fight, in every stressful situation, we would be overusing mana. That is my assumption. Remember, apparently the God of this world likes to meddle into his creation’s lives.” The two pondered my theory.

“I can’t believe it. So…, do we have to figure out the gestures, the needed movements to activate mana now?” Iliana asked.

“Of course, it does. That way we need to use Mana consciously. I heard that Mana can be activated with words as well. You can communicate with the mana with your body and with your voice. To be frank, I don’t think we will be at a disadvantage, Freya said there’s only been a handful of people who could ever communicate with the mana through thought alone. Please you two, trust in Freya’s training.” I gave the two girls a smile, trying to copy Mirth’s smile from the first night we came to this world.

“I trust her. I just wish we could train in mana usage, but it’s smart to keep that for the end. Being put on the sidelines for a week from overusing it would suck.” Iliana remarked.

“Yeah, she’s a better teacher than sensi. I have learned a lot more about sword fighting from her in these three days than from years with sensi. I guess because it’s more practical rather than a sport.”

“Alright, times up, finish Em’s meal and let’s head out.”

“Her name is Emily, Doofus.”

Since that day, Freya has been thinking about training us to get to the point where activating mana will not be a tedious thing for us. She is still uncomfortable around me, probably harboring a loathing for my belief about life’s value. But when it counts, she advises me, and guides me down the right path.

And today, we learned that in war, or in single combat, falling into a rhythm is bad, we learned to swing our swords and move our bodies in a hundred different ways. If our bodies tired from the discovery of muscles it never knew existed, Freya healed our cells and shoved us back in the fray.

After that overtaxing experience, Emily brought up the idea that she’s being followed again. She had been gracious enough to teach us the basic of reading mana, a simple task everyone knows how to do to some degree.

Indeed, it was simple, but the amount of information you get, the fact that it is the only thing everyone can do without a gesture or a vocal casting made it seem incredible to me. Almost as if we have truly become demigods, able to sense others, and get a general idea of what they’re thinking, their strength, emotion, and who it is. For that I am grateful, but to have this harassment during these intense days drained any desire to help. Emily may have some value to me, but if she were kidnapped, or killed, she could be replaced.

“Bona, look at her, I don’t think she is lying.” Maggie interjected.

“I can go with her.” Iliana struggled to get up but fell back down when her knees buckled. “Ugh, sorry Emily, I…, I can’t.” Emily gave Ilana a smile.

“No, no. Don’t Warrior Iliana, I am Bona’s servant, he should walk me.”

“Threaten a blade of grass, take it hostage and promise me its safety if I go, and I’ll ponder it. No, I’m joking, really Em, I can’t. And I still don’t think you’re in any danger.” I laid my head against the back of the couch and shut my eyes.

“I know you were only joking about that Warrior Bona, but it still hurts you know.” Emily pouted.

“Jeez, why you gotta be so human. Be like Jewelry and stand by the door quietly.” Once I said that I realized why Emily was so animate, and human, it was because she was the only one not on Warren’s drug. Julie maybe going down that route soon, but as of now, she only responded with yes, no, and important announcements.

“Hey, Julie’s just as human as Emily. Right Julie?” Maggie asked Julie who was standing by the door that led to the main hall of the house.

“Yes, Warrior Maggie.” Julie replied in a soft voice.

“Can…, can I just cook with what we have here today?” Emily asked.

“Hmm, living with us for three days and you’re not even acting like a maid anymore. I don’t know Em, maybe you need to go to training. ‘Can I just cook whatever I want today, Warrior Bona?’ That’s how you should’ve asked.” I still had my eyes closed and head tilted far back into the couch’s headrest.

“Or Doofus Bona.” Iliana said before tilting her head back and closing her eyes.

“Or Idiot Bona.” Maggie followed Iliana’s, and my position.

“So…, what then…? Warrior Bona?” Emily asked.

“Yeah. Don’t go out today if you don’t wanna.” Slowly, and wearily the words crawled their way out.

Morning after, we met with Freya and Victor to train again.

“Good morning younglings.” Younglings is this worlds version of maggots, a phase used in military bootcamp to undermine recruits. “I see you are all well rested. Today, I will ask that you find it in yourself to forgive me. But I want to train you all separately. I believe three days of regular sword, defense, mana, or tactic training, followed by 1 day of personal, specified training will benefit you best.” Freya greeted us.

“Warrior Bona, I hear that you were into martial arts, a fighting style that focus on raw strength, agility and parrying more than defending. I have a wooden two-edged dagger here, let’s see what we can work to improve.” Victor has been training with us, walking us through the motions, and helping us clean up our sloppy swordplay.

