"The last four days have been nothing but hell Kleif, what good will come out of only practicing my basic forms?" Ankoku says confused
"Have you not noticed, the first time you went in you were struggling a lot, however, these days you are able to hold your own even against ten men, granted they aren't much, mainly farmers, yet they are still ten of them." Kleif sounds slightly proud of Ankokus achievements so far.
"Well, it's time for your mission, that carriage over there shall take you to the kingdom of Alucia, the closest town is named, Lain, start there and do some work."
Ankoku begins to step into the back of the carriage looking back at Kleif standing there smiling, for the first time in awhile Ankoku's face cracks a slight smile back and enters fully.
"Use the crystal in your bag when it's over, the one I put in there, I'll be able to talk to you then, good luck boy."
The carriage begins to set out rocking back and forth as Ankoku stares blankly at the bottom the carriage as he thinks in his head,
"Are you there, Raijin, Fujin, I have things I'd like to ask you."
"Aye, we are here" They say at the same time loudly in his head.
"Pick which one of you will speak to me right now, It's harder to understand when you both speak so loudly."
"I suppose I can speak to you then, Ankoku" Raijin says sharply
"What type of blessing did you put on me?"
"We decided that you were a worthy vessel and bestowed upon you the "Eldreich" blessing."
"Eldreich.. Isn't that one of the highest tier blessings only the strong few can achieve?" Ankoku says bewildered.
"Aye, that is exactly what it is, Ankoku, We saw your future and we cannot tell you things, however, this blessing will help you, we will help you become stronger and master our magic."
"Thank you, I mean that, my gods." Ankoku says so happily and closes his eyes to rest on his way towards the kingdom, everything going dark.
Torches flickering in a damp dark dungeon with banners ripped and torn on the walls as a figure is kneeling towards a throne. The figure becomes lighter as more torches approach with heavy plate steps march towards them a door flies open as knights march in with a fat man with grey hair, nice clothes and missing teeth with a smug look storms in with his crown in his hand. The man sits in the throne making it creek from his weight as he opens his mouth and snickers,
"How is it..did you kill them all, where's the mother" says the man
The man on his knee raises his head revealing the dark knight commander shu from the light of the torches as he says,
"The family is dead, my king, including the mother, I am sorry I have failed you." says the dark knight
"Damn it..that is quite unfortunate she would have helped us out a lot if I could have given her back to "them"
The king snickers as he smiles widely and says,
"That foolish knight simply thought he was better than me, knew better than me and then left my army after making a fool of me at my own table? He even takes her too. Stupid foold, tell me was his death as brutal as I requested, nice and slow!"
Commander Shu's grip beings to tighten digging into his own gauntlet denting it in as he fills with rage but calms himself and breathes before speaking,
"Yes, your highness, he died horribly."
"GOOD GOOD!" The king laughs hysterically as he smiles sitting before the dark knight
"With your permission, my king, may I take my leave?"
"Oh yes yes I have people to see to anyways!" the king says licking his lips
The Dark Knight turns and walks out quickly exiting the dungeon from a cave opening staring down at the capital of the Rekya Kingdom thinking to himself,
"How did things become like this Tatsumi, Where did we go wrong, Where did the kingdom go wrong. If I wasn't bound, I would have left with you, all that time ago.. I'm sorry my dear friend."
Ankoku opens his eyes as they approach a border checkpoint asking for any form of identification
"he's with me, sir" says the driver
The Guard looks coldly over and speaks,
"Yeah, and who the hell are you?"
"My name is Igrant, of Igrant trading company."
The guards jaw drops as he stutters worriedly,
"I'm so sorry sir! Please forgive us, please go right ahead!"
The carriage passes through the checkpoint making it's way to the town as Ankoku and Shu at the same time stare up to the beautiful blue sky as dark rain clouds form.
"Tatsumi.. I wish we could have just fought together and grown old in the same village." Shu says sadly
--FLASHBACK--
"Hey Hey HEYY!" A younger Tatsumi yells towards a cadet at the training grounds
"m-me?" says the boy
"yes you! We are gonna be friends." Tatsumi says with a large grin
"ENOUGH TALKING BACK TO TRAINING PAIR UP AND SPAR!" A loud voice comes from the center of the training grounds
In perfect harmony voices echo, 'YES SIR!"
"Let's pair up, friend!" Tatsumi yells
"Y-yeah, what's your name?" The Cadet says
"My names Tatsumi and I'm going to be a captain of a great battalion of knights! What's yours?"
"My names.. Shu, I look forward to being friends with you"
The young men face each other, one smiling brightly, the other nervously. They dash towards each other interlocking their wooden swords smiling happily.