Scene: Ronin opens his eyes.
“Oh, he is awake!” a man shouts on my left, riding on a strange horse I have never seen before.
feeling the subtle bumping sensation, I realise that I am also on one of those horse
In front of me is a man with a broad back but short stature, its Warzheil.
“Where….” I try to speak but a sharp pain shoots up from my chest.
“what….?” The pain surges up again, as if needles were stuck in my lungs.
What’s he talking about?
“Don’t speak, you were hit in the chest. It’s a miracle that you are still alive.” He says
“Food….” I say as I force to speak, thinking I would heal if I absorb.
Warzhiel hands me a fruit, I absorb it, but apart from supressing the hunger, it does nothing.
“Wondering what happened ,right? That’s the first thing I tried too.” Warzheil says on which I nod.
“Jortheus?....” I question with the low wind. So it doesn’t hurt me.
“Dead---a feat for real! Boast about it later though.” Warzheil says
“What you both talking about under the breath?” Kade inquires.
Warzheil ignores him, and continues “This is Kade and the hunters, They are my town folk. We’re heading back—Sil will take care of you.”
I nod slowly as a greeting on which Kade nods back in approval.
“Nice to meet you Mister, Uh—Ronin. Man you look like someone pulled a Dragon Slayer out of the grave.” He says
My left arm is now back to normal too.
I am disappointed by myself. I should have been able to figured it out from that strange smell during our fight During the fight that was burning my lungs , that it was poison.
“Town is around horizon, Don’t move around too much or your wound may open up.” Warzheil orders me.
I grunt back with a light nod.
I see the town approach after a few minutes while Warzheil continues his talks.
“I am surprised though, Kade. Our hunt crazed princess isn’t hunting these days?” Warzheil asks
“Oh---that…. A few days ago, a merchant stopped by with latest new from holy kingdom, he spoke of some paladins hearing about this rumour, “Drax the almighty god of skies and fire had fallen at hands of mortal Zamba.” I swear, Even the gods are a prey to mortals jokes these days. But that upset her, ruining her mood probably.” Kade replies
Warzheil almost freezes up, hesitant. We know the truth, but I fear what might happen if she finds out.
Before anyone could notice his grim expression I push him lightly, snapping him out of it.
“O-Oh, yeah, people talk when drunk with booze or money.” He said
“You seemed lost just now, did something happen? And what’s his story? We can’t let a half demon into the village and you already knew that right? You were the one who suggested the rule. I would kill him on sight if not for you” Kade says, sounding almost unwelcoming of me.
I try to speak but Warzheil saves me the trouble.
“You are taking this Lad lightly. My forge was taken over by goblins and the lich. Heck even the devil was there.” Warzheil tries to sound all proud. As if I was his son.
“No shit? Stop with your bad jokes oldman. You just don’t have it in you.” Kade says
“You doubt me? It seems like you need a taste of my hammer.” Warzheil says softly while he cherishes his hammer while closing his eyes as he speaks and quickly turns one eye open, aimed at Kade as if transferring the image of him getting beaten right into his mind.
“N-not the hammer please.” Kade pleads
Warzheil explains all events leading up to us reaching the forge, and disguising my ability being an artifact to not give away too much info.
“Oh! That explains why Bangru couldn’t feel his mana around him? He can block magic with his artifact, huh? Where did he find such a good artifact, let me use it someday” he requests.
“He has his story, but that’s his to tell.”
“I really liked the story though, I would love to hear more about it.” Wyran the young hunter says
Warzheil doesn’t tell about the demon lord, Ethis or my absorption abilities.
“Ok, enough Stories. Look ahead Ronin.” He says, as we enter a big gate with guards and people welcoming us, few notice my arm and shoot anxious looks. I look ahead with all the strength I could muster. I see two figures who stand out even in the crowd.
“Our hunters have returned with their hunt!” An elven woman speaks, besides her is a girl with a mask on her face, but just looking at her tells me she must be quite a looker, her hair blonde, like gold shining in flame. Dressed like a princess.
She Stands out, so she must be drax’s daughter.
I can barely process all this, as I fight to keep awake.
