« Chapter 04

Despite Royal Road’s pain reduction, the heat of the flames made it impossible for him to keep his eyes open. Feeling an intense heat on his leg, Kvothe looked down and saw his legs were on fire. The flames consumed his trousers and skin beneath it. Desperately, he began hitting the fire with his bare hands, putting down the flames, but hurting his hands in the process.

“Lorraine! Where are you?!”

He heard Cain’s desperate shouts somewhere close to him, but he could not see where he was exactly due to the smoke. Going through the infernal maze he tried to reach the back of the shop where Lorraine lived. On his way, he saw that all the clothes Lorraine had put her soul into making were burning. The wild fire made no distinction between a good or bad garment, it consumed them all.

“Lorraine! Are you here?”

This time he was the one shouting, but the roughness of his own voice startled him. Smoke filled his lungs, as his throat dried up and a coughing fit struck him, yet he kept going. He didn’t care about his own life for death meant only a day without playing. Lorraine on the other hand, would be gone forever.

“Kvothe! I found her, come over here!”

Kvothe promptly searched his surroundings trying to locate where Cain’s voice was coming from. The swordmaster was in front of the changing rooms, a few meters away. Jumping over the rubble that was on his path, he quickly joined Cain and realized why the master hadn’t taken Lorraine out yet. A huge flaming pillar had fallen and was blocking the entrance to the changing room where Lorraine lay unmoving, sprawled out on the floor.

“Any ideas?” Kvothe hurriedly asked Cain.

“I tried lifting it...” Cain showed his burnt hands, “but the beam is too heavy.”

Kvothe looked around for a way to get to Lorraine, but all he could see was the fire that slowly consumed all their possible exit options. He called his inventory window and checked its contents. His water canteen would be useless in this situation, as would the clothes and barley bread he had. The last item was his whistling sword, but what good would it do in a situation like that?

He closed his eyes, trying to calm his mind. Whenever he found himself in dangerous situations, his thoughts became so fast he couldn’t understand them. As soon as he opened his eyes he began a calm analysis of his surrounding. Apparently, the only thing holding the building up was the burning beam that was blocking their path.

Deciding on what to do, he took his sword out, took a deep breath and concentrated.

“Master.” He explained to Cain without opening his eyes, “As soon as I cut this beam down, the building will collapse. Before that happens, you have to take Lorraine out of here.”

“Alright, but what about you?”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll try clearing a path for us, but whatever happens, keep going. Do not come back for me.”

Cain looked at Kvothe apprehensively, but nodded. He knew Kvothe was different from him and Lorraine; death meant nothing to him.

Kvothe took another deep breath and focused on his mana. He needed it to be as sharp as possible so he would get a perfect cut. He took all the earth mana he had inside of him and concentrated it into a hair strand thin edge. Its speed was so ferocious he was barely able to contain it.

Opening his eyes, he cut a downward diagonal followed by an upward one, making a V shape. As soon as the beam fell, Cain rushed inside and took Lorraine is his arms. Kvothe followed behind, deflecting the falling debris with his sword.

Without wasting a second they left the building. Kvothe led, clearing a path for Cain that followed with Lorraine in his arms. Some flaming rubble fell on them and forced them to take detours, but they managed to leave that inferno alive and on time. Just a few seconds after they left it, the building fully collapsed, making the crowd that had formed move away slightly.

“Is she alive?” Kvothe desperately asked Cain, who had been checking her.

“Barely… We must take her to a healer!”

Kvothe promptly looked up, hoping to see a healer among the watchers. What he found made him shiver.

“Take her to Freya’s temple.” Kvothe told Cain.

“Right. Let’s go!” The distressed Cain answered.

“I won’t be going.”

The master looked at him and understood it all in a second. Kvothe was clenching his teeth with enough strength to snap an iron bar. The aura around him was deadly, making every bystander shiver even with the blazing building nearby, all except two. Cain was one. The other was a man, clad in full plate armor. The man was grinning deviously.

Cain noticed that man and immediately understood what had happened. His worries, however, were directed to Lorraine.

“I understand.” He told Kvothe, “I’ll leave them to you, but I’ll be back.”

Once again, he took Lorraine in his arms and began running the opposite direction from the grinning man. Kvothe watched as they went, making sure no one would go after them. As soon as they were out of his sight, he turned back to the grinning man. It was Boris, one of the henchmen from the Black Bunnies.

Concentrating fire mana around his eyes, Kvothe activated Imposing Fear. Most of the crowd fled as expected, but Boris remained there, only slightly shaken from the skill. In an instant, Kvothe took his sword and began running at him. His HP was below 30%, he was low on MP and Boris’ level was higher than his, but the anger he felt made him sure he would kill that man.