In the few days we have been training, I learned how good a fighter Victor was, and a great teacher. He grew up in the world always wanting to protect people. He stood at 6’1”, had hair down to his shoulders that he always wore in a ponytail, and looked average. His hair was a copper color, his eyes a dark green. The most notable trait was a scar on Victor’s neck, starting at the right, and made its way up to his cheek and running a bit at the tip of his nose.

Over dinner the first night, Victor shared his story, he was a noble child who grew up in the far north city of Polaris. When he was with his older brother walking through the city to the front gate, Victor saw a child being beaten and surrounded by adults. The child was caught stealing a jacket for his little sister. The sister was running towards her brother when one of the men grabbed her and held her on the floor.

“You two are either going to pay or lose a hand.” Victor heard one of the men threaten the children.

No one did a thing to help the children, most of the passer byers scoffed at the sight of the children in tattered clothes in the dead of winter. Victor was going to walk over to them when his brother nearly yanked his arm out of its socket.

“Don’t dirty yourself in the affairs of these lesser beings.”

“Let me go! You’re going to tear my arm off.” Victor pleaded.

“My, my, the streets are rowdy today.” A group of ladies walked by laughing amongst themselves.

Polaris was the city of degenerates, a place you go to if you didn’t want to play kind. If you hated greeting people, hated treating people kindly, hated religion, it was a place where you can fight without interruption. Guards normally don’t get involved unless the situation called for it, or it involved a noble, the class that pays their wages.

A lot of nobles live in Polaris, people full of themselves thrived in this city that even the king acknowledges as different. Victor grew up in an environment being taught to hate, to throw insults at those below him. But his heart wouldn’t allow those teachings to spoil his innate love for all. Victor was a precocious child, learning how to read mana at a young age by reading, and the ostentatious mana he sensed off the nobles surrounding him disgusted him.

He kicked his brother in the shin, his brother released him yelping in pain. Victor ran towards the mob, shoved his way through to a boy nearly beaten to a pulp, a grown man kneeling over him, dagger on the wrist of the boy’s right hand.

“My blade may not be able to cut through the bones, someone grab me a club.”

“Stop! They were cold, his little sister was suffering, I can pay for the coat. Let the boy go!” Victor screamed.

“Oh, you’re Boulevard’s kid, scram.” The man waved the dagger.

Victor ran towards him and tackled him, the man picked up victor and got up to a kneeling position, wrapping his arm around Victor’s body, pinning his arms, and held the knife to his neck.

“Don’t care if you are a noble’s child. No kid threatens me.” The man hissed.

The knife dug into Victor’s neck, and before it made its way across, Victor’s brother kicked the man in the face, making the dagger slip, causing Victor’s scar. He got the attention of some guards before jumping in to save his little brother. The older brother received some harsh words from their family, and Victor was sent to live down south as his family was ashamed that he stood up for a child in tattered clothes and received a mark for not valuing his title more. Since then, Victor trained to join the army, and eventually met knight Freya and joined her forces.

“Your movements are so fluent. I can’t even focus on your dagger, it’s as if it isn’t even a threat. Your kicks pack the power of a wild horse, your punches could shatter a bone with a direct hit and swinging a sword at you is a deadly mistake. That short moment of vulnerability is something the caliber of your skills could easily take advantage of.” Victor said while sitting on the floor after receiving a kick to the side of the head. I offered a hand and helped him up.

“Victum, you think martial arts is any good in a crowded place, surrounded by a pack of monsters?” I asked thinking about how I could fight off more than one or two opponents.

“I can’t say. Knight Freya teaches us to fight in unison, you don’t fight off a group alone but as a duo. I heard her saying that you three should be taught to fight as a group of three, but if your skills are good enough, it would be more efficient to have the three of you fight individually.”

“And? What do you think, could I fight off a group?” Victor looked towards the door leading to the main training square. From the other side came the pwoof, sound of a bow and the thud sound of an arrow hitting its target. We were inside one of the walled off sections on the edge of the square.

“Hmm. Wait here.” Victor walked over to the large door, then poked his head out and called the 3 knights training there over.

“Okay, this is Knight Saya, Knight Angelica, and Knight Cassius, and all four of us will try to land a hit on you. Will that answer your question?” Victor asked, I nodded.

“Cassius? You into martial arts, possibly boxing?” I asked the bulky, tall dark-skinned knight.