Everyone is Cheering, some welcoming their sons from Kade’s group.
“Kade, another weak hunt?” Sil asks looking at the meagre stock of hunt and herbs.
“The hunt have migrated. Alpha grazier herd has left almost no herb to be found in the plains.” Kade explains with disappointment on his face.
“At this rate we may need to move from here.” Sil whispers enough for Kade and all of us to hear.
Warzheil gets off the horse, helping me down from it. It still stings to move even an inch, but I brave through it.
I couldn’t care what others though of me before, but now, a thought spirals in my head.
What would Gloria think of her Father’s God? This starts to eat at my mind.
“Sil, this is no time for celebration or grief, my friend here is gravely injured.” Warzheil says with urgence.
“A friend? Apart from Drax? Finally you learned something new, huh? Don’t worry, a medium grade healing potion will get him back to top form in no time.” She says without glimpsing at me.
“Medusa’s poison, Sil” Warzheil almost hisses.
Sil stiffens, I notice Gloria flinching upon hearing the words.
Sil rushes to check my eyes,
“What’s with your left eye?” She mumbles “And---By the heavens!”
She suddenly lifts my shirt I want to step back but if I do…, Sil moves away, stumbling back as she catches a sight of my skin.
“Who let this man walk?! Get a stretcher immediately!” Sil yells at some of the hunters who rush into action.
She steps back near Warzheil “What is this? A demon? A Human? A monster? How- how is he alive?” Sil says but Warzheil interrupts.
“HE—Is my friend. Who put his LIFE on line to save my ass thrice already. I owe him big, and if I fail to help him?!. I will cut my beard, break these hammers and live the life of a hermit.” Warzheil yells
There is a pause as everyone look at me, at this point all I can see is a contrast of black and white from my right eye and my left eye feels like the world is going all jelly mode, wobbly.
I want to ask for help, maybe it can fasten the process, but my injury and Gloria’s presence hold me back.
This Strange Pride of mine will someday be my downfall, but its all I have left.
“Ok, I will help him. But how is he even alive? First of all, he look like a mutant. He is unlike any I have seen, a mix of bone demon and human--yet Alive.”
“Second, the poison that can petrify every cell of blood demons has reached his head and yet he is somehow alive.” She adds
“And that?!” She asks pointing at the blade hanging behind Warzheil, The blade that the demon lord used on me.
“Is that the Ramoon Blade?! As I remember, the demon Lord should have had it!” Gloria’s voice floats through the air as she answers Sil’s question,
Her voice is sweet soothing, a remedy to my mind which feels like it’s about to dive in depths of the abyss.
“It’s a long story, but first we need to treat him.”
“I cannot risk it without knowing, I am the chief here and you know it.” Sil says
“Right now?… fine! I was in….” Warzheil speaks but I can no longer hear,
What happened? All I hear is a slow thumping of my own pulse, it is slowing down even more, I am starting to lose my sight.
I- can’t Lose consciousness Here!
I fail to resist the drift of my consciousness, it feels good, floating, no pain in the body, in the empty space again, how long have I been here?
“Giving up already? That’s what I though.”
“You think you have suffered enough?!”
“Going to leave your contracts?”
“Breaking your code?” My own voices eco, as if around me. It feels strange but I feel a fire ignite in me.
Gloria’s sharp eyes flicked over Ronin—his tattered form, the raw exhaustion written across his stance. There was something wrong. A man in his condition should be trembling, should be struggling to keep upright. Yet, there he stood, not relaxed, but poised. Like a blade left in its sheath, edge unseen but present nonetheless.
She crossed her arms, not out of indifference, but to keep her hands from fidgeting. He was an enigma. And Gloria hated enigmas.
But there was something haunting about him, she notices a dullness in Ronin’s eyes as if Staring into the abyss. She slowly and hesitantly walks up to Ronin, waves her hand a little.
Her suspicion turns into concern as she swings it harder in front of his eyes, the light in his left eye had disappeared, Warzheil and Sil are still in an argument but Warzheil notices gloria.
Gloria gently pokes Ronin—no response, then she puts her index finger under his nose---no breath.
