Sword Madien's Journey

[gamer5]

Sword Maiden's Journey​

By Gamer5 (I.Ljubaj)​

Prologue
Creation of the Maiden

"With the power of swords,
To destroy the swords
And the knowledge of making swords"
​

The moment of your birth was the fourth of Fauir (May) during the 671st​ years from the Arrival in Surya, but thanks to the powerful and definitely not totally controllable magic involved in your birth a few scenes related to your birth, but before you were born are present in your memories.

The memory of a young, strong man hearing the story of the Sword Princess, Im'Ain from an elf sage. The story speaks of an elf that, knowing a large army of Bear Beastkin is going to attack his country and home, prayed to the gods and they responded by offering him a trade, they would summon a Sword Princess for him but in return they would take two souls, of the person dearest to him and that of the best swordsman in his country, and three lives, his, of his most dear person and of the top swordsman of his country. The man whined and cried, pleading the gods to lower the price, but the gods remained firm. Finally the man accepted the offer after the Beastkin army destroyed a town and Im'Ain was brought to this world. The Sword Princess was capable of amazing fits of magic, had various abilities and wielded unparalleled sword skills. But the rest of the story of Im'Ain will wait for later as your memoires drift on…

You then recall the forging of the first magical sword by the now older but still recognizable man that listened to the elf tell the story of Im'Ain. Now after many tries he managed to find the right rituals, combination of materials and forging techniques to create his first magical sword. He starts the forging with an ordinary iron ingot and shaping it into a blade. Then he starts putting in various materials while doing precise adjustments with magic. This takes several hours and finally the finish of the process is adding a soul stone with a soul of a dragon in it, to the sword which is now a plain two-edged longsword. With strikes, magic and heat the soul stone and the soul of the dragon are imbedded in the first magic sword, whose name "Draika" pops into your memories. Happy at the result the man smiles and wonders how will his friends react to the news that he succeeded in forging a magical sword...

With that last image you move on in the memories, passing by the many scenes of magical swords being made, knowing that you will need them later on, but definitely not at this time. Finally you arrive at a memory much closer to the day of your birth, at least you feel like it is closer to your birth. In this memory the man, now much older and with white hair investigates something, but you can't tell what. The memory flies on, showing that he starts suspecting that his disciples are working behind his back and that one of the princes of the Tiante Kingdom is involved with them. As months fly by you can see the old man discover a conspiracy of prince Iyasil to take power in Tiante to start a bloody campaign of genocide and war on the non-human residents of Surya with the backing of the magical swords. With this discovered the old man confronts the prince, now a regent for the ill king, but is chased away and stripped of all power and influence in Tiante…

The next memory is even closer to your birth and shows the old man's preparation for your creation. Wait you can now recall his name Aldion. You observe him getting many rare ores, materials and gems in preparation to forge you. He even brings the bones and a feeling tells you that they are from his unborn daughter. Finally one day another man shows up, named Hain. He tells about finding out that Iyasil really did conspire to seize power and that he is closely working with Aldion's disciples to create new magical swords. Then Aldion tells Hain about his plan, to summon a Sword Princess, to forge you and give you the task of destroying all the magical swords and the knowledge of making them. After a bit of convincing Hain agrees to Aldion's plan, seeing the old man's conviction about this matter. So the two start forging you …

"Hammer roars on iron,
Steel, mithril, adamantite,
Orichalcum, gold, carbon
Copper, tin and magnetite.

Heat and strikes
Shape the metals
Rituals and memories
Change the materials.

Time marches
In days, weeks, months
And with many tries
Aldion a sword smiths

Magic gathers
The memories
Of that smile of hers
Bring forth cries

Aldion calls:
'Wake Elmolls
God of metals!
Wake Namals
God of magic!
Wake Kanic
God of crafting!
Aldion is calling!'

Magic spills in the blade
Hot and molten
The trade is made
Two lives are forsaken

With the bones of a child
And the lives of two heroes
With magic spiraling wild
A light erases all traces

Of Aldion, grand smith
Of Hain, sword master
Of an unborn daughter
And brings forth Nilya
The Sword Maiden"​

​

---

A thread to showcase my fourth significant novel project and the second one that is directly written on a computer.

I will regularly add chapters as new posts so if you are interested/like the prologue follow and wait for chapters to come out. Feedback is also welcomed as well as pointed out errors (English is not my native language so this would help).

