These warriors were far from being shaken, and none of them wanted to run. It was an admirable sight, and maybe peer pressure had a role in it, but it was still fascinating to see a nation where pride was far more important than life.
Arthur was beginning to understand this mindset as he gained strength. If someone bends his back even once, he can never stand straight and face the world, even if he is the strongest. There will always crawl a sense of misalignment between who he thinks he is and who he truly is.
Rows of hardened faces stared at Arthur, who descended back to the ground. The fact that a single word from him brought a giant to his knees was more than enough proof of his strength. No one dared to challenge him after that because the man he had just taken down was one of their strongest.
“There is no need to test him,” said Lyle, who walked from between the soldiers, and they split for him. His armor was replaced with casual attire, a simple white shirt with black pants. “Even I lost to him before.”
Although the soldiers were surprised, none of them chattered. This was a good sign for Arthur, bespeaking discipline in this army. Lyle walked to stand beside him and looked at the giant before he laughed.
“Are you satisfied, Vruckrus?” asked Lyle with a grin. The giant struggled to prove himself and rise from his position, but it was useless. “Give up and admit defeat.”
“I am… worthy!” shouted Vruckrus as he tried to stand, but his knees were stuck to the ground. Arthur could feel that this giant was almost powerful enough to go against his command, but the difference was in their spiritual energies.
“It’s hard to see one of our strongest defeated like that, but assuring that it was done by one of our own,” said Lyle with fascination. “How did you enforce your will on him?”
“Anyone can do it,” said Arthur with a shrug. “As long as someone holds more authority over others, he can enforce his commands. It’s admirable that he can retain his will, but his bones will break if he keeps resisting.”
“Vruckrus, a warrior knows when he is defeated. Is this how you want to be seen by your men?” tried Lyle to reassure him, and the giant huffed. The air from his mouth made their clothes and hair flutter, but it was a sign that the giant had fallen.
“This is… my loss,” said Vruckrus with defeat. Arthur stopped using his Art, and the giant was free. However, he did not attempt to rise. “I had the mind that this was some sort of ability or spell, but I felt no mana. This was a pure authority that I could not resist.”
“You can resist it with a bit of training of spiritual energy,” advised Arthur. Vruckrus raised his head with confusion, as he didn’t expect Arthur to teach him how to oppose it. “I don’t need this method to win,” said Arthur, answering his thoughts.
“Buhahaha,” roared the giant, laughing, making flocks of birds run into the sky. The vibrations from his voice made the world around them blur for a second before he stopped. “I never met a brat like you, Arthur Silvera! This Vruckrus acknowledges you!”
“And I might acknowledge you one day,” replied Arthur. The giant nodded and stood up before carrying his Warhammer and raising it toward the sky.
“This Vruckrus lost this battle without even a scratch, and what a dishonor!” said the giant as he slammed his weapon to the ground, impaling it to stand like a tower. Then, he grabbed his left arm with his right, and Arthur had an unsettling feeling. “This is my retribution for this dishonor!”
Vruckrus roared, tearing his left arm off his body and making blood gush like a fountain. Arthur stared with shock at the giant, who stood with the same grin without even a wince. His eyes were focused and determined, without a hint of madness one would expect to see.
“This arm… is yours!” said Vruckrus as he presented his still bleeding arm toward Arthur, whose legs were sinking in a pool of blood from the giant. “Take it!”
The arm fell to the ground in front of them, almost a meter wide and three meters long. It sat there like a corpse losing its color, and Arthur couldn’t help but stare at it.
“Vruckrus!” shouted Lyle with genuine wrath at his actions, but the giant was still looking into Arthur’s eyes with the same grin. “Medics, heal him!”
“There is no need for that, leader,” said Vruckrus without turning away. “This Vruckrus will not die from a torn arm. He will not abandon this battle before it begins for selfish pride. However, I challenged someone stronger than me and disrespected him. So this is my tribute for sparing my life. Please accept it, Arthur… Silvera!”
The giant stood with a single arm, refusing to allow anyone to heal him. Arthur stared quietly in response. He stared into the giant’s eyes before turning toward the arm and walking toward it.
The meadow was silenced by Arthur’s movement, as the panic from earlier was gone. Everyone stared at the scene, trying to know what Arthur wanted to do. Then, as he reached the severed arm, he crouched and grabbed it.
Arthur’s fingers dug into the flesh before he raised it and stood. The arm was still bleeding what blood it had, but Arthur seemed to accept the tributed Vruckrus gave him. The two men shared a glance before Arthur disappeared.
Bang!
A metallic thud resonated in the silent camp, caused by Arthur appearing above Vruckrus with the severed arm and smacking his head. The helmet fell off his head as the giant fell forward and crashed to the ground, bringing down two tents.
Arthur landed under the speechless eyes of the crowd, still carrying the giant arm as if it was a bat. He then walked toward Vruckrus and threw his arm at him.
“A…Arthur!” shouted Rain with confusion, but Arthur proceeded to raise his hands at Vruckrus and envelope him with a green light. The arm floated from the ground and occupied its original location, and the green light gathered on the wound.
Under the confused eyes of the soldiers, Arthur Silvera attached the arm to the giant and left. No one tried to stop him, and no one dared talk to him. Instead, a fear sprouted in the hearts of the battle-hardened warriors from the wrathful expression the man had as he left.
***
Later that night, while everyone was asleep, lights shone from one of Goaty’s windows. The clattering sounds came from one of the workshops, and Rain couldn’t help but make her way toward it.
Rain stood at the door, hesitating about whether she should knock. Arthur hasn’t left the workshop since the incident, which made him storm off angrily. She never thought the unwavering Arthur, who resisted her temptation, could reveal such a face.
“You can come inside,” said Arthur from behind the door before she gathered her courage to knock. Rain smiled helplessly and pushed the door open to find Arthur behind a workbench with countless accessories. “Were you planning to stand there all night?”
“Just long enough to think about what to say.”
“I’m not sleeping with you, Rain.”
“That’s not it! Wait, why not? I mean, no, that’s not it,” she grew flustered because of his words. Arthur smiled before spreading his arm, gesturing for her to sit on a chair in front of him. “You knew that I’m not here because of that!”
“I can tell that something else is on your mind, but that doesn’t seem to affect the lust you are feeling. You are the first person I meet to feel lust all the time, and I had some horny friends in the past.”
“I’m flattered to know that,” she said with pride before taking a seat. The two of them grew silent before Rain asked, “What happened to those friends?”
“I… don’t know,” said Arthur with genuine confusion. “I guess we grew apart at one point, but we never realized that would be the case. I was pushed into a position where they cannot afford to meet me.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Sometimes, but mostly no. Is this what you wanted to ask?”
“A part of it,” started Rain. “It also had something to do with your past and about what happened today in the camp. That expression of yours seemed to have buried feelings behind it.”
“You made an acute observation.”
“Do you want to talk about it or think about something else?” Rain asked, placing her hands on her legs and extending them. Arthur was silent, still tweaking and carving something into the jewelry.
Arthur kept quiet, and Rain sat beside him, not asking anything more. In the end, Arthur tweaked the accessories for hours before he finished all of them. Then, he turned toward her.