“Boxing? No, I prefer the sword and shield. Though I am practicing my archery for long range capabilities. Right now, my mana connection with the sword is proficient, but I’ve seen what someone proficient in archery can do, and I want that power to be more use to the kingdom, and to the lovely Knight Freya…. Why do you ask?”

“Wow, I got a lot more than I bargained for in that answer. Listen, I don’t care about your whole reason for fighting or what you want to practice in. Practice your sex positions for all I care. And forget I asked, there wasn’t a particular reason.” Cassius looked at me with an expression that said maybe I shouldn’t have been so honest. Is his fist bleeding? I think he’s going to enjoy this sparing.

I held a wooden dagger and got into a stance that allowed me to quickly flip, jump-roll, or dodge if needed. The four knights surrounded me on all sides and rushed me coordinately to avoid getting in each other’s way. First Cassius swung his wooden sword from overhead at me from behind, Victor was thrusting his sword aiming for my chest.

Saya was to my right and she guarded me from jumping forward and to the right, Angelica remained directly to my left, a few feet away to catch me if I dodge in that direction. I was a cornered rat. All I could think of to do was jump higher than my chest height, but what about the beast of a man who I angered, I assume he isn’t holding back, still I had to try it.

I jumped 4’6” in the air, twisting my body, and putting power in a kick with my right foot to hit the flat of Cassius blade. I only had a second to aim my kick, thankfully he had his eyes on his comrades, and wasn’t fully focused on me. His sword swung down to my right missing me, Victor’s sword stopped just before it hit Cassius. I used the impact of the kick to flip to my left. I predicted that Saya would come for me and rolled myself forward and to the right by pushing my right shoulder into the ground.

Cassius was still rebounding from his sword hitting the ground but tried to throw his left fist behind him to hit me, I saw Saya returning to a stance after attempting to strike where I landed. I easily dodged Cassius’s fist by ducking under it and stepping forward of it. As I stood up, the dagger in my right hand jabbed him in the side, aiming for the heart through the gaps in his ribs. My wooden dagger was about seven inches long, it should’ve been long enough for a fatal blow to the heart. My left arm was bent 90 degrees with Cassius arm pinned in the pit of my elbow.

I saw Victor rushing towards me ready to thrust his sword, and Angelica coming in for a thrust from my left, Saya was circling to my rear. I bent down and using the stoutness of Cassius’s arm I jumped and flattened my body releasing Cassius, and Victor’s thrust just barely missed me, hitting Cassius in the forearm, I bent my legs and used Victor’s shoulder as a landing. He lost his balance as he threw himself into his thrust, and Angelica quickly switched from a thrust to an upward swing, hitting me in the calf of my left leg as I was attempting to jump-roll off and to the right.

“That was a lot of fun. Ha, I only killed one of you. I think with mana, and with more planning I could take on a group of well-trained soldiers, or monsters.” I said excitedly, rubbing the hot spot on my left calf.

“I thought it was over once you dodge that initial attack from Cassius and Victor, but you got out of the way so quickly I can’t believe you didn’t use mana movement.” Saya said.

Cassius stared at me before saying, “I wish I could’ve knocked you out.”

“Thanks bud. Angolia, you were faking the thrust?” I turned to the woman knight that landed the deciding blow.

“Yes, I realized after your first move that you had another avenue of escape. Up, I figure you would go for a jump using Cassius’s arm and made my upward slash look like a thrust so I could catch you in the air. I didn’t expect you to use Victor’s shoulders to land, honestly if you didn’t we’d probably still be going at it. And it’s Angelica.”

“Really? Well, good job picking up on that.” The door leading to the main training square opened, Iliana and Maggie walked in.

“Freya said we can end it early. How…. Why are there so many of you in here?” Iliana asked.

“Alright! Let us go home early and sleep. Victum, wanna come over?” I realized if Emily complained again, maybe I can get him to go with her after learning his story about his strong urge to save people.

“Victum? Who do you think you are? Knight Victor doesn’t deserve to have his name ridiculed. He is a great soldier and commander.” Cassius angrily replied. Victor was going to say something, but Iliana was quicker on the comeback.

“Whoa, calm down. I should introduce myself, I am Iliana, Bona’s friend. W-What is your name?” She attempted to befriend or calm the knight.

“Friend, this degenerate has such a thing. And a beauty at that.” His teeth were clenched, and he glared daggers at me.

“Cassius, enough, let us get back to training. If you let your emotions rile you up, it will affect your mana control over archery.” Sara interjected.

