Weeks passed for drakai, then a month than another. Time went by quickly, being the fickle thing it is. Finally, summer wrapped up, and fall hit everybody like a hurricane. The entirety of vansk felt the effect of fall almost immediately. Heavy snow was constantly being released from the heavens.
Unlike earth, the weather on Jakraa was different due to its large size. It spun slower, making a whole season a single year. Drakai was born at the start of spring in vansk. So technically, he has been living in the best two seasons that the cold frosty land had to offer.
Fall was the season of snow. The guards were constantly using enchanted weapons that spit out fire to clear the courtyard and help the people inside the town not too far away. The sound of chopping wood filled the air, and thick smoke from the chimneys clogged the townsfolk' lungs and the people who live with their baron.
Small eldrasie children were tasked with carrying water and hay to the animals, ensuring they were well kept. The eldrasie people were strict carnivores, and they survived off hunting and the animals they raised.
The only thing on everyone's mind was making sure that they had enough food for the winter, thankfully they had a whole year to stock up, and the cold weather of vansk made it very easy to store meat for long periods. However, once winter hit, the average temperature was around -100 Fahrenheit. So the only thing the people could do during the season was go out to their barns to take care of their animals and stay inside.
****
A couple of days is all that was left until drakai was to take place in the Nobles Contest. At first, he thought it was a pointless endeavor, but after talking to his parents about the subject longer, he realized that it was worth his time, for both his parents and himself.
The nobles Contest wasn't just to see who was strongest. Another reason for the Contest was for prestige. Winning meant your family name would be known and thus receive more business opportunities. In addition, the king would gift the parents of the winner many riches.
The child who won was not left in the dark. They would receive a prize for winning, most likely in the form of a weapon. Not to say that drakai needed one. He had fallen in love with his blade and named it a Kai-Do.
After two months, the sword became easier to use after training with it constantly. He was still in the primitive stages and had trouble attacking with the blade while it was spinning. The momentum kept him from being able to attack correctly. But he was slowly but surely getting the hang of it.
He was currently walking in the forest, having been dropped off by his father's personal guard at the Forrest fence. He was currently trying to hone his skills. He still remembered the feeling of pleasure when he was hunting the goblins, the ecstasy of the skulls breaking and death that ensued. But, of course, this wasn't his personal lust for killing. It was his dolor-tas activating and the rage that came with it.
There were reports by the people who live somewhat close to the forest that a small hunting party made of Hobgoblins, the cousin to the goblin, was lurking out in the woods. The report really didn't worry anyone considering that the average mortal eldrasie could dominate more than just one hunting party bare-handed. But for drakai, it was a perfect opportunity to progress his ability to fight.
Walking through the thick snow was hard, and in his search for the hunting party, he was sweating heavily. The sounds of the forest were loud, birds chirping in dismay due to their nests being overrun with wet snow and squirrels chattering amongst themselves. *Crack* Turning around to look at the sound, drakai was alert, ready for a threat. Hobgoblins might not be the smartest, but they know how to set up an ambush.
A deer was bleeding badly, limping about 20 feet away from him. A huge gash was on its left leg and was bleeding all over the ground. "Shit, they are here." Knowing that this wasn't an animal fight due to the gash being more like a sword wound than a tear, he hid behind a large oak tree. Waiting for the hobgoblins, he took his sword off his back.
Since it was so big, he needed a sheath and away to mount it on his back. His solution was to visit the blacksmith and ask for to slip on sheathes that would just slip on the blades. He asked for them to be tight enough so that they wouldn't fall off when he was walking but not so tight that he couldn't just spin his blade to fling them off.
And for his idea to mount it to his back, he asked for a strong clasp attached to a harness. He wanted to be able to walk with it for long distances without being sore. Granted, it was only 15 pounds, but that would become annoying to carry after a while. The hunting party started screeching at the deer, breaking out amongst the trees.
There were 4 of them. They were taller than drakai at the moment, standing at about 5'9. They were about the same size as a human male, a good margin taller than drakai. They were well built from years of hunting, and they were angry due to the state of hunger they were in.
The only advantage drakai had at the moment was his dolor-tas and surprise. The deer collapsed in defeat. It had been chased for a while. "Such a shame it really is a beautiful creature." Drakai was sad to see it hurt so bad. It had a deep brown shaggy pelt and red whiteish antlers. The hobgoblins seeing their prey give up, let down their guard, and one of them walked up to finish the blow while the others dropped to the ground in exhaustion.
"NOW!" Screaming inside his mind, he dashed forward. Grabbing the blade inside one of the holes, he swung the blade with all his might twisting his torso and performing a horizontal slash at the waist of the hobgoblin. The edge made contact and bit deeply into the hobgoblins flesh, cutting until he hit one of the vertebrae.
Quickly pulling it out, he spun the blade with the viscera from the stomach still on it around and slashed through the neck spilling the hobgoblins warm blood on the snow ground. It was fast and efficient, only because the hobgoblins were unprepared and weren't expecting to be attacked in such a fashion.
Rushing up to their feet, they grabbed their weapons and started to run at drakai. Thinking fast, he threw the massive blade like a spear at the closest, splitting its chest open and spilling its cherry-red blood all over the snow. Then, activating his dolor-tas to the maximum, he could only use it for about one minute if he didn't want to suffer a considerable backlash.
With endorphins rushing through his nervous system and brain, he felt alive. His body pushing itself to the maximum, he kicked off the ground and grabbed the sword before the hobgoblin hit the ground. Then, twirling the blade around, he kicked the ground again and launched himself at the last two hobgoblins that were starting to panic. They just saw their two brothers die in less than two minutes.
Rushing up, he spun on his feet and used the weight from the sword to make his speed even faster and slashed at the hobgoblin. The hobgoblin ducked just in time. Drakai saw this and kicked it in its face making the hobgoblins head come back. Swinging his sword, he lopped off the hob's head, causing the head to sink into the snow.
Finally, it was just him and the last hob. He deactivated his dolor-tas, sweating hard they just stared at each other. The hob was shivering in fear and looked like it wanted to run away but knew it wouldn't make it. Looking up at the sky, it was getting dark. He looked at the hob and dismissed it with a wave. His battle lust had worn off after the staring Contest, and he didn't want to fight anymore.
It wasn't an act of mercy. He was just bored. The hob understood and started sprinting away. Then, turning around, he picked up the sheaths that he flung off and put them back on his Kai-Do after wiping Kai-Do off on his clothes. And put it back in the clasp.
He started to retrace his early footprints to make his way home. When he noticed something, the deer from earlier was still breathing and panting on the ground, he walked up to it and inspected the wound. Then, making a quick decision, he ripped some of the cloak he was wearing and wrapped it around the leg. It was rather stout and had muscles but not much taller than drakai. "I'll just bring the beast back.
Maybe when it's bigger, we can eat it. The deer, not understanding what was going on, started to fidget. Not paying much mind to the beast, he activated his dolor-tas as minimally as he could because he was still a little tuckered out from using it at full blast. And picked up the deer and started walking to the forest fence.
It was an odd sight, a four-foot-tall eldrasie child with eyes glowing walking around with a kicking deer on his shoulders.