The fifth day of travel, after leaving the City of Stone Towers, dawned cloudy. A cold wind crossed the dirt road, bringing with it the damp smell of the nearby forest.
Kyrian rode alone, mounted on Shadow, who trotted in silence.
Kyrian truly liked Shadow now, he needed little time to rest and was completely gentle with him.
On the way, he had crossed paths with some merchants in heavy wagons escorted by mercenaries. He had also encountered a group of young soldiers, all marching toward the same destination.
Kyrian imagined they were going to the tournament as well.
He still didn’t know much about the tournament. How many would participate, or exactly how the competition would take place.
These questions arose in his mind along the way.
At sunrise on the sixth day since resuming his journey, Kyrian began to see twisted branches of a forest that appeared ahead of him.
When he arrived, there were ancient trees, thick trunks, and a low mist that seemed to drag itself along the entire forest floor.
The road there was silent, there were no birds, no insects. Only the sound of Shadow’s steps and the wind shaking the leaves.
But despite that, everything seemed normal.
No, Kyrian knew something was wrong.
But he pretended not to notice. Shadow entered fully into the forest, riding calmly.
Then, three hours passed. And finally, the mistake he had caught out of the corner of his eye revealed itself.
’Shhhhh!’
Four arrows tore through the air at the same time.
Kyrian’s eyes focused, and, in an instant, he saw the direction of them all. The moment they entered his field of vision, every movement of the arrows cutting the wind became predictable.
He immediately threw himself backward, his body pressed against Shadow’s back, while his hand was already pulling the dagger from his waist. His blade reacted instantly, deflecting the last arrow that had been shot lower, aiming at his thigh.
Three arrows passed through the air above Kyrian’s body, while the other struck the ground after bouncing off the dagger.
"Tsk." Kyrian grew slightly irritated as he pushed with his feet and struck the horse’s flank.
"Run, Shadow!" Kyrian commanded, already having leapt off.
The horse shot into the woods, while Kyrian, with the push he had given, spun in the air and landed on the ground softly like a feather.
At that moment, the sound of footsteps echoed.
Twelve men appeared. Four archers in the back, surrounding him from a distance. The other eight carried swords, spears, and an axe. Their looks were surprised that Kyrian had dodged, but cold.
They showed no pity, not even for a child.
Kyrian raised the spear he carried on his back. The metal tip of the spear reflected the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees.
"Bandits?" Kyrian asked in a firm tone.
But there was no answer. They all charged at once, like starving wolves.
The first sword cut the air, aiming for Kyrian’s head, but it was far too slow. He spun the spear horizontally, deflecting with a metallic snap, and kicked the attacker in the chest. The sound of a bone breaking was heard as the man was hurled to the ground.
Another came from behind, but Kyrian merely sidestepped, spinning the spear in an arc and striking the man’s legs. He screamed as he lost strength and collapsed, unable to rise again.
Kyrian sighed, dodging another strike and an arrow.
"Seems like you really don’t want to talk, huh?"
He stepped back, observing them all, who still stared at him with greedy eyes.
Kyrian’s eyes then narrowed.
"Well. You asked for it." Kyrian said before rushing at them with full force.
And what followed was a one-sided massacre.
Kyrian advanced so fast they couldn’t react. The spear moved like the wind straight into the heart of the first, piercing his chest. Before the corpse even fell, the spear was already spinning, slitting the throat of the second.
The four remaining surrounded him, but no attack came close to hitting him. Each arrow from the archers flew past, but he knew exactly where to stand, so he didn’t even need to raise his spear to defend.
One arrow passed over his ear, another under his leg. Kyrian wasted no time, spinning his weapon, sweeping the ground. Three men fell at once.
The last one had the spear driven through his belly, giving his organs space to spill out and breathe fresh air.
Blood splattered across his face.
The archers, in turn, panicked and began retreating instantly.
But it was too late.
"Let’s see who runs the farthest." Kyrian thought before approaching the three legless men screaming on the ground.
He looked at them with disgust before picking up their weapons. Two spears and an axe.
"This will do."
Then came the first throw, the spear ripped through the air with force, making a sound echo before impaling an archer’s chest, nailing him to a tree.
The second fell with a spear lodged in his neck, crushing him to the ground.
Then the axe was thrown at the third, spinning through the air before embedding itself in his spine, sinking fully into the man’s body, who managed only one final scream of pain.
The fourth archer stumbled into a tree but kept running in desperation. Kyrian looked in his direction before readying his own spear.
And then it was hurled with all his strength.
The metal pierced the man’s leg, making him tumble to the ground, rolling and screaming in pain.
Kyrian walked slowly toward him, wiping the blood from his face onto his clothes.
Then he pulled the spear out of the bandit’s leg while wiping the blade on the archer’s black clothing. More specifically, he cleaned the spear’s tip on the fabric near the man’s neck.
The bandit, in despair, raised his hand.
"Please. M-mercy! I didn’t mean to... They forced me. I was only here because they offered a lot of money. They said you had a lot of gold! I just wanted a better life!"
Kyrian stared in silence at the man, who now wouldn’t stop talking.
His eyes pierced through the man, and, sensing, he knew what the man said was true. The greed and despair were pure.
"I understand." Kyrian murmured.
The spear’s blade came down, decapitating the man with a single strike.
Silence returned to the forest. The screams of the others ceased, probably dying from blood loss.
The only sound was Kyrian’s breathing and the wind rustling the leaves.
Until a sound arose not far away.
’Clap, clap!’
Kyrian turned, frowning.
From behind a tree emerged a tall man. Dressed in dark clothing, with a cold, unshakable gaze. The moment Kyrian looked at him, he felt the same as when he had met Kael.
He was different from common people. He was strong. But he seemed weaker than Kael.
Kyrian turned to him with the same impassive expression. His spear pointed toward the sky.
"Who are you?" Kyrian asked.
"The dead don’t need to know." The man said with a cruel smile before advancing without warning toward Kyrian.
In an instant, he was already in front of Kyrian.
"His speed is almost comparable to mine." Kyrian thought.
But despite being the fastest person he had ever faced, to his eyes, each movement was slow. Each muscle revealed the intent of his attack.
A dagger flashed from his right toward his throat. Kyrian raised his spear, blocking the strike. But he was forced to step back a few paces.
The impact made his arms tremble.
"Strong. Stronger than me." Kyrian thought, looking at his arms and feeling the blow.
It was like when he fought Rurik for the first time. The enemy’s strength was far greater.
But Kyrian felt no fear nor concern. In fact, he felt somewhat stirred and excited.
Finally, he had found another opponent at his level. He was right, only martial artists could be his opponents now.
He didn’t know how strong this man was in the ranking of martial artists, but if he defeated him, he would feel stronger.
And, obviously, he would fight without using the new ability he had learned. Kyrian felt no need to use his particles against someone so weak.
Kyrian’s gaze focused on the man. A faint smile appeared on his lips.
And instead of waiting to be attacked again, he shot forward toward the man in black.