Chapter 14: Imposter

Cerien walked behind the two men, carrying one of their bags to help out. The bag he was carrying was quite heavy. As he walked, he could hear something hard clanging in the bag. Up ahead, Slei and Kjorn were talking, but Cerien wasn’t interested in their conversation. As they walked through the forest, Slei turned his head.

“Hey, Cerien. We’re almost out of Grimwoods now. It’ll only be a short walk from here to Lombania.”

Cerien nodded. “Hey, Slei. If you don’t mind me asking, why are you and Kjorn heading to Lombania?”

Slei hesitated before answering.

“Well, Kjorn here has a workshop in Lombania. He needs to check up and see how business is doing.”

“And you?”

“Me? I guess… you could say I’m visiting family.”

Kjorn snorted at Slei’s answer. Cerien looked at Slei inquisitively, but Slei turned away, ignoring him.

Cerien didn’t ask again. If Slei didn’t want to answer, Cerien would leave him alone.

They walked for a little longer before finally breaking out of the trees.

“Over there.” Slei pointed at the beginnings of a dirt road up ahead. “We just have to follow that to reach Lombania. It’ll probably take us half an hour.”

Slei looked at Cerien. “Hey, while you’re in Lombania, you could stay with us.” Then Slei suddenly stopped.

“Well, I mean unless someone recognizes you. Then you’re free to go anywhere you please. But if you’re alone, we’re here to help.” Slei awkwardly stumbled his words as he tried to help Cerien out.

Surprised at the man’s offer, a rare smile appeared on Cerien’s face. “Thank you. I would be grateful if indeed no one recognizes me.”

Slei stared at Cerien’s smile. In a quiet voice, Slei remarked, “Oh. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile.”

Cerien looked at Slei. “What was that? I didn’t quite hear.”

“Oh nothing.” Slei turned away, a hidden smile on his face.

* * *

In the center of Lombania, in the town plaza, the mayor was holding a celebration for two certain people. Kuren and Rai.

Flane and the other students stood in a crowd waiting for the ceremony to begin. On a large platform in the center of the plaza, Kuren and Rai were standing along with the mayor and other officials.

As the crowd excitedly waited, the major walked the front of the platform.

In a loud voice, the mayor announced, “Ahem! Good afternoon everyone! Thank you all for coming here! In case you have not heard, quite recently, students from the Combat Academy were attacked by demons while venturing in Grimwoods. Thankfully, they were able to fight off the demons with only a single casualty. And this casualty has come back from the dead!

First off, I would like to call Professor Latens Monaco up! A former member of the 13th Spellblade Squad, Professor Monaco used his skills to defend the students against the demons.”

The crowd cheered and clapped as Professor Monaco walked up and stood right next to the mayor. Monaco bent his neck as the mayor adorned a golden medal onto him.

“Secondly, we have another hero who saved the students. Rai, a young Seeker, used her powerful magic and easily defeated one of the demons. Without her help, there would have been many more casualties. It is an honor for the city of Lombania to have such a young hero in its midst. Granted, she will not be staying long, but for the duration of her stay, I hope that that our city would gladly welcome her.”

The crowd’s cheers were quite loud for Rai, but there was confusion hidden underneath. After all, they all had heard a contradiction within the Mayor’s speech.

Rai was a Seeker, and she used powerful magic. It simply didn’t make any sense. Seekers were famous, but not for their strength. Rather, their lack of strength. The only power that Seekers had was an unexplained one. No one knew how, but the Seekers were able to record the Story of every person on Alurca. They were literally writing down history as it was being made. Certainly, this made the Seekers quite important and powerful, but not in a combative sense. They lacked the ability to contain mana and cast magic. So how had Rai done it?

Rai walked up next to the mayor and accepted the medal given to her.

“And finally we have one more to celebrate. After the attack, we all had assumed that one of our students had been lost. He had fallen into a chasm and we assumed him to be dead. Yet, a week later, he returns from the depths! With strength and courage, he fought off the beasts underground and returned stronger than before. His determination and bravery is to be paraded. An excellent example of the standards we expect from the students of the Academy.

Please come up, Kuren Sain.”

The crowd cheered once more. A smiling boy with brown hair walked up to the mayor. The mayor placed a medal on Kuren’s shoulders. Kuren then went to stand next to Professor Monaco and Rai.

Flane watched Kuren with a smile on his face. But doubt lingered in his mind. How did Kuren make it out of the chasm? Did he really fight off the magic beasts? The Kuren he knew was weak and frail. Flane shook his head and dismissed the thought. He shouldn’t be questioning Kuren. He should be happy for his return. Flane had decided. Flane was going to make it up for all the times he bullied Kuren. The guilt he felt needed to be cleansed.

