Skill-Less Swordsman

As the butler walks away, I begin to take in the large hall in front of me. The same chandeliers I saw earlier are strewn all throughout the hall, with the enchanted carpet leading up a large, grandiose stairway. The hall itself is almost 5 stories tall, multiple hallways seeming to converge into the hall, clearly indicating the hall as some sort of centerpiece of the compound. There are tables full of food scattered all over, and waiters with trays full of small confectionaries and drinks.

Looking at my fellow guests, I see much of what I expected. Rich, affluent members of Justice City, all sporting tuxedos and dresses with accents that indicate their preferred element. Headbands and earrings, lapels and shoes, all every single possible color imaginable. I spot shades of blue, red, green, purple, grey; you name it I can see it within the large crowd of people.

I walk confidently into the hall like I’m supposed to be there. I begin conversing with fellow party goers about very mundane and bland topics, like how ‘the representative of the Guild of Merchants in Justice City is a corrupt scoundrel’ or how ‘Emily Wittensworth’s daughter slept with Justice City’s Leader of Agricultural Commerce’. Very interesting stuff I assure you.

My strategy with this section of the job was to nod my head and say small comments about the topics being discussed. You’d be surprised on how far a couple of ‘Yes, I heard about that too’ and a ‘Well you must think about it from a different perspective as well’ will get you.

After about an hour, something at least somewhat interesting happened. I hear a few shouts and squeals from across the banquet hall, clearly indicating some sort of altercation. After a few moments I hear yelled out loudly,

“Fine, but if you dare insult my family to my face you must deal with the consequences! I, Worthy Millheart, challenge you to a duel outside this instant!”

Gasps ring throughout the hall, but mentally I’m thanking my lucky stars.

‘This is it! There won’t be a more perfect moment to slip away and into the rest of the mansion!’ I yell to myself mentally.

As people begin to funnel outside through a hallway that seems to lead to a courtyard of some sort, I begin casually walking through the wrong hallway. Not sneaking mind you, as trying to sneak here is just asking to get stopped and questioned. Blending in and acting like I know where I’m going is the much better play here.

‘Wow, this mission is doing wonder for my masteries right now.’ I think happily. ‘Anyways back on track.’

After continuing down this hallway for a bit I begin to realize I literally have no clue where I am or where to go.

“Uncle Moren! Hello? You there?” I whisper loudly.

“Yeah kid what’s up? There an issue or something?”

“Uh yeah, I’m in the rest of the mansion and have no clue where I’m going.”

“Ok well the safe should be in Waylen’s bedroom on the third floor, so look for a staircase or something. Once your there just, idk, find it…” He says weakly.

“Just find it? JUST FIND IT? You don’t know where it is?! I thought you had everything mapped out!”

“Yeah the whole PLAN mapped out. Where the hell am I gonna find the blueprints to some castle built almost a couple hundred years ago, not to mention a Progenitor’s castle?!”

“I don’t know man! But you said and I quote ‘Don’t worry about specifics until you get in there, I got everything mapped out, trust me.” Wow a whole lot that trust did! You know how huge this place is! No way I’m gonna be able to find Waylen’s room on my own!” I say as I try my best to not yell to loudly.

“Well why don’t you just ‘enlist’ some help then?” Moren says in a guile tone.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this…” I say defeatedly.

“Come on! It’s not I’m asking you to kill anyone, though this would be a lot easier if you did.” I hear in my ear.

“I’m not killing some poor maid, I’ve only had to kill like five times, and all of them were self-defense. Killing someone just trying to do their job is well beyond the line I set for myself.”

“Alright I get it, I’m just saying…”

Ignoring Uncle Moren, I refocus on the maid I’ve been tailing for the last five minutes. I’ve been waiting for her to be alone and far away so that way, even if she tries to scream, I’ll at least have enough distance to be able to bail and get out of here.

Looking at the maid in question, I can tell she’s young. Maybe a few years younger than me, so inexperienced, and more importantly, unawakened.

I place a mask Moren prepared for me around my face. At this point if anyone sees me, the plan is ruined anyways, so no point in revealing my face too.

Five more minutes later, I pounce, placing my hand over her mouth and my sword to her neck.

“Scream and I’ll kill you.” I say as my heart races. She stiffens, before quickly relaxing.

I continue,

“Now, I want you to lead me to Waylen’s room, no sudden movements or… well you know.”

She nods calmly. Actually, thinking of it she’s acting far more composed than I would expect someone in her position to be. Does she not believe herself to be in any real danger? Why would that be? My sword against her neck is clearly an indication of ‘real danger’, so why does she seem… unbothered.

I suddenly become much more alert, glancing at all my surroundings. I don’t see anything out of the ordinary, so why the hell is she so calm?!

I turn my head back to where she is, only to notice she’s suddenly gone. I look down to see her quickly coming at me with a small dagger. Before I can back up, she’s already on me dagger place firmly in my side.

“Shit.” I curse to myself before leaping back several steps to create some space between the two of us.

Dagger still in side, I lookup to see her pull out another knife from a sheath strapped to her thigh.

“Code red! Compromised, Compromised!”

“Shit, what the hell happened?! Is she awakened?!” I hear in my ear while stuck in a standoff with the maid.

“No but she is trained, clearly. Got the jump on me too.” I say looking down at the dagger in my side. “Don’t think she hit anything lethal, but I’ll bleed out if this keeps up.”

“Alright sending my boy in to recover you. Things are about to get loud.”

‘FUCK FUCK FUCK! This fucking sucks! Alright calm down, you must be active in this fight, or else she’ll stand there forever just waiting for you to bleed out.’ I think.

Without further delay I charge at her with no lack of pain bursting from my side. I swing my sword down at her, but as she begins to move out of the way, I redirect my sword directly to where her neck will be.

This move worked for the last guy I killed, but it doesn’t seem to faze her much as she throws her body back to reset the engagement. My swing lands a glancing blow on her calf, but before she can escape my range I continue to press her by thrusting my sword towards where she landed.

Before my thrust connects, she brings her knife forward to parry. While she did manage to remove most of my sword’s momentum, my thrust still lands another glancing blow on her side. Before I can bring my sword forward again, I see a leg coming from my right, ready to cave my skull in.

‘Damn, this girl must have a few prodigy feats at least! How unlucky can I get!’ I think, quickly ducking below her kick.

I throw out a few light slashes to keep her on her toes, which she follows by trying to gouge my eye out with her knife. As she’s thrust her knife towards my face, I bring my sword into an upwards slash towards her arm, while I move my head to the side.

This seemed to have caught her off guard, as she is slightly to slow to react, allowing me to land a nasty gash on her forearm. I can see her face visibly harden, before throwing her knife full force towards my chest. This catches me way off guard, as what kind of person throws their weapon in the middle of a fight?

Time seems to slow in my head, as I slowly watch her knife fly at my chest. I look down at my sword, somehow knowing that no matter what the situation may be, no matter how dire the situation, no matter how far my sword may be, my sword will always be right where I need it. I know that anywhere I wish my sword to be, it will be there, ready to defend and attack at a moment’s notice.

I feel something deep in my chest form. Something so profound that words will never be able to describe it. It feels as if I connected on a deeper level to the world around me, with the bridge between me and the world being the sword I hold in my hand.

In a flash, my sword appears where the knife is headed, with my hand still somehow attached to it. After a quick spark, and a knife clattering to the ground. I look at the notifications blaring in my head in amazement.