The man behind the counter sized him up before saying, "You got one hell of a aura! What a pity. Your previous leader has already informed me of the incident you were a part of. Sorry to say this kid but, you have to grab your boat and go down the River of Home. If you can bring back 20 Selkie heads however you'll be allowed back in."
Kubera wanted to slice that man's head off in that moment, but managed to restrain his killing intent after a second. Cold sweat started forming on his back nonetheless after hearing all of this, he was quiet for a whole minute before finally managing the words, "Yes.. Sir."
The man behind the counter chuckled and shook his head then reminded Kubera before he was dismissed, "This is the will of the higher ups. So disobeying this task or attempting to run away will ignite your birthmark, blowing you to shreds. Be grateful you still have a chance at life" the man then spat on his shoulder before waving him off.
Kubera turned and left hastily, trying to get out of that man's view, or rather get that man out of his view before he ended up just deciding to kill him. After closing the inn's door, he let out a sorrowful sigh before walking over to the boathouse to grab his boat that had accompanied him in numerous battles, sailing to the River of Home. The rain persisting even now, with no remorse for his feelings.
It took Kubera 30 minutes to sail all the way to the vast river, that was surrounded by lots of tall green trees and vines with the rain ever still present. No one wished to ever enter this river, since everyone knows the ones who have never returned. This was a river that heinous criminals were usually sent to, a punishment that is worst then execution at the spot. The river was a hunting ground for Selkies, as lots of fish go through this river. At the end of the long river stretching over miles without end, lies a huge lake, occupied currently by the Selkies.
Kubera thought back to the incident while sailing through the river.
...
The final mission to complete Warrior training in the Manticore Legion was to drink the blood from a Selkie head to prove your strong bloodline within the capital's church. Most people with strong bloodlines didn't react to drinking Selkie blood, while weaker ones would struggle to drink it, the more they struggle, the likelihood they'd have a bad future, marking them as bad luck in rare situations. Even if the person participated in countless battles, a weak tolerance to Selkie blood was a bad omen for the future, as all who have struggled with Selkie blood would perish within the next 10 years, worst case scenario the cause of death is so grand it kills even their comrades. People came to the conclusion that Selkie blood has divine properties, letting one know of the power of their bloodline and even their future.
Kubera didn't react to the blood from the Selkie when he drank it, at least that's what it looked like. After the award ceremony had ended and he went to bed, he felt a throbbing pain in his head that left him struggling to the bathroom, vomiting all contents from his stomach. The next day the pain wasn't as bad but still persisted. This was the day he was assigned to the fishing village. He thought nothing of it and tried to hide his pain, but it seemed his leader had already sensed it and decided his fate.
He didn't realize however that the symptoms he felt last night was one that has only occurred a few times in Manticore's History. Each time it did occur, the person was destined to be one with death. This wasn't due to their bloodline being weak, in fact it was the opposite. His bloodline potential was so strong, it caused the divine properties in the blood to mark him as a target for all Selkies to sense instinctively the more his bloodline awoke. Although it would mean he has the ability to change the world, that would also mean the higher ups would lose countless profit that is to be made from war donations and the backing of countless rich nobles if one person is doing all the work. All the wealth and glory would go to this Kubera kid, which is something no one used to living a comfortable life of wealth and fame built from the blood from their warriors and Selkies wanted, especially the already famous warriors that represented the Legion. This was the corrupt business Kubera and thousands of others will never know about in their life.
...
Back at the river, Kubera continued to sail until suddenly he felt a stinging sensation in his head and instinctively ducked. A harpoon spear whistled through the air and flew past where his head previously was and shot into the floor of the boat. Kubera stood up to see he was completely surrounded. The harpoons were glowing with a white aura surrounding them. This told Kubera that the Harpoonist were buffed by Shamans, since they're the only ones who can make weapons glow like that amongst the Selkies.
"Fucking hell.."
The medium sized Sailboat was built of deftwood and enhanced by the manticore boat builders that were paid a hefty price for this enhancement. The boat originally belonged to his grandfather who passed it down to Kubera's father, but since he perished in an accident, the boat fell back to his grandfather again, who decided to pass it on to Kubera when he was 10, just a year before his grandfather passed away. The enhanced boat could deflect regular harpoon spears and can traverse water with ease. But now the boat was slowly crumbling by the Harpoonists!
After anchoring the boat to discourage the Harpoonist from shooting the boat, Kubera grabbed his two-handed 2 meter broadsword and raised it in the air, following which a force descended upon the river. Kubera under such immense pressure let go of all restraints and decided he would go all out if he was going to die. His aura glowing light purple profoundly, the Selkies feared a heavenly deity had descended upon this land! But they knew instinctively that out of all the humans they've fought.. this one has to die no matter what.
The Selkies all let out a screech that sent birds flying everywhere. After which they all started firing their harpoons at him, with the shamans working in tandem to provide stronger buffs. Kubera deflected spear after spear despite wielding such a big and heavy sword, he was even able to hold the sword with one hand and use the other to grab one of the spears that shot at him out of the air, using the momentum from it to spin and throw it back to one of the Selkies, sending that Selkie flying into the forest!
..
Somewhere in the forest, a bird was covering her nest with it's wings, protecting her babies from the persistent rain. However, it instinctively felt danger, as if an earthquake or some type of disaster was about to happen, so it flew up. Just as the bird did, it barely dodged the selkie which crashed into the nest and continued flying through until eventually being impaled into a tree, the energy causing most of the selkie's body to blow up! With only the spear and a few body parts remaining.
..
After the barrage of harpoon spears they all retreated to reload and adjust their plans. Kubera started to look around and found that Selkie warriors were now swimming through the river and some were running where the trees were, diving into the river. They all started climbing onto the sailboat! Kubera sliced some of their arms off but was shortly overwhelmed by the numbers and had to get ready to fight them on board. The warriors carried Scimitars that glistened due to the rain and the shining orange aura on their blade which were obviously being buffed by the Shamans hiding in the forest.
Kubera gritted his teeth and swung forth. His 2 meter broadsword sliced through a Selkie's body, then the head of another, and curved to formed what looked like the crescent of a moon, curving down to slice the legs of the same Selkie he beheaded, following which he rotated his sword and used the flat side of the sword to effortlessly lift the legless body of the Selkie up into the air and kick it to a group of Selkies in front of him, sending them flying back into the river. All of that happening within a matter of a few seconds! His blade dripping with blood and returning back to its original silver due to the rain. The boat had become a bloodbath.
The Harpoonists all climbed on top of the trees to take aim at Kubera once more. Kubera gripped his sword and roared loudly, his aura billowing out, stunning some of the selkies present! Yelling afterwards, "COME AT ME! I'LL PRESERVE YOUR HEADS NICELY SO THE WHOLE WORLD CAN SEE YOUR PATHETIC EXPRESSION BEFORE DEATH!"
The Selkies couldn't understand what he was saying but knew by his tone he was probably insulting them, so they all Shrieked loudly and began their attack once more.
Kubera sliced another Selkie in half and grabbed it's neck while its body was still flying and used it to shield himself from the Harpoons. Despite using the two-handed sword with one hand, he still fought back viciously. Taking another 5 Selkies before having the arm grabbing onto the Selkie blown off by one of the harpoon spears! He spat blood and nearly fell but regained his footing and took another 2 Selkies down!
"Huff.. huff.. huff..." Kubera was panting and felt his left arm was numb.. Of course it was, it was gone..
"Is this really where I'll die?" Kubera couldn't help but have this thought as he looked at the retreating harpoonists and warriors who were most likely reorganizing and preparing a new strategy.
That's when he started to remember his parents sacrifice..