The Side Character's Apprentice

THE MESSAGE

"In light of what you said, can you explain to me what your plan was if I hadn't shown up?" Eric said. I could hear the smugness in his voice even beneath his plain expressions.

"Well, I was going to convince him to leave," I blurted out. The scorn on Eric's face screamed his disappointment. But how could he be disappointed by anything I said? I was sure Master Lui spared no effort in describing my person. Did he come here half-heartedly believing it? Many have been guilty of such in the past. It was unthinkable that a member of the Grand Corps would behave the way I did. So many pinned it to simply be exaggerations. In truth, the descriptions fell short. I was way worse in person. Or better. I don't see my principles as negative. I believe cowardice is a necessary tool for survival. If you disagree, ask those brave heroes who are celebrated by the cowards who survived. They can't respond, can they?

"And how were you going to convince a man, whose thirst for blood was through the roof?" Eric snapped. I was beginning to feel that he was mostly unhappy. Although the situation didn't allow for frivolities per se, he could at least relax a little. He just won a fight in front of his newly acquired fanbase.

"He's a challenger. He came here looking for a worthy opponent. I just had to prove to him that I and all the other Corps are not worth his time, and he'll leave. What you've done is fuel his interest and any others he comes in contact with when he's released," I replied.

"We'll be feared. It will deter people from committing crimes."

"Will it? Stay long enough in Airen and see for yourself."

Eric was silent after that. His first experience with Airen hinted that I had a point and he was in no position to argue. The walk back to base was a quiet one. A little too quiet actually. I enjoyed talking a lot. And if I wasn't in the company of others, I would defer to my second hobby after running away – soliloquizing. My eyes ran through the streets of Airen. A strange town it was. It was either busy or desolate. Almost as if the entire town plans where to be and not to be ahead of time. The path we threaded was completely devoid of people. The area close to the Corps' base usually was. Most people in Airen were unruly and would rather avoid the wrath of the Corps.

Airen was one of the few stand-alone towns within the Kraken empire that existed after the Sixth Great War. In the early 12th century, which was almost three decades ago, the Kraken empire was invaded by strange beasts later to be known as Lankens. The five men who were responsible for defeating the king of the Lankens were later to be known as the Four and a Half Sages. However, rather than settle for powerful positions in the empire, they decided to create their own town – Airen. There have been many rumours as to why, but no one except the five masters can say for certain why they did so. At this time, Airen was being run by Masters Draco and Lara, both of whom were married. Masters Krul and Imin run the Grand Corps. Master Lui took the nomadic path, but many believed that he continued to scour the empire to make sure that all traces of Lankens had been wiped out.

Airen was a small town if you didn't include the mountains. The streets were covered with concrete bricks that allowed for carriages to ply through. Although, there were rarely any. The town was small enough to travel by foot and no one claimed royalty. Not even the great sages. There was the occasional use of horses by the Grand corps and even sparser use of carriages. The houses were small brick houses built close to each other. Everyone was neighbours to one another. There was the farm, the market, the healer's hut, the Chief's house and the Grand Corp base too. And that was all that Airen town had to offer. There were about a hundred people in Airen altogether, with the Grand Corps making up twenty percent of that number.

"You didn't look scared," Eric finally said. He looked around the same age as I was. I was twenty one years of age and he didn't look far off. His golden hair stood out the most of all his features. He was tall, but I was slightly taller than he was. I took pride in that. So much that I unknowingly let out a grin. He wore a beige tunic with brown pants and a brown boot to match. It was a colourful contrast to the Corp uniform I donned – a black jacket over a deep blue tunic, black pants and a pair of black boots. Unlike other Corps, I left my jacket loose and was never with a sword. A sword was for those who had to fight. No one needed a sword to run away. In fact, it only got in the way of my escape.

I ran my hands through my dark full hair, taking a dramatic pose in an attempt to look cool as I uttered the words, "fear and cowardice doesn't always have to be together."

Eric tilted his head to the side as if he was examining me. "You don't strike me as a coward. What are you hiding?" he said.

"Does the great Eric Ten find me interesting?" I teased.

"The mountains, I hear you reside there sometimes. Why? With the word of creatures running amok? That's not something a coward would do?" Eric said.

Eric leaned backwards as I leaned to whisper something to him. "Relax," I said. "Well, the thing is, I made it all up to scare people away."

"I know what I saw," Eric insisted.

"I did a good job with the markings and inscriptions, right?"

"I'm saying, I encountered one of them. The beasts from the rumours," Eric said, much to my surprise. It was only when he revealed the tear on his sleeves that I noticed he was hurt. He did a good job of concealing it. "From one of them," he said.