The Path of Ruin

It took several hours for the storm to end. Finally, when the rains slowed and the lightning died down, Kael came out of his small shelter.

He did not move randomly, as he often did. This time, he was heading towards a specific spot.

And that was... outside the forest.

As he walked, he made sure to pay attention to his surroundings. So he was able to sense movement.

When he first entered the forest, the outermost layer was dominated by wolves. But on this side... things were a little different. Here, there was a more ruthless, more powerful species than the wolves.

Goblins.

But...

"Haaa..."

Kael pulled his dagger out from under his clothes, which was hardly enough to be called a clothing.

This one month had not been kind to his clothes. But his dagger... it was different. It was really high quality, it didn't feel dull no matter how much he used it, and it was extremely sturdy.

After a deep sigh, he used his 'power', creating a warmth in his chest. But he did not spread it all over his body. Carefully, step by step, he guided it to his legs. Then... he suddenly jumped out of his place.

The goblins hiding in the bushes, planning to surprise attack him, didn't even have a chance to react. Kael's dagger went straight through the skull of the one in their midst. It took its life, and gave Kael another hour and a half to live.

Kael acted quickly. He pulled his dagger out of the head of the goblin he had killed and swung it to his left, severing the head from the neck of the second goblin, whose eyes widened.

The third goblin tried to attack him, stooping to tear his legs apart with hands that had only three fingers. Kael, however, stepped back slightly and stepped on the goblin. After pinning it to the ground, he placed his foot on its head, which he smashed without hesitation.

His face was expressionless as four and a half hours were thus added to his life. He looked at the goblins' bodies with disgust as the warmth he had sent to his legs disappeared.

They were like little children. But... they were too savage. So much so that Kael couldn't help but be disgusted by them.

He really would have tried to wipe them out if he could. But... the goblins hid really well. They were hard to find, except for those intent on attacking him.

'Anyway...'

He left their bodies and continued on his way.

Finally, after about forty minutes of walking, he noticed that the trees had become extremely sparse some distance ahead and his eyes widened.

He quickened his pace, almost ran. He passed one last tree, and then... his eyes widened again. His lips curled upwards as he looked excitedly at the landscape in front of him.

Everything he had seen for the last month was... trees. There were trees everywhere and he was getting bored.

And now... for the first time, there was something other than trees in front of him.

In front of him was a vast plain. He could see the mountains rising far ahead, there was even a long river that caught his eye.

But, more importantly...

'This is...'

In the distance was a town that didn't seem to mind the rain at all.

'A town!'

Suddenly, his face lit up. Because... the most perfect scenario had happened.

Kael didn't want to go to an extremely small village, there was nothing he could do by going to such a place.

But... he couldn't get into one of the big cities in his condition. He was penniless and he was sure that nothing good would happen to him if he went into a place like that. He didn't think they'd let him into a place like that anyway, at least not with the way he looked now...

He needed a town that was not too big, but not too small either.

The town in front of his eyes met his requirements.

Kael didn't wait any longer. With quick steps, he made his way towards the town he had seen. It was only a few kilometers away, anyway. Even if he went slowly, it wouldn't take him long to get there.

But Kael didn't care, on the contrary, he sped up even more. He couldn't shake the excitement, entering a town would be a whole new experience for him and he was... curious. Up to this point in his life, he had always worked, he had never been in a city or town. Even when he went somewhere else, he usually traveled in the dark, on the back of a cart. Now, it was different!

And so, in the light rain, he went on without stopping.

*******

Ahkan was a man who had reached the age of twenty-five without ever leaving the town where he was born. Unlike most people, he had never had big dreams in his life, not even as a child. The only thing he always wanted was... to live an ordinary life. Nothing more, nothing less.

And... he lived an ordinary life. The only important thing in his life was his child from his marriage.

And... the job he worked to support his family.

It was a very simple job. He was a guard of the town where he lived since the day he was born. He had a good body, so he never suffered any hardship. He was given a task every day and he did it.

