(On Hold) Northern Point (Dao of Hope) - The Knight of the Bridge

Thorjen

Thorjen finally left the cave behind him, his mind filled with a hazy unknown whilst he wrestled with the fragmented memories of what transpired within the final moments he spent within that prison.

His eyes remained lowered and slightly withdrawn, he couldn't stop replaying those final moments against the guardian of chaos. He felt a chilling fear settled in his heart, he was certain he was killed and yet he wasn't? A feeling he couldn't shake away regardless how many times he tried.

There was no way he could withstand the barrage of attacks thrown his way by those fiendish and callous looking membranes. The pain had appeared and was over in a flash.

But the truth of the matter was staring him right in his face at this moment. He was alive and the beating sun was shining above him once more.

He recalled waking up and finding himself surrounded by a luscious scene of greenery existing across every piece of land his eyes could find. This place was slightly whimsical with fluttering butterflies passing closely by his view and colorful plants both tremendously huge and painfully short growing in pockets across the forest

Thorjen looked at himself twice over. His entire clothes were in a complete mess. His shoes were missing and his robes were so badly torn that his upper torso was practically on show for everyone to see. What amazed him slightly was the lack of cuts and bruises against his skin. He also felt his skin was a little darker than usual with a slight richness to it.

Thorjen eventually managed to clear his mind and aimlessly ended up walking cautiously across the jade forest filled with countless plants he had never seen before. He wished he could gather some of these plants and keep them for later just in case they were good for healing potions or other uses. But since he barely had a shirt on. There was nothing else he could use to store the amounts of flowers he wanted to gather.

‘I wonder where I am right now?’ There were no signs nor anything that could aid him along the way. But thorjen understood his only option was to keep moving. There was no telling what sort of animals existed here. And staying in one spot for a prolonged amount of time spelled danger. Despite that adventurous urge within him which subtly wanted to explore and see what kind of animals lived here. His rational mind quickly told him that would be a bad idea.

Thojen understood when venturing through unknown territory he needed to make sure his senses were on high alert at all times, though he hadn't had much experience he was always attentive to the stories told to him by his mother .

His mostly peaceful walk took him deeper into the beautiful forest arrayed like a jade kingdom beneath the golden rays falling from the morning sun.

Various furred animals were huddled on the top of the branches observing him carefully from a vantage point. These creatures carried innocence within their large eyes, he could tell there was a deep wonder about him from these folk. What also became curious the more he encountered these creatures was the idea that he somewhat understood what their minds were thinking of. It was quite strange but after he passed over a group of beige bellied primates, there was a constant voice continually reaching his thoughts. 'Human...new human...does he have food...be careful he mi

Almost a mile of walking around inspecting his new surroundings, Thorjen suddenly captured the near distant sounds of iron clashing against iron. ‘I can hear swords...but from where?’ His mind started to race with possibilities whilst he too understood he wasn’t in a position where he could actually defend himself if trouble appeared.

He felt a little helpless in truth but then remembered the teachings he had absorbed fervently during his time spent on the azure mountain. ‘Even the trained mind can turn a single branch into a weapon of ****.’ He chuckled lightly to himself recalling that saying only applied to cultivators. And he certainly couldn’t call himself one of those at the moment.

Thorjen crouched down before his footsteps softly trailed the path which he suspected led towards the unknown clash of iron not so far away from his current position.

Eventually he appeared behind a little pond with two tall sunflowers arrayed between a gap of two thin trees. He carefully moved around the pond, catching his reflection in the shimmering water. His appearance was almost completely devoid to how he looked once he left the mountain. His hair band was lost allowing his thick tow-colored dreadlocks to fall down over his face. If anyone from the Azure peaks saw him now, they would probably find it hard recognize him.

“Grrr damn it-he's too strong...OI let's do it together men. On me-CHARGEEEEEEE!”

*Clang-Shree-Clang-Booom*

“GRAAAAGH!”

“F-fuck it he’s too...”

Thorjen pried apart the two sunflower stalks blocking the view and discovered a delicate stream cut between the forest bed, flowing beneath a high raised arch shaped bridge. Where he noticed a tall and imposing golden like figure standing on it.

The contrast between the peaceful scenery and the rough sounding skirmish taking place on top of the bridge was a stark comparison indeed. On top of the bridge towards the left side he saw a group of men dressed in boiled leathers and cheap farmers garb with sharp or brutish styled weapons glued to their palms.

There looked to be a huge skirmish going on against the group held against the left side of the bridge and something else. But what surprised Thorjen greatly was where he was expecting to see a few other fellows on the adjacent side opposing these men. Instead, he saw a single suit of gold and silver armor rooted proudly in the middle of the bridge.