He was about to slash Boris, when he saw a motion in the corner of his eyes. He tried to change his balance and deflect the slash with his sword, but his inertia made him tumble as soon as it was hit. He made a backwards roll and rose to his feet again. Two more men had appeared from around the corner and joined the fight.

“This is the perfect battlefield for our little showdown, don’t you think, runt!?” Boris laughed, “Now there’s no one to stop me from kicking your ass.”

His HP was now at 23% and his MP had recovered slightly, so he would be able to use his slashing skill once more. He looked at the men judging their gear and while he did it, a third one appeared. They held steel swords and wore low level armor. Judging from their equipment, they were around level 25.

“The boss told me to teach you a lesson. You shouldn’t have helped that bitch saving her shop.” Boris spat the words at Kvothe, “He said that we should burn the shop and wait for you to appear.”

Kvothe disregarded that comment and charged. The closest man gave a step in and tried to slash him, but he dodged easily by swaying his body backwards. Using his left foot, he kicked the man’s front leg, making the man lose his balance. As he tried to regain his balance, the man exposed his neck to Kvothe, who slashed it in a heartbeat.

Critical Hit

The second man tried to stab him, but he was prepared for that and spun to the side, using the momentum to cut the man’s hand off. It hit the floor with a thump, but he didn’t give it a thought before stabbing the man in the chest.

“Go get him!” Boris’ voice was now distressed.

Kvothe took his sword out of the one-handed guy’s chest and used it to parry the blow of the third. With a quick glance he saw that the first guy had gotten to his feet and was coming at him from his back. He gave a step in the direction of the third man and buried his elbow in the man’s face. Using that moment, he switched positions with the guy and got all of them in front of him.

His MP was currently at 35, enough for one slash, so he wanted to make it count. Kvothe stood still, sword in hand, waiting for the men to approach him. The two men had become wary of him, moving cautiously. The third was on the floor, mourning for his lost hand.

The men stood side by side, waiting for Kvothe’s action, yet no one moved. Tired of waiting, Kvothe gave them a mocking grin and a small laugh. That was enough, and both the men attacked simultaneously. Dodging or using his sword to deflect their blows, he waited for the perfect moment. It soon arrived.

When both raised their swords at the same time to cut down the apparently open Kvothe, he concentrated his mana and used the first form. The sword whistled and the slash went through both men with ease. Both their armors broke into pieces, leaving their chests open, and knocked them back, but their flesh was left intact.

Kvothe cursed under his breath. He was hoping that the description meant it ignored defense, but apparently it meant heavy damage to defenses. However, the effect was devastating for the other side. The two men were now afraid of their opponent, so Kvothe took advantage of that and attacked fiercely.

Despite being two, the men couldn’t keep up with Kvothe’s speed and he didn’t let a single chance of hitting them slip. Every hit was aimed at a weak spot, critical hits were more common than the normal kind. Both men fell dead a couple minutes later and Kvothe grinned at the windows that appeared.

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

Boris was nowhere to be seen, so Kvothe took the japtem they left on the floor and headed to where the last man stood. The man had stopped mourning his cut hand and held his sword with his left pointing at Kvothe. With a single hit of his sword, Kvothe removed the sword from the man’s hand. He gave the man a sharp kick to the face, breaking the one-handed man’s nose.

“P-Please! P-P-Please don’t k-k-kill me!” The man pleaded, blood running out of his nose.

“That ship has sailed long ago, my friend.” He said grinning at the man, “But how smooth that sail will be is up to you.”

“Wha- What?!”

Kvothe sighed.

“I know who did it already.” He said nonchalantly, “I don’t care about the reasons. What I want to know is where are the Black Bunnies headquarters. Tell me and you’ll have a quick, painless death. Don’t tell me...”

Kvothe pressed the point of his sword against the man’s shoulder and began to move it slowly towards the hand. The skin began splitting, revealing muscles and bones below it. The man screamed in extreme pain while blood washed down his remaining arm.

“I’ll tell you! I”ll tell you!” The man screamed.

“I’m waiting.” Kvothe replied while slowly moving the blade.

****

Kvothe expected he would feel bad about taking the life of a man that wasn’t even able to fight back, but all he felt was the satisfaction of revenge. He was now level 8 and had won 6 gold and 2 silver from the men. After distributing his points between strength and agility, he headed towards the general store. All his money was spent on bandages, since he couldn’t afford anything fancy such as potions. As soon as he used a bandage to wrap himself, a window popped up.

Skill: You learned Bandage Skill

Enables you to stop bleeding.

Increases life of the wounded when tended.

