Back in the castle grounds and training yards, Pierre would only spar with the soldiers and his teacher. He would sometimes be pitted with multiple opponents. But the highest number he sparred against was five. And they were soldiers of his family so he still understands that they weren’t really serious in fighting against him.

But now he will be facing multiple enemies with the possibility of being killed. And most of all, Pierre have no experience in killing a fellow human being yet. His teacher would always tell him that the in taking his first life will tell if he is ready to take his second. He still doesn’t understand those words but now, he feels that he will be soon enough.

The instant most of the bandits he counted were on full view outside the trees; Pierre rushed with his sword drawn.

“Shit! The kid is armed!” the nearest bandit noticed the glistening sword on Pierre’s hands.

“Gurt, don’t kill him! I heard this guy is a noble!”

“We could get rich from his ransom!”

Pierre wondered on where and how they knew that he is a noble. But pushes such thought out of his mind and decided to focus first on resolving his current situation.

He grabbed the very first spear he reached and used it to pull one of the bandits. Then struck him in the chest, but it seems it was not deep enough as it only cut the armor and his blade is not stained with blood.

“You fucking bastard!” the one he attacked was also shocked at what happened and may have thought that he have taken a fatal injury.

A man wielding the axe rushed towards him with an overhead attack aiming at Pierre. But Pierre used that opening to kick his feet, causing him to fall to the ground, face first.

He was about to stab the man when he sense an incoming attack from behind and dodged to the side. It was a spear thrust. Then Pierre kicked the spear and jumped towards the wielder. He aimed at the man’s neck but missed when the man leaped backwards to avoid his slash.

“Shit! He is quick!”

“Why you little bastard!”

“No you idiots! Use blunt weapons! We can’t have him die! His worth would reduce on every limb he lost!”

Pierre then used the butt of his sword to knock another bandit who jumped behind him. It didn’t go too well for that man as his left eye was struck instead.

“AAH!! M-m-my eye!! AAHH!!”

The bandit used his other hand to cover his bleeding eye then glared with infernal hatred on Pierre.

“Y-you will fucking pay for that!”

Thankfully none of the bandits were carrying or using any shield or helmet. Their assumed leader is the only one who has better equipment as he is wearing chainmail on his upper body and had breastplate to protect his chest.

But that doesn’t also change Pierre’s situation, as he himself isn’t wearing armor for protection. He left his own chainmail shirt at the castle. However in exchange, he is much faster and quicker than his opponents.

Then Pierre dodges several strikes from an axe and sword that came on his sides. His advantage is that he is a small target. But that didn’t help him avoid a getting several scratches on his arms.

‘Shit shit! Don’t stop! Don’t think! Let the sword do the killing!’ he kept on repeating the same sentences within his mind to ignore the pain and exhaustion he is slowly getting.

“You fools! You can’t fucking handle a single brat?”

“B-but he is quick on his feet boss!”

“Box him in using your spears and disable him!” their leader is also slowly getting irritated.

‘Good, Nessi lost their attention.’ Pierre heaved a small relief.

‘But this just means that they know how valuable I am than a village girl. And from what I have heard earlier, they knew who I am in the first place. Did someone sell me out?’

‘The number one suspect for this are my brothers… fucking assholes!’ his angry thoughts nearly caused him to get skewered by a spear when he made a wrong turn.

Thankfully, he was able to parry the pointy end and struck the wielder on his chest. But he felt something hard instead of a soft flesh. When he drew away his sword, he realized that the bandit is wearing a thick wooden board as his chest protector.

He clicked his tongue in irritation, as he still hasn’t reduced their numbers. He moved from shrub to shrub, trunk to trunk to confuse his opponents.

Using a rock, he vaulted in and thrust his sword into the back of the unsuspecting bandit. But once again, his attack was stopped by a thick wooden board that they wore beneath their thick ragged clothes.