Her breath heavy“ Oh no…..Oldzheil…He-He passed away?!”
“What? While Standing?” Sil says in disbelief covering her mouth with a grim expression.
Gloria slowly steps back, her sight never leaving ronin’s unfazed face.
Warzheil rushed to check Ronin.
“Good Lad! Tell me This is just a prank you are playing on us.! ” trying to calm himself, maintaining a smile on his face.
He doesn’t find a pulse, No heart beat even after putting his ears on Ronin’s chest. Nothing. Warzheil’s pulse gets quicker
“Dear….He—is gone.” Sil says with a sympathetic expression.
“Gone?!” Warzheil snaps with anger. “I TOLD you one God.Damn.Thing!, Give urgent treatment to the man!”
“You were the one who suggested the rule to….”
“Following ‘RULES’!?” he condemns
“You would follow RULES when a man is suffering silently Infront of you?! I made Rules to save people not to let them DIE!” he roars
Losing strength in his feet and his moral hurt, he falls on his knees.
“I came here in hopes of helping the Him. Oh good lad forgive me, I failed you!.”
“Dear I, I---” Sil knees down to console Warzheil
“Never had I met such a broken yet humble man, so reliable, Just wishing for a peaceful life, yet in face of cruel fate, he suffered till his last breath. He never asked for anything of me. Even after I suggested the plan that might get us killed, even after getting him mixed in a mess of my own, he never abandoned me. Even though we were strangers.”
In the darkness of my mind I see it turning to me, the big figure I saw at the end of the empty space when I was teleported in this world. But the voices around me mocked me, pitied me. Have I been so weak? I feel a jolt of energy in my left eye and slowly my Vision returns.
I see that I am still standing. A wet sensation drips onto my unshaved moustache. I slide my hand under my nose and notice that it’s blood but its darker in colour, it turns into grey and into cement like powder.
What’s going on with me?
I look with my almost blurry vision and see Warzheil is on one knee, one hammer near his right and one on his left, crying. Why is the old man crying? Was I sleeping while standing?
Sil is trying to console him.
Gloria feels a chill as she see Ronin—who she thought dead, slowly turns his eyes towards her, she almost yells in fear but puts her hand on her mask, trying to compose herself, the hunters next to her yell and stumble back looking at him
I still feel like my ears are under water. Sil and Warzheil looks at me and have an expression of shock and horror.
Sil is in disbelief. It wasn’t the state of him that unsettled her—it was the way he carried it. A broken man should look lost, hollow. But there was something in his gaze, too smooth for someone who had just crawled back from the edge of death.
Her people were watching. Trust was a currency here, and she had little to spare. Taking him in meant betting on a ghost. But leaving him out here? That might be a mistake she couldn’t afford.
“Quick, take him to my mansion, I will treat him.” Her voice was steady, but her fingers twitched at her side before she relaxed them. It was a small hesitation. One she hoped no one noticed.
Suddenly I feel like someone is forcing me, I lack strength to resist.
The next thing I know is lying on the stretcher, then in a room. I feel pain and hear my own growns occasionally before blacking out.
I see glimpses of things happening, my wound seemed big.
I finally wake up. Trying to figure things out I hear Warzheil speaking to someone, I recognise that voice, its gloria.
“What is he Oldzheil?” Gloria asks
“He is a Hitman. There is much to discuss. So lets all meet him first, then we can discuss more tomorrow when he is rested up. The drug ‘s effect should soon be fading.” Warzheil says
“What even is he Oldzheil? Sil had to give her half a bag full of pain dampeners and sleep herbs to make him unconscious while she treated him,” Kade’s voice joins in.
“He isn’t a demon. Don’t ask anything else, I just want to see the lad as soon as Sil gets here.” Warzheil says
“When I check his pulse!. He wasn’t breathing and was certainly dead, but then suddenly he came back. Without use of potion or magic. He is not human either, I don’t sense mana, nor do I sense any other kind of energy from him. How can a being like him even exist.” Gloria asks, disbelief in her voice.
“What?” I whisper to myself.
“I was---dead? then I wasn’t sleeping?” My mind rushed more than my pulse, which had now stabilised. I can now think straight.
