Swordsman's Era

Date: Æ1264 4, 3 Coldness and warmth combined. It was morning and the sun was so shiny. The sound of the birds chirping blended harmoniously with the melody of the dancing leaves in the trees near the east. Shikari Gakure was wandering around inside their house. They'll be leaving in a couple of hours to travel to another village in the north. He is a young boy, four years old, living in Basilaska Village with his parents. The Basilaska woodland town is surrounded by large red trees that cover a brick path, along with many people and two-story houses. Shikari would miss this place. He was packing up his clothes in a small bag while hearing the birds chirping harmoniously outside his window. After packing his clothes he stands in front of his old bed with the good smell of the environment and leaves outside their house in the trees that was coming from the blow of the wind of his window. He's not gonna forget about these things. He was enjoying his final look at the magnificence of the Red Big Trees and his final day in his beloved bed. He closed his eyes and smelled the aroma of the surroundings. It was really quiet. The village was serene. His father is at the main office. He's waiting for his name to be called so that he could receive horses and bodyguards for their journey. After a few hours of waiting, his name is finally called. He walked inside the main office and saw that the head chief was writing something on the documents on his table. He was a bit old-looking because of the small wrinkles on his face but his dark muscular body boldly shows his activeness. He had his reading glass on while reading a document on his table. After noticing his presence, the chief raised his head to look at him. He took his glasses off and blinked twice before rubbing his eyes. "You got everything you need for today? I tell you it's gonna be a long journey where you're gonna move in." The chief said in a dark voice. He nodded. He sat on the chair in front of the chief's desk. "The bodyguards will meet you outside this building and there should be two horses with them for your family. Good luck on your journey to the north," the chief gave him a good luck in their journey. "Thank you, chief, for the good luck. I hope we don't run into anything other than other travelers heading north," he remarked, smiling at the chief. "Just be careful, because the world outside of this village is full of unexpected outcomes and evilness, unless you managed. Everything out there is the polar opposite of what's in this peaceful village," the chief advised. "You will possibly encounter strong opponents and the possibility of encountering something you've never seen before on your journey, which is why you and your family cannot travel alone on this journey," the chief remarked as he noticed the terror in the eyes of the chief. His brow furrowed abruptly. "Chief, thank you for the uhmm... advice, and thanks for the great and helpful info," he stated. He gazed at the chief, getting more curious, but the chief had already pursed his lips, restraining himself from speaking further. He sighed and simply nodded. "I have to leave now, we can't travel all night", he said as he stood up. The chief nodded and returned to his work on the table. He left the main office and proceeded to the three-story residence next to the main office. He stood outside until the bodyguards arrive. After a couple of minutes of waiting outside. Three armored bodyguards arrive, "Why are there only three bodyguards?" He asked. "You will be encountering a lot of armored bodyguards in the way, so don't get ahead." The guard replied solemnly. One of the bodyguards handed over a light blue scroll which he immediately gripped with his hand. "What is this for?" he asks. "This scroll is the key to the front north wind gate. If you don't have this, you can't get in," the guard replied. "I see, I'll hide this for now." He returns to his family with the horses, while the bodyguards waited outside the Basilaska Village great gate. They will begin to move as soon as he arrives, and they must remain vigilant because of the dangers that lurks. He was on the way while riding a horse along with two horses that he was holding using a leash. His family will be their first time riding a horse as one, so he'll be teaching them how to ride one properly at ease. They use horses to travel to the north, where there is more fresh water, fish, and other healthier marine species. The north or the so-called North Wind is one of the most prosperous nations of one of the three other big nations, but there's just more than four of them, there are other unknown nations yet to be known, on the other hand, the four big nations fear the so-called beings, the Dark mobs and the other species of unknown elements they called Darks, for now, is the well-known name that is strong at the enemy's side is the Dark Shira, and these Darks was able to kill the leaders of the south's fourth and fifth of an unknown region, the name of the region was hidden since that region was a known country that every single one look up on. In the middle of the day. They are now leaving at the front gate of Basilaska Village. They will be guarded by the three bodyguards that was assigned to them but they