“Tsk! Fucking brat!” the bandit he struck found out that he just missed a reaper’s visit and countered with his own one handed axe to Pierre’s side. Luckily, his quick reflexes allowed him to leap out of its reach.

‘Wait… where are their archers?’ Pierre noticed that the bandits present aren’t carrying any bows.

‘Are they still hiding from a distance?’

Pierre rushed again in the shrubs and used it to disturb their senses. But all of the sudden he stumbled and fell to his knees.

“W-wha… what is…”

He was able to stop falling completely with the help of his trembling hands and knees. But dizziness and nausea was slowly felt by his body, causing him to vomit what he had eaten this morning. Putrid smell of digested food and wine soon invaded his nose.

“What’s wrong kid? Lost your footing or something? You cannot handle us all alone you brat. What were you thinking? You dreaming something as if you were a knight, eh? Bwahahahaha!” As the bandit’s voice reached him, Pierre slowly found out that a dagger has been buried in his right thigh.

“AAAAHHH!!!” In the midst of piercing pain, Pierre had unconsciously let go of his sword to grab his leg.

Then his beloved sword was picked by one of the bandits.

“Heh… he really is a noble, no sword have such excellent craftsmanship on this and with an engraved name to boot! This can be sold for a very high price.”

“It may not even be a name but could also be a mark of a smith!”

“Give that back! That is not for the likes of you!!” Pierre demanded in the middle of pain and dizziness.

That sword is the only hope left for him to escape this situation, his very own lifeline… but more than that, it is also his pride.

As if to answer his half-mad shout, the man spat on the blade of his sword and tapped its wet blade surface on Pierre’s cheek.

“…boss, stop bullying the kid.”

Pierre’s face twisted in rage. He writhed on the ground, struggling against the pain and bleeding on his injured thigh. He tried to stand but fell when one of his legs refuse to give strength. So Pierre crawled instead.

The man who was blinded by Pierre went towards him, took his dagger and drove it hard into his other thigh.

“How is it boy?” the man grinned with his bleeding left eye.

“AAHHHHH!!!” he gave another agonized cry as the blade pierced his flesh and reached a bone.

“Let me give him a bruise in the face also! He fucking ruined my armor.” the thug whom received his first strike wanted to join in beating him.

“Don’t kill him you idiots!! He is one of the baron’s sons. We will get a lot from his ransom!” one of his fellows stopped the man with a flick of his spear on the back of his head.

“Hey hey, no one wanted to buy a corpse you know.” another bandit added.

“Bordus, that is enough! We can’t have him die just yet.” The leader commanded.

“I just want him to feel even just a little bit of my pain when he took out one of my eyes.”

“Let’s leave it at that okay? Karli, treat Bordus wounds.”

“Aye boss.”

Pierre now understood what his teacher told him that overconfidence of a skilled warrior will result to his death or worse.

Yes, the bandits could be considered weak. They were mostly farm boys or men that left their homes and couldn’t even use spear or sword effectively. In front of a skilled swordsman, they are as strong as a child individually. But if these bandits took up weapons, traveled in bands ten to fifteen people, they can definitely take down the skilled swordsman.

And every human is capable of gaining experience. So maybe, some of these bandits have grown and became experienced in fighting after years on this kind of work.

Even though he will not admit it, he had lost without taking out even just one of them.

And even if he wanted to, Pierre couldn’t yell or ask for help as the patrol routes didn’t reach this far. He also didn’t bring any money as a bribe for the bandits. But even if he did, he is not entirely sure if he can get away with just paying the “toll”.

“No… it cannot be!” Nessi was watching the entire fight when Pierre was finally knocked down by the butt of the spear.

Then they all switched their attention to her.

“What do we have here…” one of the bandits removed his leather headgear and revealed a face full of scars and bald head.

“*sniff *sniff… her pure smell… Mmmmm… Hehehehe, so you are still a virgin… too bad your lover here wouldn’t be able to taste your fresh bud, mwehehehehehehe. I will be first. Cover her mouth and restrain her hands and feet. I don’t want her biting me while I cum. That isn’t my taste.” The largest of the group commanded.

