Dodging the carriage was the easiest of the troubles to come. He had now dodged it about 2 times, escaping decapitation every time. Luckily, Ford had developed a lightning fast reaction time from something that ought not to be explained quite yet.
Ford felt his neck, almost to the point of strangling himself. All those times he had to suffer, all that pride he held so dear... Maybe it's time to dispose of it.
He did.
The first thing he did in this loop was make his way to any knight figure he came across. That's when one man appeared in the distance... Hair so white it was almost blinding, appearance just screamed royalty, and authority.
Ford scurried in his direction, and nearly ran into him, which would have created a scene similar to a kids cartoon. This wasn't a mere cartoon though.. this was real life. Death was leering over Ford's head.
??: "Whoa! Be careful there, mister!"
Ford: "S--Sorry! I-I need your help!"
The knight noticed something on Ford's face, an expression only described as fear. He knew right away, that Ford, this young man in front of him, had looked into the pit of hell, multiple times. His eyes widened, and he gripped onto the sword at his side, before asking--
??: "What happened?!"
Ford was so out of breath that he was barely able to speak. The only words he could muster were Inn, and Attacker. Thankfully, The knight understood pretty quickly what Ford was trying to say. To say he was suspicious of Ford wouldn't be too far off course. After all, how did he know that the Inn was going to be attacked? He hasn't told anyone about Anastasis up to this point, as he didn't know how people would react.
Of course, anyone would be hesitant to tell some stranger about an ability that causes them to resurrect on death, as you never know what other people could be planning. If people knew, they could easily take advantage of Ford's ability. Now, whether a knight would, is a different story. However, nonetheless, it's better to be safe, so Ford would keep his ability a secret for now.
The knight isn't the only one he would tell about the attacker. He had also wanted Arias to come along, as she seemed like someone who'd be able to handle herself in a fight. Anyway, after hearing Ford's plea, the knight would immediately make his way across town, searching every inn he came across. While that was happening, Ford would try to find Arias--
Finding Arias shouldn't be too hard, as Ford had relived the same day about 4 times already. Which means Arias' path should be the same as the previous loops. He retraced his steps, first checking the alley, nothing. Then, he continued along the road leading to her castle.
That's when he saw her, the beautiful ruby red eyes and long blonde hair--
"Hey, miss!"
Arias: "huh? What is it, I'm a bit busy so I don't much time to... Are you okay?!"
At this point, Ford was drenched in sweat, slouched over, and panting heavily. It looked like he was dying, so naturally, Arias was a bit concerned about the young man's well-being.
"What? Y--yeah! I'm totally fine... However, I could really use your help... I thought I saw some suspicious dude at the inn near the castle!"
The castle, naturally, was pretty far out of Crowlan Capital. If you were to walk there from the front gate of the city, it would take around six hours. Of course, Ford was running, so he got around a bit faster, but it was still sunset with the time it took him to run to the front gate of the castle and back.
Ford was always a pretty good runner, He could probably run a marathon if he tried. Now wasn't the time to focus on that though, it was already sunset, so they had to act fast. Arias had believed him and ran over to the Inn, Ford following behind.
******************
A dark room. So dark you could barely see two steps in front of you. Inside that room was a desk, and far ahead of the desk, was a staircase, this was the Inn. It was empty, no one was inside, or at least, no one seemed to be. The truth is, there were people inside, they were just scared of making any noise, so they wouldn't attract the attacker that was also inside with them.
Anybody in this situation would be terrified, which of course, everyone in that room was. The power had went out but mere moments ago. Everyone was sure they'd die, they were preparing for their deaths, no one was coming to save t----
"Damn, that's some serious strength you have man!"
A voice spoke out, the voice of a young man.
??: "thank you, I take pride in knowing that my strength will be useful in this situation"
Another voice of a man, sounded elegant, had an air of authority to him.
??: "still, you could've killed one of us with that move..."
A voice of a woman, a noble woman.
The wall of the Inn had been blown in, debris scattering everywhere. Everyone looked up in surprise at the three figures before them, well... Actually.. just 2.
??: "Citizens, evacuate the Inn, I'll take care of the attacker."
The knight had spoke.
??: "too late!"
A voice emerged from the shadows, and suddenly charged towards one of the civilians, knife in hand.
??: "I think not"
Arias said, as she launched an orange crystal at the attacker, knocking him back. Ford was, unfortunately, a bystander in this battle. He lacks the strength, and any special abilities, at least that he knows of, to take this killer head on. So instead he would help evacuate the citizens.
"Come on everybody! Over here!"
Ford said as he pointed toward the hole in the wall, gesturing the citizens to evacuate. Eventually, everyone was accounted for. All 15 citizens had left, and the killer didn't attempt to follow behind. It seems he was expecting this.
The killer looked at Ford, and then the knight, and then charged at the knight with the knife in his hand.
Sparks, the knight flawlessly blocked the attack with his sword.
What ensued were a flurry of slashes, exactly 23 hits, that were all blocked by the sword.
??: "damn, you're a tough one, ain't ya? It seems I have to take this seriously"
??: "I do train quite a bit... After all, I am a knight"
??: "hah! Don't get cocky with me, My name is Hayden Leeus"
Hayden said as he charged towards the knight once again, this time, however, he would do a mini slash, before dashing behind the knight, with a quick motion and attempting to do another slash before the knight has time to re---
It wasn't enough, the knight, without even turning around, blocked the attack.
"My name is Rallden Forge, of the Forge family, and also, a knight of Crowlan. Die where you stand!"
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