“Fine! I want out of the presence of this rat of a man.” Iliana and Maggie nodded at Cassius words. The two looked at me and even though they didn’t say it, I knew they were thinking I deserve the insult, and the anger of the large man who stood taller than Victor.

The three knights Victor brought in walked off to the main training square.

“What did he do?” Maggie turned to Victor.

“Oh, told the guy he should practice his sex positions or something.” Victor said with a smile, whitening the dark scar on his cheek.

“Ah, I don’t get it, but ugh.” Maggie started walking off.

“Coming to the house, Victor?” Iliana said with a smile.

“Yeah, Emily is quite the chef, I wish to employ her at my home.” Both Iliana, and Victor started walking off.

“Can you go with her sometime tonight to pick up ingredients?” I asked as I jogged to catch up to walk beside them.

“What? Does she need assistance?” Victor asked.

“Beats me.” I shrugged my shoulder.

Iliana gave an exaggerated deep breath. “She believes she is being followed. Please go with her, Bona doesn’t care enough to do it, and I think she would feel safer with you than me or Aggie.”

“Sure. I promise to you…, ah” He turned to Iliana. “Warrior Iliana, I will protect Ms. Emily and provide her with the most earnest feeling of security.” Iliana laughed and nodded to Victor’s words.

The three of us sat around the living room reading. I was reading about the history of some of the great wars of this world. Thinking that there is probably bias information in the writings. Were the bad guys the bad guys, and vice versa?

I know that when Mirth explained the details of what is happening, it could have been propaganda. Without hearing the full story, from both sides, how can we be sure the Balance is the bad guys? Who initially said that their main goal was to summon a being strong enough to destroy this world? If I met one, I may ask before killing them, but for now, it remains a mystery.

“Bona?” Maggie called out my name from her seat on the floor by the fireplace.

“Yeah?”

“You think Alvin can make the armor designs we gave him?” She was staring into the fire.

“I trust the man. He seemed excited about the challenge, that’s a good sign. Also, you expect to really wear armor all the time?”

“Don’t know. Figure it is probably better to have it. Like a helmet when driving a motorcycle.”

“Well, I’m only protecting my chest, shoulders, thighs, and I think my calves as well, gotta let him know to add that little bit.” The hot spot on my calf turned into a black, blue, and red spot. “Wearing that shouldn’t be too cumbersome. But I hope he can forge those daggers. This world has never heard of a tanto, spear, or clip point. All they know is double edged, or single edge for cooking, leaving a needle point. I bet Alvin is going to be raking in more business if he can master the clip point. Hunters need that for skinning. Or the triangular point for kitchen knives.”

“Is that what you plan to specialize in, knife fighting?” Maggie asked.

“Yeah. I don’t know which dagger to use though. Clip point is more versatile and better at slicing. Tanto is the ideal stabbing point, and spear is double edge unlike tanto, and is also good at stabbing, just not as durable. I can’t carry all of them at once.” While I was pondering the idea of having 10 scabbards dotted all over my body with different daggers/knives in them, Iliana responded with a haughty laugh.

“Ha, you two don’t know about mana storage. You uncultured swine.” She stood up putting her book down and strike a pose with her hands on her hips. “I shall solve your worries, Sir Doofus.” She sat back down with a profound, and alluring smile on her face, the fireplace glowing in her blue eyes. “The knight I trained with said there is some mana techniques that everyone can use, like sensing mana. But one of the most useful is mana storage, with a word, or a wave of the hand, you can store your weapon in the mana, or pull it out.

“She says it is better than using mana to form weapons, unless you specialize in weapon making. A good weapon made from mana is stronger, and more pliable than a forged weapon, and in some cases is less taxing than using mana storage. But Bona, you can carry a hundred daggers and never have to think about it. Having them stored doesn’t affect you in any way, you only get closer to the power of god when pulling or putting weapons away.”

“Hey smarty pants, why’d you wait so long to tell us? That’s really good info. Give us the dets sooner, okay.” Maggie looked over at Iliana.

“I thought you knew.” Still looking as smug as a nerd in a Star Wars convention correcting someone about the famous ‘I am your father,’ ‘nooo,’ line.

We all went back to reading.

Suddenly I heard Emily. Rather I felt her presence in the mana, and I felt fear, she was in distress and calling for me.

“Hey, do you guys feel that?” I quickly sat up from laying on the couch.

“What?” Maggie turned to me from her place by the fireplace.

“Feel what?”

“Emily…, I think she’s in danger? I can feel her mana, or whatever reaching out to me. Its…, coming from over there, not too far.” I looked towards the shopping distract, it was like playing hot or cold, when I looked in what I assumed was Emily direction, I felt the mana pulling me, when I looked away, the mana felt lighter.