said to be will encounter a lot of armored bodyguards along the way. They know travelling far is much dangerous. After a couple of hours of travel, it was late at night. "We've now arrived at the Long Dead Dark Village, which is halfway to our destination," the bodyguard explained. In that day, one half-day has passed. "It's getting much darker on our way, bodyguards, should we be concerned?" Shikari's father inquired. "Just keep moving, don't stop, there might be something in our back, but everything that's going to happen, we've got it under control," one of the bodyguards replied. The bodyguard mentioned a dead village in the distance. Seeing the derelict dwellings and seeing a lot of blood while traveling down the river. "Dad, what is that village? It's so dark, and I can smell it. It's terrible," Shikari inquires. "Son, that's a dead village. Bodyguards, are you sure we're safe?" "Don't worry there's gonna be a lot of swordsmans coming in here any minute now. I also see a lot of big clear paths, It's gonna be hot at any minute now." He answered making Shikari's father sigh in relief. After a few minutes of riding in a horse heading north. A bodyguard spoke while smiling in excitement, and they started to hear a lot of noises around them. "They're here! Quick Sir! We're gonna be traveling faster, if we don't keep up, we're gonna be in big trouble," the bodyguard yells at them. He immediately accelerated the horses' pace same as his wife. The horses began to accelerate rapidly. They've seen a dead village, dead animals, and even dead bodies, a dead village is one in which no one lives due to an unknown creature lurking around in it. After traveling for three days. They now arrive at the north front gate, where they see one of the world's largest gate nations, followed by armored soldiers in the corners. They notice a keyhole. "Please put the light blue scroll of the gate to enter the north village in here so you can get in," the soldier remarked as he led the way and pointed to where to put it. They inserted the scroll. North Wind is the name of the village. It's one of the giant nations. The north wind gate is guarded by a large number of armored soldiers. There are two guards outside and on the side of the wall, and four guards at the top. They have a barrier in front of the gate, but there is a hole in the middle of the gate that you must put something in order to enter the north wind village, otherwise, you will be considered a thief, a spy, or even an enemy from the hidden nations. His father inserted the light blue scroll, allowing them to enter. The pale blue scroll began to function, and the gate began to open. They began walking in cautiously. Shikari Gakure began looking around and notices that there are a lot of people to where he's looking at while a large number of horses approached at the front gate. They noticed a man shackled and encircled by five guards wielding spears and swords to their left and not far away. Many others were watching to see what the guards would do to that man. He was silently walking to the side along with his father who suddenly stops. He looks at the guy that has been surrounded by the bodyguards. He wanted to know what was going on that tempted him to tap the man in front of him and asked. "Why was that man tied up? He was even surrounded by high-ranking guards," he said while holding his son's hand. "Because that man allegedly tried to sneak in through the front gate earlier, and he didn't have a light blue scroll, so he tried," the man explained. The scrolls are symbolized as a key to every great nation's north, south, east, west, and other more hidden big nations. "We should leave here, more and more people are coming, lest we be separated, son Shikari, hold my hand," his wife murmured, touching him. They proceed directly to their destination. Shikari and his parents are heading out of the crowd but still got lost. Shikari can't wait to get into their new home, he was tired and exhausted, and his father is looking for a guard within the North Wind for assistance. He noticed an armored guard standing near a four-story giant building. He approached him and asked kindly. "Do you know where the new built houses are?" Shikari's father inquired. "All the new houses should be on that straight path. Just go far north straight that path and you'll see a lot of new houses." He replied. "Thank you, Sir!" He thank him as they proceed. The guard nodded and smiled. As the guard remarked, he slowly turned around and saw a number of armored horses and an army walking out from a giant door, as well as the heads of the village, who were wearing full-body armor and an army with a mark rank on their shoulder, a leaf symbol. He ignored them and returned to his family, who proceeded in the path. They travel with the horses by their sides, following the guard's instructions to stay on the straight route. They saw an entire stone walkway ahead of them, as well as larger and larger trees. "This should be where the new houses are," his father said calmly as they continued walking. The heads of the north wind village are aware of an impending major threat in the village, but they continue to ignore it and flee because they don't want to die, they want to continue their smuggling