CHAPTER 7 (PART 1): KILL THE LEADER

"Intruder!" shouted the furious bandit ahead. He reached up to the rope and rang the bell at his post. The alarming sound immediately alerted the entire hideout.

Arth muttered a curse under his breath, gritting his teeth. He unsheathed his Blackwinter sword as he advanced forward.

Three bandits charged to meet Arth, shouting their battle cries like savages with their swords at hand. One by one they came at him. Arth dashed forward, swiftly slashing the first bandit by his throat. Blood spurted out of his neck. Holding his bloody throat, the bandit choked, coughing hard until he ran out of life.

The second bandit attacked, waving his sword, but Arth intercepted using his blade. Both steels struck and bounced away, producing a clanging sound. Arth took this opportunity, stepping forward, then smashed the bandit’s forehead with a head-butt, causing him to reel backward, then hit the ground

Arth took care of the third thug easily. With his agile movements, it was a piece of cake for him to handle such enemies who had no experience in dueling—all thanks to Chief Gregor’s trainings.

Arth continued his way towards the hideout, where more bandits came approaching.

All of a sudden, in a blink of an eye, three golden arrows shot three bandits right at their foreheads. A triple accurate shot it was. Arth turned around with eyes wide open, seeing a golden bow shining on top of the hill. More arrows flew up in the night heavens like golden comets, gleaming amidst the darkness.

Distracted, Arth heard another bandit rushing at him, but he’s fast enough to evade the attack; the next he pierced the bandit's neck by the point of his sword.

After pulling Blackwinter out of the bloody flesh, he continued on his way. The hideout became a battlefield. In truth, it was his first time killing humans his entire life, but he felt nothing at all, no sympathy or mercy … just strangely numb. Slaying these thugs was nothing different from slaying wild beasts. They’re just like mindless beings—doing all the things they wanted without even a sense of human morality. But the time for their punishment had finally come.

After clearing out his path, Arth reached the hideout, passing by tents after tents. But then he slowed down as more enemies had gathered ahead of his way.

‘They're so many!’ Arth thought, but he never stopped rushing forward. ‘Luna, a little help here!’

“You stupid dogs! You can’t even catch one kid?! Get him!”

With enough flexibility, Arth bent his body over, dodging the first bandit’s sword, then he lunged forward and slit the bandit’s throat with a seamless glide of his blade. The thug screamed, choking in blood until he fell on his knees, then died.

More bandits charged to Arth, but then it rained suddenly with golden arrows, shooting every single head around him. With the enemies being wiped out by the flying arrows, Arth was now able to move forward towards their leader's tent. Any bandit, who had tried to get close, or block his path, was all shot by Luna. And there were no arrows missed or wasted.

Arth stopped in front of the largest black tent, panting heavily. Sweat broke from his forehead down to his neck, his heart racing like a galloping stallion.

A minute after, a big shadow figure moved from the inside of the tent. Arth’s eyes went up as a tall and muscular brute, wearing a coat of black fur, stepped out of the tent. A black strap covered his left eye, his head bald, his face scarred, and his hands held an enormous metal axe.

Arth tightened the grip on his sword as the brute raised his chin, his fierce eye looking down at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but then more thugs came at his back, surrounding him, blocking his escape.

‘Luna, I wasn't prepared for this!’ Arth thought, clenching his teeth.

"Well, look who's here," said the brute, his voice as deep as an ocean trench, "a young warrior, disturbing my slumber."

Arth swallowed hard the lump in his throat, knowing how strong the brute was … stronger than anything he had faced before. But he had to take him down no matter what. These bandits had already caused enough suffering to that poor village. 

Arth bent his knees to prepare his stance, his feet rooted firmly on the ground.

"Lemme deal with this young warrior myself," the leader told the bandits surrounding them. "You find and capture that pesky archer in the hill … GO!"

The bandits flinched, then scurried away, leaving the two of them alone.

"Guess you’re still not old enough to know you’re trespassing, kid," the brute grunted.

"I just came here for your head."

The man guffawed shortly, then his face fell serious again. "You don't know who you're speaking to, pesky rat."

"Then let me guess … an immoral, brainless, and stupid brute who knows nothing but robbery and building muscles … a huge body you have but your head is probably empty …" 

The man snapped ferociously, raising his deadly axe above with both hands, his arms flexing out the hard-muscles.

‘Great, now I pissed him off!’ Arth thought, wincing.

The brute struck his axe down with inhumane strength, as if he would chop down the toughest log in the world. Arth, however, was quick enough to evade by jumping backward. The heavy axe hit the ground instead, creating a large, deep crack from the strong impact.

Arth's eyes widened after seeing the damage it had made to the ground. What destructive power it had … one hit and he could get crushed through the bones. He had to be more careful.