They all rushed towards her and restrained her, to avoid killing herself.

“Sure boss. But please don’t abuse her too much okay? I still want her to resist while I fuck her later.”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t want to waste such good quarry. We still need her alive to be sold to the slavers later. Be sure to gag her well, I don’t want her to accidentally bite her tongue and fuck a corpse as a result. Hehehehe.” The bandit leader said.

They forcefully put something on her mouth and blocked it with a ragged smelly cloth.

“Ohhh… she smells actually nice boss! Can I lick her while you fuck her? Her tears and sweat as she feels your dick would be quite a taste.” A thin man with buck teeth held her right arm in place.

“You degenerate bastard! Ahahaha! I want to lick her ears too.” They all started laughing at each other.

The bandits started undressing their bottom after they bound her hands to a root. Then they hastily ripped out her clothes using their daggers.

She thinks she can handle two to three men toying with her body but more than a dozen could get her insane just from imagining it. Nessi can already feel her beating heart in fear and desperation for a miracle. Her muffled cries only fueled the lust of the men who bound her.

‘Why! Why does people like exist?! Why?! Why?!! Why is this happening to me?!’ Nessi screamed in her mind as her mouth was gagged tightly.

Nessi knew most of the cruel fate of women and children who were not able to get into safety from pirate raids, village attacks and enslavement.

But in reality, she didn’t even care or think deeply enough about it. She mostly felt sorry about the victims but that’s about it.

And most of all, she didn’t expect to be the receiving end of the same fate.

‘Father… Atli… Badi… Joam!’ Nessi she cried for the names of her departed family.

Before she lost most of her family and when they were still living back in the farms, they would always make time to attend Sunday mass on the nearest church. Praying together as a family.

The holy circle’s teaching also reached their lives as they would still pray five times per day. First, when they wake up in the morning, Second is before they take their breakfast, third is on their lunch, fourth is before dinner then the last prayer is before they sleep. All in gratitude for the blessings they received.

But that faith was shaken when they lost their farm and had to take refuge on the town, then when they slowly lost their family to the raids and the last nail to take down their faith is when their mother cursed god after burying Nessi’s baby sister. Her mother stopped praying and attending the mass since then. Praying even became a taboo inside their house. Still, she kept her faith secretly. She considers everything that happened to her family to be a test of their faith. And even if her mother already lost hers, she decided to be the last anchor of her family’s faith to their god.

‘God! Help me! Oh God please!’

And now she is asking desperately, begging for a miracle. Even asking for death just to escape the pain and suffering she will receive on being violated. She expected a lightning bolt to fall from the heavens or a sudden appearance of angels to slay the evil that surrounds her. But none of these appeared as the bandits already showed their manhood near her face.

“MMMPPHHHH!!!” More tears flowed in her eyes as her undergarment was taken from her legs.

In her desperate attempt, she was able to free her other hand from its binds and struck the man who was restraining her upper body. Her hand was able to scratch the face of the thug but in response he used the hard end of his hammer to hit Nessi on her face.

“You fucking bitch!” he struck her so hard that it severely injured Nessi’s left face. The force caused her head to bounce on the hard ground and resulted to dizziness and pain. The beating left a large wound from her left eye brow to her jaw that the muscles and flesh were showing its red insides, bleeding without stop. It looked like they skinned her on this part of her face.

“You idiot! Now look what you have done!” his fellow bandit berated him.

“I can’t help it! She fucking scratched me that almost took out my eye!”

“Quick! We can’t sell her with this injury anyway. So get on with the fucking boss! I will be next! She may still have several hours before she dies from the loss of blood.”

Nessi fainted after not being able to bear the pain from another wound and the incoming attempt of violating her body.

Then one of the bandits noticed her bleeding leg. Nessi herself forgot her previous injury due to the fear of getting violated.

“Hey can– Wait… an arrow?”

