SirRFI

Delia returned to her kingdom much sooner than expected. The maids informed the king that the groom’s kingdom politely declined the marriage proposal after Delia beat down the prince in a duel. The king grimaced with a headache from the news and put Delia under probation.

Sent to a tower placed away from the palace Delia realized that she would never have her way within the kingdom. She left a letter expressing her regret of having to leave her loving family and kingdom while leaving the tower on a moonless night.

Just as she was about to leave the palace grounds, Delia was caught by a patrol. The soldier on patrol was no other than the one she saved after injuring her in a duel. He showed Delia the way out and told her that she will reach a town inhabited with peculiar people. Delia quietly expressed her thanks and went on her way.

Delia traveled the pitch dark night with nothing to guide her but the directions given by the soldier. She eventually was a town in the distance and soon realized what the soldier meant by peculiar people. Everything in the town from simple tools to the buildings were huge as it was a town inhabited by giants. They were welcoming of Delia and she was able to find a place to stay by finding a giant who knew the soldier that told her about the town.

The town had few visitors so the luxuriously clothed blond girl who came by herself quickly became the center of attention. Delia was asked several questions about her and, save for the fact that she was royalty, she answered all of the questions with brunt honesty. The townsfolk quickly came to like her.

One of the questions that were asked was why she came to town and she answered that she was traveling to become a knight. This sparked the interest of the town’s inhabitants because the giants were a race of combat prowess that matched their gigantic figure.

They asked Delia to show them her skills and she took out her sword she brought during her escape and confidently showed off her swordsmanship. The giants who were used to used to display of brute strength saw the royal sword techniques used by Delia more as a type of dancing and laughed at the thought of anyone trying to fight that way. They had no ill intent but Delia was offended and defended the style she learned.

But this only make her look adorable in the eyes of the giants and they burst out laughter again. One of the giants who looked like the town’s blacksmith approached Delia who’s face was flushed with anger and handed her a massive sword.It was so huge that Delia had to hold it with both hands.

“That’s the smallest sword we have in town” the blacksmith explained, “A true warrior should be able to use wield at least this much weight to deliver a proper blow. Fate brought you to this town so consider this a welcome present on our behalf brother”

“Don’t call me brother!” Delia shot back as she tried to regain her composure from the shock that the huge sword in her hands was the smallest the town had. Feeling a strange sense of defeat, she decided to stay in town to learn how to handle her new sword from the giants.

As Delia got used to using the massive sword she began to favor it over the sword she brought from the palace. She liked the more open-ended style taught by the giants and also felt that their strength was being passed on to her through it.

The time came for Delia to leave town and the blacksmith told her of a town called Colhen that was beyond the sea. He told her there was a group of mercenaries called the Crimson Blades that would help her gain the experience she would need to become a knight. So Delia set course for Colhen right away.

Delia arrived at Colhen after a long boat ride and thought it was much smaller than she expected. Thinking it was due to staying at such a huge town which made everything look small in comparison, she wandered around looking for the mercenary office when she noticed a familiar figure who she instinctively called out to.

Despite being a complete stranger, the giant she called out to asked what she wanted with an approachable attitude. Delia told him that she was looking for the mercenary office and the giant told her that he was part of the Crimson Blades and offered to show her the way. He noticed the huge sword hanging behind Delia and effortlessly held it up in one hand and asked her where she got it from. Delia explained how she got the sword during her stay at a giant town.

“If you are accustomed to staying there then you should have no problem getting used to Colhen” the giant told her with an expression that showed a hint of longing which quickly turned back in to his usual cheery demeanor.

The two continued their conversation on their way and in no time was at the doorstep of the Crimson Blades. As Delia tried to calm down her nervousness she was about to enter the building when a huge sound erupted from the bell tower placed far away from town. The door in front of her flew open and the mercenaries inside all ran towards the tower.

The giant who was accompanying Delia told her he had to go and Delia catching on what was going on checked her sword and followed him. Realizing that she was coming with him, the giant chuckled and said.

“So this is your first mission as a mercenary. This means we are comrades so if there is anything you need help with feel free to ask brother!”