After patching himself, Kvothe went to Freya’s church to check on Lorraine and Cain. He needed a few minutes to explain the clerics that he was there just to visit someone, not to get a blessing himself. Only after that he was able to visit Lorraine without waiting in line.

“Is she gonna be ok?” Kvothe asked one of the healers that worked on Lorraine.

“She was really lucky.” The healer answered, “Had she arrived a bit later, she’d be dead by now. But all she needs now is some further healing and rest.”

Kvothe approached Lorraine and saw her face for the first time after the incident. The left side of her head was blackened, something clearly done by some kind of blunt weapon. Some other bruises could also be seen on her body. The men who had set fire to her shop had beaten her unconscious before doing it. That realization made Kvothe’s anger flare once again. He vowed he would not rest until all of the Black Bunnies were dead or in prison. Preferably dead.

“Where is the man that brought her here?” Kvothe inquired to the healer.

“He left a few minutes ago, after I assured him she would be fine.” He answered Kvothe, “Though I’m not sure where he went.”

Since Lorraine was still unconscious and Cain was nowhere to be seen, Kvothe decided to leave. He had just closed the door, when a knight, full clad in shiny armor, approached him.

“You’re finally here.” Said the voice that appeared to be said from inside a bucket, “Are you ready?”

Despite the weird distortion, Kvothe was able to recognize the voice’s owner.

“Cain?!” He questioned the man, “Why are you wearing that?”

His helmet was built to resemble a tiger ready to sink his fangs into his prey. On his chest was the royal army symbol, inlaid in gold to show his rank. To top it all, a longsword lay on his waist, the adorned handle was the only visible thing. The energy radiating from Cain was enough to make his enemies cower.

“Do you need to ask?” Cain answered gritting his teeth, “You thought I would stand still and do nothing after what those bastards did?”

Kvothe laughed. He couldn’t think of anyone he would like by his side better than the monster that was his master. A man that had fought the true blood vampires was probably able to overpower those low level thugs.

“Let’s go, master.” Kvothe said tapping the master’s shoulder, “We’ve got some bunnies to hunt.”

****

The Black Bunnies’ headquarters was an old barracks in the heart of the town. It had been abandoned by the royal guard when the city grew and better positioned barracks were created. Rumors said it was impregnable, that there was no route one could sneak by unnoticed. That information didn’t shake Cain or Kvothe. They had no plans of sneaking inside.

The two men approached the barracks, Cain leading a few steps in front of Kvothe. With his adrenaline down, Kvothe began feeling a bit anxious not knowing what they would find or the strength of the enemy. The master’s presence was a fortunate event and reassured him to some extend.

A multitude of Black Bunnies’ members crowded the entrance of the barracks. Apparently, Boris had warned them about Kvothe’s coming. They were armed to the teeth, but their equipment was low level leather and a variety of iron weapons. Most of it would probably be considered rubbish by almost any other player.

Unrestraining himself for the first time since he met Kvothe, Cain released an immeasurable amount of killing intent. Every person in a 100 meters radius stopped on their tracks, even Kvothe who had been expecting it. Cain charged at the enemies at sound speed and swung his sword, a single slash taking down 4 enemies.

Amazed at the display of strength from the master, Kvothe forgot his anxiety and charged. Some of the enemies had already recovered from Cain’s fighting spirit and attacked Kvothe as soon as he got to the front line. The number of black bunnies had easily exceeded a hundred, but a great part of them had already fled after their arrival.

Kvothe greeted his enemies with a waist high slash. The ones they were facing could not be more than level 10 and their skills were laughable. Their attacks were sloppy and slow, their defenses wouldn’t last more than a few seconds against any amateur fighter. Even Kvothe with his few levels was able to obliterate them with only a few slashes.

The enemies didn’t last long, but the sheer amount was enough to be problematic. After a few minutes of fighting Kvothe’s HP got below the 50% mark. His arms and legs ached from the cuts he received. Fighting multiple enemies proved harder than he expected, even with them being that unskilled. As soon as he finished his twelfth foe, he called Cain.

“Master! Can you handle them for a few? I need to heal up”

Cain finished his enemies with a single strike and approached Kvothe, protecting the pupil from any blows and obliterating anyone that approached. Kvothe took a few of his bandages out and promptly wrapped himself. It recovered some of his HP and boosted his HP regen. Making use of the rest, he distributed the points from the levels he gained in this fight.

Rested and recovered, he rejoined the fight at Cain’s side. They took 14 more minutes to finish the almost 70 men that remained protecting the entrance of the headquarters. As soon as they were done with it, Kvothe bandaged Cain and himself. The swordmaster complained, saying there was no need for such thing, but Kvothe was adamant. More than his own, Kvothe feared Cain’s death.