“Let’s grab some gear from the knight’s armory and head over.” Iliana quickly got up and rushed out. Maggie followed, and I thought about whether I was worried and was just making it up, or if calling for someone was a way to force them to sense your mana.

“Bona, hurry!” Maggie called out to me from the entrance. “Julie, where heading out to check on Emily.”

“Yes, Warrior Maggie. I’ll take care of the fireplace and lights.”

When I asked Victor about what transpired, he suggested to Freya, who was tending to him in his room, to bring me back there to see everything. Even what happened while he was out.

“How?” I asked.

“Historian’s spell.” Freya replied. “A mana spell that brings you back to a person’s past, and depending on the caster, you can see everything that the mana saw, heard, or experienced around a specified target. Target being a person. It takes a toll on the caster; I can hold it for at least 17 minutes.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Freya nodded, grabbed my hand, and Victor’s, closed her eyes and suddenly, I was staring at Victor and Emily walking the streets in the late evening sun, Freya to my right.

Emily was carrying some of the bags of ingredients talking to Victor about how much she hated me. Victor agreed and laughed with her at my expense. Suddenly Victor turned around to face 3 men that have been following them throughout the somewhat crowded streets. He slowly put down the many bags he was carrying and walked towards the men.

“You three have been awfully close to us for the last 30 minutes. What business have you?” The three men looked around.

“Hey mister, you talking to us.” The man in the middle pointed at himself.

“Yes, I have been monitoring the mana around me, and you three have not strayed far from us, and your intentions are mysterious.”

“Ah, I knew this guy spelled trouble.” The man on the right said. “Listen, we don’t wanna hurt you mister. We here for the lovely lady in the maid outfit. The boss wants us to keep an eye on her till…”

“Shut it, Lucien.” The man in the middle smacked Lucien on the back of the head.

“Sorry Martin.”

“Listen, mister, since you found out we been following her, it means she suspected it. You two die here tonight.” Martin, the middleman said.

“Yeah, you made a mistake guarding the lady.” The man on the left said.

All three of them pulled out large daggers from their back and charged Knight Victor.

“Hey, you can’t…”

“Love, that mans a knight, let’s get out of his way or he won’t be able to fight.”

Some of the citizens attempted to intervene but saw the armor Victor was wearing and scattered.

The man on the left was the fastest and was cut down as Victor drew his sword from his right hip and swung upwards diagonally to the left. The sword dug into his stomach and stuck to his spine, Victor pulled him in front of the two approaching men and kicked him off while pulling the sword out. The corpse flew and hit Martin, causing the man and the corpse to fall.

“You bastard! AHHH!” Martin tossed the man’s body and got up to continue rushing Victor.

Lucien and Victor were facing off, Lucien went for a kick with his foot, Victor was holding his sword with two hands. After noticing Lucien’s body shifting for a kick, he flipped his right hand from an under grip to an over grip and swung the sword in a crescent shape, knocking the man’s foot out of the way, unbalancing him, and slightly cutting him. He spun and landed on his left knee, with hands on the ground, right leg sticking out.

“Give me strength.” Victor quickly stomped hard on the man’s right foot, breaking the ankle with mana strengthening, leaving him screaming in agony.

Martin stood a good distance from Victor’s sword and looked at his armor, realizing Victor wasn’t just a city guard.

“How’d I miss that, ha. Listen, I’m sorry.” He had his hands up, still holding the dagger in his right hand. Victor took a stance and breathed slowly, determining that it was not safe to approach him he decided to use mana.

“Howling Sword.” He swung his sword in a horizontal arc and Martin stood looking afraid and in pain as blood soaked his clothing. When he fell to the ground his upper body was nearly cut clean through, and blood began pooling around him. Victor than jammed his sword into the screaming Lucien’s eye silencing him.

“Th-Thank you. Victor.” Emily weakly said while turning away from the sight of the dead men.

“I’m sorry you had to see that Ms. Emily. I only wish I could’ve ended all of them painlessly. Let us go, I’ll leave my mark nearby so the guards will know a knight did this, I need to get you back to Bona.”

Victor slowly drew his knight’s sigil on a nearby wall and struggled towards the groceries.

“Did you use to much mana?” Emily asked seeing the sweat drip from his chin.

“Training with Bona, I cheated and used a lot of mana to keep up with him. Ha, man’s a creature of speed and strength.” Before he picked up the groceries, Emily grabbed a few of the bags.

