Avengard Chronicles

The young man confidently drew his blunted saber and stared down his opponent. His opponent raised his rapier nervously. They were in a small makeshift arena, benches filled by a cheering crowd. High up in his own special seat sat the Denstrik village lord, a small fat man with a large moustache. They were at the annual tournament held by the village lord. Down in the arena the referee began speaking.

"Now for the final match of Denstrik annual swordsmanship tournament, Rinero Espada vs Karumo Domenei. Three, two, one, begin!"

Rinero dashed forward in a blink of an eye. Karumo had just positioned his blade to guard before Rinero's saber came striking like a hurricane. Rinero's strikes came swift as a whirlwind with Karumo only barely being able to parry the lighting fast slashes. Karumo jabbed with his rapier, yet Rinero simply side stepped the attack and kicked Karumo on his behind. Karumo stumbled foolishly then whipped around and scowled at Rinero as the crowd laughed at Karumo. 

"Dam he's mocking me," muttered Karumo as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Is that all you got Karumo?" mocked the laughing Rinero.

"Shut up asshole!" roared the now red faced Karumo.

Karumo rushed forth and unleashed a barrage of jabs. Karumo's jabs were swift, yet Rinero was swifter, dancing and parrying around the lightning-fast strikes with ease. Karumo made one last rage filled jab before in one masterful motion Rinero dodged the jab and struck Karumo in the face with his saber. It was the sensation Rinero loved the most, steel bashing against flesh, it was a sign of his victory, his struggles and training being rewarded in one split second feeling, his dominance over another. Karumo dropped to the ground with a bleeding nose.

"Would you look at that, all that time training paid off. I've conquered the lord of Denstrik's tournament with ease," thought Rinero, smirking as he watched Karumo squirm on the ground groaning in pain.

"The winner of the Denstrick annual swordsmanship tournament is Rinero Espada!" shouted the referee, astonished at how abruptly the match had ended.

The crowd cheered and he stood there victorious. The black haired, tan skinned man raised his saber to the heavens in celebration and watched as Karumo got up.

"Hey Karumo, how about we do a rematch in 100 years, perhaps if you train hard enough you will get your ass beat in 31 seconds instead of 30," said Rinero.

"I swear Rinero one of these days you're going to get your comeuppance for that cocky attitude of yours," growled Karumo.

"Hah, you know I'm the best swordsman within 5 miles of this place, it would take a mage to take me down." 

"Arrogant bastard." 

Despite how egotistical he was about it; it would have been foolish to say that Rinero did not have the skills to back up his boasting. He was indeed a prodigy of a swordsman having trained in the art of the blade since he was but a child. 

In the middle of all the celebration the lord of Denstrik came down to greet Rinero. "Rinero my good lad! It is a wonderful to see you become a great swordsman just as your father was." Rinero's eye twitched in anger at the mention of his father. "Well then the champion deserves his reward, Hargrof, bring the chest!" A tall man in chainmail came bearing a small wooden chest. At the sight of this Rinero's anger quickly faded.

"Take it Rinero, 150 gold Marks" Rinero quickly grabbed the chest from the man. He opened the chest and was met with the glow of gold. Rinero snapped the small chest shut and grinned.

"Well then I will be on my way."

"May the gods bless you Rinero."

Rinero in fact left the arena feeling as if he could take on the gods themselves as he gleefully walked through the village of Dunstrik.

"Maybe I'll find myself a nice whorehouse tomorrow. I'm tired so I'm just going straight home," thought Rinero. He then felt a tug on is dark brown coat, it was a small child in dirty rags.

"Could you please spare a coin for me good sir?" said the child. Rinero looked at the child with pity, he then reluctantly took a coin out of his chest and gave it to the child. Behind all his arrogance and brashness, he still had compassion and empathy.

"Thank you so much sir!"

"Make sure you use it well kid."

Rinero quietly laughed to himself and thought, "it would be wrong of me to not give the coin, I was once in the same position as that child. I remember, dead mother, absent father, nowhere to go, just wandering trying to get my next meal. And then I learnt the art of the blade from that old mercenary and my life changed. Here I am now, a champion."

Rinero finally made it to his home, a small wooden shack on the outskirts of town. Next to the shack was a fig tree. Rinero gazed upon the setting sun and went inside his small shack. The inside was sparce with only a bed, a table with a stool, and a fireplace.

"I'll make sure to make this place fit for a champion such as I with my earnings," he smugly thought to himself. He then hid his chest of coins under his bed and fell asleep peacefully. Little did he know this would be the last moment of peace he would have for a very, very long time.

