Date - 05/ 04 / 708 Ephit Calendar
Time - -
Location - Hillview's City.
"Is that all, sir?"
Taeyang replied "yes" to the waitress and shifted his attention to the newly arrived lady. "What's your name?"
"Ruo Xi, sir."
"I apologize for almost killing you," Taeyang said with a smile on his face. "Have a seat."
"Thank you, sir," Ruo Xi said and took a seat across from him.
"I'm curious, why is a Dark Moon gang member is in my city?"
At Taeyang's question, Ruo Xi's eyes twitched. "Don't move, I may no longer be a sword saint, but I can easily take on a small fry from the Dark moon," he warned her, prompting her to sit back.
"So answer my question? Are you here for me? No, the Dark moon will send someone of a higher level if it was for me. Who in this city are you after? Depending on your answer, I may or may not kill you."
"Please, believe me when I say I am no longer with the Dark moon."
"Ha, you expect me to believe that?" Taeyang laughed at her words.
"You may be unaware due to living in this small city. The Dark moon is no more. The current sword saint took it down. I am here because I want to start anew."
"Oh! Seems the current sword saint is more hands-on than I thought."
Taeyang smiled and let out a sigh. Memories of old flashed before his eyes. He wouldn't have believed it if someone had told him it would end like this.
"May I ask, how did you know I'm…"
"The scent of your mana. All of you from the Dark moon have a similar mana scent. Perhaps it's related to your training method."
"I didn't know mana had a scent." Ruo Xi's expression changed, and she looked like she was pondering on his words.
"My nose is very sensitive to mana."
Two waitresses came with two trays each. They placed it on the table and one of them asked. "Will that be all, sir?"
"Yes," Taeyang replied while looking at the trays. Two carried jars and a cup, the other two plates of food.
"Excuse us, sir," the two chorused before leaving. Ruo Xi could swear she saw them glare at her.
"What did I do?" she thought.
"Eat," Taeyang said while pouring himself a drink.
"Thank you sir," she bowed, but didn't touch the food. "Are you Agnar Jarl?"
Taeyang turns his gaze to her before turning back to his drink. "That person died three years ago. I'm Kim Taeyang now."
He took a gulp from his drink. To Ruo Xi surprise, he finished the entire cup in one gulp. She watched him pour another round and took it all in one gulp again.
"Why did the sword saint go after the Dark moon?" He raised his brows at her.
"I don't know the full details. However, the sword saint had a stepdaughter no one knew about. She was the child his late wife had before they met. An executive of the Dark moon saw her, liked her and forcefully took her."
"Yikes, and it seemed our dear sword saint likes his stepdaughter very much," Taeyang said and drank from his cup. This time he drank slowly, savoring the taste as he listened to her.
"Yes, he did. He stormed the headquarters and even the executives couldn't stop him." Her eyes trembled as she reminisced about the incident. He didn't miss it, he could understand why.
"I can't believe your dark lord and dark elders thought of facing the sword saint. Facing the sword saint is almost impossible. Only a handful of people can do it."
"I was told there were only four who can. The champion of Demiga, the queen of Elyshona, the elves' kingdom, the beast warrior of Noddoz and the sword master of Zeniel."
"You know your stuff. They can face, but unless there are unexpected variables during their fight, they can not beat him."
Taeyang poured himself another drink while looking at the people in the tavern. They were still shouting and cheering. The waiters and waitresses brought them lots and lots of drinks and food. Some women even waved at him to get his attention. He smiled and turned back to Ruo Xi.
"To think he is that strong," she muttered.
"That is what it means to be loved by the Sword god." He shrugged his shoulders.
"If there are no variables, then no one can beat him then."
"There is one person who can, the one loved by Rienta, the goddess of justice and of war."
"You mean the sword saintess? Isn't that a myth?"
"I assure you, it is not just a myth. The Sword god has lost to only two gods in history. The dragon god is the first, and the second is the goddess Rienta. He fought twice with Rienta, and she won both times. So, the sword saint has always lost against the saintess." Taeyang explain with a smirk on his face.
"I know that story. What I meant was no one has seen the saintess for a century now, so she's a myth."
"Haha, you wouldn't know. The saintess usually stays pretty low-key, so few people know about her."
"You mean?"
"I met the saintess when I was a sword saint. An elderly woman with a cane. I still remember how she whooped my ass with it, haha! So no, she isn't a myth." His lips curled while he spoke and reminisced.
"Oh, I see."
Taeyang drank from his cup. Ruo Xi cleared her throat and asked. "Is it alright I ask you a question?"
"That's already a question. Yes, you may." He nods at her.
"Why did the Sword god…"
Ruo Xi paused when she noticed his eyeballs had turned red. Voluntarily, she gulped and tightened her fist.
"You are quite bold, asking someone who just almost killed you why he was forsaken."
