CH2: Born an orphan
***
A two-horse carriage came to a stop in a forest opening just off the main road through a vast forest.
The carriage driver and a group of four guards mounted on horses spread off to secure the area and make camp.
A few minutes later, the carriage driver knocked on the door of the carriage, and a couple alighted.
The couple were tastefully dressed, indicating their noble status.
The man carefully held his pregnant wife's hand as he led her towards the prepared tent.
"Just bear with it for tonight. We will arrive in Landrose City by tomorrow morning." He said.
"You don't have to treat me like a fragile vase just because I am pregnant. Don't forget I am a stronger Hunter than you." The pregnant woman rolled her eyes.
The man merely smiled as they entered the tent.
They had only just laid down to rest when the group felt an ominous presence around them.
The couple rushed out of the tent. Their entourage already had their weapons drawn and surrounded the couple in a protective formation.
One of the guards had his eyes closed while his ears twitched periodically. Soon, his eyes flashed open.
"The pursuers are human. At least six C-Ranks, two B-Ranks and one A-Rank." He revealed.
The man's expression became grave. He immediately took out a scroll from his storage ring and handed it to his wife.
"An Escape scroll?"
The man nodded, "You are in no condition to fight. Escape immediately. I will come find you."
The woman nodded solemnly.
The man turned to the old carriage driver.
"Keep her safe until I return."
"I will protect her with my life." The carriage driver swore.
The man nodded to his wife, and she immediately tore the scroll. A runic circle formed beneath her and the carriage driver. Then their figures flashed away.
The man heaved a sigh of relief.
"Liberate, Stormbringer!" The man called out.
A black runic circle appeared on the man's downward-facing palm and a rapier slowly extended out.
The man wielded the beautiful blue-coloured rapier with familiarity as he awaited their pursuers.
Ten men dressed in cloaks appeared before the group, one more than the Sensor guard sensed.
The husband frowned deeply as this could only mean one thing. The extra pursuer either could control his mana fluctuations perfectly, meaning he was an elite, or he was simply too strong for the Sensor to sense.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Someone sent to kill you, Swordsman of Storms." The mysterious man amongst the pursuers replied.
"You dare attack us this close to Landrose City?"
"Obviously. With the War King tied up in a Dungeon, this is the best time to kill you." The mysterious man laughed. "Besides, even if the War King were here, he wouldn't stop me from killing you!"
A strong presence descended on the man and his entourage.
Their expression fell as they confirmed the strength of the opponent.
'S-Rank!'
The Swordsman of Storms suddenly laughed, "Someone thinks highly of us. To think they would send a Hero to kill us. Let's not disappoint them, shall we?!"
His mana roused as he raised his aura to clash with the mysterious man's pressure.
The Swordsman of Storms was merely an A-Ranked Champion, however, his aura was barely able to compete with an S-Ranked Hero's.
The morale of his men rose. If they were going to die, they were going to die fighting!
The four released the aura which announced their B-Ranked Lord's strength.
"Attack!" The Swordsman of Storms ordered.
The group rushed forward to clash with their pursuers.
"Your reputation is well-deserved, Swordsman of Storms." The mysterious man smiled thinly as he welcomed the latter's attack.
A circle of Silvery light appeared on his right hand as he attacked as well.
-
Elsewhere…
A runic circle opened and two individuals were thrown against the ground, close to the entrance of a cave.
The carriage driver jumped to his feet and quickly went to check on his mistress.
"Mistress, are you okay?" He asked with concern.
An unknown accident occurred with the Escape Scroll and they were thrown further than they should have been sent through space.
Such a long-distance jump through space was unhealthy for a pregnant woman in the mistress's condition. This was why they couldn't take a Warp gate to Landrose City in the first place!
When he checked on her condition, he discovered to his horror that her mana was in a state of shock. She was about to enter into mana deviation!
He quickly moved to try to help her.
He placed her on her back and sent his mana into her to guide her mana back under control.
His actions woke the unconscious woman up.
"Ma'am, we need to get your mana under control!" He hurriedly said.
The woman immediately dropped her guard and cooperated with his effort. Soon her mana returned under control. However, she discovered a problem.
Her pregnancy had been affected!
Her baby had also been affected by her rampaging mana!
"We need to expel your mana from the young master." The carriage driver said solemnly. "To do that, I will need to induce your labour."
The woman was aghast, "No! He isn't up to term yet!"
"If we do nothing, he will die."
Her face drained of colour.
After a short mental ordeal, she nodded to him.
He helped her into the cave, where he helped her deliver the baby.
The baby was very tiny and fragile as he was born very premature.
The carriage driver wasted no time quickly expelling the mother's rampaging mana from within the child. He prayed silently that there wouldn't be any lasting consequences.
