I might have lost weight and become half-starved, but that also gave me some advantage with speed. And that was why I brought the sword up in the first place, to create momentum that a slash or thrust wouldn’t have with the heavy sword.
We clashed. My sword bit into something, and then a weight slammed into me, sending me flying. I landed on the ground and skidded clumsily.
I scrambled upright, my blood roaring and my heart pounding. The sword was gone, but I didn’t need it. Something else settled on me, like the first sunlight, as I watched with my mouth open. The monster was dead, its head nearly cut off from its neck.
"I... did that?" I stood there, not understanding. I had just killed a monster. Me. Vale Athrimir, the outcast, the one in the shadows of death.
Taiwo groaned. "Well, color me the deepest surprise. You just killed that thing, and even though it was wounded, that’s impressive. What’s your name again?"
"Vale A... Vale."
"You saved my life, Vale. I owe you that." She flopped onto her back. She looked nervous, and it wasn’t because the only other thing she could feel was pain. She stared at me, and I could tell I unnerved her. My green eyes were too bright, and it was as if she’d just witnessed the beginning of something. I shouldn’t have survived that. That speed... how was I able to do that?
"You’ve trained with a sword before?"
It took a moment before I answered. "Yes. I have."
She grunted and said nothing more.
Now that I was no longer staring death in the face, the tension left my body, leaving me like a wrinkled cloth.
I was able to think about just how incredibly stupid what I had just done was. As a trained swordsman, I knew I should have familiarized myself with a blade again after being without one for so long. But I also accepted that my life came before anything else.
I touched my neck, unsurprised when my hand came away with blood. The monster had sliced a thin line on my neck. Just then, something stirred in my lower abdomen, a nudge as if something was trying to break free. I frowned, but it was gone just as quickly as it had come.
I sat there on the ground. I was tired, not because I had just killed a monster, but because of something deeper. This weariness came from within. For a long time, I had held onto the illusion of dying, but now that the monster had shattered it, I felt lost.
’I don’t want to die. Then what? Just... live like this?’
I didn’t know how long I sat there, staring at the ground, but eventually Taiwo tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey. Wake up."
I flinched, and she raised a brow at me. "For someone who knows how to use a sword, you’re not aware of your surroundings at all. Come here. A team is going somewhere in the Barrens. We’ll follow them."
She was still limping but looked better already. That was the advantage of activating a core, and although Squires healed much slower than actual Knights, they still healed.
The team she was talking about consisted of about thirty or so men and women in black and white leather armor, and they didn’t wait for us.
I slowed down for Taiwo, but we weren’t so slow that the team left us behind.
"Those are from the Crimson Hood’s Flagbearer. And yes, they don’t wear red, but white. It’s good fortune they came across us. Monsters roam more during the night than the day."
I nodded along, and the silence stretched. Should I say something? It had been a long time since someone directly made conversation with me. But now that I had decided to live, and even though I didn’t know what I wanted, I figured I should learn as much about the Borderlands as possible.
I nodded to the team ahead. "You all don’t seem friendly."
Taiwo snorted, glad for something to say. This guy... me. I was her subordinate, but somehow it didn’t feel like it. There was something about me. "That’s friendly. Although the Flagbearers all want to close the Rift, there’s no agreement between them on how to do it. They don’t work together. Maybe once in a while, but not all of them.
"That spills over to their Knights, too. We don’t work together. Everyone competes for resources here, the Flagbearers and the teams. And if you’re strong, you can take a lot. Free advice: don’t agree to any duel you can’t win. If you lose and have nothing, you’ll owe the person your life, and trust me, you don’t want that."
The sun was much lower in the sky now, and darkness was making it hard to see the ground.
"Any ruins that appear will draw both Knights and monsters in equal measure. They’ll form temporary alliances to secure them, even teams from different Flags. Any team that secures a ruin will get a share of the resources to buy special herbs and potions to grow stronger." She clenched her teeth at that last part. This was what made the Borderlands so competitive; everyone wanted to grow stronger, and the majority didn’t care how.
Suddenly, the team ahead whirled and began jogging in a different direction, slow at first, but they picked up speed and were soon gone.
Taiwo shook her head. "Bastard Squire teams."
I looked at her. "Aren’t you a Squire too?"
She snorted. "Barely. My potential was low, and there were no resources to grow myself. Everything I make goes into feeding my body to keep my muscles. There are powerful Squires, trust me, not like the type that I am."
I nodded. Potential? I remembered my potential. It was big, wasn’t it? Or was it because of... the mark?
"Yes. We’ve reached the first layer of the Barrens. The place where you’ll work till you die," Taiwo said with cheer.
She didn’t need to say anything else because I could see. Before me spread hundreds of tents and hulking buildings, lights from the camps glowing like tiny yellow stars.
Most of the buildings were crumbled, as if they’d fall at any moment. And some of them weren’t made of stone and earth. I saw a tall, tower-like structure with half of it eaten away, made entirely of glass.
"First layer?" I asked in surprise.