* * *

A trio of a dwarf, a man, and a boy entered the town. Dwarves were uncommon but that not rare of a sight. The man’s blond hair and the bandages covering his face drew attention. In fact, some people thought they recognized him but couldn’t quite remember who he was. And the boy. He was wearing a cloak that hid his features. Though, one of the children running around caught a glimpse under the hood. The child quickly scampered away when he saw crimson-red eyes staring from underneath the hood.

“Where are we going?” Cerien asked.

“Let’s just head through town first. I’ll go find an inn for us to stay at. Then I’ll suppose we can go around asking if anyone knows you.” Slei replied.

Cerien tugged at the cloak he was wearing. “Do I really need to wear this? Don’t people need to see me to recognize me?”

“Well? It’s just that…you look kind of suspicious. I don’t want the guards coming over asking questions. So for now, let’s just wait until we head to the Combat Academy before revealing yourself, alright?”

Cerien nodded. The trio walked through the city of Lombania when they saw a large crowd in the plaza.

“Hey, what’s going here? A party? Think there’s booze?” Kjorn wondered out loud.

“I doubt they’re drinking in the middle of the day. Look! I think the mayor’s up there on the platform.” Slei pointed. The three walked towards the plaza. The crowd was cheering as the mayor gave out medals to people.

Cerien stopped and stared. Two people stood right next to the mayor. A man who looked to be in his 30s and a young girl stood up there. For some reason, the man seemed quite familiar, but Cerien didn’t know why. The mayor was in the middle of a speech.

“…strength and courage, he fought off the beasts underground and returned stronger than before. His determination and bravery is to be paraded. An excellent example of the standards we expect from the students of the Academy.

Please come up, Kuren Sain.”

The instant Cerien heard that name, he froze. Something inside began to burn, as if screaming for attention or recognition. A young boy with brown hair then walked up next to the mayor. He accepted a medal and turned towards the crowd with a smiling face.

When Cerien saw that face, he stopped breathing. Cerien knew he had never met the boy before. But he felt something was wrong. It was that face. It was so incredibly familiar. A face that Cerien felt as if he had known forever. Suddenly, the boy turned in Cerien’s direction. The two boys locked eyes.

It hit him. That face. He knew it. He had seen it. Just as Cerien realized it, his surroundings began to turn white.

“Hey, Cerien. What’s wrong? Hey! Kjorn! What’s going on…” He heard a voice calling out that slowly faded away. Cerien closed his eyes. Everything turned white and he lost consciousness.

* * *

“So it was you.” Cerien was standing in a white landscape. A white world full of nothing. In front of him, a boy with brown hair stood there glaring at him.

“You have the same exact face as the boy I saw in town. As Kuren Sain.”

“Yes. It was me. I am Kuren.”

“But…why are you here? What is this place? And why did I see you in Lombania? I don’t get it.”

“Are you stupid? You still don’t understand?” Kuren sighed.

“Let’s get one thing straight. That boy you saw in Lombania. He is not me. Do you understand? He is an imposter. A liar. And he is pretending to be me.”

“I see. An imposter.”

“Yes. And you are going to kill him.”

Cerien turned towards the other boy.

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Wha-What are you saying?” Kuren was at a loss for words.

“I don’t care if he’s pretending to be you. That doesn’t concern me at all. This is my body. You have nothing to do with it.” Cerien turned away and began walking away. He wasn’t sure where he walking, but he just wanted to walk away from Kuren.

“Oh? I don’t think so. You will come to realize just how much I have to do with you.” Kuren muttered as Cerien walked away. The two separated as the white world began turn to darkness.

* * *

Cerien awoke and saw a wooden ceiling above. He was lying in a soft bed. He got up and realized that Slei was sitting in a chair nearby.

“Oh hey sleepyhead. Seems that you like to pass out quite often you know?”

Cerien stared blankly.

“You passed out during the ceremony. What happened? You just keeled over suddenly.”

“I don’t know. I just lost consciousness.” Cerien thought about the people standing on the platform. “Hey, Slei. Who were those people standing next to the mayor?”

“Oh them? Well apparently, some demons attacked a group of students in Grimwoods. A teacher and a young girl apparently fought off the demons. Oh wait! There was a missing student during the attack! That could’ve been you! Oh wait…never mind. That missing student came back. Heh, I forgot.” Slei chuckled over his mistake.

“Hey where’s Kjorn?” Cerien asked as he looked around for the dwarf.

“That grumpy guy is at his workshop. Oh that’s right! He told me to tell you to visit him.”

“Why is that?”

“Even though he may seem mean, he’s real softie at heart. He wants to thank you for saving him in Grimwoods.”