“The lad truly has his ancestors blood running in him like he said.” Warzheil says.
“Ancestors?” Kade asks
“Finally you are here Sil.” Warzheil says
“I had to prepare this meal in a hurry, so don’t complain.” She says
The door opens, I slide my eyes gently to look at them. Sil enters from behind with some food.
“Veg food just like you said he liked.” She says looking briefly at Warzheil with smile before returning to me.
“Are you feeling well now, Ronin?” She asks me with a caring look.
I nod slowly.
“Even a high dragon would struggle against poison of such rarity, yet you survived it. I have many questions for you Ronin, do you think you have the strength to talk? Lets start with names.” She asks
“I am Sil Thundersmith, wife of this old geezer here. You and kade have already met. And this on my left, well, she is Lord Drax’s only child, Gloria.” She says
I muster the strength before finally speaking, powering through the pain which is much cope able now.
“I am Shar Rohiez, for the longest I was known as ‘Ronin’. I can still feel weak, I can feel tremours in my body just by sitting up straight why is that?” I ask
“That’s natural, your body just underwent a surgery, I had to pump your heart to clean the blood by almost draining your blood, then using lot of food to make you heal. It was a close call.” she explains
“My husband said you saved his life on various occasions. But he didn’t tell us the details. I would like you to answer questions related to that.” Sil says
“Sil, don’t force the lad, he just woke up!” Warzheil gives an uneasy suggestion.
“You stay quite old geezer. For all we know he could be demon lord’s spy. I have heard they are so skilled that they would be among you and you wouldn’t know. Although even I highly suspect that.” Sil replies.
“You are impossible!… fine, I will talk instead. But I will be rough. And not here, let the lad rest.” He suggests
“Fine! Its not like I was going to stab ‘Your Lad’ if he didn’t want to answer me.” Sil replies
“That’s…it? I thought you guys were suspicious of me.” I ask
“Aww, don’t sweat it little one, we all know what you just went through. Anyone in your position would want some time alone. Here, eat some food. I will get what information I want from this dwarf here.” She says smiling at Warzheil in a scary way.
“gah, fine. But lad….” Warzheil says “Eat and Rest up, I will show you around town tomorrow. Take you to my new forge even!”
“Stop acting like my mom” I say to Warzheil
Warzheil chuckles as they all start going out of the room except Gloria.
“Gloria?....” Sil asks
“Grandma Sil, you go on ahead, I will wash the dishes once he is finished eating the food.” She says
After a pause, Sil sighs and agrees.
After a few seconds, the bustling room dies in silence.
I feel all kinds of anxieties.
“Eat up. The food will become cold.” Gloria says which startles me.
I do as I say, not thinking too much---yeah that helps a lot, I just need to focus on the food and its aroma. Although a bit bland to my taste just from the looks of it.
At least this way I can avoid her probing eyes.
My fingers twitched. Weak. Shaking.
I lifted my hands, staring at the unfamiliar frailty. The callouses were still there, the old scars from battles past, but they felt like relics—a strength that I no longer had.
I curled my fingers, expecting resistance, the usual tension of muscle coiled and ready. Instead, my grip faltered, my knuckles barely tightening before the tremor returned.
Pathetic.
Memory clawed at the edges of my mind—my hands, steady as steel, cutting through flesh and bone. I had stood against monsters, men, and things that blurred the line between both.
But Now?
The body remembers what the mind does not want to accept, and it was no longer my ally.
A frustration boils up as my face distorts, but I try to control my emotions as I tighten my jaw.
Questions rose in my head, will I ever be normal again?, I just wake up over my death bed? What have I become?
At times like these I asked myself…. Are these questions you know answer to? If no then why worry? And it works like a charm, I pick up the loaf of bread on the table of food besides me, eat it slowly.
As I eat, I can’t help but feel uncomfortable.
She has been staring at me for so long and her aura is so crazy its making me feel dizzy, I wish I had my mask, but Warzheil must have taken it off my face and stored it in his pocket.
I try to pick up the bowl of soup with my right hand, but my fingers twitch uncontrollably. My grip fails me—again. A tremor runs through my arm, subtle but maddening.
