'Are you sure?'
'Yes. I saw it with my two own eyes. I didn't look for too long, but I did catch a glimpse of the demon.'
Rem replied. Frederick walked away from the area, looking around until his sight rested on a large tree. This tree was thicker than every other tree in the forest that Rem had seen, and he had seen a large portion of this forest during his missions. There was a hollow in the tree trunk, perfectly circular in shape. It was obviously man-made. Frederick put his hand into the hollow, and when he pulled his hand out, it was gripping onto an axe.
This axe was different from the one he used to chop wood. It was two and a half feet long, made of plain steel, with a single red gem embedded into the shaft, right at the intersection where the axe blade rose. It had a wicked edge, sharper than most swords with visible wear and tear from constant usage over the years. The size and weight of the axe indicated that the wielder would need to use both hands to use it effectively, but it was a single-handed axe. Just big.
The knight was in awe of the weapon. Unlike their flimsy swords and rolled silver armor pieces, the axe was genuinely valuable. he did not know where the retired Stage 3 knight got it from, but immediately after he saw it, he wished he had been gifted with such an important weapon. After a moment of awkward silence, Rem spoke
'Where did you get that?'
Frederick looked at Rem casually, causing the younger man to freeze. Rem whispered quietly
'Sir.'
Frederick smiled and wiped his hair before answering his junior
'You have to fight demons, okay? That's not possible if you get scared so quickly. I only looked at you after all.'
Rem smiled on hearing the old man, his fear washing away. Despite having known Frederick for a long time, 20 years or more, he was still scared stiff of the retired knight. The title of Stage 3 was a great one, and Frederick was one of the greatest knights of his generation, having made a name for himself in the Demon Nest raid fifteen years ago, despite having retired before. He was a Tower Master candidate, after all.
'As for this beauty, I got this custom-made from some people I hold dear to my heart. I have not seen them in years, but this was the weapon I used for a long time. I got this immediately after I graduated from the Royal Academy, you know.'
Frederick spoke with a smile. Rem returned the smile nervously when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around while unsheathing his sword, his eyes alertly scanning the region.
'It's alright Rem, calm down. You should be able to identify your own group of knights, you idiot. What kind of a knight are you?'
'Stage 1. Sir.'
Rem replied with a smirk. He had relaxed a bit after his senior had spoken, but he still did not want to take any chances. Taking risks with demons was the main cause of death for knights after overconfidence. However, after seeing his squad of knights clumsily stumble towards them, he couldn't help but laugh at himself. He was such a fool.
The knights bowed in respect to Frederick, who smiled back kindly as he hefted his heavy axe onto his shoulder. He walked deeper into the forest with long strides. The knights came rushing behind him, all five of them struggling to maintain pace. they could obviously keep up with his current speed, but for that, they would have to jog, which meant they were not as fast as an old man walking. That just seemed disgraceful.
'Sir, are you thinking of joining us? I thought you did not want to fight after retiring.'
One of the knights asked after mustering up courage. Frederick briefly paused, turning his head to look at the man who had asked him such an important question.
'So do you want to fight it on your own? If you do, go ahead. I will inform your families of your unfortunate death.'
Sir Frederick said with a smirk. The others did not have a dark sense of humor, or at least not in the current situation, and remained grim. As they walked, the knights fixed their equipment, sheathing and unsheathing their swords to reduce friction in battle, check their armor straps, and calm their minds.
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X stumbled into the shop after a whole lot of searching. The marketplace was not a hard place to get lost in, even if you knew its layout. X had difficulty identifying a single shop among dozens of similar ones. The sprawled-out shops were of different styles, some tents made of simple cloth or animal skin, others wooden structures that were simplistic in both design and decor. None of the shops tried to look good, since there was no reason for them to do so. All of their customers lived in the village itself and knew the location of the shops they wished to visit. Excluding X. Well, he was not a customer anyway, so that was alright.
X approached the timber shop, a wooden building that was slightly larger than the others like it was showing off its importance. There was a small signboard that hung from the roof of the shop, and on that signboard, "Timber Merchant David" was written. X walked up to the wooden building with a grin on his face, happy that he finally found the shop, when he saw his smile reflected back to him. The shopkeeper was beaming with joy, which only served to make him uglier. He was a large balding fat man with green eyes, undoubtedly in his fifties. Every time he moved, his triple chin shook alongside his bulging stomach. He had teeth that glowed so brightly it looked like he spent the morning only brushing.