Her leg is still bleeding from the arrow she received.

“H-hey, did one of you shot an arrow?” the one who noticed her injury and asked his fellows.

“Why?”

“Hey, all of you! Stop what you are doing for now!” he yelled.

“Eh?”

“What?”

“What is it?”

They all stopped and turned towards him.

“Someone shot an arrow on her. There is someone other than us here!”

After realizing the meaning of his words and the arrow lodged on Nessi, they scrambled to put on their pants and weapons. Getting ambushed while playing around is the last thing they want.

None of them was using a bow but someone shot an arrow on the woman. This could only mean that they were lured in a trap by someone or some other group of bandits.

A common practice for the rival groups of bandits in this area.

They used the trees as cover and scanned their surroundings, waiting for an ambush. They kept on hiding for several minutes before one of them stood from a cover of bush.

“Maybe there isn’t a third party here?”

“Quiet!” their leader commanded.

What responded was rustling of the surrounding shrubs.

They immediately prepared in their combat stance.

“I-is it a b-bear?” one of them asked as this time around, bears were usually aggressive and rowdy to find food for their hibernation period during winter.

They turned towards the direction of the rustling sounds and prepared their weapons.

“Who’s there?! Come out!”

Then something large leaped out and attacked the group.

What appeared were the dreaded horrors of the forests, oversize grey wolves.

“D-direwolves!”

“T-this can’t be! F-fuck! Let’s get out of here!”

“W-wait! S-stick together!”

“W-why are there direwolves in this part of the forest!”

“AAAH!!!”

“Hiii!!”

All of them panicked after seeing the increasing number of direwolves that appeared from the darkness of the woods. Their response is only natural as direwolves were taller than an average adult man. A single bite could swallow their head whole.

By the time, the direwolves finished surrounding them; they found out that there are almost twenty large wolves circling around them. There are actually only fifteen of them, contrary to Pierre’s previous conclusion of their numbers.

Before their leader could finish ordering a formation, one of the beasts pounced on him and bit his arm that carried a weapon. He didn’t even have the time to respond before the beast’s great weight slammed him to the ground.

“Argghhh!!!” his leather helmet were thrown from his head and swallowed by the shrubs, leaving him defenseless from another direwolf that also came and bit his entire head then thrashed violently together with the previous direwolf. It could have been much better if he died from this but he was still alive when all of this was happening on his body. He cannot even scream the pain as his head was inside the jaw of the direwolf. He was finally given the death he wanted, minutes later after his head was ripped from his body.

His fellow bandits didn’t even have the chance to help him as the direwolves attacked all of them simultaneously, as if to avoid having them cooperate effectively. As thus chaos and panic rose in their party.

One of the bandits that wielded a spear was faced with two direwolves, as if the beasts knew the danger of the spears. They growled as they waited for him to strike his spear, maybe so that one of them will attack as soon as the spear targets the other. The bandit also knew this so he is hesitant to aim his spear on one of the direwolves. He instead used the spear to swat the beasts away from him. Spear is one of the effective mid-range weapons that have long reach; it can both protect the wielder and attack his enemy.

But he forgot that humans are not the only one capable of cooperation. A third direwolf pounced on him from behind which got his right shoulder in a single bite. He tried to use the back of his spear to separate him from the beast but as soon as the spear was not aimed towards them anymore, the previous two direwolves rushed at the same time. The leather armor he looted from a patrol they killed last week didn’t protect him from the fangs and claws which ripped his body apart.

Another one who also wielded a spear was ganged up by another two direwolves, the first one were able to plucked the spear out of his hands and the other immediately pounced towards him, leaving only cries of pain from the bandit.

Then a bandit with the sword panicked after seeing most of his fellows get ripped to pieces. With tears in his eyes and wet pants, he waved his sword about with his arms, trying to chase the incoming direwolves away. Some of his fellow bandits were better and skilled than him. He was just among the newly recruited members. And his days with the band got him to know the veteran members that boast good deal of physical strength and experience in battle or fights. But after seeing how all of those skills went useless in front of savage beasts, he despaired.