and drug trafficking into other large nations, but their folly will be exposed soon enough. His father has finally discovered their new home, a two-story house with a barn next to it. Shikari Gakure abandons his horse and rushes to their new home, as promised by his father. His father separates Shikari's horse and walks inside the stable to feed and rest the horses. "You should proceed to our house and put our daughter to bed in a comfortable bed." He told his wife. "Okay, but you should be here before dinner," she said. As his wife turned around and headed towards their new home, he smiled and nodded. Their surrounds are densely forested, with some oak wood trees standing at least a hundred to seventy-five feet tall. Shikari unlocks the door with a key and enters inside, noticing steps up and stairs down, as well as a fireplace on the left, and he goes to it. Several hours have passed. It's late at night. They arrived in the village just before midday. The house has a large space inside. The floor was made out of wood and there was a brown carpet that was laid on the floor, on the right side was a round table and some chairs. The wooden bookshelves are placed on the upstairs right side of the room and the cabinets are placed on the first floor and the second floor both top left and there's a fireplace on the left of the first-floor room near the cabinets. His father and mother first unpack their clothes to the cabinet and began to ready the dinner. After a few minutes, the dinner is ready. "Dinner is ready", His mother shouts, both Shikari and his sister are on the bed upstairs playing on their pillows. As soon as they heard their mom, they began heading down. As soon as they got down to the kitchen room, he saw a lot of delicious foods and is ready to be eatten. Before he eats, he first smells good scent of the food. His mother cooked a lot and even had delicious meals. They began to eat after a prayer. Someone knocks on the door, and his mother goes to the door and sees his husband. Shikari calls his father to come eat with them. He did come and eat with his family. His father just arrived since he left a few minutes ago because he needed to register in the north wind light blue scroll for free resources in the village and he got a lot of stuff back in their house. His father is gonna build something for them tomorrow. After eating, Shikari and his sister head back to bed and sleep. At the next day, Shikari woke up, he rolled around on his bed, and felt that his sister was no longer beside him. He sat up on his bed, and he saw the sunlight passing through the window. He got to his feet and walked over to the window on the right side of the room. He opened it and saw a beautiful view outside, the sun shining brightly, a massive tree and birds in their nest that could only be seen on the next ground, and youngsters playing chase in the distance in an open grass field. When he looked to his left, he noticed his father carrying something and walking to their yard. He carefully opened the door out of the room, and also went down slowly, first peeking to see if someone was there or not. He saw no one, so he proceeded down. When he came down, he turned to the kitchen and saw his mother and sister cooking and slicing at the dinner table. He went to the door and left sneakily. His mother saw him but ignores him. Shikari doesn't know that his mother saw him left. He opened the door silently and ran quietly through the back of the house, watching his father without seeing him. He became aware of a downstair in the distance. After a few moments. His father notices him. He sneaked up behind him and surprised him. His father is constructing a bunker near his home for when mysterious creatures invade their village. A entire day has passed, and something unexpected has occurred. His sister and mother was heading to the woods at night to look at the stars. They are now returning to the house late at night after spending a few minutes, admiring the lovely dark sky and stars with the moon. His sister is so tired that her mother has to carry her back to the house. But then there was a scream. When his father went to find out what had happened and what had caused the scream, he noticed a blood splash on the trunk of a tree in the distance. His father saw something that made his eyes widen in panic and instead of going for his wife and daughter, he hurries back to his son Shikari. His daughter and wife were murdered by unknown creatures. Shikari Gakure was not safe in the house, despite his father's belief. He sneaks behind his father, so he doesn't see him while having no idea what's going on. His father turns around and sees Shikari gawking and shocked at what he just saw after catching a glimpse of his sister and mother in the distance getting slaughtered. Shikari's sister and mother were murdered, his father refused to give up and die. His younger sister was killed by a Dark Unknown Predator in the woods. His sister is so young that it destroy his mental and emotional health in seconds witnessing what just happened to them. His father rushes to the back of the house as quickly as he can. He manages to hide him in the bunker but his father didn't made it in time. Shikari lost consciousness and falls to the floor