Links
Link to other sites on which you can read and support the story.
Blog! The story now has a blog! - Sword Maiden's Journey
Google Docs, note you can comment to point out mistakes here! - Sword Maiden's Journey
Anonkun - Anonkun

Index

Prologue - Creation of the Maiden - Finished

Sword Zero
First Slash - Start of a Journey - Finished
Second Slash - Lord Mauti of Adbela - WIP
Third Slash - No working on it yet...

 

[gamer5]

Sword Zero
First Slash
Start of a Journey

"A journey begins with firsts
Steps, hopes, sights,
Meetings, decisions and fights."
​

Finally I reach the starting point of my own memories, even if it is a scene of smoke, fire and utter destruction. I was standing in a crater some five meters in radius without any recollection why, how and when I came here. Then a voice spoke to me, coming from no one then the gods that were asked to create me.

"You are Nilya, Sword Maiden, forged from metals by the Greatsmith Aldion at the coast of his life, given the skills of the swordmaster Hain in return for his sacrifice for his friend, built upon the image of Nadyis whose bones were given as a link to the realm you are in and finally given life by us, the gods Elmolls, Namals and Kanic. Aldion wanted you to find and destroy all the magical swords which he forged as well as all knowledge about making them, but the choice of doing this or not is yours Nilya. Good luck on your journey in the realm of Surya."

With that said the three gods remove their attention from this place and return to whatever gods usually do, leaving me to face the sudden appearance of a slowly rebuilding sword sticking from the ground. I come up to it and examine it, but can't notice anything special, so I just wait for more of the sword to rebuild. Then a memory that I inherited from someone, probably Hain, comes up, Aldion forging a sword, the sword in front of me and I remember its name 'Eternis' the eternal self-repairing sword. This steel longsword was a prototype for magical swords, but it isn't a magical sword but just enchanted by powerful magic. Magical swords require sacrifices, souls of living beings, to be created, just like I used Hain's soul to come forth. I take Eternis in my hand and put it into the sheet, looks like I came to this world in full clothing made by divine power that also feels divine.

Looks like Kanic was the one to choose my dress as it is all made out of a material out of this world, that was silkier the silk but strong and resistant as leather and definitely not made with a method a human could replicate, perfectly joined, with no seeable seems at all. And the God of Crafting chose well, an one-piece clothing that in the upper part resembled a ordinary shirt and was dark blue except for two sword-shaped black areas directly in the center of the torso and my back, further down it had a attachment similar to a short tunic in dark green to cover the upper portion of my legs while two hose-like pieces of clothing, one light blue the other light green, and rugged black leather-like boots helping cover the rest. A quick glance at my underwear revealed a strange piece of clothing that roughly resembled two triangular pieces of clothing stitched together, it was colored white.

Making a mental note to take good care of what I am wearing right now by washing it regularly, I start moving towards the small pond that is located a dozen or so meters from what was once the great forge, so I can take a good look at myself, as for now I could only assert that I had an average shaped body, with a decent bust size, slightly tanned white skin and shoulder-length black hair. It didn't take long for me to reach the pond and take a good look at myself to see how I look. I have my blue eyes, a small but finely shaped feminine face, perfect looking shoulder length black hair and my well-shaped body adorned with my out-of-this-world outfit of green and blue colors. Well the best smith in all of Surya and three gods created me so it would weird if I didn't at least look decent.

With me checking my looks out done I decide to head towards Raisna that was reachable by walking long enough. It looks like I have the Hain's knowledge of geography and most other things, especially of magical swords. I don't have anything recent memories of his at all unfortunately as well as nothing about the people he met and his personal. Putting that aside like the gods created me with a full stomach, not thirsty at all and with my bladder and bowels empty so I will have no problem reaching Raisna without worrying about the needs of my body. The trip trough the forest to reach the village is eventless, with only a few sights of wild animals in bushes far from my path. On the way there I have nothing to do but sing a song from an unidentifiable memory of mine to kill time:

"In a time long gone
In a age of stone
In a land so far away
On a faithful day
The roar of battle
Tested humanity's mettle
Until the last savior
Died a death of a warrior

Oh children of today
And tomorrow
Hear about that day
And humanity's sorrow
Hear about the glory
And the end
Of Atory
The ancestral land

Far from the east
We who run west
Still hear the cries
Of those forgotten tries
Which tried to save,
Force Atory to survive
The hammer of darkness
Brought by human foolishness