The way he was frantically swinging his sword, he wouldn’t hit anything anyway. Each time his blade made a panicking slash, it made a howling noise which made the direwolves step back a little as they growled towards him. He thought that maybe he can continue doing so and escape with his life. But just like the previous bandit, he forgot to guard his rear. Two direwolves leaped on his back then ripped his shoulder and neck. His blade fell to the ground and was later smeared with his own blood that spurted from his neck.

Then several others were shredded with fangs and claws as they tried to run away. They didn’t even put up a decent fight after seeing the dismemberment of the largest of them.

Nessi woke up in the middle in all of this, still frozen from shock and fear. Shock from seeing the sudden turn of events that just happened and fear that death may not come easily for her. She tried to move slowly away while the direwolves’ attentions were still on the bandits. But an arrow was still buried on the flesh of her leg, showing a cruel tear that revealed the muscles, veins and spurting blood.

And then her body remembered the bleeding wound on her face which she had to force herself from stopping the scream of pain. Instead her breathes came with strained squeaks with every slow movement she makes.

“God, please… someone… help… help me….” she wished desperately for another miracle.

This time, to fight against the possibility of getting eaten alive by beasts.

Unfortunately for her, a direwolf noticed her moving towards the tall grass.

She grabbed the spear that was left behind by a bandit and tried to use it as a way to intimidate the beast. But instead it only angered the direwolf. She already have no strength to even thrust the spear so when the beast used its mouth to take the spear from her, she didn’t even have the chance to resist it. With white fangs that are smeared with blood, the beast growled as it prepared to rush towards her.

And she suddenly heard a piercing sound.

It struck the direwolf on its back that it twisted and whimper in pain. The beast then changes its attention to the unknown attacker. But as soon as it turned, an arrow landed on its head which quickly killed it without a sound.

A nearby direwolf noticed the death of its companion and saw Nessi. Thinking that she is the one responsible, the direwolf pounced at her with feral rage. But before it could even land, an arrow struck its head that penetrated through the other side. Then it fell as a corpse near Nessi.

The biggest one of them, the alpha direwolf had finally sensed what was going on with the other members of his pack and came flying through to help fight this new attacker. He saw Nessi near the two dead direwolves. Growling at her, he sniffed the bodies to know what killed them then also sniffed the arrows lodged in their heads.

Then he heard a whistling sound that he was able to jump to the side, just in time to dodge the incoming arrow. He howled as if signaling his entire pack about the new enemy. In response, the rest of the direwolves stopped what they are doing and regrouped. Then they all tried to sense out the attacker.

Several arrows landed on the direwolves and it successfully fell three of them while the rest just missed vital organs to disable them. Then as if they were able to finally sense where the arrows came from, the alpha howled and several direwolves rushed towards the mysterious attacker.

This person was actually on the high ground which overlooks the location. And he realized that his location had been compromised. But instead of running away, he strapped his bow on his back and unsheathed his blade. Then he rushed towards the incoming direwolves with lowered blade.

The first direwolf to reach leapt towards him. But unlike what happened to the bandits, the attacker threw something that hit its eye. It shrieked in agony making it miss its target as it landed. Then the attacker gripped his blade firmly in both hands, giving a fatal thrust that pierced the throat of the blinded direwolf with precision. It ripped the neck of the beast after he withdrew his blade from its flesh.

The rest of the pursuing direwolves finally arrived only to see that one of them had already died. They growled in anger as they rushed towards this attacker.

Seeing the new batch of direwolves coming for him, he prepared for them in an overhead stance where the point of his blade is aimed to the incoming threat. The moment they reached a significant distance where his blade can reach them, he immediately jumps forward. He made a downward slash towards the first direwolf which struck the head of the beast. Then he caught the second one on his left as he turned with another slash, slicing through the belly of the direwolf. And with a quick forward thrust, he struck the chest of the leaping beast on his right, penetrating through the rib and straight to its heart.

