"Ezio, where are ye?" Ezio was in his head, wondering what he should do next when he heard the calling. He jumped out and dashed towards the forge.
"Yes, Master?" he asked.
"Get to the forest and find me some Nightingale Mushrooms. Ah will cook mah special today." Aodhfionn said with a laugh.
"Yes, Master. Right away." Ezio answered hurriedly as he salivated in anticipation. He tasted his Master's special cuisine more than once. Thrice to be accurate, and it was the most delicious thing he ever tasted. Of course, he would run and bring the mushrooms.
The green and red of the autumn season were covering the forest next to Aodhfionn's house. The fallen leaves canopied the ground with black, brown, and orange. The forest was like a canvas in motion. A breeze went through the path led by the trees separated into the two sides. And the sunshine was seeping through the dense branches of the myriad of trees.
Ezio walked through the path admiring the scene, as he carefully looked for the Nightingale Mushrooms. These mushrooms would only grow at the base of Singer Gamut Trees. The tree itself wasn't that valuable, but Masters could carve the best musical instruments from the trunk of these trees.
It was easy to notice the tree, as there would be rhythmic sounds of the wind passing through the holes naturally appearing on the tree trunks. Thus, Ezio was taking a stroll without worry. All he had to do was walk while listening carefully.
It wasn't long before he started to hear the symphony of nature. It was better than anything he heard in his old world. He approached the tree and ran his hand on the trunk, and the leaves of the tree danced with joy, while the forest was still in harmony. But all of the sudden music stopped, and the leaves on the tree stilled.
"Blood!"
There were two things that could make the Singer Gamut Trees behave like this. The first was killing intent, and the second was blood. Since he didn't feel any killing intent, blood must have been shed nearby.
"Please, someone help."
As Ezio was pondering, a cry of help came from the forest. The voice of a woman in terror. Ezio ran to the source as fast and stealthily as he could. When he was near, he saw four men circling around a woman. The woman's upper clothes were ripped, and there was a sword wound on her back. She only had a bra covering her precious peaks. The skirt she was wearing was torn from the side and was revealing the milk-white thighs.
She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Definitely a beauty. But the snot and tears on her face were expressing the terror she was experiencing. The scene was so ugly, it was enough to shadow her beauty. Ezio felt anger boiling inside him.
"Where do you think you are running, whore?" One of the men said as he kicked the woman's abdomen. Women puked blood and spit as she crawled on the ground.
"Hey, go easy on her. We still haven't taken our turn with her, Captain." said another.
"Yes, yes, Captain. Only you had your fun with her. We still haven't relieved ourselves." Another chimed in lasciviously. His face was the epitome of ugliness a man could possess.
"Okay, okay. Be quick, and later kill her. We can't let her return to the city and run her lousy b*tch mouth." The captain said as he sat on a boulder without any care in the world. He didn't care what his men did to the woman. He was the first to have his way with her anyway, what happened afterward wasn't his concern so long as the woman was killed.
Ezio at the back of a tree watched with anger, but he couldn't take action right away. After all, there were four of them there. When the captain sat, he circled around the trees and sneaked up to the captain from behind. At the same time, the other three were approaching the woman with disgusting smiles on their faces, and the woman was crawling back in fear.
He held the first dagger he ever forged, his masterpiece. He named the dagger Tenebras Lux, meaning Darkness coming after the Light. The scabbard of the dagger was a light attribute and the dagger itself was dark, he thought the name suited the dagger perfectly.
The weapons starting from the Marquis rank would have special features embedded in them. Even though Tenebras Lux was quasi-Marquis when forged, it was absorbing light from the scabbard for all those times, and the hilt made of Withered Oak upgraded its rank to the Marquis and bestowed not one, but two features. It was rare, so rare that if it was known, even the Kingdom Tier powers would start a war over it.
The first feature of the dagger was "Stealth." Because of the Umbra Naque metal that it was forged with, the dagger gained a stealth attribute. As long as the owner was not detected, the dagger would be hidden from eyes, ears, and spiritual perception. Since Ezio was sneaking at the moment, the sound of unsheathing didn't happen.
Ezio was just behind the Captain and was about to hit him on the back of the neck, but the woman saw Ezio, and a sudden exclamation of hope and direction of her eyes betrayed Ezio's location. With a burst of power, the captain dashed from where he was sitting and arrived at his comrades. The clatter rinsed the rut of the trio, and they too came to their senses and unsheathed their weapons.
The Captain had a spear, while the trio had swords in their hands. They were all at the Qi Solidification Realm Second Layer, except Captain who was at the peak of it. Ezio was only at the peak of Qi Force Opening Realm, he was at the peak of it, but nonetheless, it was still 3 stages away from the trio and 4 stages away from the Captain.
"Well well. What do we have here?" Captain spoke as he eyed Ezio.
"Leave the woman and scram," Ezio said with a strong front but he was cursing inside. Only if he could knock the Captain, the rest would be easy.
"Hahaha. Did you hear him, lads? He wants us to leave the whore and scram." The captain said and laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world.
"This brat thinks he can negotiate with us." one of the trio said, not taking Ezio seriously at all.
"Let's not waste time. Kill the brat, and continue to enjoy this woman." Another said while licking his sword.
Ezio didn't want to fight against them openly but now he didn't have any other choice. He couldn't use his magic because he never let anyone see it since he couldn't kill them, he would not use it. Even if he killed them, still there was the woman. Another reason was that he didn't have any spells yet. The only course he could take at the moment was, the hidden art he was cultivating diligently for all this while...