Remember child
Of Atorins' thousand wells
And the winds, so mild
Of Marrak surrounded by dells
Now they lay in ruin
As their heroes had fell
In their attempts of vain
As this story I tell

Of all the past might
Only we remain
Those who fled the fight
And carry the pain

Of memories of Atroy
Of lost days of glory
Of gold and cities
Of heroes and tries

Only we are here
Singing this song
About what went wrong
Only we are here
Still remembering
The tale of arriving

To this sanctuary, Surya."​

After that I just hum, not bothering to try to remember another song, until I finally reach the first fields that surround Raisna only to see smoke rising from the village and a young body and even younger girl running with all their might away from five bandits! Bandits in Asua, far from any important trade routes and a place where one can easily live without much trouble? Something is off, but thinking will have to wait for later, now it's time to act. I run at full speed towards the bandits, but they focused on the boy and girl, don't notice me at all. I am half way to them, then one third and finally when I am just a few meters from the nearest bandit one of them notices me and shouts, but not fast enough and in a blink of a eye with a powerful jump I land next to the nearest bandit and move my hand and blade in an arc. For a moment everything is quiet and then with a small thump the bandit and his cut-off head fall down on the ground. The rest of the bandits position themselves in defense but not fast enough and Eternis slits the throat of one of them and cuts trough the face and eye of another one. The two remaining bandits look at me in terror, then look at each other and then start running for their lives, but without any mercy I run to them and with two shift slashes cut off their feet, bringing them down to the ground. Wasting no time I kick away their weapons with my sword and put Eternis on the neck of one of them and ask: "Who is your leader? Why are you attacking Raisna? Answer and I will kill you quickly, stay silent and I will give you only pain and suffering."

With tears in his eyes he cries out his answers: "Howar, Howar the Strangler leads us. We were paid by someone to attack Raisna kill everyone and loot and burn the village down. Please don't kill me, please!
"Good. Now may the gods have mercy upon your soul scum," I say and with a single slash of my sword cut off the necks of the two bandits and end their pleas for mercy. Then I turn to the boy and the girl and try to speak to them: "Hello there, are there more bandits in the village? If yes how many and how does their leader look like?"
The girl still very afraid stays silent, but the boy manages to find some courage to answer me: "Yes. I think there is at least as much bandits as there is people in the village. Their leader is a skinny man clad in leather and wolf fur that wields two enchanted shortswords in battle. Please help us miss! They are killing and doing terrible things to everyone in the village."

I reassure him: "Don't worry I need to have a chat with their leader and get some answers from him. You go hide somewhere where the village folk will know to find you." "Yes miss, me and sis will hide in the old mill near the south edge of the fields! Good luck," the boy says and tugs at his sister to get her moving. While they gain distance I take the best shortsword that I can find on the dead bandits and rush towards the village. The village itself is quite large so many small streets branch from the main street, which is basically a part of the road between two cities. I enter one of those small streets and find a dozen bandits raping a woman. Without a sound I run to them and with a precise slash in which I gather all of my strength I unleash a diagonal strike that cuts trough four of the bandits, basically splitting three of them in half and cutting off the arm and head of the fourth.

Blood splashes over the rest of the bandits and the woman, notifying them about my presence, but since I was already attacking again three more fall to Eternis before the bandits manage to get into a defensive stance. I would rather hold my ground and wait, but one of them shouts for help and forces me to attack now or face overwhelming number soon. I rush forward with a jump, landing just outside of the reach of the weapons the bandits are holding and shiftily step forward and five blades swing to attack me. I evade three, block one with the shortsword and use Eternis to smash the fifth into the air and then lower my longsword to slash off a large part of that bandit's head. Finishing this I jump a sideway, next to another bandit and with my shortsword free from blocking an attack stab the short blade into his side and kick it with my knee upward slicing it open and cutting trough his internal organs. Knowing that the next attack is coming I pull him behind me, leaving the shortsword inside his body, and the blades of his fellow bandits strike into his torso while the third bandit finds his blade blocked by Eternis. I use my leg to kick his sword up in the air, using my left hand, now free form the shortsword to grab him and throw him into the two other bandits. All three of them stumble and I jump to them and with three quick stabs in their neck send them to the afterlife. And not to soon as I can here approaching voices and shouts, reinforcements called in by one of the now dead bandits. I turn to the woman and just utter a quick order while grabbing a shorsword of one of the dead bandits: "Run! To the old mill!"