Before I can spill it, two warm, fair hands reach out to steady the bowl—Gloria's. She doesn’t say anything at first, just holds it there, letting me adjust. Her touch is calm, practiced, like she’s done this before.
I exhale a frustrated sigh, forcing a crooked smile.
“Oh—thanks.”
She doesn’t respond right away. Instead, she watches me with those sharp eyes of hers—only now, the edge is dulled by something else. Curiosity? Concern?
Gloria leans in just slightly, her voice barely above a whisper.
“You always this quiet?”
She waited, arms crossed, expecting… something. A reply, a reaction. Ronin gave her nothing.
After a beat, she huffed a laugh. “Alright, I’ll take that as a yes.”
“My name is---” she adds
“I know.” I interrupt her
“Huh?” she says in a short exhale with slight confusion. I take big sips of soup to finish it faster
“Drax’s Daughter—Gloria, right?.” I say
“That’s Lord Drax for you” she says with a hint of anger in her voice, obviously she would expect respect for her father who was a god.
“Apologies, a slip of memory…. I meant Lord Drax. So should I be honoured to be drinking from hands of a goddess?” I ask
“I am a demi-human, not a complete god. And you look around my age too, so no need to be formal.” she giggles
So she really doesn’t know about Ethis being her mom.
“Blood of the gods runs through you nonetheless.” I say
She laughs softly “Yeah, you can say that.”
“What about you? You look demi-human yourself.” She asks
Poor girl, I would not want to see her sad when she finds out her Father’s fate. And every time I think this, a haunting question arises, from within me. What will she think when she finds out that her father’s god is me.?
“I happened to have an accident with a deadly demon. He tried to take over my body--but failed, leaving my body like this.” I said
“Oh, that’s harsh,” she says, rising as she picks up the bowl and sets it on the plate near me.
She pauses. Just for a second. Then her gaze flicks to me—sharp, thoughtful. “You should rest. Your body needs healing. You’ll be as good as new in two days.”
I give a short nod. “Oh, sure. Thanks for helping me.”
“No need.” She exhales, as if weighing something. Then, instead of leaving, she tilts her head slightly. “You know… most people don’t just stand after being hit with Medusa’s venom.”
She’s fishing.
I say nothing.
Gloria doesn’t push, but she lingers, arms crossed. “It should’ve locked up your body—petrified your limbs at the very least. But you stood there. Even moved.”
I meet her eyes but offer nothing.
She waits. For a beat. Maybe two. Then she sighs, shaking her head with a small smile. “Right. The silent type.”
She picks up the dishes but doesn’t leave just yet. “I wanted to ask more, but once I get caught in chats, I’ll forget to wash the dishes—and the last thing I want is to make Sil angry.”
This time, she leaves.
“At last… a moment’s peace.” As I let the thought let me drive, I hear a growl. I am still hungry.
I see a tree outside the window. I walk up to it, and look around, there are lots of trees here but people will notice it. There is a big thick vine too, maybe I can…..
I feel satisfied after the absorbing the vine, my body has started to feel better already, my muscles coil up. I clench my fist and it stops shaking like it did. There is a mirror in the room to. Its been long since I saw my face.
my hair is very well maintained, as if someone gave me a hair cut. Maybe it was Sil, I will need to thank her later.
As the old men said, Now I can sleep like a horse seller!
I lie down on the bed, its comfy, compared to sleeping on rough ground, enough to fit me.
Before I know it, I am drifting away into sleep.
Warzheil and Sil along with Kade are talking in the kitchen.
“You know how much I hate mutants!” Sil spits
“I am telling you, He is human!” Warzheil yells back
“Do not shout in the house geezer. Let me ask this then.” She continues “WHY the hell Does he look like that? And even if we put aside the fact that he is mutant, why is his heart on the left side instead of right? A human’s heart is on right!”
“You….!” he sneers in anger
“Had it not been you. I would have personally seen to it, that he died even more painful death!” Sil says in a serious tone.
Gloria is listening quietly from outside the kitchen.