And today's task was... patrolling around the town.

He sighed softly in the rain.

It was a boring day, just like every other one. But he wasn't complaining. He would rather have a boring, uneventful day like this than a tedious one. As long as he finished the day and got paid, he didn't really care what he did.

'I've been walking around for almost two hours, it's time to change shifts.'

With that thought, he paused, looking away.

He wanted to check one last time. Because of the storm, creatures and some dangerous animals could come out of the forest and make their way to the town, which was why he was circling a little wider than usual.

His eyes were scanning the whole area when he suddenly stopped.

"Huh...?"

Had he seen it wrong...?

He turned back to where he was looking only a few seconds ago, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh..."

No, he was not mistaken. There was a figure in the distance approaching the spot where he was.

"A goblin?"

Ahkan didn't have very good eyesight, his eyes were a bit bad. Especially with something approaching from so far away.

He reached for the sword at his waist, unsheathed it, and got ready. With slow steps, he walked towards the figure. He would have had no difficulty taking down a simple goblin. But he was still cautious. He had never taken his job lightly and never would.

So, he kept his focus, and the figure that approached him became clearer and clearer. And then...

"A... human?"

Yes, what approached looked like a person.

But... he didn't look like a human being at the same time.

He could have been a boy of about fourteen. And as he got closer, he could see more clearly that he was not in a good condition. His clothes were in such bad shape that he was better off not wearing them, not even slaves wore something so tattered. His hair was dirty and long as if it had not been cleaned for weeks.

And yet...

"Is he smiling?"

He gripped his sword tighter. He was sure that what was in front of him was a creature that looked human. Why would someone smile in a situation like this? But, then...

"Heeeey!"

His eyebrows widened at the boy's voice, his grip on his sword loosened a little involuntarily. But he recovered quickly. There were only ten meters between him and the boy now, and he had finally slowed down and almost stopped. He was looking directly at him.

Ahkan did not hesitate to point his sword at him, his eyes were sharp.

"Who are you?"

The boy didn't look scared as he looked at the sword in his hand. But the smile had disappeared from his face. He looked a little more serious now.

"I am not a creature, my name is Kael. I was with a... merchant group, but we were attacked by bandits!"

Ahkan raised his eyebrows.

"Your clothes are simply too worn for someone fleeing from bandits."

The boy nodded in agreement. His eyes flickered for a moment, perhaps they would have teared up if he forced them to.

"It's because I've been walking through the forest for a week! I... I have a bad sense of direction."

Ahkan was surprised. Because... he was sure that such a boy could not survive in the forest. Even if he hadn't gone too far into the interior parts, it was surprising that he hadn't been killed by a group of goblins or wolves.

That is... if he was really telling the truth.

And Ahkan had good reason not to believe the boy.

"No one in their right mind would try to come here when the kingdom has just fallen. Rebellions keep breaking out and the cities are not safe."

No one had time to trade.

Everyone was in fear for their lives.

The only reason this small town was relatively quiet was because it was far away from all the turmoil.

"We were just passing through the kingdom... Arcanoa was not our destination."

'Oh, that... actually makes sense...'

The kingdom's location was central. So, many trade routes passed through it.

How had he forgotten that... was he just looking for a reason to doubt the boy in front of him?

'Does it make sense for me to be so suspicious of a boy of fourteen?'

Like everyone else, he must have been trying to survive. Which... he was clearly trying very hard to do.

"Haaah..."

Ahkan finally lowered his sword, sheathed it with a sigh. He took one last look at the boy, then turned back to the town.

"I was just finishing my patrol, ugh..."

He paused, scratching his chin with one hand, his eyes shifting slightly to his right.

"Kael."

"Right, Kael. Follow me, enter the town. But after that, I can't do anything."

The boy's lips curved upwards slightly in gratitude. Only two words came out of his mouth.

"Thank you."

Ahkan said nothing else. There was only one thing running through his mind.

'What a strange kid...'

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