As bandits rush into the street I can see the woman disappearing behind the corner, running to safety. Now I turn my full attention towards the approaching bandits and thank good that they are rushing without any order or organization. I meat the first bandit head on, but step sideways at the right moment, evading his blade and leaving him exposed for Eternis to draw a red line on his neck. The next few fall in a similar matter but then shouted orders organize the bandits into a wall of blades and bodies that slowly approaches me. I use a second to think what do and choosing the best option I rush towards them and just as I am about to enter the reach of their weapons I throw my shortsword in the chest of one of the bandits, sending him down and temporary breaking the human wall the bandits build. Seizing the opportunity I jump on the bandit I killed and landing on my left arm I spin around cutting trough many bandits, inflicting heavy wounds of them. I end my spin by swaying backwards and landing on my feet with Eternia ready to send my foes into the grave, but due to the many wounded and dead making it hard to move only two bandits manage to raise their weapons at me and both are quickly sent to the afterlife by my sword. Not wishing to give time for reorganization to my enemies I find a man that is shouting orders and who thankfully doesn't mach the description of their leader so I don't have to hold back. Then one of the wounded bandits grabs me my leg, but I kick it off while quickly saying "I am blade, sword. I cut" and bringing my boot on his head which is followed by a sound of steel and his body being cut in half from my magical ability. Yes I will need all that I have to win this battle, including my ability as a magical sword, the ability to cut with my body like if it were a longsword. Using this ability and Eternia I create a path of blood and corpses to the one giving orders and without much thinking cut into his heart with my hand as I can almost feel the terror that starts gripping the hearts of my enemies. I look around, seeing more bandits come to join the fallen and still standing scum. I ready myself and my sword and start cutting again, left and right without any stopping and feelings, after all this scum doesn't deserve any mercy. Seconds turn to minutes of bloodbath and trough once a sword actually glances me it just bounces off with a sound of metal striking metal, without enchanted weapons or serious strength my body was impossible to hurt, being a basically a sword.

Then roars come from the place in which I can first see the bandits when they enter the street so I raise my eyes to see what made those roars. It was four armor-clad Orken or what would most human call Orcs, armed with lances and charging towards me as the bandits parted so they are not killed by their charge. The one leading them was the leader of the bandits, surrounded by well-equipped bandits with armor, well-maintained weapons and shields. Now with the Orken as a spearhead this unit was coming to face me and I feel a rush of excitement, as some real challenge finally appeared. The first two Orken were on me a moment later but I dogged their spears and rushed towards the left one. In the next moment I slashed at its right hand and cut it off from the Orken's shoulder clean, followed by a jump sideways to evade the second two Orcs which tired to skewer me with their lances. I rushed forth once again, running next to the lances that tried to kill me a moment ago and without much ceremony slid under the left Orken while slashing with Eternis at his right leg and slashing it away as I exited under the beast. I stood up as the Orken fell to the ground with a loud sound. Without wasting time I rushed forward into the group of well-armed men standing in my way to the leader of this lout. A moment later blood and screams once again filled that air, but I could not advance forwards and it was only a matter of time before I am squished between the bandits and Orcs.

So I decide to resort to magic and chant: "I Sword Maiden of Ultimate Resolve, Intended Destroyer of Magical Swords and Masterpiece of Grandsmith Aldion, invoke my divine right. Light of destruction form blades of death and clave a path. Come forth: Brilliant Blades!" Dozens of blades of pure light emit from my body, cutting everything in their path and causing holes and gaps to appear in the bandit ranks. With a quick look I spot a path trough and rush in, cutting on both sides with Eternis as I push forwards. As my blade creates more dead bodies I manage to fight my way trough only to find a man standing next to the leader finishing a chant: "… purge all. Rage out: Flame Inferno!" A mass of flames engulfs the street and everything in it, me, the bandits and Orcs, but while the man and Orken burn I stand, my hair and clothing burning away and my skin becoming a glowing red. I utter words, pure of anger and disgust, using my magic energy to give them sound: "I Sword Maiden of Ultimate Resolve, Intended Destroyer of Magical Swords and Masterpiece of Grandsmith Aldion, invoke my divine right. Body of Sword Maiden steel yourself to the heat and use it against your foes. Don me: Blazing Attire!" As soon as I finish the chant all the flames in the street, magical or not, gather and warp around me to form a flaming dress. I rush forward, leaving embers as I run and unleash a slash of fire at the leader and his mage. The mage quickly rises his barrier while the leader readies his weapons as he shouts: "You ain't human you monster! Just what the hell are you?"