“Sorry I bought so much. I’m happy to see the city so stocked, and I had you for extra carrying capacity, Knight Victor. But I’ll handle a few more loads, where only 15 minutes from the house. And the heat coming off of you will probably ruin some of my goodies.”

“Thank you, Ms. Emily, but I can’t have you carrying so much. When we get to the gate, I should be able to take the load off you. I can’t believe God created this whole world, using just a small fraction of his power hurts so damn much. Hard to believe in such power.” Victor gave Emily a warm smile before grabbing the bags and heaving his way up the street.

Ten minutes into their walk a young man came from the direction of the dead men. He was probably in his early 20s, tears streaming down his face.

“Sir knight. Sir Knight, there are dead men.” He pointed towards where the fight was.

“That was my doing, they were bad men out to harm us. Let the guards know will you.”

“You did that?” He wiped his eyes.

Victor nodded, and the man began to weep again. Victor placed the groceries down and went to put a hand on the man’s shoulder to comfort him.

“Wait, his mana!” Emily yelled.

Victor was stabbed in the shoulder between his armor. Two men came from an alley up ahead, probably following Victor and Emily from the other side of the block.

“Quickly Remus, knock him out before he uses mana.” Remus ran over to the knight hitting him in the head with a sack full of what sounded like rocks. Victor was knocked unconscious, blood flowing from his nose and left eye.

“Whew. Well, hello pretty lady, how’d my boy do? Good job Kato, I’m glad he fell for the crying act.”

“Ha, thanks father, the man was tough, he didn’t even flinch when I stabbed him. He just looked at me with a stupid face. Ha.” Kato stood over the knight, looking at him before sitting on his chest. “Ha, I was so nervous though.”

“Please, don’t kill him.” Emily fell to the ground dropping and spilling the groceries, strength draining from her. The man looked at her sitting on the ground a smile spreading from ear to ear twisted his face.

“You know what, Kato, you’re of age, time you man up. How bout you take your first women before we kill her.”

“What, father, I can’t.” Kato looked at Emily and blushed, turning away from her and scratching his head.

“Boy, you listen to your pops. If Terrarum was still around, you’d be doing things like this with me and your uncle Warren. Your way past your prime, and no boy of mine is going to be a laughingstock.”

Emily cautiously started scooting back.

“Hey, miss, stop…. Your gonna give my son a good time before you die, you hear.”

“No! B… B-Bo…BONA!” Emily brought her hands to her face and began weeping.

“Hey Remus, strip the lady.” The man was looking at Remus who sat next to Victor’s unconscious body, his feet resting on Victor’s face.

“Why haven’t we killed the knight yet?”

“I’ll do it while Kato and the lady get to know each other. But I want to talk to him before then, give him a few pointers.”

“Father, I don’t need any.” Kato looked at his father proudly.

“We’ll see. Remus, strip the lady already will ya.”

“Why? You do it boss. She’s the one causing your brother trouble.”

“Remus, do it before I have you locked up by my guards.”

“Fine.” He stood and walked over to the weeping Emily. “Well, this is a fine lady, even when she’s hiding her face.”

“That’s my boy’s girl, here use this dagger.” The man threw a dagger at Remus, he caught it, shoved Emily down and began cutting her clothes.

“STOP! PLEASE!” She began hyperventilating and struggling.

“NOW WILL YOU STOP! I’m bout to cut you badly and get on the boss’s bad side. Quit squirming.” He held the dagger to Emily’s eye, she froze, breathing erratically.

“Father, I don’t know, shouldn’t we do this somewhere else. What if the guards see us?”

“Guards aren’t coming, I told them to ignore everything happening in this district till tomorrow. Kato, you looking bashful.” The man had a very happy look on his face.

“Oh, well it is my first time. Ha.” Kato looked away from his father, shifted his attention to Emily, nearly nude as Remus finished cutting off her clothes, before staring at the ground.

“Now son, thought you didn’t need any pointers. Ha, you know how this works right?” Kato nodded, still staring at the ground.

“I know how it works too!”

“Who the…?” The man turned towards Remus and Emily, ten feet away, Iliana, Maggie and I stood. I felt an anger I never knew. I was always angry at people, at the world, but to see Emily in her current state…, these men will pay.

“Bona Gallio, king’s soon to be warrior. Emily’s master, Victor’s… well, not friend…”

Kato ran towards us, standing in between me and Emily.

“No! She’s MINE!” Kato screamed.

