A second later the image of the man vanished from thin air, Tomas almost thought he had imagined him. But the man reappeared right in front of Tomas, hitting him with a stench of foul air.

  Tomas staggered backwards and covered his nose, his heart thumped rapidly. He looked up at the man to see a fully bearded face, thick black hair, long narrow brows and black beady eyes of a lifeless beast. His face looked like that of a killer.

  The man leaned over and observed him with his eyes for a while, during this time Tomas did not breath, he did not even blink. He felt that his body had been suspended and held back by a supernatural force.

  The man pulled himself back and winced for a fraction of a second. Tomas' gaze looked down to see a long strip of white bandage tied around the man's waist, at his side was the sign of blood.

  But it wasn't red, but a dark shade of purple that leaked out of it. The man turned and walked back to the window to perform a series of strange movements, they looked like a form of fighting stances with meaning behind every step.

  Tomas could feel Mera breathing heavily behind her, he gave her a slight smile then looked forward to face the man who paid them no mind. Several questions started to grow in his mind, he was puzzled by how the man had vanished for a bare second.

  He opened his mouth to speak only to close them shortly afterwards. But then he opened them and spoke. "How did that happen?"

  The man did not say anything for several seconds before, he only performed his strange movements. When he did speak it was in a hardened voice that made both him and Mera jump in fright. "An army of demon bats, one nick is enough to kill a man in a matter of minutes."

  Tomas could sense hostility in the man's voice so he let out some of his own. "Are you bragging about the experience?"

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  The man stopped what he was doing and turned to face Tomas and he could have sworn he heard a growl coming from him. "Only fools brag."

  "Well, are you a fool?" Tomas could not resist the urge to ask.

  A few seconds passed before the man continued his series of strange movements and asked. "What are you here for?"

  Tomas held his breath for a few seconds before clenching his jaw and saying in a loud voice. "I..." He hesitated and said nothing for a short, his gaze remained steadily fixed on the man. After a while he finally spoke, "I want you to teach me how to fight."

  The man ignored him and said nothing.

  This infuriated Tomas who banged his fist of the door, giving a loud resounding noise that filled the room. Mera jumped back in fear and held her breath. Tomas drew in deep breaths as he spoke, "My home was burned down to the ground, my brother died in the flames. I have lost everything I ever loved, but I still want to live on and use the rest of my life to fight for others. I'm not telling you this to draw your pity but I want you to know I have nothing left to lose."

  The man seemed to come to an end with his strange ritual, a strange hiss of steam rose from his body. He turned to face Tomas, his eyes gloomy and distant. He spoke in a deep voice that sounded like a wild animal growling. "A life of atonement."

  Tomas shook his head and said, his voice reeking of conviction. "No, a life or sacrifice."

  The man said nothing, he turned and faced him. His face remaining dark and menacing. Then after a bit, he spoke. "That is your purpose to continue to live in this world... I don't care if you want to fight the gods to save humanity or if you were chosen by the gods themselves. I did not come here seeking to be a master, if you want something you must find another way to get it."

  Tomas gritted his teeth and looked at the man with his head boiling. He wanted to learn from a true knight and become one, but he knew it was a long shot already. Still, he stood his ground and said. "I already knew you would say no, after all who accepts a nobody like into the true knight. Still I would regret it if a chance like this produced itself and I was too foolish to overlook it."

  So with a heart heavy and hollow he turned to leave, he did not expect the man to talk again. His voice was still dark and menacing, only this time it seemed to grow much darker. "You are also a fool to leave after coming so far..." He gave a bit of a pause before continuing. "A true knight far surpasses a regular knight in terms of strength and power, a majority of them are royals, pure bloods, and bastards. They are all tested and chosen, I don't know who you are and I also don't care."

  Tomas gulped down feeling that there was something he had to say or he would miss an important chance. He spoke after a while, "I don't care either, I don't know if I'm good enough or not but I have to make sure my people's death mean something."

  The man seemed amused by what he had said because his lips curled slightly in something of a smile, but it was dark and cold. "Fighting for the sake of the dead, it's nothing remarkable. What do you know of honour boy?"

  Tomas did not waste his time trying to think much, he simply just said what came to mind first. "If you want to know if I have honour, I can't say that. I grew up in a frozen town so I don't know a damn thing about honour. But when it comes to surviving in the harsh world, I know plenty."

  The man took a long while before responding, "Good, honour is overrated anyway."