Adventure of Exiles

***

It’s been a week since he started working on Klaus’s farm.

Felix was thinking about how life was as he worked his way through the streets of Kurkenburg.

Michael had been working as woodcutter, caring for the house, and doing paperwork.

Lots of paperwork.

Michael ended up inheriting a ton of documents from Edwin and Gideon the leaders of the Svarostadt Restorationists.

Emily had been taking a lot of walks with Chris, Sophie and sometimes Lisa around the town. She enjoyed exploring the ruins in the area.

They were all getting adjusted to the new norm.

Felix's thoughts were interrupted by realizing he had arrived at his destination.

It was Lisa’s apothecary, the Astral Aetheria the sign said. First time, Felix being here. He clutched on to the paper Klaus gave him.

Felix knocked on the door.

“Who is it and what do you want?” Called a deep man’s voice from the other side.

Felix raised an eyebrow, “this is Felix. I came to get some medicines for some cattle with upset stomachs back on the farm.” He replied.

“One moment.”

The door open. A tall robust man with a strong beard emerged. He wore a leather coat and had a leather belt with a sword.

What was more important was the crossbow he had pointed at Felix.

Felix reflectively went for his sword.

“Woah there, boy. No need to be rash, one wrong move and well.”

“Bring it on, old man.” Felix challenged.

“Ravens fly free.” The man said.

“Under troubled skies, ravens will fight on.” Felix replied.

The man chuckled, “you are the Felix my Lisa has been talking so much about? I’m a bit disappointed you have gone soft and slow.”

Felix had a good guess on who this was.

“Lisa’s old bastard grandfather, aren’t you? Jakob?”

“Aye. That I am.”

Without betraying his intention Felix moved forward and swiftly put one hand on top of the crossbow and used the other hand to flip his knife at Jakob’s gut.

Jakob didn’t move or flinch, he merely smiled.

“Can you let me inside or are you going to try to shoot me?” Felix asked.

“I prefer if I shot you outside. Getting bloodstains out the floorboards is tough.” Jakob said with a smirk.

Jakob then let go of the crossbow, “Not bad, Felix. Not bad. Granted it’s just a practice crossbow.”

“Still would hurt like a bitch if you shot me.” Felix said as he took the blunt bolt and unstrung the crossbow.

“Ah you would be fine. If you got hit, you could just rub some dirt on it and be fine.”

Ugh. He sounds like his old captain. Felix thought.

Jakob clapped him on the back, “come in, boy.”

Felix followed old man in.

He got a good look around the shop.

There were large shelves that reached to the ceiling with dozens of jars full of herbs or potions. There was a table and chairs, a couple of bookshelves and a fireplace.

“So, who you serve with?” Jakob asked.

“Captain Marcin Holzsch, Elk Company. We were based out of Breslow.”

“Marcin Holzsch.” Jakob repeated as he stroked his chin and then he burst into laughter, “Ah. Piss boy. He ended up becoming a captain, eh?"

Felix was shocked, “we talking about the same guy? The Marcin I knew was a competent and brave man. Black hair, brown eyes, mole under his left eye?”

“Ha! That’s the same Marcin. He was an idiot back when I was serving. Peed himself when going into combat the first time. In the end he was a good soldier, I suppose. He did survive to the end after all.”

“Huh. I guess so.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you. Let’s get those medicines for the cows.”

“Oh yeah, right.” Felix handed Jakob the paper.

Jakob went and picked the herbs and potions and brought them out.

“So, where you serve did you serve Jakob?” Felix asked.

“I served proudly under Captain Paulus. He was the best damn captain. We were in the Chevauchée.”

Felix whistled at that.

The Lyrisian Civil War was bitter and bloody. But the Twenty Years War from decades ago was on a different level.

A complete clusterfuck.

What started as a war between Avalon and Gaul for the Gaulish throne spiraled into a devastating conflict with four pretenders to the throne. Which saw interventions by Kingdom of Lyris, Republic of Anzio, and the Elven Kingdom of Lithandel at different times and for changing sides. For mercenaries it was known as Chevauchée, a period of constant combat and looting great wealth from Gaul and Avalon, many mercenaries won fortunes from the tides of war.

“Ah, you aren’t fucking around then.” Felix finally said.