after witnessing his father get sliced in the head. A full night has gone by. Shikari Gakure awoke and gently slid out, convinced that all had been a dream. He noticed a lot of bones and blood scattered around the bunker. He notices their house in the distance, which has been severely damaged. He's shocked because the monster is devouring something and he's only four years old. He believes it is time to flee because the monster is busy devouring someone. He began making his way out of the bunker while trembling. He's slipping out to the bunker, hoping for the best when something unexpected happens. Another creature appears in front of him. As he cried, he screamed loudly. Thinking he's going to die. Suddenly, a man in a mask appears and saved him. The Monster began attacking the man in the mask, but the monster is slashed in half and dies. It's a swordsman from another nation, followed by a hundred more swordsmen that just arrived, Shikari Gakure is somehow gravely injured, making him lost consciousness and falls to the ground with tears streaming down in the corners of his eyes. After a couple of hours, he was awakened while riding a horse with the man in the mask that saved him, astonished to see the entire village from a mountain being destroyed by an unknown large monster and creatures. When he lost consciousness, he forgot what had happened. He lost awareness and fell asleep once more. It's early in the morning. Shikari Gakure awakens to find himself in a room, sleeping down on a bed. He crawls down on the bed and walks directly to the corner, traumatized. Footsteps could be heard suddenly arriving outside the bedroom door. Footsteps came to a halt in front of the door outside the room. Someone cautiously opened the door. He spotted the youngster in the right corner of the room, afraid and crying silently, he approached the child slowly. It continued to weep despite the approaching man. The man that approached pat him on the head and comforted him. The kid slowly stops crying but tears kept streaming down to his cheeks. The man with the masked simply just wanted to see how's the kid doing. When the masked man noticed the child won't stop whimpering in the corner of his room, he returned and shut the door. When he returns, he brought something to eat and drink for the child. He opened the door and put the food on top of the bed, he comforted the child again to make him eat by tapping him in the head and giving peaceful vibes. "I'm sorry we didn't make it in time. I know you've been in a situation where your loved ones were killed right before your eyes. We could've saved your parents," he stated as Shikari ignored the food. "You should eat your food now since it will get cold if you don't, and it won't taste very good if it's not hot," he said. Shikari was tempted to eat because his very hungry making him eat the food while his hands kept trembling. He eat slowly, munching the food while staring blankly in the air in awe for a long time as the man with the mask began chatting him and comforting him. "In the morning, I'm going to show you a trick you've never seen before, and I'm going to make you one of the strongest swordsmen alive in your generation," he said, cheering him up as Shikari finished his meal and fell asleep. He did not heard what he said because at those minutes when he spoke his ears were ringing. The following day. The man in the mask enters Shikari's room and notices that he is still sleeping. He leaned at the door for him to wake up. Shikari awoke after another few hours, and the masked man inquired, "How's your sleep Shikari?" Shikari found himself laying on the bed with a warm and peaceful feeling. "I'll just go down and get something to eat. You have to be strong to be on your own." He added while opening the door and walking outside heading to the kitchen room at the bottom floor of the house. He's already prepared meals in the kitchen. He has a large size cooked chicken on the dish, and that's all he'll give to Shikari. As soon as he got back up and opened the door while holding the plate that has the chicken, he noticed Shikari open the window. He turned back to him as soon as he heard the door opened and said. "There's nothing here but a busy neighborhood. I want to see the sun and the trees again, and smell at least the leaves around me," he said modestly, as the unknown man wearing a mask saw that he accepted the loss of his love ones but still sees the trauma in his eyes and lost of emotions. "Before that, eat up for now. I hope you enjoy it," he said while smiling. "What is that food? It's new to me," Shikari asked as he grabbed the plate and smelled it good. "It's a cooked chicken that kids like eating every day," he explained. For a few minutes, the masked man struggles to persuade Shikari. He ate the food slowly as he listen to what his telling. After a few minutes, he finished eating the food, he was very full, but there was still food left on his plate. The masked man took the plate and both of them walked out of the room. They went down the stairs while the masked man placed the plate his holding on ta table before walking out of the house with him. Shikari noticed the shining sun and blue sky up above him as well as many horses and knights on the side of the