The brute pulled his axe up, then gave another heavy swing. Arth ducked his upper body to avoid it, but he did not come to see the brute’s knee about to strike him from below. He quickly crossed his arms to block the knee, but the impact was too powerful it blew him away, rolling over the dirty ground.

Arth cursed under his breath, panting. Had he not blocked it in time, it could’ve knocked him out.

He pushed the ground to lift his body, getting into his feet. He gritted his teeth from the sudden pain in his arm. It shot with an intense ache, like his bones had been broken after being hit by that powerful strike.

After recovering his stance, he narrowed his eyes, wiping the track of dirt on his cheek. He had to finish this now. He couldn’t afford receiving another direct hit.

Arth knew he had to start his offense. So he bent his knees, slid one foot backward, then rushed towards the opening, swinging his sword with all of his strength. The brute blocked it using his metal axe, but with Arth's strength, it forced the man to take a step back. Their two weapons colliding against each other only made his arms hurt more.

They began exchanging blows, that with every hit of their weapons, the stronger and faster they clashed. But as the fight went on, Arth kept an eye on his opponent’s attacking patterns.

“You’re not even close matching the strength of my trainer,” Arth told him with a side grin. He did not know but he had this habit of pissing off his opponents to make them angrier, wilder, slowly losing their focus on the battle. And that could be his advantage in winning the match.

As expected, the brute became more enraged, quickly driving his right knee to strike Arth on his gut, but Arth knew it was coming, so he jumped, then spun into the air to land a kick against the brute’s head.

‘His attacks are powerful … but he's slow,’ Arth thought, knowing his speed was his advantage … the key to defeating this guy. He made the unique stance he had learned from Chief Gregor, aiming his sword towards his opponent, his other hand touching the blade. ‘I'll end this seamlessly in one strike.’

He slid one foot forward on the ground, then closed his eyes. The words of Chief Gregor suddenly spoke in his mind. Concentration was the key to this special move so he took a deep breath, clearing his mind, as clear as ice.

When he opened his eyes, he locked all of his focus on his opponent's full-blooded neck.

 “Using a sword skill, eh?” the brute raised a brow. “Fine, then. I’ll break your sword and finish you for good with this skill o’ mine.” He lifted his iron axe, then it started to glow brighter.

Arth was smarter to know he wouldn’t stand a chance against that tremendous power, building up on that axe, but his goal was not to counter it. He inhaled, then exhaled slowly through his mouth, white mist coming out.

[Blue Dragon Style] [First Form]

He pushed his feet against the ground, lunging forward towards his target. The brute also sprang to meet Arth, creating a wide swing of his glowing axe.

At one blink ... the sound of a blade slicing through the flesh came about as they passed by each other.

"Draconic Rush," Arth whispered as he returned his sword to its sheath.

"How..." the man said at his back, choking and coughing hard.

Draconic Rush was the first form of the Blue Dragon Swordsmanship, taught to him by Chief Gregor. Sword skills could only be learned and mastered by talented warriors. However, Arth had come to learn only the first form, since Chief Gregor had no idea how the other forms worked.

Turning around, Arth found the brute holding his neck as blood spurted out of the open throat. Dark, thick liquid flowed down on his black fur coat, dripping on the ground. He fell into his knees after, then hit his face on the ground.

Arth walked towards the bald man, then stomped a shoe on his chest. The man grunted in pain, gritting his teeth fully drowned in his blood.

"You've done enough damages already," Arth said as he pressed his shoe harder. A few seconds later, the man finally died with its one eye wide open.

"Justice is served," Arth said, shaking his arms to loosen up the aching pain.

"Well done!" Arth heard Luna's voice from behind. She approached him and then squatted, surveying the dead body.

“Hmm …” she slowly nodded, rubbing her chin. "I was about to take his head off with my own arrow, but I realized it wouldn’t be necessary," she smiled. "I knew you'd make it."

Arth shrugged, still rubbing his arms from the pain. "Curse him, that knee really caught me off-guard! I should’ve been more cautious."

Luna studied his condition, looking thoughtful. "You can never leave a battlefield unharmed, you know that?”

Arth nodded. "Thanks for covering me, Luna. I never would’ve made it without you.”

“I told you, you just have to trust your comrades. Teamwork is the key.” She winked.

"By the way, you were incredible earlier. With that perfect accuracy, you could even wipe out all these thugs by yourself."

"I wouldn’t say so,” Luna said. “I'm not that good in close combat. Long ranges are my forte, you see.” She stood up and turned around. "Let's go. We'll just ask the village guards to burn this hideout along with the dead bodies."

Arth nodded, but before he left, he took one last glance at the dead body of the leader. This was his first … and perhaps the easiest mission yet, as he knew that more powerful opponents would await him in the future.