“That’s right, fledging. I been through it all.”

“Ahhh! Grandpa! You haven’t been mean to Felix have you?” Lisa said as she entered the shop.

“No, sweetie. Of course not. Why would you think I would be mean to our customer? Your grandpa is always a perfect gentleman.”

“Uh huh.” Lisa said as she narrowed her eyes and then looked over at Felix, “hey Felix. What brings you in today?”

“Your father had some sick cattle. Taking care of it.”

Jakob’s eyes lit up, “you have some time, Felix?”

“I suppose. Why?”

“Just wondering if you want to do a little bit of practice.”

“With you?”

Jakob shook his head and turned to Lisa. “Lisa has some dumbass friend with dreams of becoming a knight for Sachsen. He trains with the town guard.”

“Hey! He’s not a dumbass and his name is Lukas.”

“Yeah whatever. Bring him over here.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Just do it. Felix could use the exercise.”

“Ugh, fine. I can’t say I’m not curious either.” Lisa grumbled and stomped out the door.

Jakob led Felix out the back door and showed him a field behind the shop.

“How do you fight, Felix?”

“Sword and dagger.”

Jakob motioned for Felix to hand over his sword.

Felix hesitated for a moment. If it was his sword, he would have passed it over without a second thought.

This was Edwin’s sword.

A small shake of the head, Felix unbuckled the belt and toss it over to Jakob.

Jakob held it with one hand. “Nice weapon. A good balance.”

Jakob then gave Felix a wooden practice sword and dagger.

Felix twirled the wooden weapons and swung a couple of times.

Jakob was unimpressed.

“Tsk. Such flair. What are you a fucking bard? It’s not a show. It’s combat. It’s life or death. Your enemy won’t stand around while you show off.”

Felix shrugged, “I like the flash.”

Jakob scoffed.

After a moment Lisa returned with another man.

“Ah. That was fast.”

“This is Lukas. He’s a part of the town guard. And this is Felix.”

Lukas was a young blonde haired man, taller and more muscular than Felix.

He bowed to Felix, “a pleasure.”

“Hello.”

“Are you the Felix, Lisa’s been talking about?”

“I suppose.”

“Good, now are we ready to begin. To fight an actual raven. I’m glad. I’ve been itching to get a chance.” Lukas said as he brandished a wooden claymore.

“Lukas is an eager student. His father is one of the best swordsmen in town. And a miserable fucking drunk.” Jakob explained.

Lukas winced.

“Jeezs, grandpa. What sort of introduction is that?” Lisa said.

“I’m not wrong, now get to it. We are waiting on you, Felix.”

Lukas got into position and so did Felix.

After a moment of pause, Lukas charged forward swinging his sword overhead.

Felix side stepped and slashed with his sword and then jabbed with the dagger.

Lukas parried with his sword and then tried to attack again with the other hand.

Felix parried with his sword and leaned in and slashed Lukas in the leg with the wooden dagger.

“Damn.”

“Don’t let yourself be distracted, Lukas!” Jakob called out.

“Alright. Again.” Lukas said as he circled around Felix.

Felix watched him while juggling his wooden dagger.

“Hey, you dumb fucking bird! Do you always play with your food?” Lukas yelled at Felix.

“Grandpa!” Lisa said.

Felix shrugged.

There was nothing fundamentally wrong with Lukas fighting. He had a good balanced stance, strong swings with good follow through. Felix could tell there was no killer instinct. When he attacked, he hesitated too much. Too worried about defending himself. But most of all he lacked real experience.

Never seen the life of someone’s eyes drain out as they lay bleeding out on the battlefield.

Lukas was a little slower than Felix and he could easily exploit that.

Lukas rushed in again with his claymore.

Felix blocked with both his sword and dagger, bracing with his waist, and angling the strike.

Lukas looked surprised that Felix stopped him.

Felix then pushed him off and thrust his sword at Lukas.

Lukas managed to deflect the attack, but Felix kicked him in the gut sending him back.

“Oof.”

Felix moved around Lukas, he channeled a bit of the Hrafnagud’s will into his wooden sword. Spanking Lukas with the sword, Lukas was jolted by a bit of lightning.

“Damn!” Lukas spat as he tried to swing the claymore at Felix.