I respond in as I cross my sword with his: "Sword Maiden Nalya, here to beat you to a pulp and get some answers." "Sword wh…, " he starts, but has to stop when a sudden blaze from your dress forces him to jump backwards. He shakes his head as you charge once again at him while the mage starts chanting another spell: "In the name of contract, between you Demon Alutair and I Mage Taihan I summon your powers to uphold the agreement. Flames of the forgotten hell come forth to reality to bring end to my enemy. Come..." But before he can finish one of the Orken, which was shielded by the other three using their bodies thus allowing him to survive almost unscratched, grabs mage's head with both hands and squishes it before the mage can even realize what happened. The leader still fighting with me can just let a short "tch!" before having to block my next strike. Another blaze from my flaming dress forces him to jump backwards, but his left foot lands wrongly and he plummets backwards. Before he can stand up again Eternis is pressed against his neck and I speak one questions: "Why?"

With his life on the line the bandit leader answers: "I was paid by Lord Mauti of Adbela. A nice sum, more then enough to retire, so I hired that worthless mage to get read of the bandits and thus my ties to this bossiness. Looks like you put an end to that plan gal."
"To kill you would be a mercy you don't deserve and I also need you to testify of Lord Mauti's hand in this," I say and then proceed to teat binding out of his clothing and use them to tie him up. As I do that I notice that my spell run out and then I am adorned once again in the same clothing as before just this time of red and orange shades. I finish tying him up and then turn my attention to the Orken that is speaking something in his native language. I chant once again: "I Sword Maiden, Bane of Magical Swords and Masterpiece of Aldion, invoke my divine right. Words that all share the root that is sound, with divine power translate yourselves for me. Grant me: Auto-Translate." And a moment later my ears are filled with the words of the Orc: "My brothers in arms you have to help them before they die. Please help them miss. We were under the control of slave collars! We didn't want to do all those terrible things we did…"

"Don't worry, I will help them now," I say to end his rant and move over to where the Orken have fallen. Trough the fire did wound them greatly it also sealed the wounds of the two which your sword cut trough, probably saving their lives from death by blood loss. Once again I chant: "I Sword Maiden of Ultimate Resolve, Intended Destroyer of Magical Swords and Masterpiece of Grandsmith Aldion, invoke my divine right. Powers of light that blesses all living, come down and ward off death. Bring health: Divine Restoration!" A gentile light falls on all the Orcs, even the one that asked me for help and in moments they are fully healed, trough the three that sheltered the fourth from most of the damage are still unconscious due to the shock that their bodies took. I sighted and turned to the Orc before speaking: "Take them to the woods and hide there until they come to. The villagers will not have as much understanding as I have." The Orc nods and with a bit of help from you manages to get the three other Orken on his shoulders and back and leave for the forest.

With that taken care of I put the bandit leader on my shoulder and run to find more survivors. I run into several bandits looting and then show them their tied leader, have him tell his plans of treason and finally send them to spread the story around as they runaway. After and hour or so of doing this almost all but a few bandits have run away and I already joined up with several groups of villagers that fortified in one of the stone buildings of the village like the Temple of Gods, the Village Hall or a lone stone watchtower, as well as random survivors that hid themselves or were still alive but in the hands of the bandits. With the area clear and the village guard mopping up those rare remaining bandits I send someone to the old mill to get the siblings and woman you sent there. When all the most necessary things are done, collecting the dead, the dead villagers get a proper burial, while the bodies of the bandits are burned on a massive fire. Finally with the sun close to setting the survivors, less then a third of the people that awoke in Raisna that morning, gather in the village square around a bonfire. There I can see families take in children that lost their parents and guards comforting each other over their lost. I feel powerless, sad and regretful but then someone sits next to you, the old village chief and speaks: "Nalya was it? I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You did not just save all of us, but also our homes. And trough we now have numberless scars and many bad memories at last we have them, proving that we are still alive."