path in the distance ahead of them. When the masked man was suddenly called, he turned to his left. The masked man instructed him to remain here for a short time. He sat outside the door, waiting for him. He was in awe, staring at the sky blankly till he saw birds heading to the east. The masked man spoke to an unknown in a matter of seconds before returning to Shikari and saying, "I will teach you how to be a swordsman today. We will go to a mountain where you will learn how to use a sword, learn and become strong, Shikari," They travel to an unknown place. After quite a while, they began to hear a strong current of water splashing down not far away while they are walking in the middle of a forest. He became his master and brought him to a waterfall in the mountains and demonstrated astonishing skills, while Shikari can't wait to discover his own skills. (Story Training is not included and the main part. I will write main parts in another novel. [Apologies]) He demonstrated his abilities at the age of five when training with his master, being forced hard taught, carrying weights day by day for at least ten years, while also being trained by other unknown masters. His master showed skills that he can't fathom and also showing an individual presence that is divine that he could only see him once till something unexpected happened. They were ambushed in their own home, and half of the village's inhabitants was nearly slain. It was when Shikari Gakure and the others are still young. It was the middle of the night when they were attacked by the strange monsters, but his master refused to let them die. Shikari Gakure's master, the swordsman who was born in the first generation, was trained by a mastered veteran swordsman in their first-generation showing unbelievable superhuman abilities. After those events, his master vanished, believing that he was slain, but he was not. Shikari Gakure got trained at the hands of Kuro after the fake death of Shikari's master but after training. Shikari and the others were trained by Kuro for eight full years till they lost her. She vanished all of a sudden leaving no trace behind. A lot is happening in the north, with lakes turning to ice and boats becoming stranded on piers as oceans freeze. Animals being slaughtered by much threatening apex predators, as well as dangerous insects damaging the farms and crops, leaving farmers with no crops to harvest. The far north and the southern section of it are the only places where life may be spotted. When Shikari Gakure's master vanished with no trace, the people around him assumed that his true master was Kuro, although she is not. Kuro teaches him how to balance properly and discover an undiscovered technique inside him. Once she saw potential in the child, she teaches him many techniques, including his own highly mastered technique. Shikari Gakure is the only one in the new generation who is more powerful than them. Unlike Gakushin Gakure, who became powerful at the age of fourteen, Shikari Gakure is already more powerful than his elder normal folks at the age of seven. Gakushin Gakure, the 14-year-old boy who became a chief and trains an army in his hands. Gakushin Gakure goes through Kuro's specific special training at the age of 7, including being made to carry heavyweights and additional special training. Accepting her training was entirely his decision. Shikari Gakure was not elected as a chief since he left the village in the east to be trained further in the other big nations and he doesn't have leadership skills unlike Gakushin. He received training in the other great nations, learning a lot of things, till Kuro vanished, leaving no traces behind. Kuro is one of the survivors of the ambush. She is one of the few people in the village that understood what is going on and why they are here. The evil forces from the northwest. Kuro secretly fighting and slaughtering Dark Shira's with her scythe, yet she has never been found in all the years that have passed. If a Dark Shira is killed, they crumble to dust and leave no trace. There are assassins in the West Village. Swordsmen can be found in the east and north. And the south has remained hidden throughout the ages, and the only enemies are the far north, where the Dark Mobs begin, through generations, the other great nations have released their finest swordsmen in every hideout of the Dark Mobs, but the finest swordsmen, at least some of them, have never returned. Reminder: The initial section of this tale is about Shikari Gakure's few background story. I left out the key bit because I'm concentrating on the novel's main story line. So I only listed a few of the incidents that happened to Shikari Gakure during his youth. This Swordsman's Era is all about finding and destroying the one who originally damaged them. I completely modified the chronology of Chapter 2, now they'll be fighting the Darks and journeying far. This novel chapter 1 is entirely about Shikari Gakure's youth, however I only included one of them. I'm going to include Shikari Gakure's entire story in another novel because it's going to be long and tragic. __________________________________________ [Authors Note: This Chapter 1 has been revised by me fourth time. So I hope it's even better for all of you!]