Felix parried it with the dagger and kicked him again. In visible frustration Lukas started to swing wildly at Felix.

Moving off to the side, Felix struck the claymore with his sword channeling a bigger jolt of electricity through the sword.

Lukas dropped his claymore his arm shaking as it coursed through.

“Enough!” Jakob called out.

Lukas was leaning on his knees panting.

Felix went back to juggling his wooden dagger.

Lukas looked up at him, “so that’s how a real mercenary fight. I have a lot to learn.”

“You have the fundamentals down.”

Lukas shook his head, “I barely threaten you, did I? I need to train more before I can truly become a knight.”

Felix offered him a hand, “don’t worry. It’s not easy for everyone. I just have more combat training and experience.”

Lukas took his hand and got up.

Felix looked back at Jakob.

Jakob looked pleased, “It’s been a while since I seen a raven fight. Not bad, Felix. You are better than I thought. You have good instincts, but they can be sharpened. I can work this.”

Felix scratched the back of his head with the wooden sword, “what do you mean you old man?”

“I’m offering to train you. It’s the least I can do for a fellow raven.”

“How hard would the training be?”

Jakob stroked his chin, “oh. Harder than anything you have done. We would do a lot of physical training, sparring and some other exercises.”

“Ugh. Sounds way worse than basic.”

“Oh, much worse.”

Felix considered.

Would he really want to go through training like that again?

Then again, It could be useful. He could use the exercise.

Felix shrugged, “I suppose when I have some free time I will come for some training.”

“Excellent, fledging.”

“Wow.” Lisa said softly, Felix turned around to see her admiring his sword. The black blade glimmered in the sunshine.

“Didn’t anyone tell you to not to touch other people’s stuff?”

“Where did you get this?” She asked not bothered.

“...from an old friend.”

“It’s beautiful and it’s real Valencian black steel.”

Felix frowned, “I’m surprised you could identify the blade. This is the first time I’m hearing about this.”

Lisa laughed, “Well of course! I’m an alchemist, silly. You’re the first person I ever seen who has a real Valencian black steel blade. It’s very rare.”

Felix crossed his arms, “huh. So, what else is special about it?”

“It only comes from the mountains around Valencia. There are some magical properties around the hills that causes the iron to react differently and darken when turned into steel. Making the steel stronger and lighter and it holds magical properties better.”

“You sure know a lot.” Felix remarked.

“Well, I studied alchemy. It’s my thing.”

Felix gave back the practice weapons back to Jakob and took back Edwin's sword from Lisa.

“It’s been something. But I should head back, deliver the medicine I came here for.” Felix said.

“Alright, fledging. Tell me dumbass son-in-law of mine that I said hello and he still smell of manure.” Jakob replied.

“Uh sure. I’ll get right on that.”

“I’m looking forward to our training.”

“Uh yeah. Same.”

“Take care, Felix.” Lisa said.

“Goodbye.”

He was walking back to the farm when Lisa called out, “wait, Felix.”

“Yeah? What is it this time?” Felix said with a bit of smirk. He stopped walking and turned around.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“Go on.”

“This weekend can you join us? My friend Noah and I want to investigate one of the ruins.”

“Noah? That dorky guy with glasses who works at the library? I’m pretty sure I shook him down for his lunch money a few times now.”

Lisa rolled her eyes, “he is not a dork and yes him. Also, I hope you haven’t been doing that.”

Felix chuckled “Why do you want me to join you?”

“You’re a fighter and could be dangerous to go into this particular ruin. I would ask Chris or Lukas but they are both are busy.”

“I could be persuaded.” Felix said as he motioned his hands of two coins rubbing against each other.

Lisa gave Felix a look, “really? You are going to extort me?”

Felix laughed, “I’m a mercenary and you told me it could be dangerous. Oof, you are looking at some additional hazard pay. And also, you let me know I’m the only one you can ask for help, not wise.”

“You jerk!”

Felix just rubbed his fingers again.

“Please Felix. I’ll treat you to lunch.”

“Fine. I’m not cheap so we aren’t just going to eat at your grandma’s inn. We are getting some crab.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Be at the gates of Kurkenburg at dawn this Sunday.”

“Sunday. Dawn. Gate. Got it.” Felix said as he walked away.

“Thanks Felix!”

He waved as he left.