"He's up, He's up!" I hear a voice yelling, running out of the room
So there really was a village nearby. I'm glad I noticed those demons before I found this place. I haven't been in a comfortable bed like this for a long time, I almost forgot the feeling.
"Hey, the kid wasn't pulling my leg, you really are awake. How are you feeling?" Gabe said walking in with another man. The man was an elf, slim and tall with brown hair. Very similar to Herderal
"I'll be fine, I was just drained of energy." I said
"Man, you put up quite the fight back there. I thought you were done after you fell to the floor but you just got right back up."
"If you didn't step in I wouldn't have gotten back up."
"So you really can die huh. You're not immortal?"
"No, well I guess I am but not for too long."
"Why did you face them in the first place?" The man next to Gabe spoke out
"I did so because they were following me and I didn't want them to attack you guys either." I explained
"Oh I see, I feel as though I should introduce myself. I'm the leader of this village. My name is Herdal. I have to ask, why and how did you seek this village?"
"Well I found this weird patch of treeless forest on a map and knew it didn't seem right. I thought maybe a dryad would be nearby and could help me locate a demon named Ratar." Shock grew on both of their faces.
"Ratar… That demon was the one that drove us to this underground village." Herdal said. I didn't even know we were underground.
"Yes, Ratar demonstrated his strength by wiping out half of the elven population by himself. He destroyed countless villages and turned all that lived into demonic beasts. We are all that remain. After all the wars I fought in, I've never seen a battle so one sided." Gabe said
"That is exactly why I should fight. Why have this strength and not use it to support you and the elves. After so many years I will finally have a purpose." I said standing up
"You will have plenty of time to find your purpose. It seems you may have not headed me so do so now. You barely survived against those two demons and they weren't even commanders. You may be able to hold your own against the weakest commander I can think of but that's it. You are not ready to challenge Ratar." Gabe says.
"Then I'm of no use?" I asked
"No, in my eyes I've never seen a person with such potential. Stay here, rest, and improve upon yourself. Think of ways your strength and abilities can grow. I will be the judge of whether you are ready or not. This is my daughter Ella, she can show you around and get you comfortable." He points to the girl in the doorway.
The girl starts to leave and I quickly catch up to her. I almost hit my head on the top of the door frame and the ceiling is just inches away. We continued to walk but she didn't seem interested in talking to me.
"So what's it like living here? How many people live here? Hey your dad seems like a nice guy, did he ever mention which wars he fought in?" I asked
"My dad is the greatest warrior I know. He was in lots of wars and even fought against demons. Before the gods disappeared though." She said
She wouldn't respond to my other questions so I guess she likes to talk about her dad. We talked more about Gabes accomplishments and more about how this village came to be. Gabe was one of the founders of the village and trained lots of soldiers. He's also a talented weaponsmith.
"So this is the hospital. We take people that are injured like you and get them checked out by doctors that know healing magic." She explained
"So humans live here as well?" I asked
"Yep." she said. I didn't see any around from outside the building so they must be in small numbers. Ella is Gabe's daughter and Gabe is definitely a dwarf so that must make her one as well. The leader is an elf and looking around it appears most others are as well. This is a mostly elven continent after all.
We kept walking and talking. She showed me places like the library, plaza, food stands, and a place for younger kids to learn combat. She showed me inside and that's when we ran into a group of kids around her age.
"This is Ascal, Striker, Callmer, and Laltier." Ella said introducing them
"And this guy is?" Striker asked
"Oh right uhhhhh, what's your name again?" She whispered into my ear
"Oh um Max." I responded. That's my dads name and since I don't really have one I'll use it for the time being.
"Max is the one that killed those demons from up above." Ella said showing me off
"Is that so, you and me, let's go to the sparring grounds." Ascal said pointing at me
"Just ignore him, he's just a battle crazed maniac." Ella tried shielding me from his challenge.
"Oh I see, you don't want me hurting your boyfriend I guess." Ascal taunted
"Nevermind, kill this asshole before I do." Ella instructed me
We headed further into the building until we reached a large open area with lots of different people fighting. None of the fights seemed like a life or death situation though so it must be for training. Ascal rushed over to an open area and signaled me to join him. Ella stood on the side and counted down from five.
"Five, four, three, two, one, START!"
Ascal began to run towards me but he was extremely slow. Is he faking his actual speed to throw me off? I mean why else would he challenge me if he didn't believe that he had at least a chance at winning. I quickly moved behind him to strike but he still didn't react. I sat there for a bit truly confused and decided that he must have just been over his head.
I stopped moving so fast and he finally realized that I was behind him. He was shocked but decided to keep on the attack. He landed a hit clean on my stomach but I didn't even move. I almost gravely injured this kid thinking he had the ability to harm me in some way. I'm glad I took his strength and speed at face value.
He kept up with multiple attacks but I either blocked or moved them to the side. I then pushed him to the ground and looked at Ella.
"Welp there you have it Ascal, you are no longer the strongest in the group." Ella announced
"That's not fair he's clearly has a lighter load then me and has a way better reach. He's a giant after all." Ascal explained the clear disadvantage
"Well if you knew all that then why'd you challenge him in the first place?" Ella asked, but Ascal didn't respond.
As we all walked out even though he was upset after the match Ascal approached me and complimented how fast I was. Though he wasn't the nicest back there he seemed like an alright kid.
The tour continued and I got to meet a lot of other nice and respectful people. Overall the village was a very welcoming place but that could also be because I killed Tex.
"This is the shop and is also where me and my dad live. People buy training swords and tools that help with construction."
We headed inside to find it dimly lit with loud clanking in one of the back rooms. Swords strung across the walls of the first room with a counter towards the back. All the swords are so well made. I can tell Gabe has been a weaponsmith for a very long time. Dwarfs do have a natural talent for crafting so I guess that makes sense.
"Hey well if it isn't the tour group. How'd everything go?" Gabe asked, stepping out of the backroom.
"It went fine I guess. Ascal was a jerk as usual. The first thing he did when meeting Max was challenge him to a duel and taunt me for declining for Max." Ella responded
"Max?"
"Yeah, Max." She points at me
"Oh I was under the impression that you didn't have a name. When we introduced ourselves you didn't respond with anything."
"You're right, Max was my fathers name. I simply used it since I don't have a name myself." I said
"Did your parents truly not give you one?" Ella asked
"No I was given one but I guess out of spite I had erased it from memory. I wish I didn't do so."
"It's alright, give me a little time to come up with one. I won't even charge you for it." He said jokingly
"Oh right, I've been meaning to ask what wars you fought in Gabe. It piqued my interest since there were a large number of wars that happened when I was little." I stated
"Well that's a surprise. Since the war that happened 50 years ago the only conflicts I can think of were minor resistances fighting against the demons. Well that and the possible civil war that could happen any day now. How old are you exactly?""
"I'm 20-"
"Well actually you're 70." The goddess of healing said, inserting herself into the conversation.
"I'm what!??"