Cerien frowned. “I didn’t save him. In fact, I was about to die to that man.”

“Well, it’s the effort that counts. Just go ahead and accept his thanks. It’ll make him happy. Oh, but don’t tell him that I told you. He’ll get mad at me. His workshop is down the left of the street when you exit this inn. You’ll know it’s his workshop when you hear the anvils at work.”

“Thanks. I’ll go now. I have nothing better to do.”

“And here. Before you go, here’s a cloak. Make sure to hide yourself. And I’m not going to stay here. I’ve…got to meet someone. We’ll go to the Academy tomorrow, okay?”

Cerien nodded. And with that, he left.

* * *

As Cerien walked through the street, he made sure that the cloak hid his features. He noticed that there weren’t many people who had black hair like him. And no one shared his crimson red eyes. He understood why Slei told him to hide under the cloak. The sounds of a busy town entered his ears. Children shouted and yelled at each other as they ran through the streets. Cerien detected loud clangs somewhere in those sounds. That must be the anvils. Cerien walked further and then he saw a sign hanging in front of the shop. The sign read “Blacksmith” and a picture of a hammer and an anvil was on it.

He walked into the shop, and instantly began to sweat as he felt a sweltering heat.

“Kjorn! Are you here?” Cerien called out.

“Coming! Just wait a bit! Take care of this, Veera!” A gruff voice shouted from the back. As Cerien waited, a familiar dwarf wandered out from the back, carrying a bag.

“Oh. Hey boy. You’ve arrived.”

“Yes, I heard that you wanted to thank me?”

“What? Who told you that?”

Cerien shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Kjorn’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t lie. It was Slei, wasn’t it? That goddam sneak.” Kjorn sighed and raised an eyebrow at Cerien.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Now that you’re here, I have something to say.

Back in the forest. I was captured. I saw you. And yes, I told those bandits that you were lurking around. But I didn’t tell them where you were hiding, now did I? I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to just runaway. Still. I did force you to fight those guys.” Kjorn grumbled.

“Listen. I still don’t fully trust you. Until I know just what you are, I can’t. But that doesn’t matter right now. This is a matter of paying back a debt. I forced you to fight, so I have to give something in return. A dwarf’s honor. Something that humans have forgotten.” Kjorn scoffed.

Kjorn then opened up the bag he was carrying.

“Here you go. Forged by yours truly.” Kjorn took out a pair of shiny, metal gauntlets and tossed them to Cerien.

Cerien took them and put them on. They fit nicely on his hands. They were quite light. The metal seemed thin, but at the same time strong. On the back of each gauntlet, there was a strange rune or symbol of some sort. Cerien raised his eyebrows.

“You managed to make this in this short of a time? You even got my size down.”

Kjorn growled. “You know, if you weren’t an amnesiac, I would’ve kicked you out of here. Of course I can make something like this. It’s in my blood. Any dwarf could make something like this easily.”

Then Kjorn grinned suddenly. It was a nasty grin.

“Well, not these gauntlets in particular. In fact, I would say that no other dwarf could make something like this. See these runes? They’re a special gift from me.”

“A gift. What are they?”

“Not telling. Finding out for yourself is much more fun, isn’t it? I’ll give you a hint though. The harder you get hit, the harder you’ll hit.”

Kjorn turned away and waved Cerien away.

“Now run off now. I’ve got to take care of the shop. And don’t worry about breaking those beauties. They were made to take a beating. Oh wait! They have one more feature!” Kjorn turned back and pointed at the tips of the fingers of the gauntlets.

“I noticed when you were fighting, you had long claws. Retractable claws. So, go ahead and take them out now.”

Cerien looked at Kjorn in confusion but decided to listen to the dwarf. He activated [Retractable Claws] and took out his claws. His nails then poked out of the tips of the fingers of the gauntlets.

“Oh. Nice.”

Kjorn grinned. “I worked some slots onto the tips there. So your claws will peek through those slots. And of course, if you don’t want to use your claws, those fingers are sharp enough to slash.”

“Thanks, Kjorn. This is a very nice weapon.”

“As if I need your approval.” Kjorn laughed, but he was obviously a little happy.

“Now get out of here. I’ve got work to do.”

Cerien left with his new gauntlets in hand. He thought back to the stone halberd he had used in Grimwoods. These gauntlets were much more superior weapon than that heavy polearm. In fact, they felt weightless. It was strange. But Kjorn told him that these gauntlets were made to withstand blows. So they were a weapon and a shield.

Empowered by his new gain, he began walking back towards the inn. Then he realized Slei was not waiting for him. Cerien had another destination in mind.

Looking around, he stopped one of the nearby people wandering around.

He asked, “Do you know where the Combat Academy is?”