I walked up to him, glaring. “Maggie, Iliana, you take care of the older men.” I kicked Kato sending him flying past Victor’s body, rolling down the slight incline. I saw Emily slowly support herself so she could turn to look at me. Maggie got Remus’s attention, and Iliana ran over to the other man both carrying training swords.

“Bo…” She began crying, I walked past her and patted her on the head.

“Em…Emily, thank you for calling for me. For teaching me how to read mana.” She shook underneath my hand; I removed my shirt and threw it at her. Walking past Victor, I saw the bruise forming on his scarred face, dagger imbedded in his shoulder.

Kato groaned and stood up.

“YOU! She was going to be my first. YOU RUINED IT!” I walked closer to him.

“Shut your mouth.” Kato stood there, holding his torso just under the chest, I hope I broke a rib or two.

When I got about 4 feet from him, he ran to me, fist far back to punch me. I waited for the punch and grabbed it with my left hand. He began pounding his left fist into my chest screaming.

“AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

I slowly grabbed his lower jaw with my right hand. He stopped pounding my chest and gripped my shoulder.

“Mana, strengthen my body, I don’t care how much.” Kato looked at me in shock, his left hand began digging into my shoulder.

“N…. Ack!” Before he could finish, his lower jaw was crushed, his left hand tensed even harder before letting go reaching for his face. I felt the blood splatter over my face, saw the specks of blood on his hand, and felt the warmth flowing over my right hand.

I let go and backed off before kicking him upwards, sending him down the slight incline, shaking his blood off my right hand.

Laying sideways, facing me, blood pooling by his head, eyes glaring at me, slowly he got to his knees, crimson red began dripping down his neck, drenching his shirt.

“GRGRRRG.” Kato tried speaking through the blood pooling inside his disfigured mouth. Realizing he couldn’t, he stood. Reaching a hand to his face, never removing his eyes from me.

“ARRRRGGGGG!!!” Kato charged, blood and teeth falling from the bouncing of his mangled lower jaw. I grabbed his right fist and stuck my foot out pulling him over me, using my bloody right hand to flip him. He landed on his rear facing me, blood stained his face, wetting his hair. I saw his eyes began to roll back. I thought that he was strong willed, to suffer so much pain and still desire bloodlust rather than succumb to the agony.

“Hey Bona, you knock him out yet. You’re taking so long, come on.” Iliana said triumphantly standing over the man she was fighting.

“Yeah, I looked over after hearing a strange sound and see your still fighting, seriously, even I knocked my guy out before Illy. I honestly didn’t think it was that bad?” She said smiling at Iliana.

“Wow, you two only knocked them out. I thought you wanted to kill them by bludgeoning them with your wooden swords.” I said, and at this moment, Kato passed out completely and fell backwards. His back was towards Maggie and Iliana.

“AHHH!!!” Maggie screamed and turned away, moving her hands to cover her mouth.

“B-Bona, you…, you ripped his…. Ugg, I’m gonna be sick.” Iliana started gagging.

“What? You know what he was going to do, right? To Em.” Emily sat wearing my shirt, back against the building her underwear slightly cut, blouse and skirt laying where she was assaulted.

“I know, this is…, it is too much to see.” Maggie started gagging.

“Please don’t throw up. Let’s get back to the house.” I urged.

“Yep, let’s just pretend I never saw that. Emily, let’s go.” Iliana extended a hand out to Emily, without looking up at her Emily took her hand and stood, then she looked at my direction.

“Do…, you, believe…” Emily voice broke and tears rolled down her eyes.

“Shut up if you can’t speak, stupid.” I said picking up Victor’s unconscious body, careful to leave the dagger in to avoid causing more blood loss. “Thank you for protecting my maid, Victor.”

“Emily?” Maggie looked over at her and gave her a smile before walking towards her and grabbing her free hand. Then she looked at the man Iliana was fighting. “What do we do about them?” Maggie gestured towards the unconscious men.

“Oh, give me a sec.” I started the motion of putting Victor down.

“Nope! Can you wait for us to be out of sight, out of mind, out of whatever ill drives you, PLEASE?!” Maggie wouldn’t look at me and started walking off towards the house.

“Bona, him, save him. Warren’s brother…, I want you to…, question him.” Emily voice sounded weak, the voice of someone who had been struggling, but finally let go of all the adrenaline, all the fear, and gave in to the safety surrounding them. A survivor who no longer needed to survive in the wilderness.

“Sure. Maggie, can you carry him?” She stopped and walked back.

“Yeah.” Maggie lifted the man on her shoulders.