Taeyang smiles at her and continues drinking. His eyes reverted to grey, and he spoke. "Who knows? He found someone more worthy of his love."
He took a plate of rice and a plate of curry. He dug in quietly after picking up a spoon. Ruo Xi watched him eat for a while, after which she picked up a spoon and carried a plate.
The duo ate in silence. For the first time, Taeyang lost his appetite to drink when in a tavern. It had not happened before. Not in three years, that is. His gaze lifted to Ruo Xi as he inquired.
"How did you join the Dark Moon?"
"Hm? Ack! Ack!" Ruo Xi choked on the food in her mouth. Taeyang watched her pour herself a drink. She used it to flush the food down her throat. He continued eating while looking at her. She cleared her throat while receiving his gaze that said, 'go on.'
"When I was fifteen Dark moon raided my village. They captured me and many other children. Ever since then, I've been working for them."
"Are old are you now?" he asks after swallowing.
"Um… it's not nice to ask a lady her age." Ruo Xi frowns at him.
Taeyang raised a brow at her, and she continued. "Twenty, I'm twenty."
His eyes dilate at her answer. He had not expected it. "You don't look twenty."
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen." Taeyang took a sip from his cup. "By the way, how did you know my old name?"
"Who would live in Ephit kingdom and not know the name Agnar Jarl? You are a living legend." Her eyes had sparkles in them. Her gleaming eyes caught him off guard, but he played it cool.
"With a terrible reputation, I guess," he smiled.
"Not really. In many parts of Ephit, people still revere you. The man, well, you were a boy then. The ten-year-old boy, who single-handedly stopped a catastrophe that would have ended the world."
"I wouldn't say the world, but he did stop a catastrophe," Taeyang smirked while he replied.
Ruo Xi smiled at his words and continued. "Before that, he ended the war between the kingdoms of humans and elves, and he was only six. At thirteen he sent the beast men back to their territory, when they planned on invading Ephit."
"You really are knowledgeable." He couldn't hide it anymore. His eyes had dilated while staring at her.
"The area they placed me in the Dark moon required me to know a lot. So even if my skills are not superb, I can boast about my knowledge of the various kingdoms."
"I see. So what else do you know about this little boy?" Taeyang asked while leaning forward with interest.
"Well, I know plenty. When the little boy turned seven, he…"
Taeyang listened on with a smile as she continued. The things she said piqued his interest since it was the first time he heard about his experiences in such detail from someone else. When last did he hear about his successes? When last did he hear about his fists? Two years ago? Three years, maybe? Ever since he lost the title, the Ephit kingdom turned its back on him.
Many foes chased after him, most of whom he had provoked through his service to the kingdom. He sought the same kingdom he served for help, but what did they do? They ignored his pleas and sent him away. Even his own family, the Jarl family, did not accept to help him. He swallowed his pride and ran to his successor. A huge mistake in his life.
"Why should I help you? You who were rejected by the Sword god." He could still remember the words of his successor. The twenty-something-year-old looked down at the fourteen-year-old and spoke. "If the Sword god valued your life, he wouldn't have left you. I wouldn't be foolish enough to displease the Sword god."
He was alone. He was displaced in the world. He begged for mercy and freedom, but his enemies couldn't resist the opportunity to strike down a weakened foe. Therefore, to survive, he dyed his hair black and hid in plain sight. Dwelling among the beggars in the streets. Moving from one orphanage home to another. To be fully prepared for when a powerful enemy recognized him, he avoided as many unnecessary battles as possible.
In one year, he went from city to city as an orphan, beggar, and refugee. The moment someone recognized him in a city, he fled away. He did it for so long that he earned the title of a cowered. The only sword saint to run from his enemies, Agnar Jarl, the coward sword saint. Well, he was no longer a sword saint, but no one cared about that.
In the second year of hiding, a catastrophe happened and powerful people from all over the world came together to face it.. This event drew everyone's attention and caused him to disappear entirely from his enemies' radar. He became a hunter in Hillview with a new identity, yet was still perceived as a coward. By the time the catastrophe ended, Agnar Jarl was dead and Kim Taeyang was born.
Kim Taeyang, the cowered hunter, loved by the people of Hillview city, was an orphan child, who grew up and lived in Hillview city.
The city lay in the far east of Ephit kingdom. It was alongside the border of Demiga kingdom and bordered with the monster forest to the north. The place was usually teeming with monsters, which caused the kingdom to abandon and forget it.
However, the city refused to be forgotten. It produced brave hunters who went against the monsters and protected it. They pushed back the monsters to their forest and guarded against them.
Hillview became a city under Ephit that wasn't under the jurisdiction of the Ephit kingdom. The city lord/guild master, the strongest among the hunters of the city, ran it. This was the city that accepted Taeyang wholeheartedly.