The Ragged-Clothed Warrior

"No! I don't like that food!", the king shouted at the maids as he throws the food served in front of him.

"We will bring the meal again for you, His Highness."

The king had the unsatisfied look on his face discontented of the service he is receiving. Ever since the day he has seated on the throne, the heavens turned bad against him. No celebration was made on that day. The people went back to their houses because of the unending lightning that day leaving him without someone to celebrate with. The servants of the palace had been restless to please him.

"How come this land cannot prepare me a decent meal? I am the king! I am the one who killed the late king!"

He then stood up and shove all of the foods prepared on the table and pointed on everyone in the room, "You are all useless!", as he banged his fist on the table.

The servants and the guards who were left inside the room remained silent towards him, do not know what to do anymore. They move none a bit just not to elevate the anger of their king even more. Suddenly, there was a call from the door outside the dining room that sparkled the king's eyes.

"His Highness, your invited guests have arrived!"

Three middle aged men wearing armored suits entered the hall. The long-haired man has a complex series of garment, the other one had chain mail and the other one had iron plate on the chest. They stood before the dining table and bowed down to the king to pay their respects. They had the face of a sluggish warrior who fought no mighty battle. Even so, they bowed to their king.

"His Highness King Lucas, it is our pleasure to serve you."

"Hmm... You are the known sword masters of the land?"

The king questioned in doubt as his eyes ventured upon them from head to toe with his arms crossed and twitched eyebrow. He took a moment to glance at the three men that made them gulp in nervousness waiting for the king to accept their courtesy. Still, they were in silence hoping they had not dissatisfied the king.

"Great! I have prepared my garden for the training!"

They took a subtle deep breath from the heavy tension and got up. They never knew the king would be difficult to deal with.

"His Highness, we have prepared the food to your likeness", as the maid is holding the food on the platter still covered.

"These food were cooked in the palace kitchen", she then put the platter on the table and removes the cover.

The food released a pleasing smell that circulated throughout the room. It appeared so good that made the king drooled right in front of them. He immediately started gobbling all the food without thinking.

He forwardly talked in a sudden while his mouth is full. "Thishis delishooos. You hato prupor mor of dis fo ma dinur".

"Yes, His Highness", the maid replied in courtesy.

The servants and the swordmasters were watching him eating alone all of the delicious foods on the table. It was still early in the morning and they have not yet eaten their breakfast.

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The first rays of sunlight lit up the young man's cheek. He woke up blinded to the beam of light. His home is where the first light of the morning sun strikes. The light from the shine seems to absorb by his body and becomes his energy throughout the day.

He stood up from bed and read again the invitation he had received from the palace. It says,

The king is inviting

the known swordmasters

of the land.

You are hereby invited

by the king to come to the palace

in the morning.

Present this invitation

to the gate guards

for an entrance.

His eyes widened in rejoice as he read the letter. It has an insignia stamped at the bottom part of the letter that he thought was from the king.

"This really is true! I'm reading this again. You are hereby invited by the king to come to the palace!" He cheerfully celebrated in a loud voice.

It will be his first time entering the palace. He was running around his place shouting joyfully that at last he could see a new place.

He then prepared himself getting ready for a long walk. The palace is quite far from his place and he does not want to start his morning with an empty stomach.

He went to the fireplace and boiled the meat which he preserved in a clay pot yesterday. Waiting for the meat stew to finish boiling, he decided to go take a bath in the river.

The riverwater was flickering like glitter on the surface. The water is like crystal clear that he can visibly see the school of fish under it.

A big fish happen to pass through his sight so he took a quick grab to it before it vanishes. He might carry it with him upon walking to the palace and eat it as a snack.

He speared the fish with a pointy stone he just grabbed from the riverside then went back to the river to bath himself.

After minutes dripping himself in the water, he decided to go home not forgetting the fish. He clothe himself and ate his morning meal, packed his bags filled with supplies he will be needing. He was ready for the long walk.

He passed two mountains to get to the palace. Not far from his spot, he can already see high walls made of bricks. People were getting in through an entrance with their baggages and some pushing a wagon.

Upon entering the entrance, the soldiers crossed their spears upon him in a snap blocking his way.

"What is your purpose, young man?", they asked looking at him with suspicion in their eyes.

An idiot as he is, he rummaged through his bag quite panicky to find the invitation scroll which he thought this is the time he has to present it.

Once he already took a grab for the scroll, he lent it panicky to the guard nearest him to check. Upon giving the scroll, the guard felt his hands shaking. Again, he felt eyes were on him. The young man was nervous. He scratched the back of his head to what he just did to make up for it and steadied himself. The guard then gave him back the scroll then told his comrades.

"Let him in."

In a snap, the spears that were blocking his way were already on their sides allowing him to enter. He made a big gulp nodding his head just to avoid meeting their eyes as he passes through. Their eyes were still following him when he crosses just to make sure.

Hesitantly, he turned his head quite aback and murmured, "Thank you".

Then off he went far from the guards until he could not see a glimpse of them anymore.

He raised his head as soon as he got far from the entrance. He was amazed as to how big it was inside. Walls of bricks greeted his eyes. The construction was like no other in his small place. There were houses made of bricks and a market place. It is populous and a loud place to live.

His mouth was in awe the whole time until he remembered that he has to make it to the king's palace. He walked wherever his feet would bring him. The place was leading him to different directions. He was running around the city for minutes already. That was the time he thought he is lost. The walls were too big for him to overlook so he jumped onto houses that will lead him to a highest platform he could jump onto.

Up to his last jump, his eyes again widened as to what he had seen. From there, his eyes can already cast from a distance the domed towers of the palace. It has an open porch at the front clutched with conspicuous detailed pillars. The castle is a huge house he thought. It is the biggest house in the land.

