Requiem Of A Failed Hero



"Yap!"

With a light shout, Amber Rose shot forward like an arrow, brandishing her sword against the guy in front of her. Consecutive arcing slashes came after that but they were all blocked effortlessly by this guy. 

On her left hand was a shield which she pushed forward to give the guy a heavy attack. Anything works, she just wanted to catch him off guard somehow. 

But even that too was a shameful failure as the guy hurled a kick onto the shield. She stumbled back and before she could recover, the guy was already in front of her, only the subtle wind could tell the magnificent tales of his speed. 

He yanked the sword off her hand and grabbed her neck with his second hand, swept her off her feet while he was on it, and added more force to his hand on her neck as she went down, slamming her back against the floor. 

Amber Rose let out a groan and curled. She rolled away as the guy released her neck. 

"Next" His voice was like the beckoning of a destructive cry. 

Behind him was a queue of people, some well known, some haven't been seen. 

The next person on the line frowned his face and clenched his fist.

'If I want to be helpful to Raith and keep my dignity of a big brother. I have to get stronger somehow'

Curtis opened his palm and looked into it. 

'This new power I have to learn how to control it...' 

He thought all hope was lost when he lost his dust in Therut. All of them thought it was the end for them. But recently their hopes were being rekindled. Curtis's gaze burned with a newfound determination as he stepped forward. 

He looked over to Amber Rose who was getting up with her head bowed and gritting her teeth. Then his gaze returned to the guy standing in front of him.

Amber Rose he knew was one of the strongest heroes of Therut. It wouldn't be an understatement to say she was standing on the pinnacle of strength, she was even a hero of the justice archon. Her dust attributes were very impressive.

But that wasn't just it about her. Amber Rose's combat ability was the reason why she was feared. She held a small shield to her left and a longsword to her right hand. With a resolve that could cut through the hardest of metal, she was unstoppable every time she plunged her sword forward. 

Even he was envious of her. 

Such a person lost in just one minute of engaging in battle with this guy.

To be precise, it wouldn't be appropriate to call him a guy. From Curtis's point of view, he felt like this guy was younger based on appearance alone. But something tingled in their senses. 

He arrived yesterday, two days after Raith returned, and offered to assist with their training. But since he has been bullying them. He beats them up and does not give them lessons of words. 

All he says is:

"That was how I learned... Kortopi and Jarvis beat me up several times until they couldn't anymore." 

Who is Kortopi? Who is Jarvis? 

These were questions Curtis couldn't answer. As much as he wanted to opt out of this reckless idea of getting beat up in the name of training, he couldn't deny that this guy right here was strong and he felt like battling him would help.

Absalom twirled his long red hair which he refused to cut this time and looked at the person in front of him with his chin raised. 

"You look familiar..." He slightly raised his chin as he observed Curtis. 

'Pitch black hair, eagle eyes, arching brows, oval jawline... white skin... naa..nah... no way'

Every feature of Curtis betrayed Absalom's whiff. Although there was a striking resemblance to a certain person when his overall picture was looked at, but focusing on the specific features the differences were just too large. 

Absalom shook his head, 'Nope... I doubt that son of a bitch even has a brother 

"Come at me..." He said, returning his gaze to Curtis who carefully raised the sword in his hands. 

The pommel of the sword was long enough to accommodate both of his arms. Curtis was a double-handed sword user and was very effective with it. He had tried his shot in single-handed swords, he did do well with it but he would still choose a double-handed sword any time.

There were several cons to it. Its impressive weight, when controlled is a sure deep cutter, that same weight can come in handy when trying blocking, although it could also become a hindrance. 

That was why this all depended on how well one understood the sword. For someone like Curtis who grew up in a sword family. He understood very well the fundamentals of the sword.

He tilted the point of the blade forward a bit and lunged at Absalom. 

Abdalom's red hair fluttered in the as he also took off, meeting Curtis's sword with bare hands. 

With a single smash of Absalom's fist, the sword shattered. Before Curtis could recover from his shock Absalom grabbed him and threw him over his head. But he managed to land on his feet, sliding back. 

Absalom grinned chining a side of his white teeth. His red eyes were sparkling with menace. 

"You are good." He sneered and darted off the next minute. 

Curtis was expecting him but still, it was too much to handle. From his vantage point, Absalom became a blur and pierced the wind, wounding across him in an instant. 

As Absalom's punch drove into his stomach, he slammed his elbow on Absalom's shoulders sending ripples of shock through his body. 

Absalom showed no signs of pain which surprised him. Another deadly uppercut came towards his jaw from beneath he stumbled back and retracted his head to dodge the punch but a swift kick met his head from the side. 

'It was a trap?'

His mind couldn't find enough time to process thoughts and everything seemed to be in shambles. The next minute he lost Absalom who was clearly standing in front of him. 

Another punch crunched into his side and his face and sent him rattling through the ground. He rolled and finally came to a stop, wondering...

'What did he do? I lost him for a moment' 

If he had been able to follow Absalom's movement maybe it wouldn't been as hard to keep up. 

Curtis frowned and rebuked his prideful judgment. How sure was he that he would have been able to keep up with the movements even if he couldn't see them? 

Absalom stood with his arms resting on his waist, he grinned as he watched the aspiring hunter stand back to his feet. 

"Oh, I'm so going to enjoy this."