“Wait.” I walked over and bent the man’s wrist and ankles out of shape. “Okay. I’m done.” She shivered at the sound and walked on. “Iliana, take Emily to my room, let her sleep in my bed, oh, move the bed against the wall. See if she wants to shower first and give her some clothes.”

“Of course. Emily, your gonna be okay.” Emily nodded, wiping her face with her free hand, as Iliana supported her. The three, along with their prisoner began their walk.

Once the girls were gone, I broke Remus’s neck like I was back on the farm slaughtering chickens. “Can’t believe they wasted their efforts to keep you alive.” Then I picked up Victor’s body and headed back myself, carrying him princess style to avoid agitating the dagger. His body felt oddly warm, like Maggie when she used too much mana. I realized on my walk that I didn’t make sure the man I was fighting was dead. Before I could go back to make sure, Victor woke up.

“Bona? Ms. Emily, is she…?” His voice sounded nasally; I noticed the trail of blood running out of nose, and his eye. If they hit him hard enough to break his septal cartilage, how much damage did they do to his head?

“Hey pal. Thank you for protecting her. How’d they beat you?”

“Trickery. I didn’t know.” Victor’s voice began trailing off, he was beginning to lose consciousness again.

“I’ll get to Freya as soon as possible, try to stay awake till then. Tell me about your brother, or your family. Just talk to me about something…. Your first wo…, lover.”

“My eye, it feels numb. I… I can’t open it.” He lifted a hand up to his left eye which was now swollen. For it to bleed out of his closed eyelid, I’m afraid there may be permanent damage to his eyesight.

“I’m starting to think God didn’t want you to have a face. First it gets cut up, now bashed. Victor, start praying my man.” I quickened my steps even more, almost jogging, feeling the cool breeze on the dried up blood on my right hand.

“I, hey, you…, my…, na….” Victor’s consciousness began fading again.

“Warrior Bona, what happened to Victor number 2? And your shirt?” Tor said from the gate entrance. He tends to the gate often, if not him, one of his brothers. But Tor finds bliss in sitting by the gate entrance.

“He needs Freya. Quickly.”

“I’ll run ahead to grab her. Iliana, and Maggie came back, the geezer is being tossed in Freya’s dungeon, the girls are bringing Emily back home for rest, and a shower.” Tor quickly gave me the information and took off, I continued hurriedly towards the training ground, to the house near it where Freya resided.

I saw her, Freya, rushing towards us, Tor in tow, and gave a sign of relief.

“Is he awake? Lay him down. Your hand?” Freya began the healing, light glowed all around Victor.

“I’m…, fine.” I struggled to breath from rushing, waving my right hand. “Not my blood.” Freya nodded, her eyes never leaving Victor’s body.

“The dagger caused no major damage, his left eye…. Oh, Victor.” I saw Freya’s eyes gloss over, whatever happened to him was beyond her power. Freya sniffled, and continued her report while healing him the best she could.

“His left eye suffered serious injury, broken orbit, supporting muscles and ligaments damaged beyond my ability. Both nasal bones repairable, orbit repairable, but…, I just…, I can’t fix his eye.” Her voice sounded calm.

“Knight Freya do what you can. Victor number two helped my family, we owe him.” Tor pleaded.

“I…, I’m gonna go.” I stood up, Freya and Tor ignored me. “Tor…, thank you. Knight Freya, I need to check on Emily and I’m useless here. Tor, you may…, want to give her some time alone, head back to the gate…, just in case more guys show.” Tor nodded and walked back towards the gate, rubbing his eyes.

“Bona, your out of breath. You…, thank you for being steadfast in bringing him here, for not abandoning him.... Oh, Victor, my dear friend.” She still sounded calm, and professional. But this maybe the only time I’ll ever see it, a tear streamed down the mighty warrior’s cheek. She made no attempt to wipe it, instead it dripped off her chin, unto Victor’s wounded face, evaporating in the light and heat of the mana Freya was using on her friend.

I turned from her, I don’t think that’ll be the last tear, what she saw was a detailed view on Victor’s condition. She knew the damage he suffered intimately, and I knew it second hand by that tear, by that countenance of regret, and by that eerily calm voice.

Emily waited for me, I wasn’t going to wait 6 days before seeing her, if need be, I’ll sit by her bedside for her to wake. And I know Iliana, and Maggie needed to talk to me. What they saw gave them a glimpse into the darkness that I sheltered. I need to know if they want to be a part of it. And I need to know if they want to prioritize leaving this filthy world, or fight to change it. And we need to prioritize Emily and her family’s safety.