"BRING ME THE STRONGEST WARRIOR HERE OR ELSE I'LL BLOW THIS SHITHOLE TO SMITHEREENS!"

The villagers looked up from their fields and were all staring at the shouting strange man. He was an old man in dark blue robes and a tall, pointed hat, in his hand a wooden staff with a jewel at its tip. It was quite clear to everybody there that he was a mage, and even the dumbest of people knew not to offend a mage. The villagers were all nervously whispering with each other.

"Ain't that the mage from the fortress over in Fiferidge."

"I don't know, never been there."

"Well, I heard from a traveling potion merchant that they have a mage there who has great and terrible spells."

"So, you think that's him?"

"Yep."

By now the village lord had been called over to meet with the strange mage. The mage stroked his long white beard and impatiently tapped his foot on the ground as he looked at the lord.

"Greetings, you are the mage from Fiferidge no?" said the lord, sweating profusely.

"Yes, now where is your strongest warrior."

"Well, that would be the winner of my tournament, Rinero Espada."

"Where is he."

"He lives at the village's edge right around there in a shack next to a fig tree."

"Is that so," the mage then suddenly surged forward and shoved the lord to the ground. "Out of the way fat ass, my business is urgent and concerns the preservation of all your lives!" the mage shouted at he sprinted through the village like a madman.

"What a weird guy."

"I heard from a traveling potion merchant that all mages are like that."

At the edge of the village Rinero sat under the shade of his fig tree. He looked at the early morning sun and took a bite out of a fig, "Huh, bitter." Rinero lazily tossed the fruit away behind him, and then it hit something or more accurately someone. Rinero heard the heavy panting behind him and got up. He looked upon the blue robed mage, sweating and leaning on his staff with much confusion. 

"So, I'm assuming you're Rinero Espada?" Said the mage, wiping sweat off his brow and wheezing.

"Yep."

"Well then I shall introduce myself, my name is Zetarnu and I need you to come on a quest with me." 

"What the -"

"Ok, ok, I know it sounds crazy, but you have to listen to me. I am gathering a group of people in order to kill the bandit king Sharshang to prevent him from using forbidden magic and killing everybody in this region. You got that? Good, now go get ready to leave."

At the sound of this information Rinero blankly stared at the sweating, wheezing mage.

"Are you insane! why the hell should I trust you to go on a quest. Killing the bandit king? there's no way I'm going up against that guy, he is the leader of the Black Dagger Bandits, the most dangerous criminals in the region."

"Dam it just trust me ok. I have a very well laid out plan in order to take him out."

"I'm not trusting a mage who just appeared here out of nowhere and is telling me to go fight the bandit king."

"Well, what about this, there is a great reward at the end of this quest. You will get glory and gold aplenty as long as you come with me."

Rinero looked at the crazed looking mage with suspicion.

"You're a mage ain't you, can't you just obliterate the guy with your magic?"

"I bad at combat magic but if you just -"

"I'm done listening to your bullshit old man" Rinero said as he began walking away.

"Dam it, guess I'll have to take you by force then!"

Rinero whipped back around "Oh no you don't old ma-!"

Rinero hadn't even gotten halfway done drawing his blade before his eyes were assaulted by a flash of bright, otherworldly red, and his ears assaulted by a horrifically distorted, deafeningly loud bang like sound. These sensations alone made Rinero's head sting as if a dagger was being stabbed into it. Yet not even a millisecond later something bashed into Rinero's stomach with great speed. He was violently knocked onto the ground. His body, eyes, and head all were in immense pain, and he felt horrifically sick, and he shrieked in pain. Despite the pain he tried to get up but as soon as Rinero tried to get up a surge of even greater pain ripped through his body. Rinero began to shake uncontrollably and violently and throw up. Soon after all this he passed out.

"All that after one magic missile. Heh, dumbass. He certainly needs training but he's the only solid option I've got," the mage thought. Zetarnu kicked down the door to Rinero's house and looked around, "What a small place." Zetarnu then summoned a large black bag with his staff and began looting Rinero's house. Once he was done, he placed the bag down and tapped it with his staff and made it disappear with a flash of sparks.

Several minutes later...

"Hey, look it's that mage," said one of the villagers.

"Hey, what is that in his hand?"

The villagers looked in horror as Zetarnu dragged Rinero's limp body by his legs through the village.

"Nothing to look at here get back to your farming or whatever."

Yet the villagers watched as Zetarnu dragged Rinero into the dark forest at the village edge.