They entered through the main gate. To be accurate, Cain took it down with one slash and they killed another swarm of low levels that had tried to escape the first carnage by locking themselves inside the barracks. Suffice to say that it had been a foolish attempt.

Kvothe and Cain found themselves in a rectangular shaped room, filled with tables and benches in a canteen fashion. Four doors other than the one they came in from, could be seen leading to the insides of the barracks. After checking they discovered that two of those led to the empty kitchen and an almost empty weapon storage. The other two hid stairs that led downwards and a corridor that led to the back of the barracks.

They had two choices, split and risk running into a strong enemy alone or go together and give the men a chance to escape. Kvothe was now level twelve and confident he could take on any level 50 out there; Cain was an unstoppable fighting machine. To top it all off, they had no intention of letting anyone avoid their wrath. Cain took the stairs, leaving Kvothe with the corridor.

Without Cain’s company and backup, Kvothe became more aware of his surroundings. His senses became sharper but all the sounds he could hear were from Cain’s side, metal clashing on metal and screams of pain. Instead of making him relax, that made him tense up. In games, whenever he found an empty hall to rest a huge battle or a boss fight was just ahead and, despite the realism, Royal Road was still a game.

Kvothe checked the items he had collected from the fights so far. It was mostly rubbish. Items no one would even think about using, but he was desperate. He took a cracked leather armor, a hard leather helmet, a worn out pair of boots and a mismatched pair of leather gloves that would be more fit in a smithy than in a battleground. He also used some bandages, trying to boost his health regeneration.

He looked at some of the dropped swords, but none of them looked as reliable as the whistling sword. Despite not being identified, it had done a great job so far, he would not toss it aside for a lousy basic iron sword.

Looking at himself he could not help but laugh; his appearance was hilarious. The mismatching color of his attire made him look like a Picasso painting. He wondered if he’d be able to fight the boss or if it would die from laughing at him before he reached it.

The corridor he was following made sudden turns, making him even more anxious. Every time he found a corner, he would peek from behind the wall for a few minutes before showing up. Every time a door appeared on the wall he silently and slowly checked inside just to discover them empty. His progress was slow and wearing, but still, he didn’t let himself slack.

After another turn Kvothe saw the end of the corridor. It finished with an wooden door slightly larger than he expected to see. He checked his stats and used another bandage to boost his health regeneration. He was slightly apprehensive about what he was about to face. If it were anything slightly resembling a boss, he would be screwed.

Positioning himself by the door, taking care to conceal his whole body behind the wall, he slowly opened it. Nothing happened, so he tried peeking. As soon as his face appeared, a bolt flew past it and sunk into the wooden door.

Kvothe retreated back to the wall so fast he hit his head on it. He had been able to see only three people inside the room. Two options were presented to him; wait for them outside of the door or charge in and face them directly. The prudent path was obviously the first one and any other day that would be his choice. However, the three men inside were the same he met the first time he went to Lorraine’s shop.

Without entering their line of sight, Kvothe scanned the inside of the room. It was cylindrical with pillars on the outer edge. A huge stone round table sit in the middle of the room, a map of the Versailles continent carved on its top. That had probably been a strategy room, used by the high ranked military to hold meetings.

Kvothe gave another quick look at the men and dived after another bolt sunk into the wooden door. He rolled on the floor and stopped right behind a column, using it as shield. More bolts passed by him while he got to his feet. The three men were on the opposite side of the room from him, using crossbows to try and hit him. The table was the only thing between him and them.

“Give up, boy!” The black bunnies leader shouted, “There’s nowhere to run now.”

“Good!” Kvothe shouted back, “That means you’re right where I want you to be.”

Crossbows are different from bows in more than a way. They’re more steady and can shoot further. To use a bow some training is needed but even a infant could use a crossbow without any issues. The problem lay in the reload time. While a skilled archer can shoot more than one arrow in a second, to reload a crossbow at least half minute was needed. At least that was the only weakness Kvothe could remember it had. They could overcome that by not shooting at the same time as they had been doing, but there was a way to force them all to shoot at once.

“With that aim of yours I don’t know why I bothered hiding” Kvothe said leaving his protective pillar.

A bolt flew at his direction and he dodged by predicting its path. The one who shot it was Boris. Kvothe looked at him and smirked.

“Nowhere to run to now, coward.”

Kvothe concentrated fire mana around his eyes and used the Imposing fear skill. His target this time was the other henchman. The fear struck him and he dropped his crossbow, retreated and hit the wall. His eyes were the same of a rat cornered by a cat, he was out of commission already. The leader of the black bunnies shivered uncontrollably, trying to aim at Kvothe. He shot, but Kvothe deflected the bolt with his sword despite the fact it wasn’t going to hit him.