He went off after giving Delia a pat on the back. Delia, while concerned that what a giant would consider a simple pat could leave a rash on her back, noticed the manner of speech she was used to hearing and instinctively shot back.

“I said don’t call me brother!”

It was a sunny day in Autumn.

The king and queen of a distant kingdom was on a picnic with their children who could be recognized by their bright golden hair. Unlike the soldier around them who stood guard at high alert, the children were enjoying their rare occasion of being outdoors and all sported a wooden toy sword to play with.

Of all the children the one who was the most excited was the youngest, Delia. She stood confident against her older brothers who easily stood a foot taller then her and challenged them to a duel. The sight of the small girl playing knight was adorable to all present.

Delia’s brothers grinned while accepting her challenge and played along but the king watched from afar with concern in his eyes. The queen, who was used to the king’s overprotective nature over his youngest daughter, tried to ease the king’s mind and reminded him that they were just children having fun.

Delia came running towards their direction after having achieved victory and beamed with pride at her parents from her achievement. The king had no choice but to return the luxurious dolls he brought for his daughter back to the castle, as usual.

Once Delia came of age, the king could take it no more and took away Delia’s sword. In its place was filled with lessons on knitting, dancing and other court etiquette that would be required for a lady. Delia rebelled of course. All this had happened shortly after she saw her brothers leave the kingdom in order to become knights with the word that she would follow them soon.

“Princess Delia!”

The hallways echoed with the voice of a maid looking for Delia who had skipped out on her classes. This wasn’t the first time this had happened and the maid knew where to look for Delia. So she headed towards the training grounds behind the palace.

“This is the fifth time in a row right?”

Delia exclaimed with delight after having finished a match. The youngest of Delia’s brothers, who was about the same age as her, smiled halfheartedly while sprawled on the ground.

“Ahem. Princess, we observe dueling etiquette on these grounds.”

The instructor watching over the match cautiously warned Delia.

“Oh right! Sorry! Uhm, well fought sir”

Delia saluted her brother as told by the instructor.

Her brother chuckled and said “You could go in my place with your skills Delia.”

He was referring to the expedition he would be joining soon. This was going to be his first experience in real combat after all his training.

Delia congratulated her brother and wished him luck. Yet she felt conflicted. This was not the first time she saw one of her brothers leave for war but seeing her youngest elder brother, who she trained side by side with, go out to the battleground she so yearned for was something different. She left the training ground early to ease her troubled mind.

The king was fairing no better with his youngest daughter showing no signs of stopping ‘playing knight’. He tried convincing her, forcing her to take her classes, but nothing could get Delia to obey and she started skipping classes more frequently to practice her swordsmanship ever since her youngest brother joined the battlefield.

The cold war between father and daughter ended with the king giving up. He couldn’t bear to see his daughter grow ever more distant from him and allowed her to pursue the path she wants under the condition that she shows results as a knight while keeping up with her duties as a princess.

He had thought the pressure of two roles would be enough to get Delia to give up eventually.

Delia was displeased that she won’t be able to skip her classes but not having to train in secret was more than enough to make her happy. She accepted her father’s terms and the rift between father and daughter was mended. That day the king saw his daughter’s smile which he hadn’t seen for a long time.

Delia joined a small brigade within the royal army. The commander of her post had no choice but to accept who he only saw as a spoiled girl due to his king’s orders. He was concerned about what would happen if Delia were to become injured during training and his men shared the same concern.

Many of the soldiers were displeased with having to oblige to what they saw as baby sitting a princess playing knight and tended to hand over menial tasks while addressing her as princess in a condescending tone.Yet Delia remained oblivious to these hostilities in her joy in being able to be part of the knighthood she so yearned for.

One day, during a heated duel, Delia was injured. Delia laughed it off saying she was okay but the king was furious when he saw her injury. The soldier who was responsible was brought before the king and trembled in fear before his feet. The other soldiers who were expecting something like this to happen showed their disapproval of Delia openly.

But, before the king was able to deliver his sentence, Delia stood up for the soldier. She convinced the king to regain his composure and it was in this moment the king saw a glimpse of a woman of royalty within the face of his young girl. The king admitted he acted irrational and sent back the soldier with a huge compensation.