X did not ask him why he was so overjoyed. He simply handed over all the logs he was carrying, and stood there, eyes on the ground. For a while, neither of them moved, nor did they speak. X was naturally the uncomfortable type, and despite having seen this man on multiple occasions before, he was still too nervous to actually strike up a conversation. Not that he would actually be good at it. he barely knew how to say hello courteously, and he was afraid that the longer he stayed with his grandfather, the worse his conversation skills would become.
The shopkeeper's joyous mood was ruined by this blond kid and his pile of wood. he had seen him before, the obnoxious kid who never spoke to anyone, hiding behind his grandfather's back, too important to lower himself and speak with these poor mortals. He also knew his grandfather, Mr.Frederick, his main supplier. He knew that the retired knight was a big deal in the village, although he did not understand why having a Stage 2 knight would be such a big deal for them. If it was Stage 3 he would understand, but Stage 2. With a snort of anger that made him, unfortunately, look like a pig, he asked X
'Kid, what do you want to do with this? if you're selling it then tell that, or get out. Stupid boy and wood, ruining my mood after a great deal.'
X mumbled something in a voice too faint to hear. The shopkeeper was complaining to himself about how this kid ruined his mood, then remembered about some highly profiting trade he had made that had him smiling in the first place, and continued beaming in joy.
X gathered all the logs, before speaking again, this time his voice being slightly louder than a whisper, slightly audible
'I...am...se...sell wood.'
X said while pointing to the wood bundled up under his right arm. The man nodded, and grabbed the wood from his hand, inspecting its quality as he continued grinning. Suddenly, a loud booming noise was heard, followed by a tremendous shockwave. The clothes that made up the tents swayed as if a gust of wind had blown. The ground itself trembled ever so slightly. X turned around, staring at the source of the disturbance, when another shockwave came from the exact same direction, having the same impact, along with another booming sound of matching volume. X stood still for a moment as his mind tried to decipher what was there in the direction where the shockwave had originated from. His hands shivered from fear and anxiety as he realized the location of the source. Home.
Grabbing the butcher's hatchet from his table, X sped across the street, wanting to yell to the butcher that he would return the hatchet, but his tongue stopped working due to fear. Luckily for him, everyone here knew his grandfather. The butcher cursed the kid regardless, although there was a faint smile on his face. He could now boast to his friends and fellow merchants. The great retired Stage 3 knight now owned him something, after all.
There was another shockwave, then another, the intensity increasing as he neared the origin point. X ran as fast as he possibly could, racing past his small wooden house on the edge of the forest, and rushing straight into the woods. Another shockwave appeared, much stronger due to the increased proximity, causing even the trees to creak loudly. He heard the crash of a tree on his left right after the booming sound, causing him to turn around and change course. He weaved through the maze of tall trees, his heart hammering due to fear. he could hear his heartbeat.
Suddenly, something felt off. X knew this feeling. He was having a heat attack. He clutched his stomach, not even pausing despite the excessive pain he was in. The heat radiated out of him with much more ferocity than it had ever done before, but X could not stop. If he was right, and he probably was, then these shockwaves were caused due to his grandfather and the demon fighting. He did not wish to be spotted by demons, especially one that had enough mental ability to hide and stalk humans instead of instinctively ripping them apart. Grandfather had mentioned that mental ability was one of the key indicators of a demon's strength.
When he finally found the source, he stopped dead in his tracks, almost falling forward as he clashed with his own momentum. The heat from the heat attack worsened, affecting his other organs like his heart and lungs. THere was a clearing in the forest where the knights and demons were fighting. Standing in front of him, Rem and another knight were fighting a demon. It was similar to the one he fought five years ago, except its skin was less brown and more maroon in color. They were also smaller and faster, with bead-like eyes and pitch-black pupils that covered the entire eye. on the other side of the clearing, three other knights were battling another demon, exactly the same as the one Ren was fighting, except for the scar that ran down its back. The knights were fighting them and were admittedly winning. This wasn't the reason he stopped. He had seen the knights fight before. No, the real reason was far worse.
Right in the middle of both the battles, was a shorter blood-red demon with a thin, lanky structure and long serrated claws, using those very same claws to lift a person up in the air in a chokehold. The person had military-style white hair that was now stained red with blood and was holding an axe X had never seen before. His large, muscular frame was limp, hanging like a corpse from the demon's raised arm like a lamp of a scarecrow. He coughed out a little, even the slight motion causing great pain that was evident from his facial expression.
It was his Grandfather.
The corner of the demon's eye turned to look at X.