“You really think you can run away with what you did?” Kvothe laughed, “Only death awaits you now.”

The man squinted at Kvothe’s sword and curled into fetal position, trying to hide his head with his hands.

“You weaklings!” Boris screamed at the two men, “He’s just a faggot and you’re afraid of him.”

Kvothe looked at him and gave another smirk.

“Says the guy that ran away from me a couple hours ago.”

Boris began reloading his crossbow and Kvothe dashed at him. Jumping over the stone table he tried slash Boris. Raising the crossbow, Boris tried blocking the slash. It was cut into two pieces and Boris had to back away or would have been hit by the sword.

Despite his actions, Boris was still hit by Kvothe’s sword, but his steel chestplate protected him from the damage. Raising his bulky arms to his back, he drew his greatsword from its sheath, skillfully holding it with the proper two-handed grip. Kvothe remained over the table, taking advantage of the higher ground and the limited amount of openings it allows.

Boris slowly moved forward and suddenly made an horizontal slash at Kvothe’s knees with a speed that shouldn’t be possible for someone his size. Kvothe reacted on time and blocked with his sword, but as soon as the swords collided he knew he had made a mistake. There was no way he could block an attack that fast from an object as heavy as an greatsword. It blew his guard and was going for his knees. He rolled sideways to avoid it but wasn’t fast enough. The sword hit his left knee and made a huge gash on it.

As soon as he finished his rolling he made a slash aiming for Boris’ face. Even with Boris swaying back, Kvothe managed to land a gash. Blood began flowing from Boris’ face around the grin his mouth was making and dripping from his chin. With hp at ninety percent, Kvothe brought himself to his feet, trying to ignore the pain coming from the cut on his knee. Had it been real life he probably wouldn’t be able to move at all.

Boris began attacking relentlessly but Kvothe dodged it all since he knew he couldn’t block it from that position. His movements however, were hindered by the injured leg. Moving them was getting harder and sometimes he was scratched by Boris sword, giving him some new wounds, but none of them as serious as the one on his knee.

The higher ground that should have been an advantage was making Kvothe’s life more difficult. After realizing that, Kvothe rolled over one of Boris’ slashes landing behind the huge man. That action caught the villain by surprise, so Kvothe promptly spun making a slash, only to but only hitting air.

A few meter in front of him was the two men subdued by the Imposing fear, but Boris had vanished into thin air in the milliseconds Kvothe took to make the spinning slash.

“Shit!” Kvothe murmured.

A sense of dread afflicted him, something was approaching him from behind. He rolled forward a second too late and a sharp blade cut from his left shoulder to the middle of the back. He got to his feet a little distance away and looked at who had hit him. Standing three meters from him was Boris, his greatsword tainted by Kvothe’s blood.

“What the...”

Kvothe couldn’t understand how that was possible. Boris should have been hit by his attack but instead the giant man was the one attacking his back. That could only mean he could move even faster than he had been so far. Kvothe smiled.

“Thank God!” He said to himself, “If it kept being that easy of a game, there would be no fun at all.”

Boris was something that could be compared to a low level Boss. Something that should be fight with lots of patience or a big party. Since Kvothe as alone, patience it was. After being hit by that slash, his HP was at 30%. Any other slip like that would be the end of him.

“What are you smiling at, you pipsqueak?” Boris asked in confusion.

Kvothe looked at Boris and his smile turned devilish. When fighting, there’s no time to think. Things like faster thinking or slowing of time just exist in movies and books. The body releases so much adrenaline during a fight that it seems like just a second has gone by before it ends. Trying to think about your actions just slows you down, making you late to react. What determines the results of a clash is the concentration and ability to adapt to the opponent.

Martial arts, and fighting in general, are based on a set number of movements that you use according to the situation. Having more movements helps, but knowing how to effectively use them is the key to be a good fighter. Kvothe’s set was extremely limited, but he could overcome that using his knowledge. Thanks to it, Kvothe was able to predict most of Boris’ movements from the few blows they had traded. He knew that Boris would usually follow a diagonal slash with an horizontal one. He also knew that if he tried a rising slash, Boris would dodge by going to the right. He knew Boris’ left arm had been injured once from the way he protected his left side more than his right.

“I was just thinking on what I’m going to do after I’m through with you...” Kvothe answered as he lowered his guard, “I image that rod you’re using might fetch a good price.”

It was obviously baseless arrogance, yet Boris’ face became red. A vein in his forehead was visible from far away and looked like it was about to explode. His anger made him go berserk and rush at Kvothe.