He cleaned the child before passing him to his mother.
The woman weakly and carefully looked at her child. There was a lot of love in her eyes.
But before she could shower the child with any of her motherly affection, they felt the space around them tremble. And through it, a familiar presence rushed towards them.
It was their pursuers.
Pain and anger flashed through the woman's eyes as she knew what this meant. But more than that, she felt fear.
Not for herself, but for her child.
She quickly removed the pendant necklace around her neck and wore it on the baby's. It had the mark of her older brother, the S-Rank Hunter known as the War King!
With the pendant, he would be able to find the child.
Then, she remembered something and took out a ring from her storage ring and wore it on the little baby's little finger. The ring was an unknown artefact her husband found but couldn't figure out its use. He later used the ring to propose to her.
The ring carried both her and her husband's aura, so if by some miracle her husband was still alive, he would also be able to find their child.
After doing this, she took out some concealment scrolls from her storage ring and placed them around the child to hide him.
Then, she kissed his forehead as tears streamed down her eyes.
A moment later, her face hardened as she nodded to the old carriage driver.
Both of them left the cave. The old carriage driver placed his hands on the ground, just outside the cave.
"Grow!"
Suddenly, veins rose from the ground and covered the cave entrance like they had been there for a long time.
Afterwards, he helped his mistress who was still weak from childbirth to rush into the forest.
They had to draw their pursuers away from the cave or else the newborn would be killed with them.
It was clear their pursuers didn't plan on letting them live, so they had to at least ensure the child's safety.
The carriage driver used his Plant control ability to move them quickly through the forest. However…
Boom!
Suddenly, a blackish silver mana lance pierced through him from behind and exploded on the ground before him.
The explosion blasted the already weak woman away.
When she was finally able to raise herself from the floor, what she saw was the disembowelled corpse of the carriage driver.
And standing over his corpse was the mysterious pursuer.
What was worse was, in his hand, was a human head.
The head of the Swordsman of Storms, the woman's husband.
The woman felt her world rock when she saw her husband's head dangling by its hair in the mysterious man's hands.
"Ah!!!" She cried out in pain!
"Sorry about the barbaric presentation, but I need his head as proof of completion." The man explained with a smile.
The woman lost it!
Her mana flared wildly, damaging her already weakened mana circle. But she didn't care.
A Silver circle appeared on her back, and from within the circle, six three-metre long chain daggers extended out.
"Give me back my husband and child!" The woman roared.
The silver chains with dagger tips shot towards the man.
"You lost your pregnancy? That's a shame." The man said plainly. "Then again, you will be dying soon anyway."
The man waved his hand and a force blasted the chains away.
"What a pity you are pregnant. If the Swordsman of Storms was such a great match, I am sure you, the Chain Queen, would have been a better opponent. Alas…"
He waved his hand towards her. Suddenly, mana lances appeared above her and shot into her back, nailing her to the ground.
The Lances were controlled and evaded her vital spots.
"I can let you live if you agree to tell me all the secrets you know about the War King." The man said.
The woman was surprised by his offer. She looked to contemplate it. Then, she nodded.
She wanted to speak, but she was too weak to do so.
The mysterious man walked closer to her to hear what she had to say.
"Go… to… hell!"
The woman suddenly reversed the flow of her mana, attempting to blow herself up and hopefully take the man down with her.
Slash!
The man waved his hand and her head was loped off.
"What a pity. So beautiful, yet so foolish." The man shook his head.
He turned around, not bothering to clean up the scene and walked away with only the Swordsman of Storm's head, still being pulled in his hand.
-
A few hours later, a middle-aged man walked into the forest. He knew there were dangerous beasts roaming the forest so he carefully navigated around the periphery, not daring to go further in.
He was a Logger who made his living by cutting old, strong trees and selling them in town. He didn't earn much, but it was enough to sustain himself and his wife in the slums of Pryford town.
He arrived at his usual logging spot, close to the cave of the slayed beast king of the forest periphery.
Although the beast had been slain by Hunters, the beasts roaming the forest still stared clear of the cave. So the middle-aged man logged in safety around the area of the cave.
He planned to continue doing so until a new beast king claimed the cave.
"Meehhh!!"
The man was just about to begin logging a tree when he heard a cry.
He was initially scared senseless, but he soon realised that the sound he heard was the unmistakable cry of a human baby.
And it was coming from the cave.
The man carefully entered the cave, and sure enough, he found the baby.
All the concealment circles the woman placed around the child had faded away.
The man looked at the weak, tiny child. A tinge of pity flashed through his heart.
For years, he and his wife had been pinning for a child, but they had yet to be blessed with one. In that moment, he decided to take the child home with him.
(To be continued…)