“Wait, both of you, whether we like it or not that guy is our guest. So tone down a little, will ya? And oldman, you cannot keep us in the dark, spill it already.” Kade insists
“Now you have done it HAG!”
Sil gasps “HAG?!”
“I thought it would be too much for you all but now you are begging for it, fine hear me--According to what I know, Geolard tried taking over his body…. “ Warzheil jogs his memory, but everyone one is shocked
“Wait, who? Surely you do not mean….” Sil almost shouts but Warzheil interrupts her.
“Yes, I mean it exactly. GEOLARD, the heavenly Demon, who fought for all races when gods were after each other’s blood for heaven’s throne. Drax told me he and Geolard once fought side by side against a big threat to our world.” He says
Everyone is shocked to
”But that isn’t even the crazy part. The more I will tell you the more you will understand the weight of your words earlier.”
“So you are telling us that, ‘that’ man we are housing is Geolard?” kade says as his hand clutches a small knife.
Sil notices Gloria.
“Gloria stop standing there, you have hear it anyway, come join us as we hear this old geezer tell fairy tales” Sil says.
“Make yourselves comfortable kids, this is tale of a legend in making. So, Don’t jump to conclusions.” Warzheil replies
“Geolard must have thought he had caught a prey, but it turned into his grave and someone else’s power. He failed due to Ronin’s strange left eye.”
“H-he, killed the demon lord that my father told me fairy tales about?” Gloria hesitates under her mask.
“That’s just the beginning. He saved me from goblins……..” Warzheil explains everything that happened till how they got out of the forge.
“Wait, Ava, The Light borne Hero, said to be have a body given by goddess Ethis is his Sister? How?” Gloria asks
“He told me its complicated.” Warzheil says
“Even if we believe that, it doesn’t explain why you have Ramoon blade and why he was poisoned with….” Sil asks but Warzheil interrupts her again
“I.AM. getting to that part. Now, I know how impossible and crazy I am about to sound. But I can swear on my beard that what I am bout to tell you is true and I am a living witness.” Warzheil warns, as he takes a deep breath.
“You surely saw the lights flash down from heavens and whispers of gods yesterday, right?”
“You mean the light that appears when heroes kill the demon lord?.....” Sil says
But then there is silence, But at this moment silence is the loudest speaker as Sil grows uneasy as if it clicked to her.
Kade is so shocked his jaw hangs with disbelief.
“Yeah, I saw it too, what of it? Are you suggesting that he…..Wait, He?!” Gloria asks in disbelief, realising a moment later.
“So, if my memory serves me well, someone here was talking big about killing the man, but now you know, if he was our enemy, he would have slain you even in that state of his.” Warzheil says with a smug. As if praising Ronin was like praising Himself.
“By the Ancients” Sil supports her head “A human, turned monster. possesses an artifact that nullifies magic to some extent. A body that heals before another injury can be inflicted. And brother of one of the heroes?” Sil says
“Wait, then why did the demon lord’s weakness not apply on him if he killed him?” Kade asks
“I have my theories, but the one that clicks is his left eye. Second maybe that his artifact is not affected by the hero and demon system.” Warzheil says
Ronin is an anomaly in this world, unaffected by its rules. Warzheil know it, but hides it as it may lead to gloria finding out about her mother and potentially even Drax’s death.
“Ok, that’s it for today, I need to process all this before morning, and I feel sleepy. I will let you off the hook this time dear.” Sil says
Warzheil nods “ and Umm..., Forgive me for raising my voice earlier.” Warzheil says with a sad expression
“Oh, don’t worry old bones, you did what any man would do for someone they care about, maybe I was just jealous that you never got this angry for me.” She says
“Ahem… kids, you should sleep too.” Warzheil coughs hiding his embarrassment.
And so, everyone goes to sleep.
Gloria closes her room’s door, and falls on her bed flat on her face as she clutches her pillow.
“A human who is so strong he killed Geolard and Jortheus? I knew he was not ordinary the moment I saw him. ”
“Father used to tell me, that demon lords are strong and that Geolard was one of the strongest. I really want to see how strong He who defeated them is.” Gloria as she drifts into sleep.