Despite what is is taught by movies and such, being angry doesn’t make a person stronger or better at fighting. All anger does is cloud your judgement and disturb your concentration. Nothing good comes from anger, or any strong emotion, during a fight. The best is to remain calm and focused.

Boris used a upwards diagonal slash that Kvothe dodged by backstepping. As a follow up, Boris stepped in and made a horizontal slash, chest-high. Kvothe dove in and aimed at Boris’ front knee, hitting it with all his strength. Through the knee protection, blood began flowing and going down his leg.

Kvothe aimed at the gap the armor had on the armpit and tried stabbing it, but Boris was faster. Using some kind of footwork skill, Boris put distance between them. It was probably the same move he had used to position himself behind Kvothe before. His injured knee, however, made it impossible to make the sudden turns from the skill and he fell three steps from Kvothe.

As soon as he raised his head, Boris saw Kvothe’s sword coming in his direction. By reflex, he rolled sideways, barely avoiding the strike. As he forced himself to his feet, Boris’ face showed the pain he was feeling. Kvothe would not waste such perfect opportunity. He attacked relentlessly, forcing Boris to retreat and defend himself using all he had.

The pace of the fight was in Kvothe’s hands, and Boris realized it. In a desperate attempt to recover, Boris threw a wild swing without aiming properly, allowing Kvothe to easily dodge. That kind of reckless behaviour was exactly what Kvothe had been waiting for. The full plated man was now open to be attacked however Kvothe desired.

Since the fight began, Kvothe had been exchanging his mana into earth, knowing it would be the key to his victory. He concentrated all of it on the edge of the blade, leaving his body without a single drop of mana. There was so much mana he had more trouble than usual to containing it. As he made the upward slash, the blade went through Boris so easily Kvothe feared he had missed.

Kvothe’s MP and stamina indicators emptied from that single attack. Boris flew backwards from the strength of the blow. His back hit a wall and he stood there, motionless with a scream of pain stuck in his throat. His armor split in half and fell down, leaving only a leather shirt to protect the big man’s torso.

Boris began sliding down until he sat on the floor. Kvothe was recovering from the stamina depletion when Boris stopped gasping for air and was able to breath again. With Boris’ armor gone, Kvothe could inflict him some real damage. Kvothe began walking to his fallen foe. Boris tried retreating but the wall on his back made it impossible. He took another slash from Kvothe’s sword. Considering Kvothe’s lack of mana and low level, the damage wasn’t that high, but the effect of a direct hit without armor was still devastating and inflicted a lot of pain.

Boris rolled sideways to avoid another attack from Kvothe. He got up and tried fighting back, but his desperation was evident. His attacks were sloppy and had no aim. Every time he randomly swayed his sword, he was left wide open for another of Kvothe’s attack. Mercilessly, Kvothe slashed Boris at any opportunity, reducing hit by hit the other man’s HP.

Realizing Boris was close to his death, Kvothe picked up the pace of his attacks. Even in its weak estate, a single slash from Boris would be enough to finish him up. He felt that the longer the fight extended, the more chances of screwing things up. He attacked Boris fiercely, aiming at vital spots and causing as much damage as his stamina would allow.

A howl left Boris mouth and he tried one last attack, he had reached his limit. Kvothe looked at the slow incoming attack from above but stayed put. He positioned his own sword down and waited for the right moment and slashed. The swords clashed right above his head. Sparks flew from the point where they touched each other.

Kvothe dodged as a piece of metal that flew past his face. Boris continued with his motion and his sword touched the floor, except it was just one third of the length now. He raised the broken sword and looked at it. The shocked, hopeless expression on his face drew a smile from Kvothe. With slow steps, Kvothe approached Boris. The shaken Boris didn’t even move, all he did was shake in fear of the approaching foe.

Only a few centimeter kept Kvothe and Boris apart. Kvothe looked into the man’s eyes as he drove his blade through Boris’ guts.

“You shouldn’t have messed with her.” He whispered as he gave the blade a twist.

Boris disappeared into white light and gold and a pair of boots appeared instead. Kvothe picked it all and slowly moved to the other man.

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

Kvothe collapsed on the floor. He was exhausted and the dullness from the adrenaline had begun fading. His knee and back pain intensified greatly. Slowly moving, he took some bandages from his inventory and rolled them around his knee and his torso. Immediately the cuts began mending and the pain reduced to a bearable level.

Opening his stats window he added the newly received points and saw something on the edge of his vision. He looked to the other side of the room and was impressed to see that the black bunnies leader and the other henchman were still there.

“Good boys!” He said as he approached them with a smile, “At least you spared me from having to chase you.”

