1 [Arc 1]Prologue
???'s POV
On a desolate mountain, where even the sky was dyed red, there were two presences.
CLANK CLANK CLANK
A Human Swordsman - donned with conviction as tough as steel - whom was clad in black clothing.
ROAAAAAAAAAAAR
A Black Dragon with golden outlines - clad in hatred and despair.
They continued their back and forth duel for days, months, years and even decades. Half way through their never-ending scuffle the Black Dragon had already regained his sanity; the Human Swordsman already knew he had regained his sanity.
Yet, they continued their battle. Both participants smiled viciously as they predicted the other's moves, anticipated the other's thoughts, dwelled on the other's form of art. This continued even beyond their limits.
All who even dared to attempt to halt their duel, or stop their their scuffle were annihilated by both participants.
Both participants had vastly different lives.
The Human Swordsman was born in poverty, betrayed by many, yet never hating any.
The Black Dragon was born in luxury, assisted by many, yet hated many.
These two fighters, nay, these two warriors had contrasting lives. At this moment they both held the same emotion. Euphoria.
But alas, all things must come to an end.
At the end they did not die by the other's attacks, but had succumbed to life's greatest friend. Death.
On their last breath, the two warriors exchanged words as they both huffed in euphoric exhaustion:
"Hah... Thanks for the battle... Dragon...", The Human Swordsman thanked between huffs of deep breaths.
"Hah... Hah... The pleasure was mine... Human...", The Dragon thanked back.
They both fiercely smiled while dropping onto the ground next to the other. They both had become old and decrepit, the Human Swordsman should've succumbed long ago to his lifespan, the Dragon's lifespan should have ended more than 10 decades ago.
Silence radiated the air as they both immersed themselves to the other's presence.
"...Tell me, human. What's your name?", The Black Dragon questioned.
"...Haha... I've given up my name a long time ago... I guess you could just call me, 'Simple Swordsman'...", The Human Swordsman replied.
The Dragon's eyes slightly widened as it began to chuckle:
"If you are a 'simple' swordsman then I'm a 'simple' dragon.", The Black Dragon laughed.
"Well it's true, I'm simple. I'm simply devoted to swordsmanship.", The Human Swordsman answered the Black Dragons statement.
"Hah. Then I'm simply devoted to battle.", The two presences looked at each other. They both simultaneously began to chuckle.
"Tell me, 'Simple Swordsman'. What do you desire?", The Black Dragon inquired.
The Human Swordsman chuckled and answered:
"What I desire is to once again live so I can hone my swordsmanship.", The Simple Swordsman answered.
"Mhm? Why?", The Simple Dragon questioned.
The Simple Swordsman laughed and then answered:
"My body has always been easy to succumb to all forms of weaknesses since birth. If that had been removed, if I had been normal, then I could've reached even further to truly achieve swordsmanship."
The Simple Dragon was silent; the Simple Swordsman was silent. They bathed in the other's silence.
"Granted.", The Simple Dragon muttered.
"Huh? What?", The Simple Swordsman inquired.
"Nothing.", The Simple Dragon stated.
After a while of basking in the other's presence their consciousness was slowly fading.
"I have already marked you... Simple... Swordsman...", The Simple Dragon muttered towards the corpse faintly.
Eventually, the Simple Dragon also succumbed to the darkness.
