…

16th Century, Kingdom of Bohemia

Today was once again a calming day for Martin Kobyla, who sat idly on his porch basking in the sunlight. The forge should be heated soon but the man had no drive to do so yet. In the front yard, his daughter Theresa was practicing with a rather cumbersome practice sword, yet she swung it with better discipline than most.

A most unorthodox sight which caught the eyes of a visiting lord, who took a detour to meet the girl. Behind him, the castle lord decided to attend to his own business.

"A zweihander, curious choice indeed" The visitor said "Especially for a lady like you"

Theresa was surprised by that remark. Normally people would raise their eyebrow over her picking up a weapon in the first place, not the choice.

"Such a unwieldy tool, yet you are quite proficient with it" The visitor remarked.

"… Thank you?" Theresa was even more confused by the compliment.

The visitor then proceeded to Martin still sitting on his porch.

"Isn't it about time you get to work, the sun is already so high up"

"I am thinking about taking today off" Said Martin "What about you, Henry, what brought you to this place"

"Well, I happened to be near and a little bird told me one Martin Kobyla has settled down nearby, I have to see for myself"

"Hm, why don't you come in and look around some more"

Taking on the offer, the lord Henry and Martin sat down for a drink. They had only met each other once but it was a memorable encounter. Two drunkards duking it out only to pass out on the spot. The next day Martin was informed that he was fighting a lord and Henry was informed that he was sparring against the legendary mercenary.

The two went for a drink after that and had quite a talk.

"A tidy forge you have there" Commented Henry.

"Yeh, the local blacksmith moved to Sasau and was kind enough to leave me his tools"

And the local lord was also kind enough to let him stay.

"Still, I didn't think you would put down the sword" Henry said "Although I didn't know you have a family either"

"Well, I haven't been right with them, always fighting. Now that I have made a tidy sum, might as well retire and pay my due, haha"

"You sure have overpaid your due friend, surely your daughter didn't need all those training"

"Nah, I barely taught her anything, that girl picked up the sword and practice on her own accord"

"You jest" Henry replied in amazement.

A woman wielding sword was not the most common, one holding a zweihander was unheard of. And her skill was considerable. Not the most elegant or easy to use, the two hander was mostly used to break pikes on the frontline and charging foes. But Martin mastery over the weapon was nothing but mythical, under his hands, such a lump of steel could flow like water.

While certainly struggling, the girl surely showed great potential, hint of her father greatness. But what could she possibly achieve with that skill. What a waste, Henry thought to himself.

"So, why did you decide to retire" The lord asked.

"Didn't I already tell you, I wanted to spend more time with my…"

"Nah" Henry cut the mercenary off "I want to know the real reason. The Martin I know wouldn't put down his sword something like that"

They had only talked once but alcohol had certainly loosened Henry tongue for him to make such a brash remark. Luckily, Martin was in a talkative mode himself, bored to death by a normal life.

"I was being honest, that is the reason… or more like part of the reason"

"And what could the other part be?"

"Hmmm… how to put it. You could say I died"

"Obviously not"

"Well, to be more precise, I dreamt that I died"

Henry put down the cup and looked at the man in front of him. After a pregnant pause, the lord busted out laughing for a few solid seconds. After noticing that his drinking partner was serious about that remark, Henry stopped for Martin to continue his story.

"It was a strange dream… but so real. I woke up under a strange trees, surrounded by all sort of strange folks. They all seemed as confused and out of place as me. It seems like our arrival was expected, however, there were people there waiting. But then we were all attacked by a bunch of fighters all with white masks"

"You sure have a vivid imagination"

"I highly doubt that, my dream is normally mundane, but this one, it's different" Martin paused slightly, looking at the drink "Anyway, where was I. Yes, we were attacked by guys with white masks. They weren't normal, their strength were of several men and one of them even jumped higher than this building"

"And they killed you" Henry was rather interested in this story now.

"No, or more like not yet. Despite their strength and speed, the two masked men I fought were not much of a challenge. They moved like rehearsing, all too predictable like dolls. Although our escorts were beaten. So I decided to hold the white masked back. My next opponent was the one that leapt high earlier. But this one is different, unlike the previous two he seemed… human"

"And that guy beat you"

"Pretty much yes, although I was injured by a sword thrown by another masked man. I wondered how I would fare without that. But that was pretty much when I was killed"

"Now that's a strange dream you had there friend, although I still can't see why you decided to retire because of it"

"I told you, that dream was so real it was like reality. I could still remember the wind, the distinct smell that it carried. When the sword pierced me, the pain was real. I felt it all, even my death"

"…" Henry looked at Martin, mouth slightly agape.

"You see, at that moment, I knew death and there is no glory in it my friend, no god nor devil. There is only a never-ending darkness. Afterward, I could no longer find any meaning in swinging a sword around anymore"

Never in a million year would Henry ever think that the mercenary was a coward. No, Martin had simply seen a sight he had never even imagined.

"Let's cheer for death then" Henry raised his cup "May we be able to continue to elude it"

The two finished their drink and looked at each other. Feeling the effect of all the alcohol, the two were being rather restless. But not enough for Henry to suggest a duel just yet. Maybe it was time for a tale of his own.