It was after this incident Delia began to gain the respect of her comrades. Her presence within the training grounds raised moral as she started to show the side of her that was fit for royalty. Delia soon started to join various missions with her comrades and always brought results beyond expectation. With her various victories, Delia began to develop in a direction that was the opposite of what the king wanted for her.

Growing nervious of Delia’s success in the army, the king ordered the brigade Delia was part of to sabotage her next mission. The soldiers had no choice but to follow their king’s orders. Delia tried all she could to salvage the mission that went south due to the sudden change of attitude of her comrades to no avail. The mission ended in failure and the king took away Delia’s sword using agreement they had in the past.

The king wasted no time and made arrangements for Delia’s marriage. It was apparent how carefully the king chose the groom by the prince’s noble manners and wealthy kingdom. Yet Delia had nothing in mind but in planning her escape.

During the festive before the wedding, there was a fencing tournament to show off the prince’s prowess in combat. But Delia was not impressed by the prince’s swordsmanship.

Having seen enough she lifted up the skirt of her dress, which had been painstakingly put on her by her maids, and jumped in to the arena. She grinned as she did when dueling her brothers while she took the sword of one of the soldiers standing guard.

The blacksmith was badly hurt and unable to move. Hurk was seething with rage and was going to exact revenge but the blacksmith stopped Hurk with a smile and saying that he needs someone to look after him. At this Hurk calmed down, after all, this was partially his fault.

Soon winter came with a unprecedented cold. The blacksmith, who was getting well, fell ill with pneumonia. One day the blacksmith told Hurk of a land beyond the sea where people like Hurk live and told him to go there if he passes away. Hurk, who was busy preparing tea, waved off what the Blacksmith said telling him not to say anything of dying.

By the end of winter Hurk was attending a quiet funeral with no visitors.

Hurk was left alone feeling lost and was sitting in what was left of the wrecked smith. The place was a mess with dust and cobwebs everywhere after a long period of neglect. He didn’t know what he should do and was thoughtlessly gazing around when he noticed the one thing in the smith that wasn’t broken. It was a sword that the Blacksmith was working on as a hobby, one that stood even taller than a man. As if in a trance, he walked towards the greatsword and picked it up. It was lifted as if it was weightless in Hurk’s hand, as if it was made just for him. There was no one left to stop him.

Hurk went straight to the inn where the mercenaries were staying. He cut through the guards that tried to stop him. He appeared in front of the mercenaries with a trail of gut, grit, and gore behind him and all over himself as well. While the mercenaries stared in confusion he swung his sword. As they watched three of their own fall, the warriors started shouting and charged towards Hurks. He put them all down until not a single one was left.

By the time Hurk stopped to gather his surroundings, his eyes felt stiff due to a crust of blood that have stiffened all over his body. He tried to remember where he was and what he was doing. As he looked around he saw a large pool of blood under his feet. Around him were several disfigured corpses and broken chunks of wood. Outside the sky was clear without a spot.

There was a crowd gathered around the inn but no one dared stop Hurk as he walked out. They whispers of calling him a monster or demon but Hurk wasn’t hearing anything. While the crowd backed away from him to clear a path he noticed a man that looked familiar. Having trouble remembering who the man was Hurk raised his hand to scratch his head but the man started to scream and fell back. Looking at the man wet himself, Hurk remembered who he was. It was the mercenary who caused trouble back at the smith. For a moment, Hurk gripped on to his sword but the man started to babbling. His head ringing from all the racket, Hurk grabbed the man and threw him towards a small stand. The man flew towards the stand as if a rag doll. Finally having things quiet Hurk felt a lot better and started laughing. The murmuring crowd fell silent as Hurk started to look around matching gaze with each and one of them. At this the crowd scurried away in fear. This is how it should have been all along. He was never meant to live a peaceful life. He picked up his sword and started to walk away. Everything seemed to finally be in place.