The rest of the direwolves had trouble in keeping up with their prey. As it kept on moving without rest, carrying deadly strikes that continually killed those who tried to attack it. Three more direwolves fell during their pursuit on him.

Then as if sensing it, he crouched just in time to dodge the surprise attack on his rear. This kind of attack previously killed most of the bandits. And knowing the blindspot of the direwolf as it lands, he went straight with his blade which surprised the beast when it landed and turned, only to face the point of his blade. His heavy horizontal slash tore the beast apart, cutting through from its head to the right leg.

He kept on moving using the woods and large roots to his advantage, taking the large size of the direwolves against them. The last two direwolves pursued. Intending to corner their prey, they separated; the first chose the right and other went to the left. But just seconds after chasing, both of them lost track of their prey. The large shrubs and protruding tree roots from the ground truly did slowed them down. They tried to sniff him out to track him back.

Little did they know that their prey is on top of a tree branch, peering from above. He jumped as soon as he judged that the two direwolves were just a small distance to each other. He used his fall to strike the head of the first direwolf, killing it instantly and then made another heavy downward slash which cleanly beheaded the second one.

Through a geyser of direwolf’s blood, he shook the blood from his blade and put it back in its sheathe.

In just mere minutes, he was able to cut off all of his attackers. Although he already returned his blade back to its scabbard, he is still drunk with bloodlust. He ran back towards the location where the bandits fell.

₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪

The alpha direwolf realized that his howls were not receiving a single reply. As such he decided to retreat with just the prey they can carry.

Then he remembered the surviving human, Nessi. The alpha direwolf just silently looked at Nessi, as if trying to see or judge whether to kill her or not. The gaze took several seconds but it was more than enough to induce panic and greater fear on the girl. She started shivering along with her crumpled crying face and snot from the nose. Finally, as if the smell of her pee had helped persuade the alpha direwolf, it decided to leave her instead.

The rest of the pack dragged and grabbed several bodies of bandits with their jaws. They disappeared with their prize in the thick woods and shrubs.

The brutal fight was finally over. All that was left is the bodies of four bandits, few corpses of direwolves, the unconscious Pierre and the crying Nessi.

Then someone broke the silence when Nessi noticed a figure of a person coming towards her. He was wearing some kind of black armor but the stains of blood dyed his entire body to crimson. Two small rectangular curved boards seemed to have been fastened on both of his shoulders and had two blades on the left part of his waist.

As if he didn’t see her, he stopped at the body of the dead direwolf. He crouched and reached towards the arrow that was lodged deeply with his hand and casually withdrew it from its skull; flesh and blood spurted out as a result. The arrow head was drenched with bits of red flesh, eye matter and blood.

Lying on the ground because she cannot even stand even if she wanted to, Nessi’s thin frame shook nervously. Her face that attracted even the baron’s son was scrunched up into a mess of tears, snot and sweat. Her arms and feet, the gorgeous body that was lusted by Pierre and the bandits earlier was covered with torn clothes that failed to hide her ample chest and bottom.

“W-who… who are…you?” still whimpering in tears, she gathered all of her courage to ask the identity of this person who just casually gathers the arrows from the corpses. She feared that this person is just another bandit or looter as she didn’t even recognize the armor. But it seems that this person either didn’t hear her or just plainly ignored her because he never replied to her question.

“W-wh-who are you?” she asked again with louder voice, pushing down her terror and throbbing pain.

Then after hearing her second question, the person finally noticed her. He went towards her and offered a hand. Only then she realized that the person in front of her have long black hair that is as dark as the night sky, tied on the back. And she is being reflected on his black eyes. Half of his face was covered with a black cloth, revealing only the two eyes.

As if everything has finally taken a toll to her body and the sudden arrival of a savior, she slowly felt sleepy.

Before losing consciousness from the loss of blood, Nessi heard an answer.

“Mizuki.”