Requiem Of A Failed Hero

The footbridge sprawled over a hollow depth, oozing with eerie white smokes. Raith peered down the the depth before looking at the not-so-sturdy bridge.

He swallowed and looked at Thard - Harl.

"Uhm. So, we move?"

The asura was silent. He stared to the front, his gaze rigid like a predator's. After a couple of seconds he opened his mouth slightly.

"There's something in there… and the distance of the bridge is more than enough for it to eat us."

Speaking about eating… what exactly is it? Raith arched a brow tentatively.

"But you can kill it… right?"

"Of course."

Peace sank into his heart as he heard Thard - Harl's response. But less than a second later.

"...you will be fighting it"

Raith frowned.

'Fuck'

"This will be the first teaching of combat."

He clenched his jaw but spoke no words. After a few moments of swallowing all the curses that he could have spat. Raith traced his line of sight to the aloof asura.

"But how exactly am I supposed to fight it?"

He inquired.

The asura pointed to the footbridge.

"There…"

Raith's eyes followed where his hand was pointing to.

"You want me to fight it on that bridge… that bridge looks like something that can collapse any moment and yet you want me to fight something on it. Let's not even forget the fact that I don't know what on earth I will be fighting. I can die in a snap… this is something…"

Noticing Thard - Harl's face as his voice trailed off uncontrolled. He paused. And turned to the bridge. Materializing his blood into a sword as he went forward.

"Hey stop."

Raith paused and looked back. Thard - Harl walked closer to him and gave him a sword.

It was a slim long sword, the handle was plain and unknown runes carved around it. There was nothing worth extra attention on the sword apart from the fact that it's blade was blunt.

Raith looked at the blades and looked at Thard - Harl.

"First lesson about fighting. It is not the blade that cuts but your will. Now go."

This is just the highest level of absurdity. Raith felt anger and sorrow itch his throat. This was really unfair, very very unfair.

He marched forward slowly and forcefully.

Carefully, he began to tread the wooden bridge. The bridge was made of planks tied together by strong ropes, the handle was also made of ropes making it almost weightless.

Now, such a weightless thing had to deal with the 4 tons.

A careless step forward, Raith's leg easily plunged into the plank breaking it apart.

The plank dropped into the eerie depth making no sound. That slight mishap almost made Raith's heart jump out of his chest.

Noting that he had to be mindful of his weight, he went forward more carefully now. Holding the ropes on both side as he walked like a baby. The bridge swayed like unsteady waves at every step he took forward.

After a while, he reached the middle of the bridge. He looked back and saw how far he had transverse. Nodding at his achievement he continued forward, steadily.

The asura stood still with his hands crossed behind his back, staring… an uninterested expression sitting lazily on his face.

Raith moved steadily on the footbridge. He got to the middle and nothing was happening yet. Just to be sure, he peered down the vast cloud of smoke. Even though the depth made chills pinch his skin, it seemed harmless…

Raith shrugged and turned to his front. Darn it all, he was just going to make it to the end of the bridge and go.

'I pray the bastard does not wake up.'

He assumed that whatever was laying down in the depth was probably fast asleep or did not care about what was happening on the surface. All he just had to do was tread carefully. He could make it to the end of the bridge without having to fight it.

Yes.

However, what happened next not even Raith expected.

As he glanced back to see what the asura was doing. Raith's eyes suddenly froze and began to shudder.

A massive stone hovered above the asura's head. He was far but Raith was sure he saw it clearly- a wicked grin parting his face as the stone flew into the depth of white smoke.

Raith's eyes went round, his mouth was torn open but he couldn't scream. He had no time for that.

He shot his gaze to the end of the bridge and bounced forward, not caring if his steps were shattering the wooden planks bound by thick timbered ropes.

His eyes deftly fixated on the endpoint of his goal. He spared no other attention to what was happening around him.

There was utter silence, tempting him to calm his racing heart - nothing was gonna happen. But Raith didn't want to take the chance. The end of the bridge suddenly seemed so far away as he desperately ran, breaking the slabs of wood.

Suddenly with a piercing screech, something curled into the sky. It came down the next instance, crashing upon the wooden bridge and severing it with laughable ease.

Raith was forced to struggle for his life before he could respond in shock. He held on tightly to the ropes as the bridge swung down, sperated into two distinct half.

The worse part was… his way forward was no more.

Raith gritted his teeth and cursed the asura internally. Why bother disturbing the creature, if they could cross the bridge without having to disturb it.

He burned with intense hate for the vicious asura.

'Even if it will be the last thing I do. I will kill you!'

Raith swore as the swinging rope slammed him into the wall of the cliff, making him blank out for a brief moment.

Raith forced his eyes opened bit down his teeth and twisted the rope on his hand, placing his legs on the wall to reduce the effect of the weight on the ropes themselves. They were made from timber so indeed they were quite strong but he doubted if they could hold on for long having to support a weight of 8,000 pounds.

On the contrary, thanks to so much weight. It was characteristically easy to control the swinging momentum of the rope.

Raith held on tightly as he looked at the white cloud that lay still. As if a massive tentacle had not just shot out of it. He frowned and inspected keenly.

Opening his hand, a darkness like liquid materialized into his hand, weaving together like specks to form a worn out sword.

Another feature of the dark sea was the fact that he could throw items in without having to enter it. He could also summon them outside… there had never been an occasion to use the comfortable feature.

But now that he did, there was no feeling of relish like he usually would have from trying things for the first time. Maybe it was because of the fear that loomed in his heart. Today could spell doom for him.

He could die today and as far as he has come to know, this asura didn't give a damn!