Concentrating his mana on the tip of the sword, Kvothe stabbed the henchman through the eye. That single attack was enough to turn him into nothing. Apparently the true “boss” monster had been Boris. Kvothe collected the silver coins that appeared on the floor and turned to the leader.

“Your turn now?” He gave the shivering man a friendly smile, “I want to ask you one thing before that, though.”

The man turned around and began crawling away from Kvothe.

“C’mon! Don’t be like that.” Kvothe said as he slowly chased the other man, “I might even let you go if you answer me.”

Seeing the last black bunny wouldn’t stop, Kvothe kicked him in the ribs. The man rolled up and sprawled on the floor. Kvothe stabbed the sword in between the man’s legs, near the man’s manhood.

“You know, I can make you feel a lot of pain if I want.” Kvothe said in a low cold voice, “But I’m giving you a chance to go free.”

“W-Wh-What do you want to know?”

“You’ve been stealing from people for a long time...” Kvothe crouched to get to the other man’s height and look him in the eyes, “Where do you hide it all?”

“I-I-I c-can’t s-say!”

“I try to be a good guy...” Kvothe said to no one as he stabbed the man’s arm, “But you guys make it difficult for me to remain patient.”

The black bunnies’ leader howled in pain and Kvothe slowly moved the blade along the man’s arm.

“Please! Please, stop!” The man shouted, “I can’t say or they might kill me for not paying their money!”

Kvothe moved a blade a bit more.

“Don’t say and your death will be certain, and sooner.”Kvothe sighed, “This is your last chance, if you don’t tell me now, I’ll send you to meet your friends...after a lot of pain.”

Kvothe removed the sword from the man’s arm and stabbed the leg. The man screamed in pain, much louder than before.

“Its in a warehouse a few blocks from here.”

“I need more than that.” Kvothe said while twisting the blade, “Where exactly is it? How many people are guarding it? Do I need a password to get in there?”

“It’s a green metal door two blocks west from here! There are six people guarding it! The password is Autumn leaves! Now please, let me go!”

Kvothe removed the sword from the man’s leg.

“Was it that hard?” Kvothe said with a friendly smile on his face.

The black bunnies’ leader dragged his body away from Kvothe and on the door’s direction, without taking eyes from him for a second. A metal clank could be heard and Kvothe smiled once again.

“You’re done on your side as well?” He asked to the knight that was at the door.

“Yes, there were only small fry on my side.” Cain answered, “What about this guy?”

“He is my present to you.” Kvothe answered while leaving the room, “The order to attack Lorraine came from his mouth.”

Leaving the building without looking back, Kvothe felt relieved when he heard the scream from the black bunnies’ leader and the sudden silence that followed. To his surprise a window popped up in front of him.

Fame increased by 100

The Black Bunnies terrorized the streets of this city for a long time, but through courage and determination you finished their reign of terror. The oppressed people of Rhodium are thankful to your deed, and the city can now shine once again.

You have earned a title: Hero of the artists.

Throughout the whole Versailles continent, tales will be told about your name. And every artisan will be sure to show you kindness for your good deeds.

****

He headed to the warehouse, hoping that the news about the attack hadn’t reached them yet. As soon as he got there, he knocked at the green door and waited for a response.

“What’s the password?” A voice came from behind the door.

“Autumns leaves.” Kvothe answered in a calm voice.

The door opened before him and Kvothe entered without hesitation. The door closed behind him and a sword tip touched his back. Kvothe raised his hands, taking them far from his sword handle that was in its sheath on his hips.

“W-What is wrong?” He asked nervously.

“Who are you?” The man questioned, “I’ve never seen you before.”

“I-I’m new...Boss sent me to check on you guys, see if everything was ok over here.”

He had thought over the things that could happen, and decided that story would be plausible.

“Why’d he do that?” Another man asked still suspicious of Kvothe, “He’s never done that before.”

“S-Some guys attacked the base.” Kvothe replied still nervous, “He thought they had attacked here as well.”

“Someone attacked the base?!” One of the man shouted, “Should we go there?”

“N-No need...” Kvothe said, “It’s all quiet already.”

The man removed the sword tip from Kvothe’s back. He breathed relieved. They hadn’t heard about the attack and weren’t suspicious of him anymore.

“Good.” The man said, “Its all good in here, no one has appeared so far.”

“And the money and merchandise? Can we check it?” Kvothe asked.

“Of course.” Another man answered, “Its over here.”

The man took Kvothe to a back room where a huge amount of crates and items were stashed. In the middle was an enormous wooden chest.

“It seems to be all in order.” The man said opening the chest that was full of gold coins.

“Yes, it appears so.”

Kvothe smiled deviously as he unsheathed his sword.

