005. Attack Without Attacking

The hoofbeats of horses break the silence of dirt track that cuts through the shady forest. 

There wasn't even a single animal sound when the carriage passed by. 

Very quiet.... Too quiet.... 

Zhen immediately looked up at the sky, there was only a bright blue sky with no clouds. He squinted his eyes to look further around, but not a single cloud could be seen. 

"Zaltar, we need to find shelter. It's going to rain soon," Zhen stood up straight and peered ahead. 

The big man just whipped his horse as usual then turned around in utter confusion. 

"Shelter? In the middle of sunny weather like this? Are you sure, Mister Zhen?"

"Maybe there's some kind of old building nearby, or a cave or something."

"I don't understand your mindset but I'll take a look around."

Zhen lay back and taking a nap as he gazed up at the sky that was clearly cloudless. After almost 2 hours, the sky slowly gathered in the distance, and it wasn't just ordinary clouds, but storm clouds. 

Zaltar was so surprised by the prediction of the elf he was currently escorting, his mouth gaped wide and even struggled to speak "Mister zhen, Mister Zhen, you were right, storm clouds are approaching!"

Zaltar whipped his horse harder and the two horses immediately galloped off. Raindrops began to fall on their heads and dark clouds had covered the sky.

Zaltar panicked a little but that feeling suddenly disappeared when he saw a long-abandoned hut. There were only pillars and two wooden walls and a roof. There was not a single piece of furniture in the hut.

Without much of thought, Zaltar directed his carriage to take shelter in the hut. The hut was only 7 square meters with a roof that could be touched if Zaltar stood up from his current place.

Zaltar dismounted and set his feet on the ground. When he looked around, some of the wooden floors were almost fused to the ground and were overgrown with weeds that were only 1 to 5 centimeters high.

He is not the only one to get off the carriage, the wolf also seemed to be tired of being in the carriage and decided to lie down under the carriage. 

"Mister Zhen? What should we do now?"

There was no response, so he ventured to look at the him and found out he is sleeping.

Zaltar sighed and then decide to follow the flow, he immediately slept next to the carriage, trying to enjoy the cold rain that was pouring down the earth heavily. Thanks to the thick wooden floor, the heavy rain didn't wet the entire ground.

It had been raining for almost 2 hour and seemed to be showing signs of letting up. Zhen woke up and it was still damp and cold. He got off his carriage and accidentally stepped on the sleeping Zaltar and woke him up. 

"Woah, sorry, I didn't see you." Zhen said while jumped in surprised.

"It's okay," Zaltar immediately took a sitting position where he was lying before. "It looks like the rain is going to end a anyway."

The two sat beside the carriage looking at the rain-soaked surroundings. There was no sound, or conversation for several minutes. 

"Mister Zhen, after I drop you off, what should I do?" 

"Oh, I haven't told you yet. The carriage we're using now belongs to an acquaintance of mine. I borrowed it for a while."

"Eh?! So my fate?"

"Probably working for him since you've become his coachman replacement."

"Eh? So I'm not free?"

"Unfortunately not, I have to return what I borrowed, including the coachman."

"Eh? Why me?"

"Why? You are mine, so you will be my guarantee."

Zaltar could only remain silent with long sigh, Zhen smiled broadly as he patted Zaltar's shoulder "Don't worry, I will still pay you a good amount and also give you a letter of recommendation, you will definitely be accepted even if you are a former bandit."

The big man who had lost two of his limbs could only remain silent with one new problem to worry about.

'Forget about being accepted, am I going to be executed?!' Zaltar shouted in his mind. 

Zhen stood up and looked at the rain that was slowly subsiding, "You're a good fighter anyway, I don't think he would be so stupid to reject you."

Zaltar chuckled, "Good fighter? With one arm and one leg? Who in their right mind would hire me as a fighter?"

The silver-haired elf looked at Zaltar, "What do you mean? Losing an arm and a leg is not the end of the world."

Zaltar was slightly disturbed by the naive statement and immediately retorted in a very aggressive tone, "Without hands, how can you hold a weapon? Without legs, how can you move to attack?"

Zhen replied in a very casual tone, "You still have your other hand, you can still hold a weapon."

"Fighting with one hand is impossible."

"Nuh uh, one hand is enough to kill an army."

"Not possible."

"It is possible and it can."

"No, it's impossible."

"It can."

"No."

"Can."

"No."

"You can."

Zaltar ran out of patience and immediately stood up and grabbed Zhen by the collar while staring angrily into his eyes. "You can't and you know it."

Zhen just smiled confidently, "I'll prove nothing is impossible."

Zaltar released his grip then apologized for being so impulsive. 

"Take your sword, let's simulate the impossible situation you just said." Zhen sat cross-legged with one hand behind his back and one hand holding a small dagger.

"What do you want to do, Mister Zhen?"

"Attack me as if you want to kill me, I won't use both of my legs and one arm. Also, I will only use this small dagger."

"Mister Zhen, are you joking?"

The silver-haired elf did not reply to the question and only smiled. Zaltar immediately gripped his sword tightly followed by a very serious look on his face. 

"This is the moment I'll pay back my losing limb, don't blame me if you die, Mister Zhen."

 "If."

Zaltar swung his greatsword horizontally but Zhen laid down, making the slash pass by like an afternoon breeze. He raised his sword so high that it shattered the roof. Raindrops soaked both of them. Zaltar's blade was right above Zhen's head. A powerful vertical swing was aimed at him. 

Zhen raised his dagger in the air as if to block the attack that was about to hit his head. The moment the two weapon touched, this elf immediately tilted his dagger slightly to the side.

Zaltar's sword slid in the direction of Zhen's dagger that was leaning to. The big sword hit the ground and Zhen's dagger was already in front of Zaltar's neck. The big man was frozen in place as the elf did not even move from his place. 

Zhen stood up, "You see? I didn't attack you, you just entered my attack range."

Zaltar was still silent because if it had been a real fight, he would have died by now.

"This place is good for camping spot, how about we hunt something for dinner tonight?"

The rain had stopped, the elf had left to hunt, Zaltar was still thinking about Zhen's word while staring at his big sword. 

"Attack without the need to attack."