Hurk thought that he might as well live as mercenary from that point on. The rumors of the incident were already snowballing to the point that people were saying that a westerner* started swinging a greatsword, and that a whole company of mercenaries were taken out as a result. The rumors, however, made finding a job as a mercenary easy. At times he would stay within a certain group of mercenaries, but would eventually get at odds with them and act alone as a wanderer. After five years, everyone in the realm came to hear the rumors of Hurk the Greatswordsman.

Though, from time to time, Hurk would go back to his old days and would even stop in the middle of drinking to go to a nearby smith and then work day and night. The memories of what he learned in the past was faint, but his his hands still remembered what the blacksmith taught him. Sometimes he would see the blacksmith through the steam of cooling metal, and like an illusion, the blacksmith would tell Hurk something, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t understand what the blacksmith was trying to tell him.

It was in a pub of a small village on the outskirts of a vast plain. Hurk was back from a long conquest and was thinking of taking a break from his Mercenary life and settling down for awhile. The vast plains around the village of nomadic people brought back memories of his childhood. Being able to relax with these memories, Hurk was in a good enough mood to oblige to a beggar’s request for a drink. The beggar held on to the cup of drink distilled from a horse’s milk preciously and drank slowly. Somehow a conversation started between the two and Hurk felt strangely at ease with talking with this stranger. When Hurk mentioned his name, the beggar smiled showing his yellow teeth. The beggar said that he once traveled with a man who looked strange like Hurk and had a small boy who had a similar name. He added that ‘if that boy is still alive, he should be a little younger than you are.’

At this, Hurk became tense. People always assumed that he was older than he looked. He looked at the beggar more closely to see if he could be able to remember him.

When he asked the beggar as to what happened to his partner, the beggar answered that the man left after losing his son and said that he was going back to his own country.

The conversation ended there. Hurk left the pub and found a smith’s shop to start working. He needed time to think.

From the vapor and fumes, he was once again saw the illusion of the blacksmith.

‘Hurk, beyond the sea there is a land..’

He started to go over the words of the beggar and blacksmith, and then he remembered.

Soon he was on a horse riding non-stop except for when he needed sleep. It still took him a little over a month to reach the sea. It was the first time he saw the sea, and it was an overwhelming experience for him.

After gathering his senses, he went to find a passage. He went up to a ticket booth and upright asked for a ticket to a place with people who looked like him. The booth worker took a glimpse of Hurk and impassively handed him a ticket. It was Hurk who was surprised. When asked if the worker saw people like Hurk around, the worker simply answered 'all the time’.

At this Hurk was baffled.

It would take him months to arrive to his destination. Hurk leaned on one end of the ship and looked out on the vast endless sea. Before he knew it, his fate expanded far beyond his imagination. With an anxious heart he awaited to see what it had in store for him.

The very first memory Hurk has as a child was the sound of a horse and the sight of a starry night.

He must have been wrapped up in a blanket and placed in a sack on the saddle. The night sky that was visible from the small opening of the sack was sparkling with many stars. The inside of the sack was warm but the night air was chilly and he must have instinctively whimpered. The faint sound of conversation stopped and a pair of hands entered the sack. There the big hands carefully picked up the baby in to a gentle embrace. It was dark and the only source of light was from a faint campfire so he couldn’t make out the face of the man who held him. He only remembers seeing the full moon above the horizon of the endless plains. He must have fallen asleep at that moment.

When he woke up, Hurk was alone.

There were many orphans from the battlefield like Hurk. But he was different. Hurk looked different among those with black hair and yellow skin. Many people considered him to be a monster of some sort and avoided him believing that he brought bad luck.

And being an orphan was already bad enough. As they were shunned from those around them, they had to live day by day scrounging whatever they can like rats. Hurk wandered with other orphans with their crude gruel bowls to any place that had food, doing random errands for leftovers. Hurk has no choice but to travel the most dangerous places of the battlefield. At other times he would dart between harsh mercenaries picking up scraps of food lying around. But this wasn’t even an option when rations were low and at times like this he would attempt to quell his hunger with water and go to sleep in his dirty bedding early.

Hurk would sometimes dream of the man who coaxed him that winter night would come to him saying “Son, I have returned”. A man who looks foreign to this land just as he is. But it was just a dream and once he woke, hunger would wrack his whole body again.

