6. Return of the "King"

Six years later after the war between Fellenberg and Zalazar. A ship stopped hundreds of miles away from Kilnot port.

The ships captain said "We've reached our destination, my friend. But this country has blocked off any foreign ships. This is the only lowly defended port... Say, why do you want to be there again?"

"I'm just here to visit a member of my family"

"Well, too bad we can't get you there directly. Take the boat instead" he cheerfully said.

"Gladly."

"And also take care, Sammy!"

"I will always, Cap'n!" Samuel said as he saluted.

Name: Samuel Demesio

Age: 29

Title: ???

Samuel, now a sailor, was accused for his father's death and was forced to flee the country. Now he is back for reasons unknown, but now he is more stronger and no longer a weakling.

He put on his bamboo hat and hopped on the boat as they gently dropped it to the water. He then used the oars to row his way to the port, as he waved goodbye to his friends on the ship.

Samuel arrived at the empty foggy port. At the start he felt a ghostly presence, as he docks his small boat. Soon after, two silhouettes appeared in the distance, getting closer each second. As it gets closer, Samuel could see their appearance. They were two men wearing a red uniform, and in the right side of the uniform has a crest that looked like a burning crown.

One of the men shouted "Hey! You, over there! This is a non docking port, especially for outsiders!"

And Samuel simple replied "don't worry gentlemen, I am simply a lost fisherman"

Then the other man said with a doubtful look "You don't look like a Fisherman to me!"

"Well, not all fishermen look the same"

"You're right... But where's your catch?"

"I wasn't so lucky"

"How about your equipment?"

"There was a nasty accident and all my equipment sank"

"Hmm... Fine, we'll let you go, but with a warning"

"Thank you good sir, I'll be off"

But as Samuel leaves, the men recognized Samuel's necklace and said "Wait! Let me see that necklace you're wearing." Samuel was confused but still showed them his necklace. The necklace had the crest that was given to him, and the men were furious "AHA! your one of the Hoodmen!"

"Hoodmen? You must be mista—" but before Samuel could finish his sentence, the two men attacked. But thanks to Samuel's good reflexes, he dodged and grabbed an oar as a weapon. Then the two draw out their swords and charged, but was quickly knocked out by one fell swoop of the oar "Good grief, now what are these Hoodmen?" he said to himself. While the two men were unconscious, he fled to the east Kilnot border.

Samuel hasn't been outside from Zymeth since the day he was born, so he aimlessly wondered around the border. He continued to wonder around but wasn't making any progress, without a map he was clearly Lost.

For almost ten minutes of walking around, he heard heavy metal clanging on each other. He looked around, but everything was clear. Then he climbed a tree and saw a smoke in the distance. After that, he ran towards it.

Once he arrived at the place, an arrow flew by his face. That's the moment he realized that there was a battle. On the battlefield he saw a band of soldiers same as the two men earlier, and outnumbered hooded men, on the sides there were burning huts. At this point he needed to decide on which side to help, and he immediately picked the outnumbered hooded men.

He snapped a branch on a nearby tree, took it and charged to battle. He attacked the group near him first, the men had swords and he only had a branch. The enemy swung their swords, and they only manage to shave the branch turning it to a pointy stick. After that, Samuel counter attacked, each hit wasn't fatal but it was very painful. One soldier was bashed on his tough helmet, but he fainted after. Then Samuel grabbed a torch the soldiers used, and proceeded to bash them with it. Through ten minutes of fighting, Samuel managed to defeat two fourth of the group soldiers by himself, the remaining men fled.

After all that, the hooded men approached Samuel "Thank you kind one, for lending us your aid," they said "Say, are you one of us?"

Samuel replied "Why would you say that?"

"That crest... It is the hoodmen's symbol," one of them said "The crest... It has a remarkable scratch! That means our king has returned!" said the other.

"King? Me? I was going to be, but I was framed"

"We knew... Now let us bring you to our leader!" they said.

Samuel had no choice but to follow them. They've walked hundreds of miles just to reach Campus Delta. As they arrived, Samuel saw defensive towers,  barricades, and the whole academy turned into a fortress.

"What has happened here?" asked Samuel.

"The campus was used as a base for General Kia. In the war she successfully drived the enemy off, but now that she's away we took the fortress."

"So now this is the Hoodmen's base?"

"Yes... Now we are close"

As they entered the campus, a meeting was being held. A large number of people were there listening to a speech that their leader gave. On top of the stairs, there was a woman wearing a orange silk hood, the woman was the one making the speech.

"Today we hoodmen advance, for this a perfect time to attack! The east and west Kilnot border have been weakened, an opportunity for our brave men and women to surround the middle border and control the whole Kilnot!" suddenly she paused for a couple of seconds "... Now let us not waste time and prepare for our attack!"

All the hoodmen shouted and cheered once the speech ended. After that all of them went outside and prepared for the attack. As the hoodmen left, Samuel was the only one inside the campus, except for her.

"Excuse me! Are you by chance the leader of this organization?" Samuel asked.

"Yes... Yes I am. Nice meeting you again, Samuel Demesio"

"Nice to meet you too, Christine"

—To Be Continued—