Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 620: Duel invitation i

Among men, he is like a giant. 

No one notices his height before as he was riding his warhorse but now that he stands there alone, one could see how tall this old man that had all the archers on the wall feeling like they just have stepped into some kind of the tall tale of the faeries.

The commander awe did not stop him from doing his duty. He looks at the soldiers around him and ordered

'Fire!' the soldiers pull the bow string like a well-oiled machine and then release it almost all at once.

Once again the volley of arrows flew toward him. The cheering crowd from behind shouted cursed expletive to those people on the wall. 

'Hideous ill-bred maggot worm' Some of the curses does not even make sense. 

The arrows that is flying toward the old man seems to cover him that it seems there is no way but for the old man to become a human shaped porcupine.

But as the arrow closed, the commander on the wall seem to become even more tense. While the old man seems to be completely calm. 

And the commander is not the only feeling like this. The other soldiers on the wall also felt the same feeling like the commander.

It is because they fear that the scene before would be repeated again. 

Then the old man readies his stance. He put his right feet toward the back. No, it might be more accurate to say that he stomps his right feet to the back. 

It was like he was about to bear some weight. The ground itself, hard and compact is actually cracked into a web-like patterns.

His energy burst toward the surrounding. It is almost like internal energy those martial artist from Ming cultivated but yet the feeling is quite different

His black hair seems to rise up to the sky like some force gathers around him. 

Then as the arrows is only a few feet away from reaching him, he plucked his claymore that was beside him

The claymore is three feet in length and its weight around one thousand catties. It is short for a claymore

But then suddenly the claymore seems to elongate. It became four feet and a half. The normal size of a claymore.

'Here it is again!' the commander on the wall thought to himself. His face expression has already turned ugly even before the old man makes his move. 

When he plucks the claymore from the ground, the entire ground around his feet seems to explode and turns into fine soil. 

Then he swings his claymore upwards. 

'Hyargh!'

The updraft of the wind that is generated as he swings that claymore with his divine strength causes the wind to roars and the area in front of him to experience a powerful force sweeping through.

The land beneath the old man feet depressed one feet deeper and the force pierce the volley of arrow heading towards him.

The gravel road like someone had pushed it from the bottom roll itself forward.

The arrow volley instantly like a rain that is being diverted by a powerful storm, flew sideways. Some of them broke in midair before being blown away from him. 

Ttak

Ttak

Ttak

The sound of arrows piercing the ground could still be heard like some kind of notes of music in piano executed perfectly. 

But none touch even one hair of that old man. Around the radius of five meters around him, is an empty zone of arrows.

Some people look at this with their eyes still could not yet believe it

The commander shakes his head

He only once saw things like this ever happen before. And that is from his Emperor. As for the soldiers they were once again shocked by this old man prowess

It happens just like before. 

This is why it is absurd. 

Around the old man, it was like a land of arrows. Countless of arrows is sticking on every part of the ground that is even hard to see the greenery of the grass

Yet, the area around him and his warhorse, it was like a forbidden zone for the arrows. Like a mountain surrounded by windy winds, none could touch it and none could move it. 

The commander did not know who this old man was. But at the break of morning, this old man detains hundreds of people outside the city gate.

The old man come with an entourage of knight-like officials and so the commander sends a unit to intercept them

The old man defeated all of them and if that is not impressive enough, this old man defeated them all alone without even killing the unit. 

That is even harder than killing them all. It means his power dominate them so much that they could not even fight against the old man

That is the only way for the old man to be able to detain them and subdue them without killing them

The unit was allowed to return to the city

So, the commander thought he had attack a friendly force. Turns out this old man block the road to enter and shouted for a duel.

It is clear that this old man is not a friendly force. 

But, it is quite awkward to attack him either. After all, this old man did not harm anyone.

And asking for a duel is something that is sacred. 

Of course in the Human Continent such thing had long gone out of favor. especially in the Conquest War where every trick and schemes imaginable had been used. 

But it is still something sacred. And it is even more sacred to the people living in this land. 

The thing is the person he wanted to duel is not someone that even the commander dares to see.

And it is not something he could decide on. And yet, he doesn't think that he could handle this old man.

He is not a local officer, not a man of the thirteen tribe. He is simply just one other soldier of the Eden Empire.

Some of the soldiers that was given to Santiago and Giovanni were sent to guard the walls of the outer city. 

Unfortunately, this old man decided to block the gate on his side. 

He just takes the post a few days ago. His men do not even know him yet and camaraderie is not yet formed. 

In other words, they are not at their best. They are different from the inner city guards.

Still, he still had to do his job. It is not like he could just leave his job. 

Suddenly one of the soldiers is coming toward him bringing one of the locals. 

'hmm?' the commander was perplexed.

'What is the meaning of this?'

The soldier then said

'Lord Commander. This person said he knew who that old man is. I think it would be helpful to know who we are dealing with'

The commander looks at that soldier and nodded in satisfaction. This soldier knows how to look for initiative. This is a good seed, he thought to himself

The commander of the wall then promises the local man a reward if he gave them information about the old man

The local almost could not believe that he would be rewarded for such a trivial act. 

What the local man did not know was that Arial had set a benevolent policy for the people of this land.

It is unlike the colony plan of the Court. 

There is some island around the seas of the Human Empire that the Emperor wanted to colonize. 

Some of them have been implemented and the policy is a bit different.

And what the local man didn't know was that the commander knew that giving the reward would benefit him for the long term.

It is good if the people here could accept the rule of the Eden Empire. 

Even though they are far from the Eden Empire, the commander and the soldier are all proud citizen of the Empire.

To them, these people of the tribes, while powerful live in abject poverty. The commander asks the local man to tell him what he knows.

The local man begins saying about how he first saw the old man. The commander nodded allowing the local man to digress from the question

After all, it is also important to know how this old man appears. He was notified of this old man when he is already shouting from below.

At that time, even he became panicked. The old man shouts are like a dragon roaring as it rolls away the wind.

That alone is testament to the old man peculiar strength.  At that time, the front gate is still open.

Yet, the old man did not dash forward and enter the city. If he did, looking at the old man strength, he very much could create havoc and panic.

But of course as the commander of the wall, how could he still not close the gate after assuming control?

He ordered the close of the gate. But looking at that old man behavior it didn't seem like he is interested in getting inside the gate.