His words ease the negative feelings in you and you feel better as the bonfire dances in the fading light. That night I and anyone else in Raisna probably find it hard to fall asleep. Mostly it is from the fear, but in your case it is from the number of thoughts that cross your mind. "What should I do next. I have now seen the cruelty of this world first hand. And if Aldion was correct if the magic swords are left in existence, then such cruelty will spread like wildfire trough out Surya. I am the only one with the power to stop this, but even I am not all-mighty or be in all places at the same time. So I will seek allies and people I can trust while going after the swords. I will wield my Sword for those that can't wield a sword themselves. I will be the Maiden, fair and just to all and the shield of the weak. That is the meaning of being Sword Maiden," I decide in my mind and fall asleep in the guest room of the chief's house.

The next dawn comes with the songs of the birds filling the air. I adorn my clothing that overnight returned to its original blue and green scheme and also cleaned itself. "Kanic really spoiled me by giving me those" I think as I descend down to the kitchen and join in the breakfast with the village chief and his daughter. Even here a soul was lost; the village chief's son was cut down by one of the Orken in the battle yesterday. After the meal my plan was to leave but all the villagers already set up a farewell party in front of the chief s house. I exchange my goodbyes and am given a bunch of gifts, a backpack to hold my things, a traveler's kit for cooking, a woolen jacket for the cold days, a sleeping bag, a sword maintenance kit, a sewing kit, various long-lasting food like smoked meat and so on. Two gifts stand out from the rest, one by how touched I was with it and other by how well it was crafted. The first is a necklace of that the surviving children made out of colored wooden breads and several gems that they found. The second was a shortsword, given to the village chief's father by Aldion for the hand of his daughter, which was a small masterpiece in both how decorated and how well was built, with powerful enchantments that allowed it to even cut trough dragon scales. I bowed deeply after being given all that and walked off with a loud: "Farewell and good luck!" coming form behind. A smile appeared on my face while I walked down the road.

As for the bandit leader he was tied up with rope and waiting at the exit of the village, but so was a little kid, a girl some nine or then years of age. When I came near her she bowed down to the ground and begged me: "Please take me as your apprentice!" I sighted and wanted to put my hand on my head, but instead just said: "No go home. My journey will not be safe and I don't want to look after a kid." The girl replied: "I have no home. They came and took my home away." "Well didn't some surviving family take you in," I ask while moving to the gagged and tied bandit leader. "My mother was a beastkin, so no one wants a half" she replies. That made little sense to me, but I knew how illogical humans were even if my memories with them were just really short. I said: "Okay you can come with me. You do have your own supplies right?" She nodded in conferment as I put the bandit leader over my shoulder and asked: "Your name, and also if it is not a problem could you tell m which kind of beastkin was your mother?" "I am Aneya and my mother was a Catkin of the Burra tribe," she answers removing her hat to show two auburn cat ears that poked out of her hair and those prove her words as we stepped out of the village.

As I walked my first meters towards my next destination the free city of Salus, under whose jurisdiction and thus free status, Raisna fell six months ago which made Lord Mauti very angry since before that it was a part of his fief as the baron of Adbela, I took a chance to take a look at Aneya which followed after me without falling behind. Trough her eyes were of an ordinary brown color those they emitted a look of cautiousness and seriousness unfitting a child. Her auburn hair, with two cat ears located atop her head, was sloppily cut short, probably by her own hand recently. She wore a simple linen shirt and tunic of gray color and two ordinary wooden shoes. Her skin was slightly tanned just like that of most children of that age from Raisna. An auburn cat tail was hanging from above her butt, a hole cut into her tunic to allow it to poke out. A backpack and rolled up sleeping back hanged on her back. Then I returned my attention to the road ahead.

The first day on the journey went eventless and we finally stopped a few hours before sunset at an area next to the road that was cleared out of trees and remade into a resting post. A well and cistern provided water for drinking and cleaning, there was a large cabin for travelers to shelter from the rain and a shed which both had wood stored for making fires and room to shelter animals and cargo from the weather. We took a two bed room in the large cabin and left our stuff there, using the key that was provided to lock it just in case as we exited back outside so I could start training Aneya with the sword. The first thing that I had to do is to make the girl stronger so most of the training consisted of that at this point. Well not like it could be helped, but thankfully Aneya was still young and I knew that her body will grow strong in no time. I wondered how I knew that she will grow strong quickly as long as she trained and eat well, but I guessed it was Hain's knowledge. As such the first, eventless day of the trip to Salus was over with a bath, dinner and then hitting the sheets. We would need two more days to reach the city…

[Prologue & Index]