The beam of the light has become unbearable to his skin. The morning is becoming hotter, a sign that he is already late for his appointment to the king. He hurriedly went his way to the palace and decided to jump all over the houses for a faster travel. That way, it seemed easy for he can overlook the direction going to the palace.

Upon nearing to the palace, a big wall of stone surprised him upfront. Down the walls, he saw two men in armored suits, beside them is an entrance which he does not know so he still jumped all over the wall. He successfully made it to the other side.

One guard happen to notice him and chased him inside the palace walls.

Upon landing on the palace grounds, the green bushes greeted his eyes. It was the green landscapes he had seen awhile ago. Maybe it was the garden he thought. He can see he is nearing the palace building. Out of excitement, he took a bigger jumps to make it there quickly.

It was just a few more jumps until he could reach the palace then heard someone shouting to his direction. He looked back to see who that was. Well, he was seeing someone running to his direction but it seemed too little from his view . It has the same appearance as to how the guard looked like from the entrance awhile ago.

"Hey!"

He kept on jumping until he made it to the palace grounds. At last, he made it to the building.

'Wow!' He raised his head up looking like a small bean.

His mouth's wide open again astounded by how huge the palace up close. No, it wasn't huge, it was gigantic. He was just standing there when a group of guards called out to him.

"Hey, poor man. This isn't a place for you to beg for alms. Get out of here. Bring him outside the gates."

Two guards then grabbed his arms forcefully so he resisted losing himself from their grip.

"What did you just say? I have my invitation from the king."

He insisted then handed them the scroll the king had delivered to him.

"It is undeniable to still not let me in. That letter is from the king as you can see?"

The soldier then eyed him from head to toe. The guard somehow did the same thing as to how the palace guards looked at him in the entrance. His armor suit is quite different from the ones he had seen. Maybe his position is higher than those soldiers. The guard opened the scroll and started reading it, carefully checking if there was forging happened on the paper.

After reading, he looked at the young man again seemed unconvinced.

"Where'd you get this?"

"From the king."

"Where'd you get this?"

"From the king I said."

"I said where'd you get this."

"FROOOOOM THE KIIIING!"

'Don't they believe me? Do I look like a beggar asking for alms? I looked at my clothes but it looked normal to me.'

"Are you letting me in or not?". He asked looking dissed already.

The guard then called his soldiers showing the paper which he do not know what they were discussing about.

"Dude, just let him in. The castle is a pigster anyway."

"You wanna die?"

"No."

"Just bring him out already."

"Okay."

"Where is he?"

"He's gone!"

"You idiot! Why'd you let your eyes off him."

"What if th king sees him?"

"It'll be our fault."

"Are we going to die now?"

The young man took the chance to escape from their sight.

He jumped to a higher platform without them noticing. It was like just a thin air he vanished from his spot so they won't know for the meantime. He can see a passageway from his platform and there, he was able to enter the palace effortlessly.

The palace is still misleading to look upon. there were many doors and passageways. He walked around to see where the king would be.

Not far from his spot, he can hear gobbles. He never knew there was a pig inside the palace he thought. He went to the direction where the distracting noise is.

He peeked at a glass window that was slightly open. From there, he can see three fancy men in different armors, there were women in their servant-looking dresses, guards and someone eating like he does not know. How can a person eat like a pig not sharing his table with a bunch of foods?

"Disgusting", he whispered to himself.

"Your Highness, your sword has been finished polishing."

"What?", he shouted in a low tone that only he could hear.

'I'd almost choke on myself! Your Highness? Is he the king? Are you joking me? I'd almost fell on my feet trying myself not to laugh. Wait. Is this for real? All my life living I thought a king is supposed to be demeanor, not like this.'

His mind went laughing as he was observing the king pigging all over the foods.

'This is funny.'

He then heard a loud burp. The king stood up of his fancy chair and there he was, walking heavily. That was quite a luggage inside his stomach.

"Come with me to the garden."

The young man followed them with his eyes upon going down the palace. He was still on the platform overlooking.

After a few minutes, they made it to the garden and sat on a bench. He was having fun observing them from afar. He thought maybe he will show himself when the timing is right for him already.

He seemed to enjoy the view from there. He can see more of the palace. The wind was quite cool as it touches him. After all, the palace is surrounded with pine trees releasing clean air. The palace is a cool place to live.

The king was done resting his heavy stomach and finally initiated the sword training. The maids went to him removing his coat. The man in a light clothing bent his knees to the king, palms wide open with a sword laid on it. The king then grabbed the sword's handle and swung it carelessly. From the young man's view, he can see the sword is looking heavy. The king teetered from an inept stance. He does not know why but he just laughed.

The king was able to recover himself from the imbalance and challenged the three men in fancy armored suits to go against him altogether in one full blow. The three men looked upon each other whether to give the king a full blow. Since it is the king's order, the three men nodded at each other as a sign of cue for the attack. They unleashed their swords that was still covered with cloth and together they attempted a sluggish attack to the king just to keep him unhurt.

However, the king was furious and gave them a serious slash. He intentionally aimed for the hands to whoever comes to his reach first. Blood splurted out of the man's arm. He screamed in pain watching his freshly cut hands flown to the grass. The blood continued spitting out of it. He was crying heavily for his lost hands.

The king burst out laughing like a kid, "You see that?", pointing towards the man screaming.

"You thought I didn't notice? You laughed at me awhile ago." He laughed showing apathy to what he did. It was like he had undergone too much pain that conscience within him is nowhere to be found. Death could mean nothing to him.

The king then challenged the other two men for another fight which the young man thought it is time for him to interfere. He does not want anyone getting hurt anymore.

His laugh has become distracting to the extent that he wants to kill the insane king.

'But nuh, I have to teach this man a lesson first.'