It was not long until Hurk would start to set traps to catch snakes and mice. He must have been good with his hands because his crude traps would always bring results. And soon he was making traps for birds and started catching sparrows and, when lucky, bigger birds such as crows. But this was all for naught for most of his catches would be taken away by bigger kids and Hurk would go hungry just as before.

It was after two days of starving he finally able to catch a small robin. With the dead bird in his arms, he was gathering twigs for a fire when someone grabbed him from behind. Then Hurk was was thrown to the ground. When he looked back, he saw a group of boys smirking at him. It was the big kid who was the head of a group of orphans named Pock, for his face was pockmarked with acne. Hurk already had several of his catches stolen from this boy. The boys searched Hurk as he backed up. The only thing they found was the mangled remains of the robin which was mashed up due to Hurk’s fall on the ground. One of them threw the carcass down with disgust and stomped on it. That’s when Hurk lost it. He found the strength to push back the boys pinning him down and charged towards Pock and delivered a blow to his greasy face. Pock, who was not expecting anything like this to happen, took the full hit to his jaw and fell down.

Now this is not a heroic of one boy beating down a whole group by himself. The other boys soon regained their composure and beat Hurk sensless. But after that incident, the other kids started to avoid stealing from Hurk. It was better to find an easier target than facing Hurk and his stubbornness.

It was not long before Hurk started to grow rapidly. When he began to acknowledge that he was looking down on others he was already the tallest among the orphans. And he also realized how strong he was when he knocked down Pock, who had been bullying him, with a single punch.

When he was about fourteen or fifteen he could have passed for an adult. He started to get bored of playing with the orphans and started to hang out with mercenaries. He would run errands for them, listen to their stories, and spend countless hours at the smith looking at the blacksmith pounding metal. The middle aged took a liking for Hurk despite his strange appearance. He must have been impressed by Hurk's craftsmanship shown by being able to imitate his works just by learning over his shoulder. When the blacksmith offered to take him in as a apprentice, Hurk was barely able to contain his joy.

At that time, Hurk firmly believed that being a blacksmith was his life’s calling. He would spend his days as a apprentice and one day become a blacksmith with his own shop. It wasn’t that far-fetched of a dream for the blacksmith would constantly tell Hurk that he intended to pass over the smith one day.

And the days have been peaceful. Until the smith got in trouble with a mercenary.

The sword that the mercenary wanted to fix was beyond repair. The blade was cracked and any attempt to mend it would almost certainly break it and the metal used for it was of low quality so forging a new blade out of it was out of question as well. The blacksmith returned the blade telling the mercenary that it would be better for him to buy a new one. But the mercenary started to cause a ruckus claiming that the blacksmith was lying in an attempt to sell more of his merchandise. While the blacksmith was looking at the scene, giving up any chance of selling anything for that day, Hurk offered to kick the troublemaker out. By this time Hurk was a strapping young man who people took as a mercenary or warrior more than a apprentice. A rag-tag mercenary would be no problem for him. But the blacksmith told Hurk to stand down and went to close the door to the smith. At that moment, shouting that he had no intentions to let him off easy, the mercenary grabbed the blacksmith and pushed him to the ground. Hurk lost his temper and started to beat the mercenary. Although he was caught off-gaurd, the mercenary was no match against Hurk in the first place. As Hurk helped the blacksmith back up to his feet and back in to the smith he shook his head at Hurk's brazenness yet, with a smile.

The next morning the blacksmith told Hurk to fetch some coal for the furnace was almost out. The coal shop was a good distance away from the smith and when Hurk returned with his stocked wheelbarrow it was already noon. But there was a crowd gathered around the smith. Grumbling about how the commotion would interfere with sales, he pushed through the ground and then stopped mid-track.

The smith was in shambles. The light in the furnace was long out and there were broken pieces of furniture everywhere. One of the support was almost broken and the smith was in danger of collapsing. But most importantly, the blacksmith was nowhere in sight. Hurk started to question people in the crowd in his panic and one of the onlookers told him that a group of mercenaries came and thrashed the place. The blacksmith was badly beaten but still breathing and was taken to the town healer. At this, Hurk started to run to the healer’s hut.