Limits

I ran through the forest towards my next destination, Ortava. 'It will take some time, before I will be able to arrive there. I will probably visit some cities on my way. We will see how this goes' I thought. To pass the time, I practiced Lethal Forms of the Lethal Sword Technique. I only saw them once, but I wasn't just any random villager. My eyes could catch even the smallest details, when I focused. My memory was also great. I memorized all the moves, styles and stances that Aran made.

I tried with the Sixth Form first. I immediately noticed that, although I knew how to do it, I wasn't able to. 'Movements, styles and everything in between is so intricate, I can't just copy it like that. It will take me a lot of time, to achieve that Form' I thought. I didn't even try the Seventh Form. It was the Final Form for a reason. I could see the difficulty, when Aran displayed it. 'I hate to admit it, but I have something that would complement those Forms even more' I thought.

It was the Bloodlust Aura. This gave me another idea. 'Would I be able to control that Aura now?' I thought. I tried releasing that Aura, but nothing happened. 'It seems that emotions still play a part in that. I can't simply use it as I like' I thought. I had to be angry or enraged, in order for that Aura to activate. It didn't matter to me much at that point. Even if I could control it, I had to be angry for it to activate. This was not reliable at all.

I moved forwards, while practicing the Sixth Form all the time. My speed decreased by a lot, but I could get some practice done at the same time. 'Something for something, I guess' I thought. A week passed. I saw another village in the distance, during my travel. I didn't plan on stopping there, and simply continued on further east. The Imperial City was located, in the far north east of the Endrosian Empire. This struck me as weird, because I would think it should be in the middle of the Empire. Or at least in that area.

I also encountered more people, as I walked further east. It seemed that the closer I got to the Imperial City, the more populated the areas were. I didn't stop for conversation, and simply minded my own business. No one stopped me either, until one day. I was going through the forest, while practicing the Sixth Form of the Lethal Sword Technique as usual. While I swung my Bastard Sword, I heard something getting closer to me.

When I looked in the general direction, I noticed a male running through the forest. He seemed to be running away from a group of people. I didn't pay them any heed, and simply continued forwards. The guy who was running away, must've noticed me, because he began running straight at me. He shouted "Help me out stranger!". I ignored him, but he still continued running towards me.

When he was about 50 metres away, he shouted again "I beg you! Help me!". I stopped my practice, and said "Deal with your problems by yourself", and continued onwards. The guy was persistent. He ran up to me, and tried hiding behind my back. 'This guy is hopeless' I thought. Others arrived as well, while a stout man from that group said "Mind your own business stranger". I replied "Do whatever you want, this doesn't concern me". I continued moving forwards. The stout man replied "Good choice", while the group went after the lone man on the run.

Because he persisted to follow me, I turned around, and punched him lightly. He flew back a few metres, with shock plastered on his face. I said "I don't care who you are. These are your problems, so deal with them yourself". The man shouted "I will reward you! Help me, and I will give you the sword, they are after". He took out the sword, and I couldn't believe it. 'How is that even possible?' I thought. The sword he showed me, was a Moon Blade.

I stood there stunned for a while, until the other guys managed to surround him. I took action quickly, and arrived in front of the first guy. With a slash, he was split in half. Then the next guy, and the next guy. Until the remaining two finally realized, that three men had died already. I disposed of the other two, and said "Give me that sword". The man I just saved, passed me the sword with fear in his eyes.

I examined it, and then used my Bastard Sword to slash at it. "Clang!". The Moon Blade broke in half. 'This is not real Moon Blade' I thought, and picked up the broken sword. It was made to look like Moon Blade, but it wasn't real. I asked the guy, who was shocked. "Where did you get this from?". He replied "I… I.. got it from a merchant. He said it was an exceptional sword. That was why, they chased after me". I asked "Where is that merchant?". He replied "I bought it from him in the Olia Village. I… I don't know if he's still there". I asked my last question "How did he look like, what's his name?".

The guy replied "Like a merchant… He… He was dressed in a brown robe, and sold weapons on his stall. He had a moustache, and beady eyes. He was fat as well". I disappeared from that place, and immediately headed towards the Olia Village. The Village was not far away from my location. I quickly arrived there, and searched for the merchant. 'He is not here' I thought, after scouring the village. I scaled the tallest building in the village, and looked around. I focused intensely, and finally noticed something. 'There you are' I thought, and disappeared from that place. I ran at my full speed. There was a merchant with a cart, and two horses going south. He was heading away from the village. When I got closer, I saw that the description matched. I caught up to him, and appeared next to him on the cart. I asked "Where did you get the sword, you sold in the Olia Village?".

When he finally noticed me, he jumped up and exclaimed "What the fuck!? Where did you come from!?". I took out the broken sword, and asked again "The sword. Where did you get it from?". He replied "Get the hell out of my cart, bastard!". I replied "Wrong answer", and punched him in his fat face. He fell off of the cart, while I jumped off as well. The horses continued, but that was not my problem.

He shouted "Are you insane? Do you want to die? Do you know who I am?". I said "If you don't answer my question, you will share your story with the plants at most". I walked up to him, lifted him up, and punched him again. As he spouted more profanities, I broke his arm. He released an ear piercing screech, and fainted. I tapped on a few of his pressure points, which I admit was a bit harder, due to all the fat.

He woke up again, and said "Don't kill me.. Please!". I asked "The sword. Where did you get it from?". He replied "The city… The city called Hord. There is a guy who makes them". I asked "What guy?". The merchant replied "He.. He is the blacksmith called Herald. He has a small workshop in the city. He usually makes cheaper stuff, but tries to pass it off as more expensive. He made that sword!". The merchant wasn't lying. I now had a lead. 'So the woman, or whoever is in the possession of my sword, must've showed it to the blacksmith in Hord. But why?' I thought. I disposed of the merchant, and set my sight on Hord. 'I need to find that blacksmith. He should know, who is the person that revealed the original Moon Blade to him' I thought.

Because I had the full map of the Empire memorized, I knew the location of Hord. It was actually to the south east. 'With my pace, I should arrive there in about four days' I thought, and sped up towards the city called Hord.