The figure was almost cut straight out of a noble knights tale. Tall suit of glittering golden armor, with a large helmet and closed visors. In his left hand was a polished white steel sword with blue runes dancing all over the thick 3cm dense blade.

Thorjens first thoughts were possibly what most people would ask when seeing such a figure.

‘How the hell was he supposed to move.’

His question was dutifully answered as in the next moment he witnessed this heavy armored brute vanish from his spot and appear right beside the group of rough talking men. Thorjen saw a flashing white light for a split second. Followed by a callous scene which left his jaw slackened wide in disbelief.

A sea of red formed as four heads rolled off their bodies. There was around two other men who still remained amongst the group. They were the ones who were clothed in farmer's garb. But as soon as they witnessed that scene being consumed by fright, they dropped their weapons and fled in a hurry.

Thorjen didn’t remain where he was peeking from and carefully backed away. His sense of danger was at a full spike, whilst inwardly he was conflicted with two opposing truths. One on hand he was incredibly weary by what had just taken place, sensing nothing but danger from the golden cladded fellow who severed multiple heads with a single strike but on the other hand his heart was beating so fast with a sense of excitement.

‘This...this was a knight’

Since he had discovered the existence of the mainland, the little boy he once upon used to be had continually dreamt of becoming the noblest of knights there ever was. Such a big dream required big talent and a lot of hard work to go with it, his mother had smiled brightly whenever she told him that. The latter wouldn’t be an issue, considering he had been arduously training his body ever since he could remember.

He only needed to find a way to solve the talent problem, his body could barely cultivate enough Ki to perform a martial move let alone compete with some of the most talented fellows his age.

Although he was aware that the powers knights used was usually battle aura. His mother had already poured cold water over his hopes towards learning that after she revealed to him the similarities Qi and battle aura had against the body. Thorjen wasn't going to give up of course but he reminded himself to stay grounded to reality.

As of now his only option was magic. But he understood he needed to reach the mainland first in order to attempt to study in that field and then there was his next problem of finding a tutor.

‘There must be a reason they were trying to cross that bridge.’ He could only hope the knight would eventually leave or he would have to find another way, if there was another way to find in the first place. Thorjen peered towards a tall standing sign post on the other side of land behind the Knight.

West path=====> Lucien Kingdom South way =>Hogons Mound

'Of course the only path is across the bridge' Once again he was starting to believe that perhaps the fates indeed will for him to fail in life.

Whilst he maneuvered back Thorjen felt one of his trailing feet falling into the little pond behind him. The coldness wrapped tightly around his barefoot, and sent a strange elation of comfort running through him.

At that moment Thorjen was reminded that he had in fact not showered nor drank anything in quite a long time. Surprised himself that his body wasn’t craving for it at this point. He removed the rag off his clothes and carefully washed the dirt free from his arms and legs but before doing so he did make sure he drank his fill from the little pool.

‘That should be enough. Sigh...come on Thorj we have to brave ourselves through this.’ He attempted to syce himself up with a pep talk. He lightly slapped his two ruddy cheeks and proceeded to scale around the river in order to get a better look at the knight atop of the bridge.

The day gently passed on by, Thorjen found a secure place not too far away from the bridge but close enough to see whomever dared to confront the knight from the winding valley through the tall forest. He remained crouched down with his face partially above a nearby crowded shrubbery.

Time gently passed on by and he still remained hopeful that the day would fade on by and eventually the knight would leave the bridge. But the more the sun moved across the skies the less and less he was hopeful. At least the course of the day remained true to how it started, he wasn’t left bored, as he witnessed countless people approaching the bridge in a bid to challenge the knight.

And after the 6th or so one-sided bout. Thorjen had picked up on some very important que’s

The knight asked the travelers one single question.

“Do you have enough courage?”

A voice muffled beneath the visor he refused to remove away from his helm. And the second thing was that the knight gave his challengers 3 chances.

The first chance he would disable their movements, painfully so of course to the point he heard a terrible sound of bones crunching beneath what looked like gentle blows from the back of the knights sword.

The second chance he offered were precise wounds which bit at places thorjen wouldn’t believe could draw forth so much blood. He saw a man keel over an die after sustaining too many cuts.

And those who refused to heed the first two warnings, the third bout was the quick strike of ****. The swordsmanship of the knight was incredible up close. Starlight's glittered within Thorjens gaze, after a while he felt as though he was getting used to the bloodshed...somewhat.

Thorjen counted four different groups who persisted onwards until the 3rd phase. All of whom were killed without a second thought.

He watched the fellow remain unmoved not even slightly irritable in his sturdy poise. Despite the beating sun scorching the ground and the iron suit along with it, the golden knight remained rooted upon the bridge like a guardian.

Immovable. Unrivaled.