****

When he left the last smithy, Kvothe was grateful for being finally free from the excess weight. From all the things he had gotten, only a few unidentified items remained; A few rings and weapons that he thought he would be able to get more money than was offered, and a few apparently worthless items. All the rest he had sold to the smiths, tailors and jewelers of Rhodium. Even the drugs he found were sold to alchemists to make medicine. He had more money than he expected to receive from that thanks to the title’s effect.

Expecting to meet Cain and Lorraine, he went to Freya’s temple. He was about to go inside when someone held his shoulder. It was Cain, back in his usual clothing.

“You’re here already?! How is Lorraine?” Kvothe questioned his master.

“She recovered and left before I arrived.” Cain replied with a worried voice, “Any idea where she could be?”

“Actually, I do.”

Kvothe turned and headed to the place where knew she would be; Her shop. Or at least what was left of it. For the longest time, the shop had been her whole life. She challenged every thug in Rhodium to keep it. There was nothing more important to her.

They arrived after a few minutes of silent walking through Rhodium. The fire had been put out, but some smoke was still coming from the building. Only ashes remained from what was once Lorraine’s pride and joy.

She was in front of the store, tears rolling down on her face. Her eyes tried to look beyond rumble and see that it had all been a bad dream and she would soon wake and her shop would still be there. Unfortunately reality wasn’t that sweet. All her merchandise and tools had become cinders, and all money she had, she used to pay her debt.

Kvothe was about to approach Lorraine when Cain held his shoulder. Turning his head, Kvothe looked into Cain’s eyes and understood what he wanted to say. Nodding in agreement he gave passage for Cain.

“Lorraine...” Cain called.

His voice was low and gentle, as if talking to a scared kitten. She didn’t turn or reply to him, so he approached her and touched her shoulder. She looked at him, the tears in her eyes sparkling like diamonds.

“Cain.” She said as she turned and burrowed her face on his chest, “Why have they done it?! I can’t understand!”

“I can’t say I know the reason they’ve done it, but I can assure you they’re never going to do it again.”

Lorraine hugged him and began sobbing. It was the first time Lorraine made body contact with Cain and he hadn’t blushed. His eyes showed a conviction as hard as steel, and he hugged Lorraine back, holding her tight. Tears began rolling down his face and his expression became pained.

“I’m so relieved you’re ok.” Cain said, “I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”

Their embrace became even tighter and the few tears became a waterfall. It was a touching sight, something that filled Kvothe with relief and sadness. What had happened wasn’t something Lorraine deserved in any way at all. Why was life so unfair?

A few minutes passed and both calmed down. They released their embrace and walked to the middle of the wreckage. Kvothe carefully approached them, but decided to entertain himself by quietly messing with the remains of the store.

“What do I do now?” Lorraine asked no one, “I’ve nothing left.”

Kvothe raised his head and looked at her. She had her back turned to Cain, who looked at her but was lost in thoughts. Kvothe was about to say something like, they would help her when Cain said something that took him by surprise.

“Marry me.”

Silence. One that engulfed all and left no other sound be heard, a silence heavy as lead, a silence almost tangible, wrapped them like a blanket. Lorraine turned around, her face showed complete shock.

“I-I mean...” He began babbling, “I’m not rich or anything, but it’s enough to live with. I also have a house… It’s not big but...”

Cain stopped and took a deep breath.

“Before I met you, I had given up on love. I thought I had been born for the sword and by the sword I would die, but then you appeared. At first I thought you were Freya that came from heavens, but no, it was much better.”

He took another deep breath and gave a step in her direction.

“Not even in my wildest dreams did I think I would meet someone as beautiful, gentle and caring as you. Someone that viewed past the thick headed swordsman and saw me for who I really am. Meeting you made me sure I could love, and be loved.”

Cain got to his knees and took Lorraine’s hand in his. He looked deep inside of her eyes, past the bruises and scratches that covered her face. What he said didn’t come from his head, it wasn’t something rational. He was telling her what filled his heart.

“I know I’m not worthy of you, and probably will never be, but I want to spend my life trying to give you at least a tenth of what you’ve given me. Will you give me that opportunity? Will you marry me?”

Chapter 06 »

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Spoiler : As always, a thanks to every one of my beta readers and PRs.

I know I'm not an easy to handle person, but please bear with me :P

This chapter took a little longer than expected...But I have a reason for that.

I was working on the new fanfic section on the website

Now you can find your favorite FFs easily.

As always, thank you for reading and for the feedback.

If you are want something better than this to read Check Claret. An FF by my buddy Innotui. Also, check out The Ranker by SnowMelts. Both are awesome writers that deserve your praises.