"Come to think of it, I have been hearing about something unbelievable" The lord said "Or more like someone, an unbeatable swordsman. Apparently, he has been going around humiliating the masters all over the Empire"

"…"

"Apparently he also takes jobs to fund his travel. I have heard story of this man clearing out dens of fully armed bandits all himself. Fighting a dozen at once, crazy"

"And why are you telling me this?" Martin asked with a wryly smile.

"Well, every source seems to confirm that he has a very particular gesture, that man would place his right hand to his left shoulder every time before a fight. I seem to recall someone also like to do that salute"

It was a flair of Martin.

"I may know who you are talking about"

"A student of your" Asked Henry curiously, while the details were murky it seemed like this mythical swordsman was rather young.

"No no, I met him a two years ago, he ran with our company a few time since our jobs collided. A nice kid, a bit quiet though"

"Did you fight him" Henry asked straight.

"Yes, and before you asked, he defeated me"

"What a riot" The lord bellowed "So not only this person exists he also managed to beat the great Martin Kobyla, now I want to meet this fellow… Still, why did he use your flair, where did this guy come from and why is he going around challenging all the masters"

"I only have a mild guest for the last question"

"Let me hear it then"

"Well, he was incredible but rather aimless. So I said maybe he should go around challenging everyone, then maybe he would find something he wants to do. So that kid is still at it"

Then, at that moment, Theresa entered the room to inform of a strange guest. Seeing that it was time to leave as well, Henry went out with Martin. They were met with a man in rusted chainmail and helmet with a longsword to his side. He was still on his horse which was exhausted. This guest seemed to be in a rush.

"Speak of the devil" Martin said "It's the swordsman you were talking about!"

Henry looked at the stranger. What kind of coincident was this, was Martin just joking. From the look of it, the retired mercenary was as surprise about this as Henry.

Such an encounter, it was as if this was a sign from God himself.

Feeling energised, spurred by alcohol, Henry stepped up to the stranger.

"I had wanted to meet you, fight me!"

The guest stepped down from his exhausted mount and took a training sword from the luggage. Henry grinned, he wasn't usually this eager for a fight but the timing for this encounter was nothing but miraculous. The man wasn't going to waste this moment.

"Girl, bring me something to spar with this gentleman!"

This was a confusing day for Theresa, the girl quickly handed the lord a training sword she had left lying around. From the look of her father, this stranger was someone he knew. Wait, maybe it was that swordsman that he talked about, the only to have ever bested him.

Her intuition told Theresa that this was indeed the man. The girl could feel a desire burning inside to try and cross blade with him. But this was the lord turn and besides, who would ever duel with a woman.

Henry faced the stranger, even the alcohol couldn't dampen his sense which was even sharper than usual. The man had never felt better before.

Then, the fight came to an end.

The dull tip of the training sword rested right in front of Henry throat. Everyone watched in silent, they had never seen something like this before, even Martin. How could this fight end in a flash like this! Did this stranger move with some sort of inhuman speed!

The answer was no. Every of his movements were simply precise. The distance of his step, the way his body move, the way the sword was swung, they were all carried out with no wasted momentum, no wasted movement. These concepts weren't foreign to a master to Henry, that was what mastering the sword mean.

But the stranger's precision was simply inhuman, out of this world.

Henry dropped his sword in silent, even though the blade was dull the lord felt like his throat was cut. He had to hold his neck to see if it was intact. For the first time, he felt fear but not toward a fellow man. No, the being in front of him simply uncanny. Now Henry could understand what Martin meant as for a moment, there, he caught glimpse of that abyss.

The lord staggered back. Theresa was also frozen, all the thought about challenging the stranger had vanished from her mind.

Martin waded though the two with ease. The retired mercenary put his hand on the stranger helmet with care.

"That seems stuffy, you can remove it you know"

The stranger looked up a bit before removing his helmet. Underneath was a surprisingly young man with weary unchanging eyes.

"Long time no see, Conrad, it seems like you have come a long way, why don't you take a seat" Martin turned to Theresa "Call your mother and bring this poor horse something to eat"

Henry took his leave, having recovered after seeing the guest's face. Still, he shuddered to think about that movement. This Conrad had been challenging masters all over and that was bound to refine himself. But there was no one he could fight to gain such skill, just what kind of frontier did this man used to hone his blade.

The lord shook his head, he would need more drink after this. And a new shirt as well as this one was now drenched with sweat.

Meanwhile, Martin and Conrad sat down on the porch, resting. After a long silence did the vagabond finally muttered a word.

"Hello" He said meekly.

"Hah, you certainly haven't changed at all" Martin said "So what brought you here"

Conrad looked down, processing the answer "I wanted to see how you are doing"

"For you to find me, you must have known that I have retired, so why the hurry"

Knowing Conrad, there was going to be another long silence before the answer. But to Martin surprises, the vagabond replied immediately.

"I arrived… dreamt a dream, in it you were dead, so…"

The vagabond didn't seem to be able to find what to say next. He seemed to be struggling in fact. So the journey did change him. Somehow, Martin found himself proud of that, like what a father felt when his children finally grew up. The retired mercenary simply pat him on the shoulder which surprisingly surprised the man.

"Well, I am fine, you want some food" Martin asked.

Conrad nodded, his mouth curved slightly into a smile.